WWE Hall of Famer Jesse “The Body” Ventura recently spoke with Graham Bensinger for his sports interview show In Depth with Graham Bensinger. Here are some highlights from the interview:
What’s the likelihood you ever try and run [for president]?
“Who knows? I’ll decide that next spring because I won’t get in now. Why would I get in now and waste money?… Let’s wait ’til it’s down to two of them. Let’s wait ’til the Libertarian convention next June, where the Libertarians announce their candidate and that candidate gets ballot access throughout the whole country. Then you time it out. You spend the least money, you come in, you destroy their two candidates – if you’re allowed in the debate. If they got the fricking guts to let me in a debate, I’ll come in and destroy their two candidates and steal the election in November, just like I did in Minnesota.”
“Would you like to be president?”
“No, not particularly. But in the back of my mind, there’s always that patriotic voice saying to me, ‘If not you, then who? Who’s gonna restore America? Who’s gonna take on the two party dictatorship and beat them? Who can do that?’ Well I’ve done it twice; haven’t lost yet. Why do you think I’m a scary guy to them?… Because I’ve never lost to them.”
If he has hard feelings toward Vince McMahon:
“Is Vince [McMahon] a ruthless billionaire businessman? Yes, but you probably have to be. I bare no grudge against Vince.”
If he ever held a grudge against McMahon:
“No. I just, when I disagreed with him I did the proper thing – I took him to federal court and beat him and I have a retirement now. He has to pay me for every tape I’ve ever been on as long as he sells them. So quarterly, I get a check from him and have since 1991. I call it my wrestling retirement. I’m the only wrestler in the world that has it – a retirement. Even though technically it’s not.”
“You and Hulk were once good friends. What’s the likelihood of that ever being repaired?”
“Never… I can’t trust him. I’m never friends with anyone I don’t trust. I have to have trust with someone to be their friend. And he’s the one that ratted me out to Vince [McMahon] when I tried to unionize. I found that out under a federal deposition when Vince was put under sworn [oath]… My attorney said, ‘Did you hear Mr. Ventura?’ ‘No.’ ‘Well then how do you know he did?’ With no hesitation Vince went, ‘Hulk Hogan told me.’ And I didn’t show any emotion, but I almost tipped over in my chair because he was my friend… but then understand why. When we went to court, I saw in WrestleMania 3 Hogan got paid more than all of us combined. Now, why would he want a union when he’s getting taken care of?”
His lawsuit against Chris Kyle, who claimed in his bestselling book American Sniperthat he punched someone at a bar who had insulted Navy SEALs. He later said the person he hit was Ventura, a claim Ventura said was a lie used to boost book sales.
“I said [to Kyle], ‘If you’ll go out with me to the media, admit you fabricated the story, I will forgive you and we’ll go our separate ways.’ He wouldn’t do it. He didn’t have the honor. He didn’t have – this hero from the war didn’t have the courage to tell the truth. And he’s not a hero. You know why? He’s a backstabbing liar. He whored the trident for money and fame. He took an old-timer like me and threw me under the bus so he could get money. You know why he’s not a hero? Because heroes have to have honor. A liar has no honor.”
Why he got emotional after winning governorship of Minnesota when he received a pair of red Everlast gloves from his childhood idol and hero, Muhammad Ali, with a message that read, “To Governor Jesse Ventura: You shocked the world”:
“Because he’s your hero. And I get emotional now because he gave up the greatest title in the world, being a man of his conviction. And if I can be half that man – he is the greatest. No, he gave up the title, the most prestigious title in the world, because he refused to go to war… And he stood up and said I’ll give up the greatest title in the world because I will be a man of conviction.”
WWE is teasing a Sasha Banks vs. Natalya match for this coming Monday’s edition of RAW from Denver, Colorado.
Additionally, WWE is teasing Tyler Breeze’s RAW debut match for this Monday night’s show. They posted the following teaser on WWE.com:
“Tyler Breeze has always been narcissistic, but Prince Pretty has really been kicking things up a notch since joining the main WWE roster last week. Aligning with Summer Rae and repeatedly targeting Dolph Ziggler, it’s clear that “The King of Cuteville” is desperate to show up The Showoff. But why? Is it jealousy that fuels Breeze, or is he simply out to prove that there can only be one flashy, blond-haired Superstar on the roster?
