News and Notes (04/01/2015)

> RAW AFTER MANIA DRAWS HUGE RATINGS
- The Raw after WrestleMania drew huge ratings for WWE, getting an average
of 5,364,000 viewers for the three hour broadcast. That is up 1.1 million
viewers from the last Raw prior to Mania. This was the best number since
the July 23, 2012 edition of Raw, which drew just over 6 million that day.
The first hour started with 5,227,000 viewers, then went up to 5,597,000
for the Brock Lesnar destruction, and then it went down to 5,267,000 for
the third and final hour. (Ratings credit: PWInsider.com)

> WRESTLEMANIA 31 BREAKS SOME MORE RECORDS FOR WWE
- WWE issued a press release announcing more records for WrestleMania,

which broke records for viewership, attendance, social and digital media
engagement and merchandise sales. The company is marketing WrestleMania 31
as the most-watched WrestleMania in history with 1.3 million Network
subscribers plus additional traditional pay-per-view data still to be
counted. As noted elsewhere here, Raw after Mania did nearly 5.4 million
viewers making the show the most-watched program on all of cable
television for the 11th week in a row. As reported before, the attendance
was 76,976 with fans from all 50 states and 40 countries. The previous
record at the new stadium was 70,799. The show grossed $12.6 million. When
it comes to social media, WrestleMania 31 was the most social event in WWE
history with a record 142 worldwide Twitter trends, including 10 number
one worldwide trends, which was more than any broadcast or cable show that
night. WWE-related content saw more than 60 million video views across all
platforms on the day of WrestleMania. WrestleMania 31 garnered a record
165 million impressions on Facebook and 92 million impressions on Twitter,
an increase of 62 percent and 23 percent year-over-year, respectively.
During WrestleMania, the WWE flagship App saw its most usage since launch
in 2012, while reaching nearly 18 million downloads during WrestleMania.
The WrestleMania 31 App had four times as many downloads as last year’s
WrestleMania 30 App although no exact figures on that one were released.
In merchandise, WWE generated an additional $3.3 million in WrestleMania
merchandise revenue, eclipsing the previous record of $2.7 million from
WrestleMania 29.


> ALL THREE RAW ANNOUNCERS BACK TO WORK NEXT WEEK!
- The injury angle from the Raw after Mania where all three announcers
were destroyed by Brock Lesnar will be over by next week’s show as it was
announced on WWE.COM that all three will be returning behind the broadcast
booth on Monday. To play up the angle, the story said that Michael Cole
was diagnosed with a bulging disc and severe neck, back, and shoulder
pain. JBL had an abdominal wall tear and Booker T has contusions and
soreness. All three, in reality, were fine and the only real damage was to
Byron Saxton who didn’t fare well on commentary on his own. Meanwhile,
someone very funny updated Michael Cole’s Wikipedia entry, adding a
“death” section. First, the cause of death was written as “ground shaking
F5” and Lesnar had “yet to be charged in the court of law” but he was
“suspended for his actions.” Then the Wikipedia entry was altered saying
that he died of “anal bleeding!” Whoops!

> NXT LIVE SPECIALS TO REMAIN QUARTERLY
- The NXT Takeover specials that the recent WWE press release indicated
that will be airing monthly has been changed as common sense prevailed and
the decision was changed to leave them as quarterly events. The decision
to go monthly raised some eyebrows as the quarterly live specials are
super popular with fans and changing it to monthly specials would have
somewhat decreased the importance. The press release circulated online
still has monthly specials listed but the WWE.COM story now has “Airs
quarterly on Wednesdays.”

