Former WWE Co-Presidents George Barrios And Michelle Wilson Launch New Company

Former WWE Co-Presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson have announced their new company, Isos Capital Management. Barrios and Wilson, who were released from their WWE jobs on January 30 of last year, will identify & execute attractive investment opportunities in global media, sports and entertainment industries with the new venture. "Global connectivity has unleashed unprecedented disruption in content creation, distribution and consumption. The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated these changes and requires a new strategic framework for success," Barrios said in a press release. "Against this backdrop, Michelle and I see unique opportunities for growth and value creation across the media, entertainment and sports ecosystem." Barrios and Wilson both started with WWE in 2008, and worked their ways up to Co-President until their departures in January of last year. The Isos announcement noted how they worked together in WWE, building the company "into one of the most successful multi-platform media businesses in the world across traditional, digital, social and direct-to-consumer media platforms. Working together for more than 11 years, Barrios and Wilson's expertise in strategic transformations and value creation led to record revenue, profit and market capitalization." "There is no better time to invest in the industry and we believe Isos offers a distinct advantage in the marketplace. We are a firm built by operators for operators, and we bring proven strategies and innovative thinking to help media, entertainment and sports companies win in the long term," Wilson said in the press release. "George and I have worked together for more than a decade and have demonstrated how to achieve game-changing results in an evolving landscape. We look forward to utilizing our experience, insights, network and capital to partner with management teams to accelerate growth and better meet consumer needs." Below is the full press release issued today on Isos Capital Management, which is based in Westport, CT, about 20 minutes from WWE HQ in Stamford, CT: Media and Entertainment Executives George Barrios and Michelle Wilson Announce the Formation of Isos Capital Management Firm Uniquely Positioned to Identify and Execute on Attractive Investment Opportunities in the Global Media, Entertainment and Sports Industries WESTPORT, Conn., Jan. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Media and Entertainment executives George Barrios and Michelle Wilson today announced the formation of Isos Capital Management ("Isos" or the "Firm") to identify and execute on attractive investment opportunities leveraging their unique operating experience, insights and network. The Isos Co-Founders plan to invest in businesses that fit their thesis of mega trends shaping the industry and provide value creation through brand growth, digital transformation and globalization. Isos will target early, growth and late stage media, entertainment and sports companies and will consider a variety of investment vehicles. Mr. Barrios and Ms. Wilson bring deep industry experience having worked at leading global companies in the media and sports industries including the National Basketball Association, Time Warner, HBO, The New York Times and the United States Tennis Association. Most recently, they served as Co-Presidents of WWE, Inc. ("WWE") where they co-led the company's day-to-day operations and strategy, building WWE into one of the most successful multi-platform media businesses in the world across traditional, digital, social and direct-to-consumer media platforms. Working together for more than 11 years, Barrios and Wilson's expertise in strategic transformations and value creation led to record revenue, profit and market capitalization. "Global connectivity has unleashed unprecedented disruption in content creation, distribution and consumption. The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated these changes and requires a new strategic framework for success," said Mr. Barrios. "Against this backdrop, Michelle and I see unique opportunities for growth and value creation across the media, entertainment and sports ecosystem." "There is no better time to invest in the industry and we believe Isos offers a distinct advantage in the marketplace. We are a firm built by operators for operators, and we bring proven strategies and innovative thinking to help media, entertainment and sports companies win in the long term," said Ms. Wilson. "George and I have worked together for more than a decade and have demonstrated how to achieve game-changing results in an evolving landscape. We look forward to utilizing our experience, insights, network and capital to partner with management teams to accelerate growth and better meet consumer needs."

