AEW Weekly TNT TV Show Officially Announced For Wednesday Nights

TNT and AEW have announced that the weekly AEW TV show will air on Wednesday nights from 8pm until 10pm ET, beginning on Wednesday, October 2. The debut will take place two nights before SmackDown moves to FOX on Friday, October 4th.

The first AEW TV show will air from the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. AEW will be announcing details on tickets this coming Monday.

Happy Birthday Aurora

Aurora Rose Levesque
July 24, 2006

Variety Calls Out Vince McMahon Over Excuses For Falling Ratings, WWE Q2 Earnings Decline Expected

WWE will be reporting earnings its second quarter 2019 earnings this Thursday, July 25th. Zacks Equity Research reports that Wall Street analysts are expecting a year-over-year decline in earnings on lower revenues for the quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019. They estimated that revenues are expected to be $277.20 million, down 1.6% from the prior year quarter. The company is expected to report a loss of $0.03 per share for the quarter, which is a change of -121.4% from this point last year.

WWE reported disappointing results for the first quarter of 2019, with a net loss of $8.4 million compared to a profit of $14.8 million in the prior year quarter. The decrease was primarily because of the drop in live event revenue and lower merchandise sales. At the time, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon Vince McMahon blamed the poor results on "superstar absences."

"While engagement metrics over the past two quarters were impacted by Superstar absences, we believe they will improve as our talent return and we launch our new season following a successful WrestleMania," McMahon said last April. "We remain excited about the future, particularly with our debut on Fox in October."

Top media outlet Variety ran a story today calling out McMahon for his past excuses for the drop in business. It was noted that the "superstar absences" have been rectified this quarter, however ratings have continued to fall.

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Rumor Mill - NXT Reportedly To Use WWE Main Roster Talent If They Go Head-To-Head With AEW

As previously reported, Fox held a meeting last week with their affiliates to discuss the 2019 fall schedule. During the meeting, Fox confirmed that there are talks about moving NXT to one of their channels.

There has been speculation that NXT may air on FS1 and go head-to-head with AEW. AEW will start on TNT this fall, and is rumored to be airing live on Wednesday nights starting on October 2nd.

Dave Meltzer noted on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE is "absolutely" planning to use main roster talent on the NXT show if they go head-to-head with AEW. One issue with NXT airing on Wednesday nights is that FS1 airs Big East College Basketball that night during their season.

In its current format, NXT has been airing on the WWE Network since 2014. There was a special airing of NXT on the USA Network as part of "WWE Week" in December of 2017, which averaged 841,000 viewers. RAW that week averaged 2.684 million viewers, while SmackDown pulled in 2.481 million, so NXT averaged less than a third of what the two flagship shows drew.

In addition to NXT possibly airing on FS1, a weekly WWE studio show will air on the network Tuesdays with Renee Young as the host.

WWE Launches New Talent Brand Management Department

WWE recently established a Talent Brand Management department to help develop the individual brands of their Superstars. They are now hiring a Vice President to run the department and a Director to help. The Director would report to the Vice President, and the Vice President would report directly to WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon.

Both jobs are based at WWE HQ in Stamford, CT. You can see WWE's job listings for the new positions at this link and this link.

WWE described the new Talent Brand Management department like this:

"Talent Brand Management is a division of WWE that has 360-degree oversight of Superstars' individual talent brands and is focused on positioning and growing these inside and outside WWE platforms."

WWE Reportedly Planning 24/7 Championship Segment At San Diego Comic-Con

WWE Reportedly Planning 24/7 Championship Segment At San Diego Comic-Con
The WWE is planning on having a segment with the 24/7 Championship at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend, according to PWInsider.

On SmackDown, new Champion R-Truth and Carmella teased appearing at the Pop Culture Expo, and according to reports, the pair are in San Diego, as well as former champion Drake Maverick.

Truth captured his ninth reign on this week's edition of RAW, pinning the British Superstar whilst he was trying to consummate his marriage to wife Renee Michelle.

The company has already announced that several Superstars will appear at a panel at the convention, with a Mattel toy panel being hosted by Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder.

RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch, WWE Champion Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio have also been announced.

San Diego Comic-Con will take place from today, July 18, until Monday, July 22.

Roman Reigns Wins First-Ever WWE Award At ESPN's ESPYS, Reigns Comments, Top WWE Stars In Attendance

Roman Reigns just won the first-ever Best WWE Moment award at the 2019 ESPN ESPYS from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Reigns won the award for his "triumphant return to Monday Night RAW" earlier this year following his second battle with leukemia.

