WWE Studios Doing More Faith-Based Content

WWE Studios recently applied to trademark "Clear Water Pictures." This is apparently a company set up to produce and distribute faith-based films, programming, mobile apps and other forms of content. As noted, WWE announced earlier this year that they acquired faith-based movie "The Resurrection of Gavin Stone" with Shawn Michaels, and will release it in July.

Scott Hall On Why Triple H Didn't Contact Him During Recovery, WCW Substance Abuse Angle, Road Dogg

On episode 60 of Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast, Scott Hall talked about his long road to recovery. Specifically, Hall discussed his substance abuse storyline in WCW, Triple H not contacting him during his recovery process, and Road Dogg's enviable position with WWE.

On WCW's storyline about Hall's substance abuse problems, Hall said that he told Eric Bischoff that the angle was in bad taste and it was abruptly called off when a Turner Broadcasting executive complained about it.

"Eric came to me and said, 'now, I've got this [idea]' because he was really big into all the mark stuff, all the dirt sheets that were online now and he's going, 'we'll do this [substance abuse storyline] because the word's out' and I said, 'Eric, I'll do whatever you want because I still need them big checks rolling in.' I said, 'I personally I think it's in bad taste, but you're the boss'. I said, 'I'll do it and I'll do it as good as I can even if I think it's wrong', so we went that way." Hall continued, "they went with it until it came down from the higher ups at Turner, like, 'hey, that's not funny' because everybody, unfortunately, knows someone who suffers from mental illness or addiction, so, obviously, one of those big shots in Turner had somebody in his family [struggling with such issues] and went, 'that's not funny. Stop now.'"

According to Hall, Triple H was told not to contact him during his recovery process.

"When [Triple H] contacted me about the [WWE] Hall of Fame [induction], he called me and said, 'hey, how are you doing? I wanted to reach out to you for years,' he said, 'but all the experts were saying 'no. No, let him focus on just him getting himself together, not worrying about wrestling or being somewhere or doing this. Let him focus on getting well.' So he said, 'man, I wanted to reach out to you for so long,' because one time, he did call and apparently, he said, 'oh, I just talked to Scott' and they went, 'oh, don't do that!', so then I didn't hear from him for a long time."

When asked about his involvement with talent in the WWE Performance Center, Hall suggested that Road Dogg is a great example of someone who has struggled with personal demons who has a big role in the company now. Hall explained that Road Dogg was running Smackdown tapings while Tough Enough was being shot.

"Well, the one thing that I'm happy about is like Road Dogg. And Road Dogg didn't miss many parties either and now he's like Hunter's righthand man. He's there. He was running Smackdown when the Tough Enough show was on because Vince [McMahon] and Hunter and Stephanie [McMahon], they would all go to the live Tough Enough broadcast and Road Dogg was basically calling the shots at Smackdown, which they tape on Tuesday and air Thursday, so he's running the show and he said, the last time I saw him, 'yeah, and the ratings actually went up a little bit.' He said, 'Vince pulled me aside and said, 'maybe I don't need to make Tuesdays.' I'm just saying that Road Dogg, at one time, was right there in the same category maybe as me and now he's doing great and he has a great mind!"

source: sam roberts wrestling podcast

WWE Making Changes To Medical Insurance Policy, Refusal To Cooperate Could Cause Talents To Not Work

According to PWInsider, WWE told their talents yesterday that starting on February 21, 2016, they'll be conducting random check-ups with insurance providers regarding coverage of their talents.

The checks will make sure the talents are covered, up to date, and that WWE has the correct information. The WWE mandated that their signed talents maintain their own medical coverage in May of 2011. While WWE handles in-ring related issues, the talents are required to have medical coverage for other situations.

Talents were told to take care of their medical insurance, and that if they don't, they would be moved to the inactive list until they rectified the situation.