WWE News and Notes

News and Notes

courtesy Wrestling Online Network

> RAW RATING
- Monday Night RAW this week which featured a small tribute to the
Ultimate Warrior did a total of 4,770,000 viewers, down from last week's
5,146,000 post-WrestleMania show. Taking out last week, it was the highest
rated show since the return of Batista on January 20. Hour one did
4,811,000 viewers which then increased slightly to 4,831,000 in the second
hour before going down to 4,669,000 for the third and final hour. (Ratings
credit: PWinsider.com)

> FOUR ADVANCE IN IC TITLE TOURNAMENT
- Four WWE Superstars advanced in the Intercontinental Title #1 contenders
tournament yesterday on Monday Night RAW. In the first match, Rob Van Dam
defeated Alberto Del Rio, Cesaro defeated Mark Henry in the second bout,
Sheamus defeated Jack Swagger in the third, and in the final match, Bad
News Barrett defeated Dolph Ziggler. The second round of the tournament
will see Van Dam vs Cesaro and then Sheamus vs Bad News Barrett with the
winners of each match advancing to the finals where the winner will meet
Big E for the Intercontinental title at Extreme Rules.

> DIRECTV DUMPS WWE PAY-PER-VIEWS
- DirecTV has followed DISH Network in dropping WWE pay-per-views going
forward, reserving the right to broadcast any show on an event-by-event
basis. DISH Network was the first company to drop WWE, refusing to
broadcast Elimination Chamber but then putting WrestleMania XXX on their
schedule since it’s one of the big money-making events for PPV providers.
PWTorch.com is now reporting that DirecTV will not carry Extreme Rules or
anything following that due to the unfair advantage of the WWE Network,
where all twelve pay-per-views are available as part of the $9.99 a month
package. WWE admitted to the Torch that DirecTV has dropped them both
commercially and residentially. DirecTV were the first company to speak
out against WWE’s new business model after the Network was launched and
told the LA Times that they will re-evaluate their business partnership
with WWE.

> TOTAL DIVAS RATING
- A pre-emption for WrestleMania didn’t help the return of Total Divas
this past weekend as episode four of season two got 1.16 million viewers,
a drop of 386,000 viewers from two weeks ago. Titled ‘Inhale, Exhale,’
episode four now ranks amongst the lowest when it comes to viewership of
the whole series so far.

> WARRIOR WEEK ON WWE NETWORK
- It is Warrior Week on the WWE Network this week as WWE continues to
honor the Ultimate Warrior who passed away a week ago in Scottsdale,
Arizona. Every day at 10PM EST, WWE will present Warrior: The Ultimate
Legend, a 4-part series focusing on the life, times, and matches of the
Ultimate Warrior. WWE Network cameras were following Warrior and his
family throughout the whole weekend but it’s not clear if any of that
footage will make it to this series. The original idea was to have a
documentary-style show on the Network featuring the Warrior family as they
prepare for the Hall of Fame, WrestleMania, and RAW.

> WRESTLEMANIA REACHES OVER MILLION HOUSEHOLDS IN THE U.S.
- WWE today announced that WrestleMania XXX reached a record 1 million
households in the United States alone. With more than 667,000 Network
subscribers and over 400,000 domestic PPV buys, WrestleMania XXX is
currently the most watched WrestleMania domestically and that’s without
adding International numbers. WWE also announced that over 7.1 million
hours of video were streamed on the WWE Network from April 1 through April
8 by its subscribers. The company is hoping to reach 1 million domestic
subscribers to the Network by the end of 2014.

> TAMINA BECOMES #1 CONTENDER FOR DIVAS TITLE
- Tamina, the daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, became
the number one contender for the Divas title after she won a 10 Diva
battle royal. The ten participants were Nikki Bella, Cameron, Naomi, Emma,
Tamina, Alicia Fox, Aksana, Eva Marie, Layla, and Natalya. The last Divas
champion, AJ, was not in the battle royal and not even Brie Bella, who is
still on her honeymoon. Tamina will now face Paige for the title at
Extreme Rules, joining Bray Wyatt vs John Cena in a cage match as the only
two matches announced so far for the pay-per-view.