Triple H Discusses His Most Challenging Year In WWE

On the latest episode of WWE's The Bump, the panel brought on Triple H to talk about his memories of the Royal Rumble and which moments in those pay-per-views stood out to him. The first Rumble they look back on was his triumphant return back in 2002, when he suffered an eight-month quad injury, which almost cost him his in-ring career. For the former nine-time WWE Champion, this moment 19 years ago solidified where exactly he stood in the company. "It's hard to sort of put into words the journey at that point in time because, you know, there was a high probability I might've not been able to wrestle again," Triple H stated on his 2002 Royal Rumble return. "Coming back and having the return I did at Madison Square Garden, and the reaction I got was great. The challenge was: How do you capitalize on that? So, to come back at the Royal Rumble, there's so much meaning there. Not only from a performer's standpoint but from an athlete's standpoint of the validation to be able to do this still." In this exact match, Triple H recalls the excitement he felt from the crowd when his mentor Mr. Perfect made his entrance at the event. "It was awesome! For me, as a fan, Curt was one of the best in-ring performers ever," he replied. "When I came to WWE at the time, and Curt sort of being in his first management position, [he] helped me get [towards] the Intercontinental title. After leaving WWE to go to WCW and then returning later, it was a weird full-circle moment. To see him in that spot and the reaction he got, that was awesome." Last month, the wrestling community lost one of its influential minds in the business when Pat Patterson passed away at 79 years old. With Patterson's vision of the Royal Rumble living up to the hype since it first started in 1988, Triple H credits the inaugural Intercontinental Champion for his contributions in this annual event. "[The] Rumble is one of those great matches where it can last the length of time that it does. And every couple of minutes, there's this surprise every time. Sometimes, those surprises are underwhelming. Sometimes they're those 'Oh, my God' moments," he began. "They are a lot of fun to put together because of those moments because you're constantly looking at how you can get that excitement level. But that's the genesis thing that Pat Patterson put together. Pat was the concept creator of the Rumble." When he made his return back to being a full-time in-ring performer in 2016, Triple H admits that year was the most challenging part of his overall career. "Absolutely, because it was completely out of the blue and completely unplanned in a way," he noted. "There was a moment in time with injuries and everything that was happening in the company where, you know, I sort of got to a place in my career where Vince [McMahon] would joke that I was the in case of an emergency, break glass [guy]. So, I'd be sitting there with my trunks on. He'd tell me, 'Ok. You're my in case of an emergency guy, we're breaking the glass, and here's what we're going to do.' And you're like, 'Oh, my God.' "I don't believe I've ever done anything harder in my career than have moments where you don't wrestle for an entire year or a long, long period of time. Then you come out and do whatever it is at the highest level, you know, to try to add to the stuff you've done without letting others or yourself down. It's really one of the most difficult challenges I've ever faced. The pressure was immense." Throughout the month, The Bump will ask their guests which moments in Royal Rumble history were their favorites to participate in or to watch. For Triple H, he says the very first Rumble he participated in will forever be his favorite because of the interaction he got to have with Dory Funk Jr. "It's funny. There are moments for me in the Rumble...I'll give you one that was a cool moment for me that nobody else would even remember happened," he opened. "It was my first Royal Rumble, and I was in there for a long period of time, and Dory Funk Jr. came into the ring. I don't remember how long I'd been in there, but I remember Dory just coming and grabbing me in the center of the ring and picking me up and putting me in the corner. He said to me, 'Get yourself a breather, kid.' He just started working with me in the corner. And, you know, that was a guy I grew up watching. For me to have that moment with Dory Jr., it was the coolest thing for me of all time."

WWE India Announces "Superstar Spectacle"

Back in October, WWE President & Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan revealed during an earnings call WWE is teaming with their TV partner in India, Sony, for a 2021 event that will focus on developing new Superstars from India. "To realize greater economics from WWE's international markets, we remain focused on developing localized content, which utilizes local talent and is produced in local language," Khan said. "We're excited to now be working with our content partner in India, Sony, on a 2021 event that will primarily feature our developing Indian superstars. That event will air in India on the Sony platforms and will also be distributed domestically in the United States. We believe partnerships like this are the best way to build engagement and to maximize the value of content for our international distribution partners and our fans." It looks like that series potentially now has a name as WWE India announced earlier today WWE Superstar Spectacle is coming soon. It was reported late last month, filming was expected to begin on Friday, January 22. One source close to the situation indicated that it could begin with a one or two-night event to kick things off. This would be similar to the model for NXT UK, which began with a two-night tournament in January 2017, before the weekly series was rolled out. Still no word on talent that will be used, although it was reported Jinder Mahal, The Bollywod Boyz, Indus Sher, Kavita Devi, and Jeet Rama could be involved. Depending on the current pandemic, a WWE Performance Center in India was also reportedly in play, and could be active by 2022.

