– Today’s wrestling birthdays include Colt Cabana (32) and Nasty Boy Brian Knobbs (48).

– Christian returned to action this weekend at a SmackDown live event from Asheville, North Carolina, defeating Yoshi Tatsu. Christian played the heel and told the live crowd before the match that he wants “one more championship match” – a sign that his career might be winding down.

– Bo Rotunda, son of Mike “IRS” Rotunda, also worked the live event from Asheville, defeating Drew McIntyre with a roll-up. Drew McIntyre had wrestled (and lost to) the Great Khali earlier in the night.

– Bo Rotunda’s brother, Husky Harris, returned to action at Friday night’s RAW live event from Huntsville, Alabama. Wrestling as his new “religious” gimmick Bray Wyatt, he defeated Zack Ryder in what was said to be a good match. Live correspondents who were at the show said Wyatt looked to be in much better shape than the last time we saw him on WWE television as a member of Nexus.

Check out this video of Bray Wyatt’s debut promo and first match at Florida Championship Wrestling:

WWE star/executive Triple H walked Floyd Mayweather to the ring ahead of his boxing victory against Miguel Cotto on Saturday night from Las Vegas.

Hunter carried one of Mayweather’s championship belts and discretely wore a sling on his left arm, selling the storyline injury he suffered at the hands of Brock Lesnar on Monday’s RAW. He did, however, hold the title belt above his head at one point, which does conflict with the notion that his arm arm might be broken and need surgery.

Hunter and Mayweather are close friends, dating back to Mayweather’s involvement at WrestleMania 24. Back in 2009, Mayweather talked about wanting Hunter to accompany him to the ring for an upcoming fight:

“Triple H is one of the greatest guys in the world and represents a whole universe of WWE fans that appreciate what he does. He and his stature are huge and I can’t think of a better person to escort me to the ring for my return to boxing.”

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Shortly before Extreme Reunion, Shane Douglas appeared on Inside The Ropes to discuss TNA Wrestling, Sabu’s personal problems, Ric Flair almost joining ECW in 1998 and more. Highlights are as follows:

Wiping the mat with the WWF in the 1990s: “If we’d had a backer like Panda Energy or Ted Turner, I think….no I know we’d have wiped the mat with the WWF. Paul Heyman was that talented a booker and our dressing room was that talented. Vince McMahon ripped everything off from us. He’ll tell you he didn’t but it’s as blatant as the nose on my face.”

Sabu: “I remember in 1993, sitting in the back watching him, I’d never met him. He hit a triple moonsault, I jumped out of my seat as a fan, I’ve always been a huge mark for Sabu. I spent this past weekend with Sabu and he’s been going through a tough time recently with his family and his wife and things. I’ve heard all sorts of horror stories about Sabu that he turns up at shows not able to perform.”

How TNA Wrestling creatively handles their talent: “I look at Dixie’s dressing room and you have Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, they had Petey Williams. I’m a mark for those guys. That said, I’m anything but a mark…. I’m a critic for the way that talent has been used. I hope that in a year from now, I’ll be able to say I’m booking for the Bobby Roodes, AJ Styles and Samoa Joes as opposed to having to sit back and watch them being mis-used by a company that just doesn’t get it.”

Difference between ECW and TNA Wrestling: “Without going into my whole TNA rant, she’s over $150 million in the red, has nothing to show for it. Hasn’t produced one bankable star in 7 years. The original ECW on the other hand launched in 1993, spent $8.27 million dollars, and in 7 years how many bankable stars did ECW, Paul Heyman create? Dixie was onto a decent idea and then instead of going with what could have given her Dad some return on his money, she went with the whole Hulk Hogan/Ric Flair routine. My personal differences aside with those guys, the fact that in 2012, we’re still talking about the guys that headlined wrestling in 1984, is laughable at best, sad at worst.”

His promo work being copied by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin Austin (obscenity laced spiels) and CM Punk (worked shoots): “Well to say it’s not true would be ignorant. The fact I’ve carved out a niche in the business and had an almost 30 year career and done well without competing at a WrestleMania is something I’m proud of. To be in a business that’s dominated by one guy and be able to do well without having to walk on that stage is great.”

