WWE Studios To Partner Up With Game Show Network

WWE Studios is set to produce new content for the Game Show Network, according to Cablefax.

The deal is expected to showcase new game formats and WWE Superstars as hosts for upcoming shows.

Last October, The Miz revealed at a Virtual Equality Lounge interview that WWE Sutdios and MadRoe Productions (Miz and Maryse’s production company) were producing a new game show, Brawl In the Family.

“I’m so happy to be a part of a company like WWE because it allows myself, and my wife, to not only be in a WWE ring, but also it allows us to have shows, like Miz & Mrs,” Miz said. “You know, we’re developing a show right now, a game show with WWE Studios, called Brawl In the Family.”

“I’ll never forget my wife and I talking and we were like, ‘Man, we need to start getting more stuff out there.’ I feel like this is the time to really do something. My wife kept harping on it and harping on it, and we sat down one day and we just created a game show.”

AEW Dynamite Viewership Drops Again, NXT Sees Demo Increase

The  numbers are in for this week's Wednesday Night War.

This week is high for NXT and low for Dynamite, just as the Wednesday Night War is one week from its final head-to-head week of competition.

AEW Dynamite won the night with 700,000 viewers and finished 7th on cable, although it was down from last week’s 757,000.

NXT viewership also decreased this week, but ratings in the key demo increased. NXT averaged 654,000 viewers, which is slightly down from last week’s audience of 678,000 viewers.

Dynamite scored a .26 rating in people 18-49 demographic (from a .30 last week) while NXT scored a .21 rating in the 18-49 demo to rank at No. 12 for the night. NXT previously scored .14 in the 18-49 demo and was No. 29 last week.

Source: showbuzzdaily.com

WWE Renews NXT Deal With USA Network, Moves Show to Tuesday Nights

WWE and NBCUniversal have signed a new multi-year deal that will keep NXT on USA Network. In addition, NXT will be moving from Wednesday to Tuesday nights beginning April 13.

Speaking with Variety, WWE executive vice president of global talent strategy and development Paul Levesque said that the decision to initially have the show on Wednesdays was to keep things consistent with its original timeslot on WWE Network. But now that it is firmly established on cable, they feel moving it is less of an issue.

“We now feel like we’re in a good place where we can move that consistent fanbase over to Tuesdays,” Levesque said. “We believe they’ll follow us. That way we can grow the brand more given the lead in from ‘Monday Night Raw,’ which we’ve seen in the past.”

NXT is one of three weekly wrestling shows WWE currently has on the air. Along with NXT, there is “Monday Night Raw” on USA as well and “SmackDown Live” on Fox. NXT will continue to emanate from Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando, Florida.

“We are incredibly proud of our three-decade partnership with WWE and in extending USA’s NXT deal, we are further establishing our portfolio as an unrivaled home for quality WWE content,” said Frances Berwick, chairman of entertainment networks for NBCUniversal. “By transitioning NXT to a Tuesday timeslot where WWE has performed well in the past, we are giving our passionate fanbase more of what they love with back-to-back nights of exhilarating, live programming.”

NXT will air its trademark TakeOver pay-per-view on April 7 and 8, with the first night airing on USA Network and the second airing on Peacock, with all WWE Network content recently moving over the NBCU streaming service. The transition to Tuesday nights will take place the following week, with episodes then available to stream on Peacock the next day.

“The ability for us to be on [Peacock], a bigger platform where so many more people have the opportunity to experience it and and to let it grow into something more, is very exciting,” Levesque continued. “And once you sample it, we believe that the product is something that people will stick with and become involved in.”

Per Nielsen totals, NXT averaged 847,000 total viewers per week in 2020. Special Tuesday episodes of NXT saw lifts around 30% in both the adults 18-49 and 25-54 demographics.

source: variety.com

William Shatner joins WWE Hall of Fame: 'I should have gone into wrestling as Captain Kirk'

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has a new hall of famer: William Shatner, who took part in WWE events when he wasn't patrolling the universe as Captain James T. Kirk of "Star Trek."

Shatner will be inducted into the celebrity wing in an April 6 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony that will stream on Peacock and held remotely due to COVID-19 restrictions.

This year's event, which kicks off a WrestleMania Week that builds to two nights of WrestleMania at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa (April 10-11, also on Peacock), combines the classes of 2020 and 2021, due to the pandemic. Shatner is part of the 2020 group.

