Triple H Comments On AEW Ratings ‘Lie’

In a recent sitdown with Wrestling Inc. Daily, Wrestling Inc, Axel Tishcer, formerly known to WWE and NXT audiences as Alexander Wolfe discussed his relationship with Triple H and the recently ended ‘Wednesday Night War’ between WWE NXT and All Elite Wrestling. Here, the ex-Wolfe told managing editor Nick Hausman his thoughts on the competition between the two companies, that stated how allegedly Triple H relayed to talent that USA does not care about the ever-popular 18-49 demographic like AEW and their flagship show, Dynamite does – instead putting a core focus on viewership. 

 “It’s always a competition no matter which promotion. Competition keeps us guys thriving,” Tischer stated. “A lot of people say competition is healthy for the business, and even before AEW, we were always in competition. There are more promotions out there other than AEW still. He also mentioned, for example, the demo because a lot of people are like, ‘AEW scored more viewers in the 18-49 demo,’ and the funny part was he gave us a little insight.” 

 USA Network, they are not aiming for that demo. They can have the demo because it’s not important about who has the bigger ratings. You have a contract with a channel. That’s what I’m say right now not what he said. You have a contract with the channel. They pay you an amount per year to produce the product. As long as they’re happy, nothing else counts because you have to satisfy the guys who pay you and also the guys who you switch in. 

 And if you’re in the demo and you want to watch NXT, you watch NXT. If you want to watch AEW, watch AEW. That’s the beauty of freedom of choice. I think it got too oversaturated with this Wednesday Night War because everybody wanted to go back to the Monday Night War because it was so exciting, and they battled each other and it was about ratings. ‘There’s another war coming with AEW. One of the main bosses from AEW, he got fired by WWE, so he wants to take them out of business.’ That’s too corny for me.”

FROM MOTÖRHEAD TO POPPY: WWE'S TRIPLE H ON CREATING NXT HEAVY-METAL FAMILY

Triple H Believes Wrestling Fans Often “Ruin Their Own Stuff”

Ahead of NXT “Takeover: In Your House”, Paul “Triple H” Levesque was part of a media call where he discussed the current state and future of NXT. Triple H was asked about the lack of movement within the NXT roster to other brands, and while discussing it, he critiqued wrestling fans.

“It’s a funny thing to me sometimes that in our business, everybody is so worried about where people are going to go or land or ‘how is this going to play out long term in the future?’ How about watch it,” Triple H stated. “Do you like it, or do you not like it? Do you have to say, ‘I like it, but I like this other thing more,’ or ‘I like it, but I don’t like it as much as I like that one.’ Just watch it or don’t and stop trying to figure out where everything goes.”

Triple H noted that fans often “ruin their own stuff” by overanalyzing the product.

“The fans ruin their own stuff half the time trying to figure out where everything goes and why it’s going there and how and then trying to pick up their phone and go search for the thing to find out what it is that can ruin it for them so they’re not surprised when it happens. I don’t understand that. I’m thrilled with what the brand is. I’m happy with where it is. Do I want it to get better? Yes. Do I want it to grow? Yes. Do I want it to expand? Yes.

“But again, people will take this line, use it out of context. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. I’m not here to make a brand that’s around for a few years or a few minutes. I want it to be long term, and how’s it going to be long term? It’s going to morph and evolve. It shouldn’t be the same. If it’s the same three years from now or four years from now as it is right now, we made a mistake. It’s just like people, you grow. If you’re the same person four years from now, you didn’t grow.”

WWE Stock Is Booming Today, Here's Why

WWE stock has surged to a 52-week high of $70.72 this morning.

The stock is currently up to $65.31 per share with the stock opening at $63.01 per share today, and has stayed above $62.99.

The sudden surge is due to the popular r/WallStreetBets subreddit, and post urging people to buy WWE as a stock option. The same subreddit was behind the recent surge for Gamestop and AMC.

It appears that the investors are happy as trading volumes are ballooning. Over 5 million shares of WWE have exchanged today against the 768,000 daily average.