Triple H wrestled zero matches in 2020

Ric Flair Hopes To See Triple H Have "A Huge Retirement Match"

Triple H skipped WrestleMania earlier this year for the first time since WrestleMania 23 when he was out with a torn right quadriceps. The 51-year-old Triple H might still have a few great matches left in him, according to his good friend Ric Flair. In a recent interview with WWE UK to promote next week's RAW Legends Night, Flair discussed Triple's possible retirement down the road and why The Game deserves a huge sendoff from the WWE Universe. "I'm actually hoping to see him have a huge retirement match, if he even elects to retire in the future," said Flair [h/t Inside The Ropes]. He deserves every bit of it and all the recognition to go with it." While admitting that Triple H "probably knows more about the business" than him despite their 20-year age gap, Flair said that The Game exemplifies 'Legend' more than anyone else because he's a student of the game. "He exemplifies 'Legend' more than anybody because he is not only a great performer, he has studied the business, he is a historian," stressed Flair. "He probably knows more about the business than I do and I've been in it 30 years longer than he has." Flair continued, "He [Triple H] came into it with a knowledge of it that I hadn't seen anybody at his age come into the business with. He was respectful every day and it was fun to see someone that just loved to be in the ring and loved the business. He became a great worker and he has also taken that with him and has become an intricate part of the company." The Nature Boy also gave major props to Triple H for building and managing the WWE NXT brand. "He's accomplished all this through his efforts and he has ascended himself to a place of not just being a great worker, he's helped to impact the company with the growth of NXT," said Flair. "Helping to see young guys get the opportunity to make the main roster, working with people on a daily basis. "Plus he's one of my two or three best friends. I just saw him at RAW and at TLC and had a nice talk with him. He basically lives the kind of schedule we did in the old days. He wouldn't have it any other way. He won't miss anything, and he's always wanting to see the company grow."

Brodie Lee Passes Away

WWE has released the following statement about Lee's passing: WWE is saddened to learn that Jon Huber, known to WWE fans as Luke Harper, passed away today at age 41. Known as both Luke Harper and Brodie Lee in the ring, Huber found success in every stop of his sports-entertainment career, as his soft spoken yet imposing presence helped him create countless awe-inspiring moments in the ring. After a highly decorated run on the independent circuit, Harper debuted in NXT as a menacing enforcer for The Wyatt Family. Harper had a dominant tag team run with Rowan that would lay the groundwork for future championship success. As a member of The Wyatt Family, he engaged in heated rivalries with the likes of Kane, Daniel Bryan, The Shield, John Cena and The Usos. After being set free from the family, Harper authored an impressive singles run that culminated with him defeating Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship. Harper & Rowan later comprised The Bludgeon Brothers and embarked on a path of destruction that was highlighted by a SmackDown Tag Team Title victory in a Triple Threat Match at WrestleMania 34.

WWE Announces Superstar Gaming Series

WWE announced a new video game-centric streaming series is set to debut on Tuesday, December 29, at 8 p.m. EST. Known as the WWE Superstar Gaming Series, the show will air on both WWE social platforms as well as the free version of the WWE Network beginning next week. Advertised wrestlers for SGS include Ronda Rousey, The Miz, Liv Morgan, Adam Cole, Tyler Breeze, Shayna Baszler, and Jessamyn Duke. They will be joined by celebrities such as FaZe Adapt, Nick Eh 30, Lele Pons, Wale, and Greg Miller of Kinda Funny Games. Miller will host the series alongside Xavier Woods, who is being advertised as a "special guest." The first episode of SGS will see the aforementioned superstars and celebrities go head-to-head in an Among Us "Holiday Sus-Fest" and a WWE 2K Battlegrounds "Holiday Throwdown." Leading up to the 8 p.m. debut, WWE will air a "Best of UpUpDownDown 2020 Marathon" on their social platforms, beginning at 3 p.m. EST. This announcement comes months after Wrestling Inc. exclusively reported about WWE's third-party edict, a new regulation that forced WWE talent to stop working with outside platforms such as Twitch and Cameo. The edict was met with much criticism and controversy from within the company, and even led to a firing. Former WWE superstar Zelina Vega was released from her WWE contract due to being "extremely vocal" about maintaining her personal Twitch account. WWE officially closed their talents' Twitch accounts at the end of October.

Wrestling Legend Danny Hodge Passes Away At The Age Of 88

Combat sports legend and Olympic silver medalist Danny Hodge passed away late last night at the age of 88. Hodge is well known for his accomplishments in amateur and professional wrestling and in boxing. Hodge began his career as an amateur wrestler winning countless state and conference titles. Hodge's accomplishments have been honored through the Dan Hodge Trophy, the equivalent to the Heisman Trophy for collegiate wrestling. In the world of pro wrestling, Hodge was trained by Leroy McGuirk and Ed "Strangler" Lewis and went on to win the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship seven times and the Tri-State NWA North American HeavyweightChampionship three times. Hodge has received honors from amateur and pro wrestling as well as boxing.