Actor and entrepreneur William Shatner will be inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame on April 6.

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Peacock Purges Racist WWE Segments From Streaming Archive

As WWE Network is set to move exclusively to NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service next month, the media company is removing objectionable material from the wrestling franchise’s archives.

WWE is shutting down WWE Network as a standalone service in the U.S. as of April 4, when customers will need to have a Peacock subscription to access the content. Ahead of the cutover, Peacock has been on-boarding WWE Network’s 17,000-plus-hour library of old programming — but some of WWE’s racist and controversial bits from years past are getting expunged in the transition.

Peacock began adding WWE Network content March 18, and fans have since noticed that some older content is missing.
Among the deleted scenes: A section of WWE’s “Survivor Series event from November 2005, in which chairman/showman Vince McMahon is shown backstage cheerfully greeting John Cena using the n-word within earshot of a confounded Booker T, who says, “Tell me he didn’t just say that.”

Also cut by Peacock is the WrestleMania 6 match from 1990 between the late “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Bad News Brown, in which Piper (a white performer) appeared in half-blackface to take on his Black opponent. NBCU’s edits to the WWE archive programming were first reported by PWInsider.
The content that is no longer available via Peacock has been previously available on the WWE Network platform. Since 2014, WWE Network has included this disclaimer on older material: “The following program is presented in its original form. It may contain some content that does not reflect WWE’s corporate views and may not be suitable for all viewers. WWE characters are fictitious and do not reflect the personal lives of the actors portraying them. Viewer discretion is advised.” The service also has allowed user to block access to selected programs using WWE Network’s parental-control settings.
Reps for NBCU and WWE declined to comment. The content in question is being removed for distribution on Peacock to conform with NBCU’s standards and practices policies, a source familiar with the situation told Variety.

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Rumor Mill - Triple H Returns To Work After Quarantining

Triple H has reportedly returned to work after recently going into quarantine following the latest COVID-19 outbreak in WWE NXT. It was reported on March 19 that Triple H had missed the March 15 RAW and then missed the March 17 NXT episode as he was under quarantine due to COVID-19 concerns. The report noted that Triple H’s situation was being kept secretive and that he was put into quarantine over concern that he may have been involved in the outbreak, but not that he actually had the coronavirus.

WWE And Gabe Sapolsky Dismissed From Samantha Tavel Lawsuit, Riddle Request Denied

A judge has dismissed WWE and Gabe Sapolsky from the lawsuit filed by Samantha Tavel, a.k.a. Candy Cartwright, against both parties and Matt Riddle. United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois Judge Manish S. Shah dismissed WWE and Sapolsky “without prejudice for lack of personal jurisdiction.” Riddle’s motion to dismiss was denied.

Tavel had filed a civil lawsuit against WWE, Sapolsky and Riddle last October seeking $10 million per defendant for various damages, emotional distress, attorney’s fees, and court costs. Tavel claimed that Riddle committed a series of assaults against her from 2017 through January 2020. She alleges that Riddle first sexually assaulted her in April of 2017 in a parking lot after an EVOLVE show. She claims that Riddle forced her to perform oral sex on him on a bus with other wrestlers after an EVOLVE show on May 19, 2018. 

Judge Shah ruled that Tavel failed to demonstrate specific personal jurisdiction lies over WWE. In a sworn affidavit, WWE stated that they had no involvement in the May 2018 wrestling event and didn’t even employ Riddle at that time.

“Tavel offers no evidence to rebut these facts, so I accept them as true, notwithstanding the complaint’s allegation that WWE controlled Evolve’s events,” Judge Shah wrote in the ruling. “To establish personal jurisdiction, Tavel needed to come forward with evidence to establish a prima facie case over WWE. Because WWE wasn’t involved in the May 2018 event around which Tavel’s injury occurred, her injury didn’t arise out of WWE’s Illinois-related activities. And though she vaguely refers to WWE’s holding events worldwide, and specifically in Illinois, she doesn’t explain when or how WWE held events in Illinois. WWE’s connection to Illinois is vaguely sketched, and its connection to the conduct alleged in Tavel’s suit is nonexistent.”

