– El Rey Network executives are said to be very satisfied with Lucha Underground’s viewership. The network was recently added to Dish Network and the Sling TV streaming service, so their exposure continues to grow.
The feeling within Lucha Underground is that they need more ex-WWE stars on the show so they can have familiar names to help build their viewership. That said, there are some who are against bringing in ‘establish names’ unless they can work the lucha style.
– Lucha Underground is considering touring Hispanic markets on the west coat.
– WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross’ agent Barry Bloom is once again in talks with Lucha Underground about JR working for the promotion.
– Former WWE Divas Torrie Wilson and Lisa Marie Varon were backstage at the February 7th Lucha Underground tapings. Varon has talked about being interested in working for the promotion. She recently moved from Chicago to California.
– AAA World Heavyweight champion Alberto El Patron missed the recent Lucha Underground tapings because he was on vacation.
– Former WWE Superstar Shawn Daivari debuted at the recent Lucha Underground tapings. He is feuding with El Texano Jr.
– WWE.com is running a poll asking fans who impressed them more in last night’s Tag Team Turmoil match on SmackDown, Roman Reigns or Daniel Bryan. With nearly 9,000 votes cast, Bryan is leading with 62% of the vote.
– WWE.com has another poll asking fans if the referee was right to stop the Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn NXT Title match at Takeover on Wednesday. With over 8,000 votes, 57% have voted, “Yes – the official’s duty is to protect a Superstar’s well-being.” 43% voted, “No – a match should end by pinfall or submission.”
– Alex Riley returned to the ring at last night’s WWE NXT TV tapings and began a feud with a top NXT star. Riley received a huge reaction from fans and was reportedly in tears after one match due to the response. He tweeted the following about the experience:
– Former NXT Champion Sami Zayn did not appear at Thurday’s NXT TV tapings from Full Sail University, where WWE taped 4 weeks of shows. There’s been a lot of speculation that Zayn will be the next NXT star to be called up to the main roster. He’s currently on tour with WWE in Abu Dhabi.
– WWE Hall of Famers Hulk Hogan and Edge tweeted the following about Wednesday’s NXT Takeover Rival show, specifically Finn Balor vs. Adrian Neville and new NXT Champion Kevin Owens:
NXT Diva Charlotte spoke to Ted Gruber of Fansided.com this week after losing the NXT Women’s championship to Sasha Banks in a Fatal Fourway match at Takeover: Rival.
Charlotte said the women at NXT are paving the way for a revolution in women’s wrestling that will eventually overtake the way Divas matches are portrayed on WWE television.
“If they were able to play our matches on Raw it would be great to show that the women can work like men. I’m not saying the Divas on the roster now aren’t capable of doing that. but the training in NXT has really helped us. I think over the years with the Divas searches and very little training makes it hard to make the division legitimate. I hope over my career that they don’t like at our matches as a ‘popcorn match.’ I truly believe we are paving the way for a great division.”
She also spoke about her WWE RAW debut back on December 9th, which she lost to Natalya. When asked how she felt when was told she’d her first WWE match would be against a veteran like Natalya, she said:
“To be honest I don’t think about the match itself. I look at this being one of the first opportunities of many that I will have in the future. Just to have the opportunity to whether it was one minute or twenty minutes was great to highlight the future (NXT), and myself.
“Natty has been there for the biggest moments in my career. She was my very first dark match at NXT. She was my first NXT Special match where I won the women’s championship. These were very special moments and I don’t think it could have gone any better.”
WWE Hall of Famer Shawn recently spoke with Brian Fritz of BetweentheRopes.com to promote his new book and commented on the possibility of wrestling one more match.
Michaels said he does think about wrestling again, but if he did get back in the ring, it would have to be a unique match that hasn’t been done before. He’s heard people talk about a potential “Teacher vs. Student” match with Daniel Bryan, but that doesn’t really get him excited.
“It certainly is a good idea but it’s one of those ones, I guess from my standpoint, a good idea is one that would really intrigue me. That’s not one of those of those ones where you go ‘Wow, what are the chances of someone coming up with that?’ That’s teacher – student, that’s been done, and again I’m not knocking it, I’m just saying that is not some kind of new, innovative idea. It’s just two other guys doing a very rehashed idea, but we think they can do it well so it will be fun for us to watch. Certainly at its core it’s not a new and fresh idea,” Michaels said.
When asked what kind of match would interest him enough to come out of retirement, he responded:
“Well, I don’t even want to go down that road because then, of course, people will run with it… Most people wouldn’t find it interesting anyway. My tastes I guess are not like theirs. When you’ve done a lot of stuff it’s sometimes those out of the box, strange ones that really pique your interest. For me, I give it about two minutes thought and then I move on because I’m very happy with what I’m doing and where my life’s at right now.”