Stephanie McMahon: focused on content post-COVID with Peacock deal

Stephanie McMahon, chief brand officer of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., said Monday that the company was focused on content as live-event attendance begins to ramp up in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an interview with CNBC, McMahon said the professional wrestling promoter was experiencing "really significant trends" toward increased attendance at live events.

Asked about the WWE's recent deal to stream its wrestling shows on the Peacock streaming service, McMahon said the company would focus on content production in the future.

"We don't want to be competitive in the technology business," she said, adding that the WWE's original streaming service would have had difficulty facing off against behemoths like Disney or Amazon.

Instead, McMahon described the company's current strategy as staying "competitive in terms of content."

Commenting on the return of live audiences at its wrestling events, the WWE exec stated that distribution deals and merchandise allowed it to weather the COVID storm.

McMahon noted that a majority of the firm's revenue is contractual, coming from deals with broadcasters and other similar arrangements. At the same time, she said that an increase in e-commerce revenue offset a fall in live-event revenue during the outbreak.

Still, McMahon highlighted the fact that the company traditionally draws more than $100 million in revenue each year from live events.

Early this year, WWE announced a deal with Comcast's (NASDAQ:CMCSA) NBCUniversal that made the Peacock service the exclusive home of its streaming content.

source: seeking alpha

Triple H Rings Bell Before NBA Playoff Game In Surprise Appearance

Triple H rang the ceremonial bell before today’s NBA Playoff game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Atlanta Hawks.

The Game appeared alongside Philadelphia 76ers player Joel Embiid who happens to be a massive WWE fan. Embiid led Triple H to the court while wearing DX “Thrust The Process” T-shirts.

After the game, he tweeted the picture with the caption, “If you’re not down with the process, I got two words for ya **** **.”

WWE Confirms Top Superstars Have Been Released

WWE released the following announcement and wished the Superstars the best in their future endeavors:

Braun Strowman, Aleister Black, Lana, and other Superstars released

WWE has come to terms on the releases of Braun Strowman, Aleister Black, Lana, Murphy, Ruby Riott and Santana Garrett.

WWE wishes them the best in all of their future endeavors.

As noted, it had been reported earlier this week that these releases were being made due to budget cuts. These departures come after a round of talent cuts in mid-April, a round of talent cuts in mid-May, and a number of significant office/corporate departures in May that were part of a major WWE HQ restructuring.

Sting Comments On His WrestleMania Match With Triple H

Sting talked about the match in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated:

“WrestleMania is a great memory, too,” said Sting. “I know so many fans have said to me, ‘You should have won that match.’ But when you think about that WrestleMania, what do you remember about it? Hulk, Hall, Nash, and DX, that was surreal. I hope that’s what people remember.”

WWE And New Japan Pro-Wrestling Reportedly In Talks For Exclusive Partnership

According to a report from F4WOnline‘s Dave Meltzer, WWE president Nick Khan has been having talks with New Japan Pro-Wrestling about WWE becoming the promotion’s exclusive partner in the United States.

According to Meltzer, the talks have been ongoing since March or April, but there’s no status update on where things stand. If the deal would go through, the agreement would see WWE exchanging talent that would work on NJPW events. Meltzer noted that Khan is looking to change the “isolationist attitude” of WWE vs. everyone, and the move would not only re-establish WWE as part of the wrestling landscape but it would also keep New Japan from working with other companies domestically.

In recent months, New Japan has established a working relationship with IMPACT Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling, and worked with Ring Of Honor for many years. It was also recently reported that WWE has been in talks with MLW about a potential working relationship.

During a recent media call, Triple H was asked about by All Elite Wrestling partnering with IMPACT Wrestling and if WWE or NXT would be open to such a collaboration. Triple H says WWE is open for business as long as it makes sense for both sides.