The other nominees were Becky Lynch for winning the RAW Women's Title and SmackDown Women's Title at WrestleMania 35, Kofi Kingston for winning the WWE Title at WrestleMania 35, and Ronda Rousey for winning her first RAW Women's Title at SummerSlam 2018.

As we've noted, this was the first time that WWE had an award category at the ESPYS, under the Best Performance category.

"For to me just to be able to be healthy was the only award I needed. This is just so flattering for everyone to kind of lift me up and show me that support system and love from everybody," Reigns said in WWE's announcement on the award. "It was never about awards or anything like that. It was just about awareness, it was just about sharing my story and hopefully someone could use it for a little bit of hope."

WWE noted that Reigns was congratulated during during the red carpet special by Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, the RAW Women's Champion Lynch, and WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins.

WWE Creating New Quibi Unscripted Series Headlined By Female Superstars

WWE Studios and independent studio Critical Content are producing a new series, Fight Like A Girl, which will air on mobile-first media technology platform Quibi.

According to a press release sent to Wrestling Inc., each episode will feature WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon pairing a WWE female Superstar with a young woman struggling with a personal issue that has been holding her back. The WWE stars will draw from their own life experiences to help their trainees overcome obstacles and become tougher, stronger and healthier versions of their former selves inside and out.

Each episode will be shot at the WWE Performance Center and will feature a stunning transformation and heart-pounding reveal as the women change their lives forever.

Fight Like A Girl is produced by WWE Studios and Critical Content. Executive Producers are Stephanie McMahon, Susan Levison, Ben Zierten and Richard Lowell for WWE Studios, and Tom Forman, Jenny Daly and Jon Beyer for Critical Content.

Becky Lynch Becomes First WWE Star To Land ESPN The Magazine Cover

As seen below, Lynch and actress Alison Brie of Netflix's GLOW series are gracing the cover of the "Blockbuster Issue" from ESPN The Magazine. The issue hits newsstands this Friday.

Below is WWE's announcement on the cover, along with the cover photo:

Becky Lynch and Alison Brie to be featured on cover of ESPN The Magazine's "Blockbuster" issue

Becky Lynch has taken over the sports-entertainment scene in the last year, and this Friday, you can find the Raw Women's Champion with actress Alison Brie on the cover of ESPN The Magazine's "Blockbuster" issue.

The new issue focuses on the intersection between Hollywood and sports. Lynch and Brie, who is the star of Netflix's hit comedy show "GLOW" on the 1980s Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling promotion, got together for an interview about the obstacles they face in their respective industries, the toughness of women, and much more.

The Man is the first WWE Superstar to ever appear on the cover of ESPN The Magazine. Get your hands on the issue when it hits newsstands this Friday.

Stephanie McMahon and Michelle Wilson set for Cynopsis Top Women in Media 2019 honors

WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon and WWE Co-President Michelle Wilson will be honored at Cynopsis’ 2019 Top Women in Media ceremony this September.

At the ceremony, which honors the most influential women across the media landscape, McMahon is set to be recognized in the social subcategory of Women in Sports. Wilson, WWE’s Co-President, will be recognized in the Sports-Centric Brands category.

The ceremony takes place Sept. 9 at Tribeca Rooftop in New York City. Take a look at the rest of the honorees here.

BOOM! Studios Launching New WWE Comic Book Series

Boom! Studios have announced that they will be releasing a new WWE comic book series titled “WWE SmackDown Live”, written by Kevin Panetta with art by Kendall Goode and a main cover by Xermánico. The first issues is set for release on October 2nd.

The synopsis for the first is as follows:

“Join Becky Lynch as she arrives at the arena and runs into The Brothers of Destruction (Undertaker and Kane), WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The IIconics (Peyton Royce and Billie Kay), WWE Champion Kofi Kingston, WWE Superstar Roman Reigns, and many more. Behind the scenes, unexpected alliances are formed, lifelong enemies are made, and chaos ensues as Superstars erupt into a free-for-all centered around The Man herself.”

Rumor Mill - WWE Set To Move Away From Wholly TV-PG Programming

WWE is reportedly set to move away from the PG orientated product they have presented over the last decade.

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon is aware the company is struggling to capture the teen market and he is implementing immediate changes to the product, which have already started to filter through on WWE television.

The company is also well aware of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and their target audience and thus will look to close the gap and ensure they are staying relevant.

Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio:

“They were very aware that they had lost touch with the teenagers,” Meltzer said. “They were afraid of completely losing teenagers, especially when AEW starts. This is a direction they felt they had to go.”

It will be interesting to see if and when WWE drop the official "TV-PG" rating from their weekly broadcasts, or if they will try and combine the two ratings.

source: wrestling observer radio