WWE, Barclays Center and iHeartMedia have announced that the first WWE SummerSlam Concert will take place Thursday, Aug. 18, at 7 p.m. ET at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, with proceeds benefiting Connor’s Cure, a fund to help further pediatric cancer research.
Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com!
The announcement was made by Stephanie McMahon on "Elvis Duran and the Morning Show."
The concert, headlined by hip-hop recording artist Flo Rida and international pop superstar Jason Derulo, is part of WWE’s week-long lineup of events, including interactive fan experiences and community outreach programs, culminating with SummerSlam on Sunday, Aug. 21, at 7 p.m. ET from a sold-out Barclays Center and live on WWE Network around the world.
The WWE SummerSlam Concert will also include performances by recording artist Daya and emerging hip hop recording artist Jordan Hollywood, as well as appearances by Stephanie McMahon, Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles, The New Day, Nikki & Brie Bella, Big Show, The Miz & Maryse, R-Truth, Charlotte, Dana Brooke, Jimmy & Jey Uso, and Naomi.
A portion of proceeds from the concert will benefit Connor’s Cure, and be distributed to leading research centers and hospitals nationwide. In 2014, Connor’s Cure was created by McMahon and Levesque as a fund within Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation to support pediatric brain and spinal cord cancer research. Earlier this year, WWE and The V Foundation announced a partnership to expand Connor’s Cure outside of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation and support cancer research nationally.
"I’m definitely honored to be a part of this spectacular event with my WWE family,” said Flo Rida. “They have been there from day one, and I truly appreciate the opportunity to perform for all my WWE fans."
July 29, 2016
Flo Rida to headline SummerSlam concert to benefit Connor's Cure
July 28, 2016
Vince McMahon credits NXT success for WWE brand split
During a conference call on Thursday, and in a move that may come as a surprise to some, he threw a lot of praise the way of NXT while he was talking about the brand split and why it came about once again.
Asked what the rationale was for going back to a brand split, McMahon replied, “We have a plethora of talent from Paul Levesque’s influence on NXT.”
McMahon said when you have too much talent, you can’t exploit it. So, the option is to take the talent and develop two distinct brands.
McMahon said they did it before with success until they “ran out of talent.” He said now WWE “won’t run out of talent with the Performance Center.”
There are people out there that don’t believe the boss even knows what NXT is or the majority of the talent that’s working there, but apparently the rousing success of the “third brand” has caught his eye. Actually, for more evidence of this, you need not look any further than the way that Finn Balor was booked during his debut on Monday night, earning himself a main event slot at SummerSlam.
NXT certainly has come a long way since Triple H started the journey of making it its own brand, but they are definitely reaping the benefits, especially if Vince McMahon is changing his whole model because of their success.
WWE Brain Injury Class Action Lawsuit Update
WWE scored a partial victory in the brain injury lawsuit brought by Evan Singleton (f.k.a. Adam Mercer), Vito LoGrasso, and others, as the United States District Court of the District of Connecticut granted, in part, the professional wrestling promotion's Motion for Reconsideration. The move enables WWE to revive its countersuit against four other professional wrestlers who threatened to bring personal injury claims against the company last year. The suit is similar to the one filed earlier this month with 53 former WWE talents claiming that the WWE was responsible for neurological injuries they suffered from their time with the company.
Earlier this year, the Court rejected all but one of Singleton and LoGrasso's claims against WWE and ruled that it would only hear arguments regarding whether WWE failed to disclose to its performers the link between head trauma and permanent degenerative neurological conditions. Arguably, fraudulently omitting such pertinent information could have influenced the decision-making of the performers as to whether to enter and re-enter the squared circle, which, in turn, could be sufficient grounds to suspend Connecticut's statute of limitations.
In its Motion for Reconsideration, WWE stated that the threatened claims should be barred by the statute of limitations in the same way that the claims of the plaintiffs in the cases, as well as any of the so-called 'John Doe' who may bring claims.
The litigating professional wrestlers responded by arguing that their threatened causes of action did not give rise to federal jurisdiction over the countersuit. The Court disagreed with this position and dismissed only the claims against the 'John Doe' litigants.
WWE Releases Popular Tough Enough Talent
According to Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet, “Tough Enough” star ZZ Loupe was released from his WWE contract earlier today.