“We’re open for business in a lot of ways and a lot of things,” Triple H responded. “People’s thoughts and misperceptions, their perceived knowledge of what we do and how we think is often greatly misinterpreted and not accurate. Are we open to the right business opportunities? Yeah, at any given time we’re open to things. It just depends on what they are and if they’re beneficial to us in the long-term. When I say long-term I don’t mean three months, I mean 10 years. Long-term. That’s how we think. We’re not necessarily worried about minute-by-minutes. Open for business, I think Vince says that a lot and I’ve been around him long enough that if it’s the right thing and meaningful to business, he’s open to anything.”

source: wrestlezone.com

WWE Studios Sees Layoffs As Features, TV & Digital Divisions Consolidate

Not a happy day in Stamford, CT, today as WWE had a round of layoffs that impact its film, TV and social media divisions in Connecticut and Los Angeles. Trying to find out the exact number, but WWE Studios saw layoffs in features, TV and digital/social media division Advanced Media Group. All of these operations will be consolidated into a single division, with a smaller staff running those operations.

We’ve heard the cuts were deep. The news was conveyed today by phone by president and chief revenue officer Nick Khan, who left his post as co-head of the CAA television department last summer to take the job. He was the agent for the WWE before joining the company.

source: deadline.com

Velveteen Dream Confirms WWE Release

Once believed to be one of WWE's hottest rising characters, Dream initially faced accusations of inappropriate contact with a minor on social media in March 2020. He immediately addressed the allegations, saying he was working with authorities to resolve the situation. 

A second allegation surfaced during the Speaking Out Moment when pro wrestler Joshua Fuller accused Dream of inappropriate contact with a minor, and grooming. A statement by NXT Executive Producer Paul "Triple H" Levesque claimed that WWE had looked into the claims, but found nothing. However, Dream was then only used sporadically on NXT TV until his release. 

Clark has now confirmed his departure from WWE in a lengthy post on his Instagram Story, in which he claims the allegations against him are inaccurate but derailed his push in NXT, eventually leading to his release.

The former Velveteen Dream also wrote about how he came up with the character and addressed the interactions he had with his two accusers on social media. 

The statement, on his Instagram Story, read: 

The allegations from April 20, 2020, have effectively derailed any upward momentum I had professionally. And has ultimately resulted in my termination with WWE. My name is Patrick Clark, not the Velveteen Dream. Velveteen Dream is a character that I have spent years developing and trying to bring to life. The success of the Dream character relied heavily on kayfabe, my ability to blur Patrick Clark from Tough Enough with this over-the-top personality.

The character was conceptualized the day Prince passed, April 21, 2016. I knew nothing about him at that time, but my thinking was that I could use my interpretation of Prince to create an onscreen personality vastly different from who I am as a person.

'Cue Velveteen Dream: A Sexually Ambiguous, Gender Fluid, Self Absorbed Diva. And as I learned more about Prince I began to tame certain aspects of the character. Aspects that I deemed way too over the top and inconsistent with who Prince was as a performer.

Now before I unpack, I will say, I've enjoyed the many stories I've been able to share on camera and I'm grateful to the many people who trusted me with their safety and wellness.

Thank you to any and everybody who enjoyed and allowed me to be my character, whether you paid a ticket or walked up on me in Walmart. My goal was to provide you with the same escape that I was offered when I first started watching. My job was to play a character and to help advance storylines and drama for the fans who cared to tune in. I take any job I have seriously, which is why I've remained silent about these allegations. To me addressing rumors would be working against an already compromised ability to sell a character I've invested in so heavily. After I had been accused, I was given the opportunity to be in a storyline that lasted a few months and I worked in a few segments unrelated to the story arch, but now I feel comfortable in this position to share with you the details of my accusations.

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Friday Ratings: ‘Shark Tank’ And ‘WWE Friday Night SmackDown’ Tie In Demos

ABC’s Shark Tank and Fox’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown tied in the demo wars for Friday night, with the season finale of Shark Tank edging out wrestling by virtue of its larger audience.

The Sharks in this episode included Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, Lori Greiner, Daymond John and Robert Herjavec

WWE Friday Night SmackDown had a Fatal 4-Way Intercontinental Championship match between Big E, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and Intercontinental champion Apollo Crews as its draw.

source: deadline.com