WWE taped 4 weeks of NXT TV on Thursday night from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. Thanks to Tom M. for the results:
– Chad Gable of Shoot Nation defeated Digg Rawlis in the dark match.
February 18th episode:
– NXT General Manager William Regal appears on the big screen for a promo. He announces Adrian Neville vs. NXT Champion Kevin Owens in a non-title match.
– Kevin Owens comes out and there are dueling chants for he and Sami Zayn, who is not here. Owens says Finn Balor can ask for his title match whenever he wants it.
– Rhino made his return to WWE and got a big pop. He defeated Elias Samson with a Gore and the crowd was on fire.
– Finn Balor cut a backstage promo on Kevin Owens. Rhino walks past him and smirks.
– Big Cass and Enzo Amore defeated The Vaudevillians. Blake and Murphy appeared on the big screen and cut a promo hitting on Carmella, then trashing Enzo and Cass.
– CJ Parker came to the ring and said he was taking the show hostage. He starts putting yellow emergency tape on the ring but Solomon Crowe made his debut, attacking Parker and taking him out.
– Sasha Banks made Blue Pants tap out and then cut a promo challenging anyone to come after her title.
– Kevin Owens defeated Adrian Neville in a non-title match with a powerbomb. This was said to be better than the Takeover main event.
February 25th episode:
– Hideo Itami defeated Bull Dempsey with a jumping kick. Tyler Breeze attacks Hideo on the stags and lays him out. Breeze takes a selfie over Hideo with a selfie stick. Hideo jumps back up and leaves Breeze laying.
– Sin Cara and Kalisto defeated Jason Jordan and Tye Dillinger when Jordan walked out on his partner.
– Dillinger is upset and cuts a promo, apparently issues an open challenge. Baron Corbin comes out and squashes him in seconds.
– Becky Lynch defeated Bayley by submission.
– The Brian Kendrick vs. Finn Balor is next. Balor gets the win with the top rope stomp. Kevin Owens watched from the announce desk and after the match, he tossed Alex Riley over the desk to a big pop.
– Former ECW Champion Rhyno made a surprise appearance at Thursday night’s NXT TV tapings from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. He defeated Elias Samson and got a huge reaction from the live crowd.
– Chad Gable of Shoot Nation defeated Digg Rawlis with a roll up pin in a dark match.
Check back later for full results of the tapings.
Posted February 12th, 2015 in News, WWE. Tagged: Rhyno.
Destination America issued the following press release to tout the record breaking numbers from Impact Wrestling on their network.
DESTINATION AMERICA SCORES BIG WITH FIRST MONTH OF PREMIERES FOR IMPACT WRESTLING
More than four million viewers tune in during first four weeks of premieres
(Silver Spring, MD) – Destination America recorded its best January ever in Prime HH delivery with premieres of Impact Wrestling. The all-new season kicked off on Wednesday, January 7th, with Impact Wrestling LIVE, ranking as Destination America’s best Wednesday evening in network history for delivery of M25-54. The show also ranked as the 6th most social television program for the evening with #DestinationIMPACT reaching a collective 73M impressions on Twitter.
Premieres of Impact Wrestling settled into their regular Destination America timeslot on Fridays beginning Friday, January 16th. For the month of January, Impact Wrestling ranked as the #9 series in ad-supported cable for delivery of M25-54 on Friday nights. On Friday, January 23rd, the network garnered its highest rated and most watched Friday evening in network history for delivery of P25-54 and M25-54, ranking as the #3 sports telecast in cable (behind only NBA Basketball and the X Games on ESPN) and out-delivering networks including A&E, NGC, ESPN2, TNT and FXX among M25-54.
Throughout January, Impact Wrestling posted record-breaking numbers, delivering an average of 276K viewers among P25-54.
Continuing to build momentum, Destination America’s Impact Wrestling recorded its best premiere to date on Friday February 6th delivering an average of 345k P25-54, while earning a 0.85 rating among M25-54. Since premiering on the network in January 2015, 4.2M unique viewers have watched Impact Wrestling on Destination America.
Source: Nielsen. NPower. NHI Calendar. Live+3D. P/M25-54 Ratings and Delivery.
Source: Nielsen. NPower. 1/7/2015 – 2/8/15. Live+3D. Destination America. All Telecasts (54). Reach/Cume. 6 min Qual. Impact Wrestling. Impact Wrestling LIVE. Impact Wrestling: Rewind. TNA Wrestling’s Greatest. Impact Wrestling Unlocked.