Tribute to the Troops Results 2015

WWE Breaking Ground Recap 12/21/15

2015 Slammy Award Winners

Match of the Year

WINNER: The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar at Hell in a Cell

This Is Awesome Moment of the Year

WINNER: The Rock and Ronda Rousey confront The Authority at WrestleMania 31

Diva of the Year

WINNER: Nikki Bella

Surprise Return of the Year

WINNER: Sting returns, posing as Seth Rollins' statue, and attacks The Architect (Raw, Aug. 24)

Hero In All of Us

WINNER: John Cena

Superstar of the Year

WINNER: Seth Rollins

OMG Shocking Moment of the Year

WINNER: Kalisto's Salida del Sol through a ladder at WWE TLC

LOL Moment of the Year

WINNER: R-Truth for thinking he was in Money In the Bank

Breakout Star of the Year

WINNER: Neville

Rivalry of the Year

WINNER: The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar

Best Original WWE Network Original

WINNER: Stone Cold Podcast

Double Cross of the Year

WINNER: Damien Mizdow eliminates The Miz from the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania

Extreme Moment of the Year

WINNER: Roman Reigns levels The League of Nations and Triple H at WWE TLC

WWE Tag Team of the Year

WINNER: The Usos

Best John Cena US Open Challenge

WINNER: John Cena vs. Cesaro (Raw, July 6)

Hashtag of the Year

WINNER: #SuplexCity

Celebrity Moment of the Year

WINNER: Stephen Amell dives onto Stardust at SummerSlam

"Tell Me You Didn't Just Say That" Moment of the Year

WINNER: Brock Lesnar coins "Suplex City" at WrestleMania

Trish Stratus to receive the 2016 Iron Mike Award

TRISH STRATUS has been named the 2016 “Iron” Mike Award winner! The women’s wrestling icon becomes first female ever to win this award.

Write-up courtesy of CAC Board Member Ron Hutchison:

“On behalf of the Cauliflower Alley Club, it’s Board and Executive Board members, it is with great pride and respect that I am very pleased to announce that TRISH STRATUS has been unanimously named the recipient of the 2016 “Iron” Mike Mazurki Award!

It is the very first time in the prestigious 51 year history of the club that the “Iron” Mike Award has been presented to a woman. With women now more than ever taking to the forefront and, in many cases, leading the way in all sorts of endeavors be it politics, sports, science, entertainment and just about anything else you can name it’s fitting that Trish becomes the CAC’s first ever female “Iron” Mike award winner as Trish had shot to the forefront of the women’s professional wrestling industry and, in the process, made wrestling history in very short order since her year 2000 debut.

As well as being named the World Wrestling Federation’s Diva of the Decade, this Canadian bombshell went on to win the organization’s Hardcore Championship and held the WWE Women’s Wrestling Championship a record 7 times and in doing so cemented her legacy in the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame.

As a wrestler, fitness model, fitness guru, actress and television personality Trish’s talent, work ethic and beauty is known worldwide. She has graced the cover of no less than an astounding 100 magazines and is strongly committed to giving back to the community. She is passionate about her charity work and using her celebrity to benefit others.

As the recipient of the 2016 Iron Mike Award Trish makes history, yet again! At the 2016 CAC gathering in Las Vegas, reunion goers will see what I have been fortunate enough to bear witness to for a very long time; you’d have to search long and hard to find anybody, male or female, as passionate, as focused, as endearing, as hard-working or as deserving as TRISH STRATUS.”

Xavier Woods On Who He Wants To Help Win The WWE World Title, Big Names On UpUpDownDown?, More

WWE Tag Team Champion Xavier Woods recently spoke with Sports Illustrated's Extra Mustard blog. The full interview is at this link. He revealed the original idea for his "UpUpDownDown" YouTube gaming channel and noted that there are plans for Triple H and Vince McMahon to appear at some point in the future. He said:

"I sacrifice sleep to do it. Originally, I wanted to do a Travel Channel show. Normally, if we're staying in a town before a show, I'll go to a barcade. Those are dive bars that have tons of arcades, since there aren't a ton of arcades where kids can put quarters in games and actually have that kind of arcade experience. Barcades are for those people who lived through that generation, and I pitched a show for the [WWE] Network where I'd go to these different places each week."