No word at this point on what caused WWE to release Loupe, but he had recently made his live event debut in a match against Oney Lorcan, and even got the win in the match.
Loupe participated in the last season of “Tough Enough”, and although he was popular amongst fans of the show, he ended up losing the contest to Josh Bredl, who currently competes in WWE NXT under the ring name Bronson Mathews.
WWE's Second Quarter 2016 Earnings Call Recap With Vince McMahon - Brand Split, WWE Network, More
WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, Chief Strategy and Financial Officer George Barrios and SVP Financial Planning & Investor Relations Michael Weitz are hosting a Second Quarter 2016 earnings call today from WWE headquarters in Stamford. Below are highlights:
* Weitz opens the call and welcomes everyone, then gives the introduction
* Vince says they are pleased with the execution of their strategy when it comes to optimizing the value of their content. He touts record revenues announced this morning. He brought up the brand extension and touted the high rating for the WWE Draft. Vince says the brand extension is working extremely well right now and touted the competitive nature of RAW and SmackDown. He's really proud of the 7.7 billion video views on social and digital platforms for the first half of the year. Vince says people are watching and enjoying them, whether it be on traditional TV, the WWE Network or other platforms. He also commented on the new TV deal in China, saying they are proud of that and hoping for a lot of growth there. Vince hands the call over to Barrios
* None of the growth from last year is being credited to WrestleMania 32, which fell in this quarter. Slides showing separate breakdowns with and without WrestleMania numbers were included for investors
* WWE Network launched in 6 new countries in the past year and revenue was up $7.7 million from this time in 2015
* They confirmed that they have purchased the building that houses the WWE TV studios in Stamford. The purchase will be completed next quarter
* Now it's time for questions
* Regarding why they did the brand extension, Vince said they have a plethora of talent due to Triple H's influence in WWE NXT and the Performance Center. Vince said you can't just exploit all that intellectual property when you have it, so they went with the two brands. He says this allows them to have more pay-per-views, more live events and more income. He also touted more talent personalities, which opens up the door for more licensing opportunities. He called it a really big move on revenue and the brand in general
* It's too early to tell if the brand extension is increasing Network subscription but they are excited about the split and hope it will improve business all across the company
* They have 150,000 hours of content on the WWE Network but aren't sure if all 150,000 will ever be available. They will have 6,000 hours of content on the Network before the end of this year
* Regarding a possible sale of the company, Barrios said they are always open to listening to ideas if that's what is best for fans and employees
Updated WWE Network Subscriber Count
WWE reported record revenue in their Q2 2016 financial results this morning.
WWE reported today that the WWE Network averaged 1.52 million paid subscribers during the second quarter of this year. It is a 4.5 % increase from the previously announced 1.454 million paid subscribers the day after WrestleMania 32.
WWE is projecting 1.49 million paid subscribers for Q3 2016.
Concussion lawsuit should be slammed, says former professional wrestler
When done properly, professional wrestling should look violent, but actually be safe for the performers getting punched, kicked, body slammed and suplexed in the ring.
That's why former professional wrestler Lance Storm says a lawsuit filed against World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) by more than 50 former wrestlers is "frivolous" and "unfounded."
"At the end of the day, pro wrestling is designed to be a non-contact sport in a way," he told the Calgary Eyeopener.
"It's not a true competitive sport, it's a performance art and when you do the job properly, you don't actually hit people very hard."
As well, many of those named as plaintiffs in the class-action suit — including former superstars like King Kong Bundy, Road Warrior Animal, Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff and Jimmy Superfly Snuka — only spent a portion of their careers with the WWE, said Storm.
"I've looked at the list and there's a few people that it wouldn't surprise me if they are suffering because they did a very reckless, dangerous style," he said.
"There's people on this list that are third generation, their grandfather did it, their father did it and they wrestled for upwards of a decade before they got to the WWE, I don't know how you can dump that on the company."
The NFL recently settled a similar suit for $1 billion and a group of more than 100 former NHL players are suing the league.
A pro wrestler for 25 years, Storm spent four years in the WWE and now runs Storm Wrestling Academy in Calgary, training the next generations of superstars. His latest class graduated Friday and Storm's school is fully booked until the spring of 2017.
During his career, Storm was never diagnosed with a concussion and he teaches his students to work the same way.
"I can think of one time that I banged my head really hard, that I'm like, that was probably a concussion," he said.