Regardless, expect Ziggler to strike back against the egotistical upstart on Raw. After all, something tells us The Showoff is no stranger to crashing VIP sections.”
Rey Mysterio is open to a potential WWE return, despite the reduced schedule he’s currently enjoying while headlining shows in Mexico for AAA.
During an interview with the Gorilla Position Podcast, the lucha libre legend said he would get back in a WWE ring if the right opportunity presented itself.
“Never say never,” he said. “I didn’t leave on bad terms. There was no dispute or bad intention on me leaving. So, if there is an opportunity down the road and both parties agree to it, why not.”
Mysterio was plagued with injures during the final years of his WWE run. Working for AAA has given him the chance to work a lighter schedule as well as spend more time with his family.
“At this stage of my career and my personal life, I’m enjoying it (time off),” Mysterio said. “It’s what I want to do. I wanted to spend time with my kids and my wife, and I wanted my body to heal up. So, I’m going through that right now.”
Biff Busick and Rich Swann made their NXT live event debuts in Gainesville, Florida in a Halloween costume battle royal. NXT Women’s Champion Bayley, who was dressed up as a Lego, ended up winning the battle royal.
It’s worth mentioning that NXT Champion Finn Balor appeared to be dressed up as CM Punk, with a Dolph Ziggler hoodie on, while Aiden English dressed up as current WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens.
WWE Hall Of Famer Kevin Nash recently spoke with Sports Illustrated’s “Extra Mustard” blog to talk about a number of topics. Below are some of the highlights.
Focusing on his acting career:
“I take every role, whether it’s a line or more, and try to make it my own. All these people talk about the secret to acting. To me, it’s once you find the character, like Engleheart in ‘The Longest Yard.’ I could turn that character on morning, noon, and night. That’s the key–finding the character.”
“I’ve had a career in wrestling, and this is the next area where I’m determined to be successful. You have to be realistic and know that you’re just going to be a character actor. You’re not going to be a lead, you’re not going to be doing romantic comedies, but there is plenty of work out there.”
Still being amazed by The Undertaker:
“There’s a reason why, right now, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson are out touring. People want the drama. When guys are kicking out of 450-f—— moonsaults on one-and-a-half, what’s the false finish? There are so few storytellers left, but ‘Taker can go out there and tell a story.”
One more WWE run:
“I have one more run. I’m started to get things fixed. I’m getting my shoulder fixed, I’m getting my neck fixed. I miss it, so never say never.”
– WWE posted a new preview for the latest edition of “Culture Shock” that features Corey Graves visiting the New York Comic Con. You can check out the video preview above.
– The booking agency that represents WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair announced via social media that he will be featured in an upcoming ESPN “30 For 30” special. They wrote the following on their official Facebook page:
“We named this company Legacy Talent because it’s our mission to help preserve the legacies that our clients have worked a lifetime to build. Yesterday we took a huge step in documenting Ric Flair’s legacy by starting to shoot his 30 for 30 ESPN Film. We are honored to work with such a prestigious group on a project we are so passionate about! ?#?Flair30for30? ?#?ComingSoon?”
– The Thursday, October 29th Halloween edition of WWE SmackDown drew 2.171 million viewers, down from the previous week’s 2.204 million viewers.
Bubba Ray Dudley recently appeared as a guest on Live Audio Wrestling and discussed possibly playing his heel character in WWE, The New Day, James Storm’s NXT debut and more. Below are some of the highlights.
Bringing Bully Ray to WWE:
“If WWE came to me and they told me that is something that they wanted to try out I would be more than happy to go down that road since I know I’ve done it in the past & I know I’ve done it in the past well. So I definitely think it could work.”
New Day balancing being entertaining and playing heels:
“I think when I go out there I go out there with a totally different mentality. My mentality is a little bit more old school and I think my mentality doesn’t exactly fit perfectly into what the WWE would want out of a ‘villain’ or ‘good guy’. What they want is entertainment and the New Day are entertaining and that’s the very first thing you need to be in the WWE. So if you’re entertaining and the people hate you that’s fine. And if you’re entertaining and the people love you that’s fine – as long as you’re entertaining.”
James Storm’s debut on NXT:
“Storm is a really great in-ring wrestler. He is really accomplished on the microphone. He is one of the guys that I worked with from Day One when I was in TNA. He was part of a very successful tag team. He did well on his own. He has a lot of years of knowledge & I think he can only help down there in NXT.”