Woods said WWE was interested in that idea but then it was pitched to him as a weekly online gaming site. "We merged the ideas and came up with a YouTube gaming channel," said Woods. "I always have my carrying case–it's called a GAEMS case, and has my PS4 in it and a built-in TV–and so we put together a gaming channel. The first couple episodes where me and Kofi [Kingston] playing FIFA, and the loser had to eat hot peppers. It was stuff that we were already doing, but now we're filming it and putting on a little punishment at the end. We've been branching out and connecting with other YouTubers, other arcades, and other gaming people. We're learning what's good, what's bad, the connections to use with the systems and TVs, and it's been a very eye-opening experience."

An interesting comment from the interview was Woods saying his goal is to help Kofi Kingston become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. "'Stone Cold' [Steve Austin] explained that if you're not trying to be heavyweight champion, then you're in the wrong business," said Woods. "That's interesting to me because my goal is to make sure Kofi becomes heavyweight champion. He is the guy who absolutely deserves it over anyone else in the company. My long-term goal is to help, in whatever way I can, Kofi become heavyweight champion."

Woods talked a lot more about video games, his plans for the channel, how close he is with Kofi and Big E, and more in the full interview.

WWE NXT Takeover: London Results

Mauro Ranallo Talks About Being Himself In WWE, Smackdown Having A New Identity, More

New WWE Smackdown lead announcer Mauro Ranallo recently spoke with Bleacher Report‘s Johnathan Snowden about his new career in WWE.

Ranallo talks about his move to WWE, what to expect from Smackdown in 2016, how he will integrate himself into the comapny, and much more. You can read a few excerpts below:

Mauro Ranallo on being himself with WWE:

I truly believe they hired me. And from everything I’ve heard, they want me to be me with some tweaks. That’s to be expected. No matter what job I’ve undertaken, whether it was Glory Kickboxing or Strikeforce or Pride Fighting Championships or Showtime Championship Boxing, you have to play by the rules of the company you work for.

In terms of my style, I believe they want me to be a hybrid of Michael Cole and Jim Ross, which suits me fine. I know SmackDown, moving forward in the next year, is going to be about the talented Superstars and Divas and what they can do in the ring.

Ranallo comments on Smackdown possibly getting a new identity:

I’m getting that feeling. It’s a brand-new platform, and it’s great to have both programs under one umbrella at the USA Network. I get the sense they want to make it kind of a hybrid between Raw, the flagship show with all the storylines and great performances from our Superstars in the ring, and what’s happening in NXT. That’s really been a phenomenon, and I’m a huge proponent of that style of storytelling.

I think if SmackDown can become a hybrid of the two, we’ll have a winning formula regardless of who’s on the microphone. But since it’s going to be me, I love that it’s playing to my strengths. I think they want to set us all up to succeed. It’s going to be a new look and a new sound with the move to USA on Thursday, January 7.

Does Ranallo feel any pressure making the move to WWE?

I do. But I’ve been able to call the highest levels of combat sports, whether it was mixed martial arts in Japan, which has many similarities to the pomp and pageantry of WWE or whether it was calling Floyd “Money” Mayweather pay-per-views with everything he’s borrowed from WWE and sports entertainment.

I think it’s going to benefit me that it’s happening now and not sooner. Because of my past experience, and dare I say, the credibility I might bring to the broadcast from being a legitimate combat sports announcer.

It’s sports entertainment, and I love both aspects. I’m a huge sports fan, and I’m a huge entertainment fan. As you know, I’m a bit of a ham. I am a bit of a dynamic personality and have the ability to use my vocabulary in some creative ways. I think this is a perfect fit.