"I didn't suffer side effects from it, I guess I'm lucky I've got a hard head."
Even though he's never been diagnosed with one, Storm has been part of a long-term study on the effects of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, for the last eight years, run by the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
"I've donated my brain and my brain stem to them and I'm part of a legends study where each year I fill out an online survey then do a phone interview where they basically give me an impact test, which is what they do to determine concussion, whether you've recovered from one or not. It's an ongoing study to see if my mood changes, my memory, my cognitive function."
One reason he wanted to take part, said Storm, is because he's never abused alcohol or drugs, so will be a good baseline of sorts.
"There's a lot of drugs and alcohol involved in sport and we don't know what role that plays in addition to concussions," he said.
"They've got football players, they've got basketball players, they've got wrestlers. I was someone that never drank and never did drugs of any kind, so when they're doing this study, if my results are different than other athletes that suffered the similar physical symptoms, then perhaps the results could be compounded or due more to the drugs and alcohol and lifestyle of professional athletes."
July 27, 2016
Brock Lesnar: No WWE Punishment ... for Failed UFC Drug Tests
Brock Lesnar will NOT be disciplined by the WWE for his UFC 200 drug test failures ... and WILL perform at SummerSlam as planned ... TMZ Sports has learned.
A WWE spokesperson tells us ... only full-time WWE performers are subject to the organization's wellness policy, which prohibits PEDs ... but since Brock isn't a full-time performer, he's essentially exempt.
"WWE’s talent wellness program does not apply to part-time performers such as Brock Lesnar," the spokesperson said.
We confirmed with the WWE that Brock has only performed in 19 matches over the past 3 years (4 in '14, 8 in '15, 7 in '16) ... and that the average full-time WWE superstar wrestles more than 200 matches per year.
One well-connected source broke down the situation like this -- WWE is show business, not a regulated athletic competition ... and the wellness program is only designed to keep the "full-time" performers healthy.
Bottom line -- Brock will be in the squared circle on August 21st ... no matter what happens to him in the UFC.
July 26, 2016
Shelton Benjamin is returning to WWE after six-year absence
One of the most athletically gifted and underrated WWE stars of the last decade is making a comeback. After six years wrestling in Japan and on the independent circuit after leaving WWE in 2010, former three-time Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin is making a return.
Benjamin's comeback was announced in a promo on SmackDown Live Tuesday.
Multichannel News names Stephanie McMahon to their annual '40 under 40' list
WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon has been named to Multichannel News' "40 under 40" list of executives making an impact under 40 years old.
The 11th annual "40 under 40" list honrs a wide range of executives from various telecommunicatons backgrounds that have made an impact within their industry.
This year's list highlights McMahon's accomplishments as Chief Brand Officer but also throughout her career at WWE and the success she had brought to various departments. Additionally, the "40 under 40" list points out McMahon's work outside of WWE, such as establishing Connor's Cure for pediatric cancer research and being one of nine U.S. leaders chosen for the Eisenhower Fellowship led by General Colin Powell.
Earlier this year, McMahon was honored by Multichannel News as one of cable and telecommunications' Wonder Women. The Wonder Women Award honors female executives at the forefront of cable television and communications.
When asked by Multichannel News what she liked best about her job, McMahon said: “The opportunity to engage with the families who watch our programming and see the smiles on their faces as we create memories that will last a lifetime.”
July 25, 2016
Sasha Banks Wins WWE Women's Championship On Raw
Sasha Banks defeated Charlotte to become the brand new WWE Women's Champion.
The match was dubbed by Raw announcer Michael Cole as "what was likely the true main event of the evening."
This win marks Sasha's first reign as champion.
Finn Balor Debuts On Raw
Former WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor made his WWE RAW main roster debut on tonight's show from Pittsburgh and moved one step closer to becoming the first-ever WWE Universal Champion.
Balor won a Fatal 4 Way over Kevin Owens, Cesaro and WWE United States Champion Rusev, who he pinned after a Coup de Grace. Balor will now work the RAW main event against the winner of another Fatal 4 Way with the winner facing Seth Rollins for the brand new Universal Title at SummerSlam.
Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley announce the creation of the WWE Universal Championship
With Dean Ambrose’s WWE World Championship taking up residence as the in-house title of SmackDown Live, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and General Manager Mick Foley opened their first show of the New Era by announcing the creation of the WWE Universal Championship, the first recipient of which will be decided at SummerSlam.