Possible relationship between WWE and Team 3-D Academy:
“It’s definitely something that me and D-Von have thought about in the past. We’re very proud of our school, the Team 3-D Academy. Our school is a traditional school where if someone off the street wants to become a professional wrestler they come to us and we train them and hopefully they can move on to bigger things. Only 20 minutes away is the WWE Performance Center. So if they were ever interested in possibly getting together and having something like a minor league feeder system we would definitely be interested in talking to them about something like that.”
– The latest “WWE Breaking Ground” episode will premiere on the WWE Network after RAW this Monday night. The synopsis for the show reads:
“A group of hopeful athletes try out for an opportunity to train to become WWE Superstars and Divas. The grind begins for a rookie arrival.”
– A new edition of “The WWE List” debuts on the WWE Network on Tuesday at 4:30pm EST. The description for that one reads:
“Listing the most Infamous Transformations in WWE History!”
– A new episode of WWE’s “Table For 3” will air on the WWE Network this Wednesday at 4pm EST. The scheduled guests for the show are Tamina Snuka, Natalya and Charlotte. The official description for the show reads as follows:
“Natalya, Tamina and Charlotte share stories of what it was like growing up in sports entertainment and being part of WWE family royalty.”
– The latest edition of “Unfiltered with Renee Young” also premieres this week on Wednesday night at 4:30pm EST. The description for that episode, which features WWE Hall Of Famer Lita, reads:
“Renee sits down with former WWE Diva Lita to discuss her new role within WWE, butterflies and a Twitter moment with a famous rap legend.”
Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.com with his thoughts on Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker bleeding at Hell in a Cell, Ronda Rousey stating she wants to be WWE Divas Champion one day and more.
Some fans have questioned if the blood was planned in advance and JR says it clearly was. “How the blood was derived may be another issue but the two talents taking matters into their own hands without approval isn’t too likely to have occurred. Their match was the best bout on the show Sunday in LA.”
Related: The Latest On Lesnar & Taker Bleeding At HIAC
During a recent interview with FOX Sports, UFC Women’s Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey said she would like to be WWE Divas Champion one day. Reigning Divas champion Charlotte responded and offered Ronda Rousey a title shot anytime, anywhere. JR sees blockbuster potential from Rousey in a WWE ring and questions if the baddest woman on the planet would even qualify to be a Diva.
“Ronda Rousey and her camp, influenced by The Rock, are strategic in their thinking. Rousey has a huge payday awaiting her for a Wrestlemania story line down the road and they know it. No one ever makes too much money plus RR knows that she can’t be unbreakable forever inside the Octagon. It was timely of Charlotte to stand her ground and respond to Ronda recently but I would rather see RR versus a heel specifically Stephanie McMahon as I feel that’s the money. Plus, do you really want Ronda Rousey going for the WWE Divas Title? Is Rousey a Diva? Is the term Diva still relevant?
In any event, Ronda Rousey in a hot, personal issue interests me more than her going for the title at this time. The question is can Rousey and WWE come together for something BIG for the Texas WrestleMania?”
NXT General Manager William Regal underwent neck surgery last Wednesday and posted a photo of the aftermath with this message:
“Look at the state of my luscious locks! Just so you here it from me,I had a c-3 through c-6 Laminectomy last Wednesday. I wanted to put it out there so no one can weave a more interesting tale. I’m slowly on the mend.I mean this in all sincerity that I’m not one for sympathy so please no need to tell me best wishes and the like.Its just part of the life I’ve choose and wouldn’t change a thing. No need to tell me you’re praying for me as it would be a wasted prayer.Save that for people who need real help if that’s you’re thing. The only thank you is from me to you for allowing me to entertain you for the last 32 years.”
As a follow up to his 2014 neck surgery, Regal underwent a CAT scan about 6 weeks weeks ago to check on his progress. Despite the fact that he has been feeling better than he has in a long time, Regal was told that he would not be medically cleared to return to action for NXT Takeover: London and a second surgery would be required. WWE’s medical director Dr. Joseph C. Maroon and his team performed the procedure on October 21st in Pittsburgh.
The day after the surgery, Regal spoke to WWE.com about the situation:
“I had a neck surgery last year and everything was very, very good, and I went in for a follow-up exam six weeks ago,” Regal said. “Luckily, we did the exam, because they found there was more damage in the back of the neck that needed to be taken care of as soon as possible. The last surgery I had, they went in through the front of my neck; this one’s in the back, so there’s a lot more work involved and a lot of healing in the muscle in the back of the neck.