WWE Breaking Ground Recap 12/14/15

Triple H Announces WWE NXT Tour Dates

Triple H announced that WWE NXT will debut in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Chicago on January 14th, 15th and 16th. He also announced NXT's return to Pittsburgh on January 29th and their Detroit debut on January 30th. Tickets for all events go on sale December 18th at 10am EST.

Detailed Recap of Last Night's WWE Network Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels Podcast

Video: Triple H helped by paramedics after being attacked by Roman Reigns

NJPW On AXS Announcer Heading Up WWE SmackDown Announce Team In January

In a pretty big WWE announcing move, highly regarded play-by-play announcer Mauro Ranallo will be introduced as the new Smackdown lead announcer, according to Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated, who first reported the news.

In his column, Deitsch says that WWE play-by-play announcer Michael Cole is the one who helped get Mauro Ranallo the gig.

In an interview with SI.com on Friday, Ranallo said Cole, who handles broadcast talent development for the WWE in addition to on-air work, emailed him about a month ago to inquire about his interest in working with the company. Ranallo then sent the WWE some of his broadcast work, including a promotional vehicle he did for Berkshire Hathaway shareholders where Ranallo called a mock fight between billionaire Warren Buffett and Floyd Mayweather. (This was no low-end production: The video was directed by Animal House director John Landis.) The WWE brass, including chairman Vince McMahon, (were) impressed. "This was an opportunity I did not think I would get at this point of my career and I jumped on it," Ranallo said. "I have been a lifelong fan of the product. Michael said that when Vince saw the Warren Buffet video, it seemed to cinch it. They believed I could sell the entertainment part."

Ranallo has been praised for his work in pro wrestling, MMA, boxing and kickboxing, widely regarded as one of the best announcers in the business. He'll be taking over when Smackdown moves to USA on January 7. He'll retain his roles with GLORY Kickboxing and Showtime Boxing.

ROH Announces Agreement With Pro Wrestling Guerrilla

Ring of Honor Wrestling announced today that they've entered into a strategic agreement with Pro Wrestling Guerrilla that enables exclusively contracted stars to compete on a select number of PWG shows per year in California.

ROH and NJPW have been developing a significant global relationship for the past two years and now ROH will work with PWG on the west coast of the United States.

"PWG is a fantastic company in California that both our fans and stars have always been passionate about," said Joe Koff. "As we continue to grow the ROH brand and enter into exclusive agreements with our talent, we want all fans to continue enjoying the performance of the ROH stars in PWG. This alliance is great for both of our companies, the talent, and most importantly – The FANS."

With this agreement, wrestling fans can look forward to seeing stars such as Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, The Young Bucks, etc. compete at PWG shows, demonstrating to the West Coast why Ring of Honor is the best wrestling on the planet.

Kimber Lee Soaks In Historic Victory

Back on July 13, WWE launched what it called a “divas revolution.”

Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch made the jump from NXT, WWE’s popular developmental territory, to its main roster. On NXT, Banks, Charlotte and Lynch, along with Bayley, broke down barriers for women’s wrestling by earning the same billing as the men by showcasing their in-ring prowess and captivating characters.

When the trio made finally made its way up to WWE, it created a buzz among the wrestling community, as it signaled what was supposed to be a shift in how WWE presented women’s wrestling from an uncoordinated cat fight to a technical showcase of skill that rivaled the quality of men’s matches.

While WWE considered what is was doing revolutionary, it wasn’t necessarily historic. Sure, Banks and Bayley became the first women to headline a WWE special event, but that was in NXT, not on one of WWE’s main shows.

However, something truly historic did occur at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on Dec. 5.

On that night, Seattle native and University of the Arts graduate Kimber Lee captured the CHIKARA Grand championship at the company’s season finale, Top Banana.