Last night, NXT held their fifth special event, entitled Rival. It was a night of change, as two titles changed hands and a new number one contender was crowned.
The jewel of the night was easily the main event, where fans saw Kevin Owens destroy his former friend Sami Zayn and snatch away the NXT Championship almost as quickly as he won it. The match started off well, with Owens initially playing the cowardly heel, leading to an impressive spot where Zayn leaped over the referee and top rope in order to take out Owens.
In all, the match was booked perfectly. There was some great in-ring psychology between the two, as Zayn injured his head at one point in the contest after performing a moonsault to the floor. While being checked out by the medical staff, Owens capitalized, hitting multiple powerbombs before the referee was forced to stop the contest. In the end, the juxtaposition of Owens laughing and celebrating his victory while Zayn lay motionless was the perfect way to pass the title to Owens while furthering the “broken friendship” storyline.
The other title change involved Sasha Banks finally capturing the NXT Womens Championship from Charlotte in a fatal four-way match. Anyone who’s seen Charlotte and Sasha compete over the past few months knew this wouldn’t disappoint and it certainly didn’t, as each competitor had some time to shine.
One of the more impressive moments was Charlotte performing a diving crossbody to take out all three of her opponents. Overall, it was nice to see Sasha pick up the victory, and ultimately the title, by pinning the champ in the middle of the ring.
The official WWE website has a new article up regarding Batista’s movie career. The article claims Batista is rumored to star as “The Kurgan” in the new “Highlander” movie based on the iconic franchise.
WWE’s website states that filmmakers were looking for a strong and imposing person to fill the role of the main villain in the story of the movie, which was originally made famous by Clancy Brown.
Speaking of Batista, he is featured in a new behind-the-scenes clip of the upcoming James Bond film “Spectre,” which you can view above. As noted in the past, Batista will be playing “Mr. Hinx,” the top villain in the movie.
– Seth Rollins spoke about being in the ring with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar during the WWE press conference in Abu Dhabi on Thursday morning. Rollins stated the following:
“I have watched Brock Lesnar for a really long time and I thought I knew how strong he was, I thought I knew how fast he was. Being in the ring with him, he is a completely different animal. He is a beast. They call him the Beast Incarnate and that is real. Whether you are in the Octagon with him trading fists, or in the ring trading German suplexes it is on another level. It was a pleasure and I am glad I got to be in the ring with him and i think I proved to the entire world I can hang with the guy.”
– Finn Balor, who defeated Adrian Neville to become the new number one contender to the NXT Championship at last night’s NXT TakeOver: Rival special, posted the following photos of his body paint on Twitter.
– Sami Zayn posted a new tweet commenting on his loss to Kevin Owens at last night’s NXT TakeOver: Rival special, as well as his booking on the main roster for their upcoming tour of Abu Dhabi. Zayn wrote the following:
Vince McMahon and other WWE senior officials hosted another investor conference call this morning from company headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.
– Michael Weitz, WWE’s SVP Financial Planning & Investor Relations, welcomes everybody and gives an introduction.
– Vince McMahon spoke about the WWE Network and WWE’s TV ratings. Vince touted social media followers being up 85% from the same quarter in the previous year. WWE is the #1 sports channel on YouTube, Vince spoke about WWE App growth and said everything is in support of the Network. He covered the subscriber increases, which were detailed in the earnings report. Vince talks about the Network and hands it over to Barrios.
– Barrios says 4th quarter results surpassed their expectations. He talked about new features on the Network and how they’ve added new subscribers. They still expect a gradual subscriber increase over time as consumer awareness grows. He talked about the Network expanding internationally. He said the UK and Ireland became their second biggest market almost overnight. Barrios said other international markets that they won’t be in by the end of this year will be worked on at a later date.
– Barrios talked about how the live NXT specials helped with growth. Steve Austin’s live podcasts with Vince McMahon and Triple H were two of the most watched Network shows ever, and said they’re working on having more live specials and working on more exclusive content like talk shows. He talked about revenue increases and other financial data that was detailed in the earnings release.
– Barrios talked about some projects WWE came out with in the last year and talks about their reach on social media and with the WWE App. They expect more growth all across the board next year.
– Q&A: Barrios was asked how they monitor to make sure fans who previously used a free month of WWE Network don’t sign up for another free month. Barrios said they have some tools in place to check for this but didn’t go into details.
– Q&A: A caller asked to compare the WWE fanbase to UFC/MMA and asked about WWE signing MMA fighters to help bring in MMA fans. Barrios said WWE is all about multi-generational family viewing and that’s different from MMA audiences.