It was my C3, C4, C5 and C6 [vertebrae]. I believe the operation is called a laminectomy, where they go in and completely clean out the calcium deposits from the back. Now that I’ve got this done, it’s just a matter of healing up and I’ll be good to go. Dr. Maroon, who is head of the WWE Wellness Program, performed the operation. He said I’ll be good to go for another 50,000 miles, or 50 years. Hopefully, that will cover me for the rest of my time on this Earth, anyway.”
Regal will be attending all of the shows on the NXT UK tour, but will be unable to travel with WWE to the UK in November due to his recovery.
Team Bella member Alicia Fox is sporting a new look after shaving her head this week. The former Divas Champion posted this teaser photo on Instagram showing off her new mohawk:
As noted earlier this week, Alberto Del Rio was expected to work several shows for Mexico’s AAA promotion while that he committed to prior to returning to WWE. Del Rio is the reigning AAA Mega Champion and the promotion was under the impression that Del Rio would be working AAA’s TV tapings on Monday as well as several shows in November while WWE has their overseas tour.
According to f4wonline.com, WWE has confirmed that Del Rio will be working Monday’s RAW from Denver, CO and Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings from Colorado Springs, CO. Additionally, Alberto Del Rio will be replacing the injured Randy Orton on WWE’s upcoming European tour.
At this point, it looks like Del Rio’s run with AAA is winding down a lot sooner than they were hoping for. Del Rio reportedly left things on good terms with AAA when he signed with WWE last weekend, but it remains to be seen when he will work for them again to drop the AAA Mega title.
– The injured Randy Orton has been pulled from the WWE European tour scheduled for next month. The new top matches set for the Roman Reigns-led side of the tour are now Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan vs. Dean Ambrose and The Usos. As noted, The Usos are set to return to WWE television imminently.
– Tyler Breeze has been added to the Seth Rollins-led side of the tour. Matches for that side of the tour include The Dudley Boyz vs. The New Day and Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Tyler Breeze in a triple threat match. There is no word yet regarding Rusev’s replacement.
– Kofi Kingston is one of the guests on the latest edition of Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast. You can download the show at PodcastOne.com.
Recent WWE signee Biff Busick spoke to WWE.com this week about his transition from the independent scene to the Performance Center and NXT. Here’s what Busick said about:
When he realized WWE was interested in him:
“It’s funny — I had quite a long history with WWE. About three months into my training was the first time I was booked as an extra [in WWE], and I had no idea about anything. I had a couple more runs with WWE, every couple months when they were in town. The one time I lucked out, about nine months into my training, I was chosen to wrestle The Great Khali on SmackDown, and I had no business being in the ring with Khali whatsoever. It was about an 11-second match – which I lost, unfortunately – but it was just a surreal experience. After that moment, I realized I had to get out there and get more experience to be ready for the next time WWE called upon me.
From there, I traveled the country to learn from as many people as possible. I went to Lance Storm’s school in Calgary, which was an unbelievable experience. That was three months in the ring with him pretty much every day. Then I moved down to Texas, and I trained with Sho Funaki, who is another guy that has a wealth of knowledge. Training with those two guys really gave me the confidence and experience I needed to do much better. I think WWE started to catch on with me working more high-profile matches in more high-profile promotions, and it just took off from there.”
His WWE tryout earlier this year:
“I did a tryout in the first week of June. I was booked as an extra. I was able to have at tryout match at one of the live events. I’ll never forget: I was in California for PWG and I got a call from WWE before the show offering me a deal. It was surreal. I can’t put it into words. It’s something you work your whole life for and then it finally happened. I can’t do it justice by telling you how it felt.”
As noted earlier this week via the Wrestling Observer, Melissa Anderson (Cheerleader Melissa) will be part of of Lucha Underground’s second season, which begins filming in just two weeks. It had been reported that Melissa would be portraying that character of Marty The Moth’s sister, however Diva-Dirt is disputing this information:
“Melissa will not be portraying the sister of Marty “The Moth” Martinez. She will be playing a different role altogether: one that plays heavily into Lucha Underground’s tribe mythology.”