With the victory, Lee (or Princess KimberLee in CHIKARA) became the first woman to win the primary championship of a non-female promotion in the history of professional wrestling in the United States.

More?

Bill Behrens on How WWE Signed Samoa Joe, Indy vs. Television Wrestling

WWE signing Samoa Joe:

Samoa Joe was working with me as he went to them and for example the deals that NXT did prior to him for Prince Devitt and El Generico and for the other people they were taking from Ring of Honor or from overseas, the thought process of when they signed those people changed dramatically when they then evaluated Samoa Joe. When they did Joe, Joe had three of four deals change over a two to three week period as they continued to evaluate what are we really trying to do here and what’s our goals for NXT. How do we get people to pay attention to the product and be big enough that we don’t piss Vince off but stay small enough where we could be the rebel or outcast league but still present the big screen, the lights, the music playing but a little bit more of an intimate environment in terms of presentation. In essence, that’s a Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla a more “Indy” feel. NXT started from we are going to be like those guys and yet not be offensive to the WWE product yet still be the cool kid.

Indy wrestling versus television wrestling:

The overall atmosphere of professional wrestling right now is as vibrant and active then any time that I’ve been involved in it and I’ve been involved in it since the late 80s – early 90s, the tail end of the territory era and when TV or larger companies consolidating the TV became the norm and the Indy companies were struggling. There are more people now putting on good shows that draw hundreds then there were back in the end of the 1990s when there were just a few. My Music City Wrestling which became NWA Worldwide in Nashville that I did with Bert Prentice was one of the few that was actually drawing numbers and had a local TV show. There has been a big transition. More people are bellying up that have a chance of actually paying people. Lucha Underground which is a television company almost exclusively right now is still providing good money to their top people, I’m privy to their contracts. Ring of Honor is now really stepping up and providing good money. New Japan partnering with Ring of Honor has now built Ring of Honor and New Japan simultaneously into this much more International entity with footprints outside of their backyards. Whether Global Force Wrestling becomes that is unknown because they don’t have much to announce but then there is the Paragon’s of the world who are buying there way onto television with a roster that is underwhelming at best. You have to look at it as are they doing it as a step forward in the wrestling business or because they just wanted to be on TV?

WWE to start online streaming in Japan

World Wrestling Entertainment, the U.S.'s largest pro wrestling and entertainment company, on Jan. 5 will start a streaming service in Japan.

WWE Network will allow Japanese Internet users to view unlimited hours of professional wrestling, including live matches, for $9.99 a month.

Until now, WWE fans in the country have had to subscribe to satellite or cable TV services to catch matches.

Even events that are billed as pay-per-view elsewhere will be available at no additional cost.

Subscribers will also have on-demand access to more than 4,000 hours of past and current WWE footage as well as to video of events put on by now defunct wrestling organizations. The library includes matches involving legendary stars.

The streaming service will be offered in English. But, George Barrios, the WWE's chief strategy and financial officer, said, "over time we will decide if it makes sense for us to translate some of the content" into Japanese.

The WWE Network will also feature matches from the NXT circuit, a stable of up-and-coming athletes that includes Japanese wrestlers Hideo Itami and Asuka, a female wrestler.

The network started streaming in the U.S. in February 2014, then began expanding abroad that summer. The WWE Network currently has some 1.3 million subscribers, around 20% of whom live outside the U.S., according to Barrios.

The WWE Network ranks fifth among U.S. online streaming services, after Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and Major League Baseball's MLB.TV, according to Parks Associates, a market research and consulting company.

Barrios is upbeat about the service's potential in Japan. "Japan has a long wrestling tradition," he said. "We have a very loyal and passionate fan base. Japan is very, very important for our global strategy."

Rumor Mill - Daniel Bryan Claims WWE Have Asked Him To Be An Announcer Or Trainer

Daniel Bryan claims he has been offered the chance to be an announcer, or trainer at the WWE Performance Center.