McMahon and Foley confirmed former WWE World Champion and first overall WWE Draft pick Seth Rollins as one of the Superstars who will contend for the new title at The Biggest Event of the Summer; The Architect’s opponent will be decided in Raw’s main event, which will be contested between the winners of two Fatal 4-Way Matches held throughout the course of the night.
Nia Jax Makes Raw Debut
Former WWE NXT Superstar Nia Jax made her RAW main roster debut on tonight's show from Pittsburgh. She defeated indie wrestler Britt Baker from AIW in a squash match.
July 24, 2016
Bayley's WWE Battleground Debut a "One Time Thing"
Sasha Banks blew the roof off a sold out Verizon Center in Washington D.C. tonight at WWE Battleground when she revealed NXT Superstar Bayley as her surprise partner to take on the team of WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte, and Dana Brooke.
Bayley later revealed that tonight’s appearance was “just a one time thing”, and that her main goal right now is staying focused on reclaiming the NXT Women’s title. While anything can and will happen in WWE, it would appear that the resident “Hugger” of NXT will be staying put in the hybrid developmental program for the time being.
Right now it looks like the company wants to keep all their major stars in place for next month’s NXT Takeover: Back to Brooklyn special, where Bayley will face Asuke for the women’s title, and Joe will defend against Nakamura. The crew will also be doing a big southern tour kicking off this week, and traditionally when NXT leaves the Florida area it’s an “all hands on deck” situation as they need all their major stars to sell tickets, make the promotional rounds and drive merch sales. Several reports have indicated that WWE is looking to do another round of call-ups in September or October after their current schedule dies down.
UFC Will Not Fine Brock Lesnar For Failed Drug Tests, Bonuses May Not Be Touched
Fines Brock Lesnar potentially faces for reportedly testing positive for clomiphene in drug tests related to his fight at UFC 200 will have to come from the Nevada Athletic Commission, and not from UFC itself.
According to an article by Marc Raimondi on MMAFighting.com, UFC vice president of public relations Dave Sholler stated the MMA promotion will not be fining Lesnar. Any fines will be left up to the state athletic commission.
The Nevada Athletic Commission's guidelines state the penalty for a first violation of its drug policy related to the use of anabolic steroids is 50 to 70 percent of the participant's purse. Whether or not the NSAC categorizes clomiphene as an anabolic steroid, its guidelines state, "We will continue to follow WADA's Prohibited List, for both prohibited substances and prohibited methodologies."
Clomiphene is specifically named as a prohibited substance by WADA. None of the other three drug categories in the NSAC guidelines (sedatives, diuretics, stimulants) seem like a more accurate fit for clomiphene.
Lesnar's publicly-disclosed purse for fighting Mark Hunt at UFC 200 was $2.5 million. He's likely due even more in pay-per-view bonuses. MMAFighting.com says the money Lesnar made beyond his disclosed purse is likely to go untouched. A fine on 50 to 70 percent of $2.5 million would come out to $1.25 million to $1.875 million.
It's unclear yet whether WWE, which he's under contract to, will take any action to penalize Lesnar.
Donald Trump Talks RNC Entrance, McMahon, WWE on Meet The Press
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump sat down with Chuck Todd, moderator of “Meet the Press” on NBC, in the first network interview since the Republican National Convention. Trump, a WWE Hall of Famer, discussed his RNC entrance and the reaction from WWE Chairman and CEO Vincent Kennedy McMahon.
CHUCK TODD:
Let me tell you, you bring up Thursday night. I've got to ask you about your entrance. Before we get to Thursday, that Monday night entrance was something else. I know you’ve gotten a lot of feedback on it.
DONALD TRUMP:
I think I'm a little bit lucky, and a couple of people had that idea, and I went along with the idea. And everything just worked right. And it was so good that they wanted to do it on Thursday night. I said, “Never in a million years, because you’ll never get it that way again.”
CHUCK TODD:
I don't think I've seen that even on WWE.
DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah, I know. Well, Vincent’s a good friend of mine. He called me. He said, “That was a very, very good entrance.” But I didn’t want to do it a second time, because, you know, it never works out the second time.
And yes, it has been done before...
Excerpt courtesy NBC News - “Meet The Press”