They also confirmed that she will be wearing a mask and will be one of the season’s main characters. Lucha Underground returns to the El Rey Network in January.
Both Ring of Honor and TNA Impact Wrestling saw nice increases in viewership for this week’s shows on Destination America.
Ring of Honor at 11pm EST drew 227,000 viewers, a major increase from last week’s 132,000. This was by far the most-watched episode of ROH TV in the late night timeslot.
Impact Wrestling featuring the World Title Series drew a total of 364,000 viewers for both airings, up from last week’s total of 327,000. The first airing drew 266,000 (up slightly from 264,000) while the midnight replay / West Coast feed did 98,000 this week (up from 63,000).
Earlier this week, WWE announced that 19 new talents will begin training at the Performance Center soon. The list included Tough Enough competitors, independent wrestlers and other athletes. Two of those indy stars now under WWE developmental contracts are Biff Busick and Rich Swann.
WWN issued the following statement to their newsletter subscribers about Busick and Swann signing with WWE:
Our biggest congratulations to Biff Busick for signing a WWE contract and reporting to NXT. Busick was an integral part in the relaunch of EVOLVE in August of 2014. His hard-hitting, technical style defined EVOLVE’s identity. His rivalry against Timothy Thatcher and Drew Gulak popularized the new EVOLVE style. Thank you for all your contributions, Biff. You know we’ll be watching you climb in the ranks in the WWE universe.
We offer a very deep and heartfelt congratulations to Rich Swann for signing a WWE contract and reporting to NXT. Rich has been an important and groundbreaking part of WWN since 2009. He paved the way for American stars in Dragon Gate USA as part of Ronin. He was a crossover star in both Dragon Gate in Japan and DGUSA. He is a former FIP Champion and half of the last DGUSA Open The United Gate Champions. Swann got his first match by impressing in a DGUSA Seminar/Tryout. We watched him climb the ranks and grow in the business. WWN would not be what it is today without the contributions of Rich Swann. Thank you.
– The above WWE SmackDown Fallout video for this week’s show features Tyler Breeze and Summer Rae talking about their Halloween costumes.
– Below is another Halloween-themed clip from SmackDown. This video features Bo Dallas dressing up like a ghost and trying to trick WWE Superstars.
– Former WCW star Buff Bagwell is the guest on the latest edition of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast. You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.
Tommy Dreamer recently spoke with wrestledelphia.com to promote the upcoming House of Hardcore 10 that takes place on November 13th. Among the topics discussed, Dreamer spoke about Alberto Del Rio and the Dudley Boyz returning to WWE. Here are the highlights of what he said about:
Alberto Del Rio: “Shocked. Especially considering that he’s the AAA Mega Champion. It’s funny, all of the surprises on my shows end up going back to WWE. The Dudleys, Alberto, maybe Rey Mysterio will be next. It’s a crazy, crazy time in pro wrestling right now. But you always have to remember to never say never.
That’s why I’ve always loved the Royal Rumble. It’s not just about who is going to WrestleMania, it’s about okay, who is coming out next? In the 70’s and 80’s, it was always cool seeing somebody from a different territory come out and you’re like, whoa, he doesn’t belong here! You just never knew what could happen.
The Dudley Boyz: “I’m happy for them. It sucks for me because Bubba is my closest friend and I can’t have him on the shows, but WWE definitely needed them. You know, for all the shows he worked for me, Bubba never took a paycheck. I always offered, but he said no. He was just happy to be having fun again.”
You can read the full interview at Wrestledelphia.
WWE.com has confirmed that Rusev did in fact sustain an injury at Tuesday’s WWE Main Event tapings:
“Rusev sustained a proximal bicep tendon rupture during his match with Neville at the WWE Main Event tapings Tuesday night, WWE.com can confirm. The match was called due to the injury, and the former U.S. Champion’s recovery time is currently slated at three to four weeks.”
Rusev also tweeted:
I guess my biceps are too big for its tendons. #illbeback
Original Story: Last night, most talk on social media about the WWE SmackDown and Main Event tapings in Phoenix, Arizona centered around what looked like an injury to Rusev. His match with Neville was stopped when he suffered some kind of arm or shoulder injury. Afterwards, he menaced the timekeeper for ringing the bell, and nobody was completely sure if it was part of the storyline or not.