> JERICHO ON TBS PRANK SHOW TOMORROW
- Former WWE champion Chris Jericho will be the celebrity guest on
Wednesday’s TBS prank series Deal With It which is hosted by Theo Von.
Jericho will be part of the segment called Witness Relocation, where a
contestant is instructed to disguise her identity after a run-in with a
couple of mobsters reveals a clue about her mysterious past. Deal With It
offers ridiculous and hilarious pranks to contestants as they try to earn
cash in a hidden camera series. You can see two clips of Jericho on the
show at http://w-o.it/1eEOgh8

News and Notes 03/19/2014

Courtesy Wrestling-Online Network

 WRESTLEMANIA XXX PRE-SHOW TO RUN FOR TWO HOURS
- The WrestleMania pre-show will not be 30 minutes or 60 minutes as in
previous years, but a whooping two hours! WWE today announced that a
“super-sized” WrestleMania XXX pre-show will air live, with the first hour
starting at 5PM ESTand airing only on the WWE App, WWE.COM, YouTube, and
Facebook, and then at 6PM EST the pre-show will move over exclusively on
the WWE Network. The first hour will only feature analysis of the show
from the yet-to-be announced panel and interviews while the second hour
will also feature a pre-show match. It is going to be a very busy day for
the WWE production team as with the four hours of pay-per-view, they are
now looking at six hours of straight live programming.

> VINCE MCMAHON TOOK 30% PAY CUT IN 2013
- Quoting the latest WWE SEC filings, the Hartford Courant newspaper is
reporting that Vince McMahon took a 30% pay cut last year, getting $1.7
million in salary, down $732,000 from the previous year. The three
quarters of a million less in salary however is not really affecting
McMahon, as his and his wife’s WWE stocks generated an additional $677
million since the start of the new year and the recent spike on Wall
Street. The company’s stock jumped 50% from the end of 2013 to now among
many rumors and the start of the WWE Network.
> WWE NETWORK FREE TRIAL ENDING ON SATURDAY
- The WWE Network free trial will be ending on Saturday, March 22, and
it’s the last chance to try out the product for free most likely till the
Summer. Those who took the free trial already but decided not to take a
subscription are also being offered a second week free via e-mail from
WWE, as the company hopes of a six month commitment the second time
around. If you decide to take the free trial, WWE will charge you $9.99 on
your credit card however you will be refunded if you cancel before the
trial ends.

> RAW RATINGS
- RAW this week drew 4,075,000 in total viewers this week, down 294,000
viewers from last week’s show. Hour one did 4,001,000 viewers, followed by
4,174,000 in the second, and then 4,051,000 in the third and final hour.
RAW drew the lowest number of total viewers since the December 23, 2013
episode. (Ratings credit: PWInsider.com)

> RONDA ROUSEY SAYS SHE’S UP TO APPEAR AT WRESTLEMANIA 31
- TMZ’s latest story involves UFC champion Ronda Rousey and her love of
professional wrestling, saying she’d be up to appear at a WrestleMania.
However, she’d only do it if WWE hires her gang with her - Shayna Baszler,
Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke - who call themselves the Four Horsewomen.
All four are MMA fighters are and all four are huge wrestling fans. Last
week, Rousey posted a video on her Instagram working a wrestling match
with Baszler. Sources close to Rousey told TMZ that while this year’s
WrestleMania is out of the question, she’d be all for WrestleMania 31 next
year in Santa Clara, California. The possibility of this happening however
is close to zero since UFC President Dana White would probably not allow
one of his top stars to participate at a WWE event.

> UNDERTAKER APPEARS AFTER RAW GOES OFF THE AIR
- After RAW went off the air, the show continued for those who were
present in San Antonio, Texas, with the usual post-RAW antics. John Cena
came out to talk to the crowd when all of a sudden Bray Wyatt, Eric Rowan
and Luke Harper of the Wyatt Family tried to spoil the party. The three on
one affair soon turned into a 3 on 2 with help in the form of the
Undertaker. With the lights out and the “gongs” on the speakers, the
Undertaker suddenly appeared in the ring when the lights came back up.
Bray Wyatt quickly exited the ring as Cena and Undertaker beat up Rowan
and Harper and then delivered a chokeslam and Attitude Adjustment in sync
to send the crowd home happy. You can see the video at
http://w-o.it/1daNvM1