As for Sapolsky, the judge ruled that Tavel failed to meet her burden regarding Sapolsky. According to Sapolsky’s affidavit, Riddle and Tavel took different transportation after the May 2018 Evolve show to the next event in Michigan and he wasn’t in the minibus where the assault occurred.

“Tavel doesn’t rebut these facts either, so I take them as true,” Judge Shah stated. “Tavel hasn’t sufficiently established a connection between Sapolsky’s Illinois contacts and the claim at issue. She accuses Sapolsky of encouraging or assisting Riddle’s behavior. But Sapolsky didn’t know about the assault and wasn’t in the minibus where it happened. And there’s no allegation that Sapolsky encouraged Riddle’s behavior in the course of his contacts with Illinois. It’s unclear when or where that alleged encouragement occurred. Tavel argues only that Sapolsky was physically present in the state at the time of the assault. Of course, physical presence in the forum state is a ‘relevant contact.’ But when there’s no connection between the defendant’s contacts with the state and the underlying controversy, ‘specific jurisdiction is lacking regardless of the extent of the defendant’s unconnected activities in the State.’ Tavel hasn’t sufficiently linked Sapolsky’s activities in Illinois with the conduct underlying her suit.”

The court ruled that although Tavel’s allegations are contested, they are plausible “and they suffice to put Riddle on notice of the conduct he’s accused of.”

Riddle’s answer to the complaint is due on April 14, 2021, “and the parties shall file a joint status report on April 21, 2021, with a proposed discovery schedule.”

source: wrestlinginc.com

WWE Officially Announces Next ThunderDome Home

WWE officially announced today that their new ThunderDome residency at the Yuenglin Center will begin with the post-WrestleMania 37 edition of RAW on the USA Network, on Monday, April 12.

“WWE takes great pride in providing our fans and network partners with cutting-edge production and one of the most interactive atmospheres in all of television every single week,” said Kevin Dunn, WWE Executive Producer & Chief, Global Television Production. “We look forward to the next iteration of the WWE ThunderDome at Yuengling Center as we continue to take the fan experience to a whole new level.”

It was noted that more than 650,000 fans have registered for WWE ThunderDome crowds since last August.

WWE confirmed that they will continue to run closed-set tapings at the Yuengling Center, with COVID-19 protocols in place for talent, crew and employees.

There is no word yet on how long the Yuengling Center residency will run for. WWE’s first ThunderDome residency was at the Amway Center in Orlando, which began last August. They then moved to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg on December 11. The Yuengling Center will be the third ThunderDome venue of the COVID-19 era.

The Yuengling Center sits on the University of South Florida campus in Tampa, and was once known as the University of South Florida Sun Dome. The venue has a capacity of 10,411 when there are no COVID-19 protocols in place. The University of South Florida currently has three teams that call the Yuengling Center home – the South Florida Bulls men’s basketball team, the South Florida Bulls women’s basketball team, and the South Florida Bulls women’s volleyball team. The teams are not currently playing due to the pandemic, so games will not be a problem for WWE.

WWE ran the Yuengling Center many years ago before there were bigger options in the area. The 1995 Royal Rumble pay-per-view was held in the arena, along with Saturday Night’s Main Event in December 1985 and SNME in December 1988. WWE would have a short move from Tropicana Field to the Yuengling Center as the drive is around 30 minutes. It’s been reported that WWE wanted to keep the ThunderDome in or near the Tampa area.

WWE will wrap their residency at Tropicana Field with upcoming tapings going into WrestleMania 37 Week. You can click here for details on their final events at Tropicana Field

Rumor Mill - Triple H In Quarantine Following COVID-19 Outbreak

Triple H has reportedly been in quarantine following a COVID-19 outbreak in NXT.

Earlier this week, reports emerged stating that there had been another COVID-19 outbreak in NXT. This was caused after several members of talent and staff had been moving rings in the Performance Center without using proper safety precautions.

Further reports noted several talents who were absent from NXT this week. One of the names mentioned was Triple H, who also didn’t show up to Raw or NXT television. As per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Triple H is now under quarantine. It was noted that his situation is being kept secretive, and it doesn’t necessarily mean he has tested positive. NXT producers Road Dogg and Shawn Michaels took Triple H’s place as head of NXT production.

Stephanie McMahon On How WWE Will Operate After Vince McMahon Steps Down

WWE’s chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon joined Bloomberg Business of Sports to talk WWE’s move to NBC’s Peacock streaming service. During the interview, she documented WWE’s journey through the streaming landscape.  