The latest information to come out since then is not good, as multiple sources have told PWInsider’s Mike Johnson that Rusev suffered a torn bicep. WWE has yet to officially confirm that there was any kind of injury. As for the shenanigans after the match, Johnson speculated that it was all a work to fill time lost when the match was cut short by the injury.
This is another bad setback for Rusev, as he just had his long-term storyline with Dolph Ziggler, Lana, and Summer Rae ended abruptly after his real-life engagement to Lana went public. That program transitioned him from a killer heel feuding with John Cena to more of a comedy character.
WWE announced Wednesday that Tough Enough competitors Mada Abdelhamid, Daria Berenato, Patrick Clark, Zamariah “ZZ” Loupe and Amanda Saccomanno have been signed to developmental contracts and are part of a new class of 19 recruits that have begun training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Perhaps the most notable name not on that list is Giorgia “GiGi” Piscina, who finished in sixth place. Tanner Saraceno, who was the last contestant to be eliminated before the finale, revealed in September that he plans to pursue a career in mixed martial arts.
In August, Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline.com claimed on Wrestling Observer Live that WWE planned to offer multiple Tough Enough competitors deals, with the definite exception of one individual. Without mentioning a name, he said one of the female contestants was “red flagged” from receiving a contract offer. On Wednesday, Wrestling Observer Newsletter editor Dave Meltzer said it was Piscina.
“Gigi would have been signed but something very troubling about her past came up,” he wrote on the F4WOnline.com message board in a thread about WWE’s new recruits. “It was really big but I don’t know what it was. But it was like hands off pretend she was never here.”
Piscina quickly denied the allegations on Twitter, stating, “I can assure u there is nothing “BIG” in my past that would have caused #WWE not 2 sign me. Unless being a quiet straight A student is “big.”
I can assure u there is nothing “BIG” in my past that would have caused #WWE not 2 sign me. Unless being a quiet straight A student is “big”
A short while later, Meltzer corrected his initial statement by saying it was actually Gabi (Castrovinci). He remarked, “Gabi, not Gigi, sorry.”
It would appear that Meltzer got them confused since like Piscina, Castrovinci has a background in fitness modeling. The Brazilian-born brunette finished in tenth place on Tough Enough. Since being eliminated, she has been pursuing a career in professional wrestling. She is currently training at WWE Hall of Famer Afa’s wrestling school in Minneola, Florida.
Castrovinci addressed Meltzer’s allegations in a statement posted on Twitter on Thursday.
“Dave Meltzer has been causing defamation of character & discrimination toward me. All I can say is that the reason WWE hasn’t hired me yet isn’t because of my “past life,” she states. “The WWE will fairly decide who to give a contract. But if you want to continue to defame or tear me down… I am sad for you…”
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin is teaming up with the El Segundo Brewing Company for the launch of Broken Skull IPA beer. Austin will be hosting a launch event for the beverage on Friday, November 13th in El Segundo, California.
The beer is described as having “a big mid palate flavor from ample use of Cascade, Chinook, and Citra hops. The finish is wonderful with hops fading quickly and a polite bitterness that trails off easily.”
According to El Segundo, the first round will be available only in California, but they’re working on getting into additional markets.
Swig of beer for the working man!
Steve Austin & El Segundo Brewing Present Broken Skull IPA
(El Segundo CA) – WWE Hall of Famer, Steve Austin, and El Segundo Brewing Company, one of LA’s premier craft breweries, have teamed up to create what Austin describes as “one bad ass beer”. Known around the world for his intense in-ring style, trash talking, and beer swilling antics, Austin has embraced the craft beer world with a hands on approach.
After meeting with ESBC founder, Rob Croxall, it was clear they had a lot in common. Austin, who knows good beer when he tastes it, was already a fan of ESBC’S Citra Pale and Mayberry IPA. Over a table of beer, conversation shifted to a collaborative effort utilizing ESBC’s expertise in brewing and Steve’s vision of the ultimate India Pale Ale. Austin described in detail the characteristics he loved in a great IPA.
The resulting recipe, churned out by Rob, created a beer that boasts a big mid palate flavor from ample use of Cascade, Chinook, and Citra hops. The finish is wonderful with hops fading quickly and a polite bitterness that trails off easily. This is the ultimate IPA designed for the working man and woman who love great beer. The work is done. Time to enjoy a cold one.