> JAKE ROBERTS AND SCOTT HALL TO THROW PARTY IN NEW ORLEANS
- Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Scott Hall will be hosting “A Night with
Wrestling Legends” on Friday, April 4, at the House of Blues in New
Orleans. “Hey yo, ‘The Bad Guy’ and ‘The Snake’ coming to New Orleans,
WrestleMania weekend, big time Hall of Fame party,” Hall says in a
commercial which has Roberts and Hall “playing” musical instruments.
Roberts said on his Twitter that it will be a “star studded party” and
there will be a lot of surprises for those who wish to join them. Hall is
expected to be announced as the final member of the WWE Hall of Fame class
of 2014. Tickets for this event are being sold at Livenation.com with
general admission tickets on sale for $137 and VIP tickets for $512.

> STING TO BE IN NEW ORLEANS ON WRESTLEMANIA SUNDAY
- TNA Hall of Famer and former champion Sting will be in New Orleans on
WrestleMania Sunday, however he will be at the WrestleCon event rather
than on screen at the big pay-per-view. Merchandise website Highspots.com
announced that the Stinger will be their guest at WrestleCon, taking
photos and signing autographs from 10:30AM to 1:30PM on Sunday, April 6.
There are only 250 tickets available to get up close with Sting and they
will sell for $99 each, which includes a photo op and an autograph. You
will also need a WrestleCon entrance ticket. For more information go to
WrestleCon.com.

News and Notes

Courtesy Wrestling On Line Network

WWE UNVEILS WWE NETWORK PROGRAMMING LINEUP
- WWE today unveiled the WWE Network programming lineup which kicks off on
Monday, February 24, at 9PM EST. The first live show on the Network will
be the RAW pre-show starting at 7:30PM EST on launch day, followed by a
post-RAW show titled RAW Backstage Pass at 11:05PM EST. These will be
weekly shows. Smackdown will also get the same treatment, with a 30 minute
pre-show starting Friday, February 28 at 7:30PM EST and then the Smackdown
Backstage Pass follows at 10PM EST after Smackdown is over. WrestleMania
Rewind will premiere on Tuesday, February 25 at 9PM EST followed by WWE
Countdown at 10PM EST. These will also be weekly shows. A one hour special
titled This Is NXT premieres on launch day at 11AM EST, giving everyone a
behind-the-scenes look at the next generation of WWE Superstars and Divas.
This will serve as preview for the first ever live in-ring event on the
WWE Network, the NXT ArRival, airing live on Thursday, February 27 at 8PM
EST. Before ArRival kicks off, a 30 minute pre-show will air live. NXT
will also have a weekly show every Thursday at 9PM EST starting on March
6, at 9PM EST. WWE Superstars will be airing on the WWE Network starting
February 27 at 10PM EST with a new show every Thursday and another new
show titled Beyond The Ring, featuring action from WWE, WCW, AWA, and ECW
kicks off on Saturday, March 1 at 8PM EST. Rounding up the new shows are
Best of RAW and Best of Smackdown, with Best of RAW starting on Thursday,
February 27 at 4:30PM EST and Best of Smackdown kicking off on Saturday,
March 1 at 1PM EST. The WWE Legends House premieres on Thursday, April 10
at 8PM EST and will air every Thursday. Legends House has Superstars such
as Roddy Piper, Jim Duggan, Hillbilly Jim, Tony Atlas, and others living
in a house together. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will air in full
on the Network on Saturday, April 5 at 9PM EST followed by the first ever
pay-per-view on the Network, WrestleMania XXX, on Sunday, April 6 at 7PM
EST.