– Q&A: Barrios was asked about the budget for WWE Network content and feature films in 2015. Fixed costs for the Network will be about the same as last year but the films budget will be between $20 and $30 million.
– Q&A: A caller asked Vince about Twitter controversy and the #CancelWWENetwork hashtag after the Royal Rumble. Vince said the whole situation was actually good for WWE – because it created controversy. Vince fans were upset that “Santa Claus didn’t come” at the Royal Rumble. Vince mocked fans who say they’re never watching again who are then glued to the TV the following night.
– Barrios wouldn’t comment on Network advertising revenue. He took a few more questions before wrapping it up.
– TNA executive Bob Ryder recently contacted Mexico’s AAA promotion in hopes of bringing back the talent exchanges between the two companies. TNA is said to be looking for a couple of wrestlers to be their new, top Hispanic stars.
– Former TNA Knockout Mickie James will be returning to the ring for the Remix Pro Wrestling promotion on April 25th in Marietta, Ohio. For more information, visit RemixProWrestling.com.
– Below is the “IMPACT In 60” video for last Friday’s TNA Lockdown event.
– Bray Wyatt suffered a busted nose after taking a bad dropkick from Dolph Ziggler during this past Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in Columbus, Ohio. Wyatt was fine afterwards, and even worked the WWE SmackDown television taping the next night in Dayton, Ohio.
– The man who was dressed up as Sting during the segment with Triple H at this past Monday’s RAW was veteran independent wrestler Cody Hawk. Hawk has worked in the indy wrestling scene in Ohio for quite some time.
– Triple H is reportedly pushing hard again for the idea of getting a top Hispanic Superstar in WWE. The company is said to be looking for a talent that is someone who can work well in the ring, can speak multiple languages, is six-feet tall and has the kind of body that they like.
– Below are some recent WWE attendance figures:
February 6th in North Charleston, SC drew 7,000 fans
February 7th in Salt Lake City, UT drew 5,000 fans
February 7th in Jacksonville, FL drew 5,000 fans
February 8th in Huntington, WV drew 6,000 fans
February 8th in Canton, OH drew 3,000 fans
February 9th in Columbus, OH for RAW drew 10,800 fans
February 10th in Dayton, OH for SmackDown drew 3,000 fans
– The teaser that aired in the middle of the NXT TakeOver: Rival special on Wednesday was for the debut of Solomon Crowe. The teaser simply said to stay tuned to next week’s episode, which was put over by the announcers.
– Part two of Steve Austin’s interview with Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg is now available on the latest edition of his “Steve Austin Show” podcast. The official description for the show reads as follows:
SASu – EP194 – Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg Pt2
“Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg returns to talk pro-wrestling with Steve! The Macho Man vs Ricky Steamboat steel cage match, more Royal Rumble analysis, the Montreal Screw Job, Stone Cold vs Mike Tyson, the hardest & easiest wrestlers to move around in the ring, and pro-wrestling memorabilia include Steve-weiser cans & Bret Hart’s sunglasses!”
– NBA legend and former part-time WCW performer Karl Malone recently challenged Brock Lesnar during an appearance on FOX Sports 1. You can check out the interview below.
– WWE’s new “The Destruction of The Shield” Blu-ray that is scheduled to be released soon will feature two deleted scenes that were originally reported as DVD extras — a look at the Dean Ambrose vs. William Regal feud, and a look at Roman Reigns in FCW as Leakee.
– WWE announcer Scott Stanford has been nominated for a New York Emmy Award in the “Daily or Weekly Sports Program” category for his work with New York City’s PIX11 Sports Desk program. Stanford was also nominated in the news anchors category. The awards will be announced on May 2nd.
– Vince McMahon recently tweeted out the following trailer for the movie “Trainwreck,” which features John Cena.
WWE pay-per-view events generated $3.9 million in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2014, down from $15.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2013, $13.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2012 and $14.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.
The WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view in October drew 83,000 buys, which was down from the 228,000 buys for the show in 2013, 199,000 buys in 2012, 182,000 buys in 2011, 210,000 buys in 2010 and 283,000 buys in 2009.
The WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view in November drew 100,000 buys, which was down from the 177,000 buys in 2013, 208,000 buys in 2012, 281,000 buys in 2011, 244,000 buys in 2010 and 235,000 buys in 2009.
The WWE TLC pay-per-view in December drew 39,000 buys, which was down from the 181,000 buys in 2013, 175,000 buys in 2012, 179,000 buys in 2011, 195,000 buys in 2010 and 228,000 buys in 2009.