El Segundo Brewing, located at 140 Main St, El Segundo, will launch BROKEN SKULL IPA on lucky Friday, November 13th. Steve Austin will be behind the bar serving up this tasty brew from 1pm-8pm. Tickets are REQUIRED: tinyurl.com/brokenskull.
Come on down, enjoy a Broken Skull IPA, and shake Steve’s hand for a job well done.
After winning the #1 Contender’s Battle Royal earlier this month, Apollo Crews will challenge Finn Balor for the NXT Championship in the main event of week’s show.
WWE tapes the next several weeks of NXT TV tonight from Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL – check back later tonight for spoiler results.
WWE is hyping the match match with a look at Crews’ journey to the top of NXT:
WWE released its quarterly report for the third quarter of 2015 this morning, and right now, the investors’ all is going on. The WWE press release and WWE Network info are up already here on SEScoops, and here, we’ll cover any new information from the call as it’s ongoing. The first part of the call deals with what’s in the earnings presentation itself, so we’ll try to cover some of that here but stick mostly with the new developments on the call itself, like the interaction with the analysts who call in.
As of 11:16 a.m. ET, it looks like we’re most of the way through the presentation on the call, so it’s almost time to get to the callers. This is the “fun part,” so to speak, as some throw ridiculous softballs and some ask tough questions with little middle ground. It’s always at least interesting, so let’s see how this part goes for WWE…
11:21 a.m. ET: Eric Katz with Wells Fargo calls in. Believe he’s a new one. Why is WWE using Netflix’s growth patterns to predict WWE Network success when they’re also saying the fourth quarter should be flat to the third quarter? Barrios sees their growth as happening seasonally (presumably meaning that growth will happen from the Royal Rumble to WrestleMania each year). WWE looks at year to year growth more than sequential growth within the year.
Why the big investments in content?
11:25 a.m. ET: John Blackledge of Cowen and Co asking about WWE Network churn (subscriber loss) and related issues. Did credit card companies sending out new verification chip cards cause issues like it did with Netflix? George Barrios says he doesn’t know on the chip question because they don’t get that level of “granular” data.
11:28 a.m. ET: Laura Martin of Needham is here to throw softballs! Or maybe not, seems like she wants them to cut back on producing new network content? Vince says they need to drive subscriptions and it’s misleading to look at what percentage of viewing is from the video on demand library.
Then she asks about YouTube and plans for revenue sharing. Barrios says they’re “a phenomenal resource globally.” Compares them to cable TV in the past. Barrios talks about taking care in uploading content in only uploading short clips of the TV shows.
What about ad revenue on the network? Barrios says they’re experimenting and doesn’t give any financial details. But it will continue to be a “soft touch” as far as the number of ads.
11:34 a.m. ET: Brandon Ross of BTIG is up. Why only projecting 20-25% network growth with new international markets, etc? Barrios says the closest comparison is early domestic-only Netflix because they’re still so early in the process. As for YouTube, which he also asked about, revenue is up from high six figures to mid seven figures in a few years.
Here we go: What steps are you taking to improve ratings? Barrios says they don’t look at a single metric in isolation. Social media, engagement, etc…but they don’t like to be down. They want to win “in each ecosystem we play” and they think they are doing fine relative to other pay TV. He asks how they compare to USA’s average, which is a bit higher.
11:39 a.m. ET: Missed the name here. Asked about more subscriber number detail, Barrios half-jokes that they should be happy with the quarterly guidance. Wow.
How to reduce network churn? Content and experience, including improving the service quality and user interface.
11:43 a.m. ET: Daniel Moore of CJS Securities. Barrios ends up explaining the differences in how TV vs. film is expensed.
BTW, this happened earlier:
We think our content is great and our fans are satisfied with it. Yes, Barrios really said that.
He also asked about TapOut, which WWE has invested in. Barrios refused to give any updates.
11:47 a.m. ET: Mike Hickey from Benchmark is up and asks about Germany. “German audiences don’t pay for TV content.” That was interesting. Asked about NXT, Barrios starts talking about social media again and how the Barclays Center sellout shows the the power of social media. A show only on the internet in the U.S. on a service w/ 1.3 million worldwide subscribers drawing like that is unprecedented. He’s right, but NXT is also on Hulu, which is a much bigger and more mainstream service even if WWE doesn’t push that NXT is available on it.
And that’s the end of the call. Bradley Safalow of PAA Research, who normally asks the best questions by far, was noticeably absent.