“Vince’s perspective has always been to be slightly ahead of the curve,” said Stephanie. “You never want to be behind. So that’s why we were one of the first, five years ago, to launch our streaming service, the WWE Network. We did learn a lot from that time. Actually we were actually pretty far down the pike negotiating a linear deal. But our almost partners wanted to lock up our rights for about ten years. It was just a real long time, so we decided to take a step back and do deeper research. 

“We learned that our fans were consuming five times more online video than average. So we thought ‘let’s control our own destiny.’ And we doubled down and within eight months we launched WWE Network. 

Later Stephanie was asked about how Vince McMahon’s vision of WWE be presented when the Chairman of WWE finally steps down. Stephanie indicated it would be a group effort.

“I do think a lot of the institutional knowledge is important, particularly with regards toward the core content,” Stephanie said. “But it’s also surrounding our business with strong, smart executives. And that’s exactly what we have. So I do think it’s the marriage of institutional knowledge, the incredible production value, the creation of talent IP and storylines and really strong business executives to help us expand. I think it’s a combination of things. 

“I don’t think there will ever be a person to person replacement for Vince McMahon. He does too much. The landscape would look different however it shakes out. But I think it’s a marriage of those things.” 

credit Bloomberg Business of Sports and Wrestling Inc. for the transcription

Freddie Prinze Jr. Praises Triple H And Cody Rhodes In Helping ‘Normalize’ Wrestling For TV Execs

Freddie Prinze Jr. has had his fair share experience in the WWE writing room, but is a lifelong fan of the wrestling business in general. In addition to that, the actor also knows how the film and television business operates and knows how much that industry isn’t leaning in the favor of pro wrestling. Prinze took to Twitter yesterday to give his insight on how tough it is to crack that primetime television egg.

“If you knew how bad most tv execs did not want professional wrestling on their channels you’d respect the hell out of WWE, NXT, & AEW for pulling off what they do each week,” He started. “They literally have every card in the deck stacked against them and they’re still growing the business.”

Prinze followed up with another Tweet praising figureheads like Cody Rhodes and Triple H for bridging that gap between the canvas and the board room.

“This is why cats like HHH doing interviews and Cody being on other TNT programming is so important. They help normalize the business because they just get it. They come off chill and solid. Hope they both continue to stay out in the public eye. It’s more important now than ever.”

WWE seeking over $500,000 in legal fees from attorney Konstantine Kyros

Per Law360, WWE and their CEO Vince McMahon is seeking $573,770.44 in legal fees from attorney Konstantine Kyros, who led the now-dismissed concussion/brain damage lawsuit against WWE. Kyros represented a number of former in-ring performers and he forwarded their claims about the sports-entertainment company hiding the risks of concussions from them.

WWE asked a federal court in Connecticut for over $500,000 this past Monday. The filing took place prior to a hearing regarding WWE’s two constituent applications for court-ordered fees. The applications are in relation to two consolidated cases that were dismissed. The first was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant in 2018 and the other was by a Second Circuit appeals panel in September of 2020.

Back in February, the concussion/brain damage case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court by Konstantine Kyros. Kyros filed a request, asking the Supreme Court to hear the appeals. WWE denied the allegations and a spokesperson told the Associated Press that the lawsuits are without merit.

On top of WWE’s seeking of the six-figure number, they are also looking for an additional $39,844.00 in fees and costs in connection with their applications following the Second Circuit’s decision.

WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt further backed WWE’s innocence on the matter and discussed how there was misconduct from Kyros during the litigation.

He violated court orders, didn’t comply with court orders, ignored court orders that cautioned him to cease certain behavior or risk sanctions. He would continue the same kind of behavior. He plagiarized and made false allegations based on other lawsuits against the NFL, where he would just parrot allegations that had been made against the NFL or its personnel, and would just change [text], reading from ‘NFL’ to ‘WWE.’

The liability for sanctions has been established in three different court orders, that he’s supposed to pay all of our attorney’s fees in connection with various things he did wrong. The only thing left to be determined is how much that is.

As of this writing, Kyros is the only remaining attorney that is representing the plaintiffs in the case. The other attorneys he worked with from other firms filed motions to withdraw as counsel.