The four-time World Champion’s future has been up in the air in recent times, with WWE’s medical teams refusing to allow him to get back into the ring – even though he has been given the all clear by his own personal doctor. It seems that Vince McMahon et al see his future away from being a competitor between the ropes.

The leader of the Yes movement spoke to Singaporean publication PassThePopcorn while on a promotional tour where he claimed to have been offered a new role.

“They [WWE] asked me a bunch of stuff of what I’d like to do like announce or be a trainer at NXT,” said Bryan. “I’m sure at some point in my life I would, but right now it would be too soon.”

If he was to be refused a return to the ring, Bryan has previously said that he could leave for pastures new. Singapore based The New Paper ran an interview with D-Bry where he said: “I think it could be the end of my career in WWE, but I don’t think it will be the end of my career.”

Given what a draw he is now, this would presumably mean a return to Japan as neither ROH, TNA and the like could afford him. At the end of the day WWE are looking out for one of their biggest star’s health. Even though you probably want to, you can’t begrudge them for that.

Triple H & Stephanie McMahon at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

Happy to have @TripleH join me as I represent @ChildrensPgh Board of Trustees & help give kids a chance to be kids. pic.twitter.com/7SBX1lNzrl

— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) December 10, 2015

Stephanie sits on the Board of Directors.

Triple H Addresses Fan Frustration with the Current WWE Product, Explains Why Talents Like Finn Balor Are Not on the Main Roster, More

Triple H conducted an NXT Takeover London media conference call today, and the following are some more highlights from the call. You can listen to the full call audio in the player below.

On fan frustration with the current WWE TV product:

“We just have to become more disciplined and more Creative with how we do things, and how we operate the shows. We’ve had some unfortunate situations with injuries and everything else. It’s on us to be more creative and come up with a better format; a better show. We hear people’s frustrations and in a lot of ways feel the same way. It’s fixing it. And, trying to fix it. It is what it is. How we fix it, we’re not 100 percent sure yet. But, we will get there. Trust me.”

WZ Daily host Nick Hausman asked Hunter why talents like Finn Balor have yet to be called up to the main WWE roster, and Triple H responded with the following:

“The thing that I hate doing is, ‘Well, there’s a lot of injuries right now, so we’re going to pull this guy up,’ but then the injured guys will come back and then we’re not sure what we’ll do – now we have too many guys for the space.

I hate taking a guy as talented as Finn Balor and saying, ‘You’re the band-aid to hold us over until all these other guys come back and then we’ll see from there.’ If we don’t have that gameplan for when we call these guys up, especially for a Finn Balor, then it’s not the right time. You need to have something in your mind, and hopefully a long-term plan in place that gets them to where you want them to be. At least that would be the goal for me when guys come up.”

Stephanie McMahon And Others Nominated For Award

Stephanie McMahon, The Big Show, John Cena, Nikki Bella, Roman Reigns and Titus O'Neil are the WWE stars nominated for the 2015 Celebs Gone Good Awards. Stephanie commented on her nomination on Twitter, writing:

Nothing is more important than giving back. I’m proud to be nominated for @dosomething’s #CelebsGoneGood list. pic.twitter.com/Oom059SoEk

— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) December 10, 2015

WWE Breaking Ground Recap 12/07/15

Triple H Announces Warrior Book Contest

Everyone has a favorite Warrior Moment...send yours using #WarriorBook and you can win an exclusive signed copy. pic.twitter.com/Gj0i8zh7gH

— Triple H (@TripleH) December 7, 2015

Woman Wins CHIKARA Title

This past weekend at Chikara's Top Banana event, Kimber Lee made history by becoming the first woman to win the CHIKARA Grand Championship.