– The dark match before Wednesday night’s NXT Takeover: Rival event at Full Sail University saw Enzo Amore and Big Cass defeat Aiden English and Simon Gotch.
– The blonde woman who jumped on Tyler Breeze during his entrance at Takeover was Gionna Daddio. She’s a former Hooters model and has been signed to NXT for a few months now.
– WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair and Larry Zbyszko were both in attendance. Brian Kendrick was there as well and is expected to be at tonight’s NXT TV tapings.
– After Takeover went off the air on the WWE Network tonight, trainers continued to check on former NXT Champion Sami Zayn. Kevin Owens went on with his celebration as NXT General Manager William Regal came down to check on Sami.
WWE has published interviews with Baron Corbin, NXT Tag Team Champions Blake & Murphy and newly crowned NXT Champion Kevin Owens after their big wins at NXT TakeOver: Rival.
In case you missed the show, check out our NXT TakeOver: Rival Results, including video clips from each match.
Here are the interviews:
Baron Corbin reflects on his match with Bull Dempsey
Blake & Murphy welcome all challengers
Kevin Owens lets his NXT Championship victory sink in
There has been a lot of talk how WWE portraying John Cena as an “old veteran” is a bad idea. One person within WWE said it’s “shockingly bad” for the direction of Cena’s character and they couldn’t understand what he’s is thinking by going along with it.
The idea is for Cena to be moved into a “Babe Ruth” role similar to how Bruno Sammartino was in the late 1970s, where he was really the most popular guy but the focus was put on an up and coming babyface, Bob Backlund.
Although Cena has been the face of WWE for over a decade, he’s still only 37 years old and a top merchandise seller amongst children and women.
In advance of WWE’s 2014 Q4 and 2014 full year earnings report this morning, WWE has announced two partnerships related to WWE Network:
1. Middle East – A five-year partnership with OSN, the leading pay-TV network in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), to distribute WWE Network as a premium, linear channel in time for WrestleMania® on Sunday, March 29.
2. Canada – An expanded partnership with Rogers in Canada providing even more Canadian fans with access to WWE Network and premium WWE programming. In addition to Rogers and Eastlink, the premium linear TV channel will now also be available to Cogeco Cable Canada, Shaw and Shaw Direct, TELUS Optik TV and TELUS Satellite TV, and Videotron subscribers.
Hit up page 2 for the press releases on both announcements.
WWE has reported their Q4 2014 financial results, with revenues climbing 19% and a net loss of $1.6 million (down from a net loss of $7.9 million in Q4 2013).
WWE REPORTS Q4 2014 RESULTS
STAMFORD, Conn., February 12, 2015 – WWE (NYSE:WWE) today announced financial results for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2014. Revenues for the quarter increased 19% to $140.5 million from $118.4 million in the fourth quarter last year. For the quarter, the Company reported a Net loss of $1.6 million, or $0.02 loss per share, as compared to a Net loss of $7.9 million, or $0.10 loss per share, in the prior year quarter. The revenue increase was driven by the Network and Television segments with earnings growth driven primarily by the rise in television rights fees. Excluding items affecting comparability, Adjusted OIBDA increased to $5.1 million from a loss of $5.6 million and Adjusted Net loss was $0.6 million, or $0.01 loss per share, as compared to a Net loss of $7.9 million, or $0.10 loss per share, in the prior year quarter.
“During the quarter, we remained focused on growing WWE Network, which surpassed 1 million subscribers in January 2015, just 11 months after launch. Subscriber growth was driven by a successful free November promotion, the launch of the service in the UK and the strength of our Royal Rumble event,” stated Vince McMahon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We believe that our 2015 road map provides significant opportunities for growth, as we continue to execute well, innovate faster and expand WWE Network, the single greatest opportunity to transform WWE’s business model.”
“In the fourth quarter, we continued to execute our WWE Network strategy, and we generated earnings growth driven by the escalation of our television rights fees. For the quarter, our adjusted OIBDA surpassed our most recent public guidance associated with an average of 721,000 paid subscribers,” added George Barrios, Chief Strategy & Financial Officer. “Over the year, key brand metrics remained strong. Raw and SmackDown TV ratings increased 2% and 3%, respectively. Consumption of WWE content on YouTube increased more than 80% to approximately 3.9 billion video views and our social media presence grew more than 80% and recently surpassed 450 million followers. Importantly, we believe that we have reached a financial inflection point. In 2015, we expect year-over-year Adjusted OIBDA growth in every quarter, with growth driven by the performance of WWE Network, the escalation of our television rights fees as well as continued innovation across our businesses.”