News On Talks Of A WWE Lucha Libre Series

As Wrestling Inc. first exclusively reported, WWE has been planning to create a new NXT show, which apparently would be an NXT minor leagues system. Wrestling Inc. has learned that the company has also been discussing a Mexican Lucha Libre series, which would be an NXT Mexico of sorts. The show would reportedly air in the U.S. WWE has spoken with a few people about running the project, but it is very early on in the planning stages. One of the names being considered as a consultant on the project is Chavo Guerrero Jr. Chavo was an agent for Lucha Underground and was very involved with the promotion. One source compared the project to the WCW Telemundo "Festival de Lucha" pilot that was taped in Waco, Texas on January 27, 1999 that never aired. The pilot was added to the "Hidden Gems" section of the WWE Network last year. WWE has been looking to expand into international markets for awhile now. The company launched NXT UK in 2018, and has been considering creating NXT brands in several other countries as well.

Rumor Mill - USA Network Reportedly Upset With WWE RAW Ratings

Monday's TLC go-home edition of RAW drew an average of 1.527 million viewers, down 12% from last week's 1.737 million viewers. Monday's show drew a new all-time low in total viewership, a new all-time low in viewership for each hour, and a new all-time low in the key demographic. Furthermore, last week's AEW Dynamite episode drew a 0.45 rating in the key 18-49 demographic, which beat every hour of this week's RAW in that same demo. You can read our full report on this week's RAW numbers at this link. In an update, WWE officials aren't the only ones who had a big reaction to this week's record-low numbers as there was a similar reaction at the USA Network, according to Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT. It was noted that USA Network management is furious with the drop in ratings, and they want more dark and violent content. "USA Network are furious. They want more adult content. Not sexy adult, but dark and violent adult," the source said. It was also said that WWE officials are hoping that the 2021 Royal Rumble pay-per-view can serve as some kind of a "big reset" for the company. This new report comes after it was reported earlier this week, via Wrestling Observer Radio, that the low numbers were a wake-up call for WWE. Dave Meltzer noted that everyone he knows in WWE were stunned at the numbers, and that people in WWE "got the message" as well. It was also reported this week, via @Wrestlevotes, that the record low numbers for Monday's RAW were not "sitting well" with WWE higher-ups. People in the company expected some "reactionary decisions" to be made, but no other details were provided. It will be interesting to see what WWE does to bring the numbers up, and if anything major happens at the TLC pay-per-view on Sunday. It will also be interesting to see if USA officials recommend any kind of major "reset" storylines as they have in the past.

Stephanie McMahon shares Paul Heyman’s reaction to her clash with Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon is the Chairman of WWE and his daughter Stephanie McMahon is the Chief Brand Officer. The two have not shied away from being involved in storylines over the years and have certainly butted heads over decisions made in the company. Stephanie McMahon recently spoke to David Meltzer of Sports 1 Marketing. During the interview, McMahon revealed a fascinating story that involved Paul Heyman. Stephanie McMahon recalled how she was once upset with her father Vince McMahon over an incident that took place long ago. Here is what she said: Paul Heyman actually said to me one time… I was really upset over something that had happened with my dad as my boss, and it really hurt. It was this one particular incident, and it just rocked my world. And Paul Heyman said to me, “You know what Steph? This is so good!” And I said, “Why is this so good, Paul?” And he said, “Because, if you can stand in a room and look Vince McMahon in the eye, and go toe to toe with him on whatever opinion you’re trying to share, anybody else pales in comparison. Paul Heyman is currently managing WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, which has seen great success since the start of their partnership. source: ringsidenews.com

Rumor Mill - Triple H Creates Team For New WWE NXT Show

Paul "Triple H" Levesque has created a team to oversee a new NXT show, which apparently would be an NXT minor leagues system. Gabe Sapolsky is leading the team. Levesque has given him several agents and writers to help him get more comfortable with writing television. Levesque is a big believer in Sapolsky, and this is said to be a case of Levesque giving him the ball. The idea is to create a show that was described to me as an "NXT for NXT". The biggest challenge has been to format the concept for TV. The original idea was for this to be akin to another promotion running in some of the smaller tier markets that NXT serviced. However, with house shows likely to not return, they are making it just a TV series. The goal was for the show to launch in early 2021, but it has been delayed before and probably will again.