UFC President Dana White Announces a Reality Series Will Determine CM Punk’s First UFC Opponent, Watch the Pilot Episode

UFC President Dana White did an interview yesterday with TSN in Canada, and during the interview White revealed he will be using a reality series he is currently filming to scout potential opponents for former WWE Champion CM Punk’s first UFC fight in 2016. You can currently check out the pilot for the series in the video below, and White offered the following comment on the series:

“I just started a new show, the pilot is on YouTube, it’s called ‘Dana White Looking for a Fight’ and I’m actually out looking for opponents for CM Punk right now.”

WWE teams with Junk Food Clothing Co. for new apparel lines

The pair has launched a range of WWE graphic t-shirts and hoodies inspired by WWE Superstars and Legends from the entertainment company’s history.

Global wrestling brand, WWE has partnered with Junk Food Clothing Co. to deliver a new collection of licensed apparel.

Under the partnership, the pair has launched a range of WWE graphic t-shirts and hoodies inspired by WWE Superstars and Legends from the entertainment company’s history.

Launching over the holiday season in the US, the collection marks the first time Junk Food Clothing Co. has worked with WWE.

The line now joins a growing roster of licensed properties in the firm’s portfolio, featuring alongside the likes of NFL, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Marvel.

NBC/Universal Issues Statement About Declining WWE Ratings

Following an article by the The New York Post looking at WWE’s ratings decline titled “Is WWE down for the count?,” WWE’s broadcasting partner has issued a statement in defense of the company. A rep for NBC/Universal issued the following statement to the outlet:

“WWE programming delivers one of the most massive live audiences in cable on a weekly basis and is consistently a top performer for our networks.”

It’s worth noting that the Post article did state that despite the fact that ratings are down, WWE’s stock is up 41% year-to-year.

Video: Triple H & Stephanie McMahon Bring WWE Smackdown To USA

FOX News Looks At WWE Ratings Decline

FOX News ran a story here with Diana Falzone looking at the recent WWE ratings decline. She asked if WWE had writer's block and if the ratings drop was due to weaker storylines, stating that RAW "has declined by 50% since 2015." That's a little exaggerated. If you were to take the highest rated episode of RAW this year - the post-WrestleMania 31 show which garnered a 3.68 rating with 5.267 million viewers - and last week's record-low 2.21 rating with 2.7 million viewers, then that would be a 41% drop in the rating and a 49% drop in the audience. However, the audience for that episode was significantly higher than any other show this year. Really the average audience for the show was around 3.8 million viewers before football season started (including the post-Mania show), and around 3 million viewers since, a drop of about 21%. Without the post-Mania show, it's a 19% drop. Still not good by any means, but it's not quite as drastic as what is presented in the story, at least for the year

WWE Studios Announces Partnership and Will Release Multiple Films, Recording Artist to Star in a WWE Movie

WWE has released the following:

WWE STUDIOS AND CODEBLACK FILMS LOCK MULTI-PICTURE CO-PRODUCTION DEAL

Trey Songz to Star in First Title BROTHER’S BLOOD

WWE Studios and CodeblackFilms, a Lionsgate company, today announced a partnership to co-produce and co-finance a slate of films, starting with the gritty action thriller, Brother’s Blood. Trey Songz (Baggage Claim, Texas Chainsaw 3D) is set to star and John Pogue (The Quiet Ones) will direct the film, which is written by Michael Finch (Hitman: Agent 47, The November Man), Karl Gajdusek (Oblivion, Trespass) and Charles Murray (Sons of Anarchy, Castle, Criminal Minds).

Brother’s Blood takes place on the mean streets of a city in decay, where a recently released convict begins to take murderous revenge against his childhood friends, whom he believes let him take the fall for a crime they collectively committed. As the bodies start piling up, one of the friends, now a cop, will stop at nothing to put an end to the murderous rampage and to right the many wrongs of their tragically violent past.

“We look forward to working with Codeblack and expanding our tremendous relationship with Lionsgate,” said Michael Luisi, President of WWE Studios. “John Pogue and Trey Songz are exceptionally talented artists and the ideal creative team to shepherd our first co-production with Codeblack.”

More?