> DISH NETWORK DROPS ALL WWE PAY-PER-VIEWS, BUT…
- In a statement issued to Wrestling-Online.com from DISH Network’s
Corporate Communications office, the company has confirmed that they will
not offer WWE pay-per-views however will consider the value of the PPV
shows on an event by event basis. “WWE has chosen to launch a 24/7 online
network, without its TV partners, that includes all of its pay-per-view
events. As WWE enters the increasingly fragmented media world by
themselves, DISH will continue to consider the value of WWE pay-per-view
on an event by event basis,” the statement says. “DISH continues to
provide a variety of WWE programming, including WWE Raw on USA, WWE
Smackdown on Syfy, WWE Main Event on Ion and WWE Total Divas on E!. At
this time, WWE pay-per-view events are not available on DISH.” DISH
becomes the first PPV provider to dump WWE shows due to the WWE Network.
DirecTV threatened to do the same in January but has confirmed that it
will carry the Elimination Chamber, the last PPV-only show that will air
before the Network launches. Upcoming WWE pay-per-views will be available
on the WWE Network as part of the $9.99 package and will also be airing on
the traditional pay-per-view format for the usual price of $54.95.
> WWE REACTS TO DISH NETWORK’S STATEMENT
- In reaction to DISH Network’s decision to dump the Elimination Chamber
pay-per-view from its schedule and basically the rest of the WWE
pay-per-views, WWE issued a statement on their own. "WWE is pleased that
the majority of our cable and satellite Pay-Per-View distributors are
giving our fans an option to purchase traditional Pay-Per-Views as we
prepare to launch WWE Network on Monday, February 24. Unfortunately, DISH
will not be doing so. We hope DISH will reconsider for this Sunday’s
Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View event and especially for WrestleMania
30,” the statement read. WrestleMania 30 will undoubtedly be a major,
major loss in revenue for both WWE and DISH if the provider decides not to
carry it as well. DISH said that it will consider carrying WWE shows on an
event-by-event basis.

> WWE ANNOUNCES Q4 2013 FINANCIAL RESULTS
- WWE announced its fourth quarter results ending December 31, 2013,
before the market opened today, with revenues totaling $118.4 million as
compared to $115.1 million in the prior year quarter. The company had an
operating loss of $12.2 million compared to an income of $2.6 million in
the prior year quarter. Net loss was $7.9 million compared to an income of
$0.6 million. The decline and loss were majorly due to a heavy investment
in staff, talent, and marketing initiatives to launch the WWE Network.
“During the past year, we laid the foundation for future growth and
enhanced our brand strength,” stated Vince McMahon, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer. “We have now announced the renewal of our television
distribution agreement in the U.K., are continuing the negotiations
regarding our domestic content, and are poised to launch our global WWE
Network in the next few days. With preparations for WrestleMania 30 fully
underway, we look forward to celebrating our enduring legacy and ushering
in a new era as we blaze new trails in the media industry.” You can read
the full press release at
http://www.snl.com/irweblinkx/file.aspx?IID=4121687&FID=1001183704

> HELL IN A CELL TOPS PPV BUYS IN PREVIOUS QUARTER
- The Hell In A Cell pay-per-view was the most successful in the last
quarter while Battleground was the biggest loser out of the four
pay-per-views which WWE offered between October and December. The first
Battleground did 114,000 buys, followed by Hell In A Cell with 228,000
buys, up from the 199,000 the show did the previous year. The Survivor
Series was down from 208,000 buys of the 2012 edition to just 177,000 in
2013 while TLC did 181,000 buys, an increase of just 6,000 buys over the
previous year. Survivor Series is the worst of the original top four
pay-per-views when it comes to buys and is no longer a draw as in previousyears. 

> VINCE MCMAHON MAKES FIRST PUBLIC COMMENTS ABOUT CM PUNK
- During the conference call held earlier today to discuss the quarter
earnings results, Vince McMahon made the first public comment about CM
Punk since Punk walked out of the company several weeks ago. When McMahon
was asked about the upcoming WrestleMania and a status update on CM Punk
by one of the callers who managed to get through. McMahon said that this
year’s WrestleMania will be big both storyline-wise and talent-wise and as
far as CM Punk goes, the Chairman and CEO said, “He’s taking a sabbatical,
let's just put it that way." WWE has avoided talking about CM Punk since
he quit almost a month ago and Punk himself has not used his Twitter
account since January 27, where he thanked his fans for all the support.
WWE has denied releasing him last week and Punk remains on the WWE.COM
website and his merchandise is still selling on WWEShop.com.