Why he left his successful run in ECW in 1995 for WWF as Dean Douglas: “The way it was pitched to me isn’t the way it played out. It took 7 or 8 trips up there for me to sign. There was something in the back of my gut that told me it wasn’t the right fit. I no desire to leave ECW but in 95, I was reaching my mid 30’s I’d been the World Champ multiple times…I’d pretty much done everything in ECW, all I could do is repeat. That was one of the reasons I didn’t wanna miss an opportunity to make a living for my family. The last time I went there, I took my ex-wife with me, and I was working as a teacher 5 days making good money and making pretty good money the two nights a week working for ECW, she looked McMahon in the eye and said “What could you possibly offer my husband to make him leave all that and being home in bed with me every night?” and he leaned across the table and he stroked her hand and said “You have my word as a gentleman that I’ll make your husband a very wealthy man” He went on to tell me “its not uncommon for someone in the position we’re putting you in to earn $300,000 a year minimum base salary” I spoke to Piper, Hennig etc and they said Vince told them the same thing and they got rich. I called home one night and my wife said the cheques hadn’t been great and she said they all came to $1400 and I told her to add them up and she said that was them all added up.”

Whether he was comfortable with his feud with Ric Flair being put on television in 2000 in WCW?: “Hell Yeah. If a company is investing a seven figure income to me, which Bischoff did for me for three years, but I’ll go into any situation in the ring. I’m a professional.”

Ric Flair negotiating with ECW in 1998: “Flair had started discussions with ECW when he had his problems with Bischoff, about working with me. His concern to Paul Heyman was, that I would shoot on him. He wanted $150,000 for one match which we couldn’t possibly afford that. So I suggested to Paul, offer back to him, 3 shows, first one in Charlotte. I put him over, 55 minutes. Second, Pittsburgh he puts me over, same time frame. Third time in Philadelphia, I have no doubts that promoted well, we could’ve sold the Spectrum out.”

Quick Fire Thoughts

Triple H: An overachiever. He doesn’t seem to have the skillset to get to the position he’s at. But in saying that he’s a good ring general and I think he’s the one guy in the locker room that could’ve worked in the original ECW.

Bret Hart: He’s one of those guys, he’s the universe’s Ric Flair. When I met Flair, he fell far short of a hero or someone to look up to. When I met Bret, I was shocked at what a down to earth guy he was and just worked his tail to get to where he was.

Dixie Carter: Way out of her league.

Hulk Hogan: He’s the phenomenon that he’s believed to be. I do believe Hogan is as big an icon in our business. He always made sure he left time for the kids at Make a Wish Foundation.

– Here’s this week’s SmackDown “Backstage Fallout” video [sort of] featuring interviews with Damien Sandow, A.J. Lee and Intercontinental champion, Cody Rhodes:

This week’s episode of Santino’s “Foreign Exchange features Santino attempting to audition for other TV shows, including Man vs. Food and Ghost Hunters:

In an interview with Hannibal Pro Wrestling, Scott Steiner explains his beef with Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan.

Read All Of Scott Steiner’s Crazy Twitter Rants Here

Steiner will be appearing at tonight’s (5/5) HPW show in Smiths Fall, Ontario, where he will face Canadian Heavyweight Champion Jeremy Prophet.

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross is back with another blog update, which you can read in its entirety over at JRsBarBQcom. Here are some highlights of what JR wrote about:

Michael Cole’s Commentary: “I’ve been impressed with Michael Cole’s more balanced commentary recently. He’s the new voice of WWE w/o question. Our handshake at WM28 ended any personal issues that I may have had with him. End of story.”

WWE’s Tag Team Division: “I see WWE tag team wrestling taking positive steps forward in 2012. Go ahead, roll your eyes at will. The lack of overall talent depth, no territories, etc affects all areas of the genre whether some fans want to admit it or not.”

His Favorite Broadcast Partner: “Besides the King, my favorite broadcast partner, when looking at antagonists, is @HeymanHustle. He knew what buttons to push to get me to raise my game. I never played the role of an announcer and was always just myself, for better or for worse. Being real. Bobby Heenan was an amazing partner too but ‘The Brain’ was more funny than a villain. I’ve said it before, Bobby Heenan may well be the most talented, all around performer in the history of the wrestling business.”

Brock Lesnar: “Lesnar and WWE may be a marriage made in Hell but it’s a relationship that I, as a fan, want to follow. When we signed Brock back in the day we knew tht he was going to be a handful and he was. However, athletic freaks like him don’t grow on trees and, like many coaches, etc, we put in the time necessary to keep Brock headed in the right direction as best that we could. He’s stubborn, anti social, uber talented, and volatile. Time will tell where Lesnar’s latest foray into WWE life takes him but as for me, I’m staying tuned.”

Former WWE diva turned porn star Chyna was at the Gold Gala over the weekend – and it appears she has had some drastic plastic surgery performed. This was her first public appearance since January, when she was already showing signs of face work. Now, it would be hard to deny it.

Celebrity plastic surgeon Dr. Anthony Youn spoke to Celebitchy.com about Chyna’s drastically different appearance:

“Chyna’s face looks like a bloated version of itself… It appears that a cosmetic surgeon plumped it up beyond recognition, likely with injections of fat or other facial filler. To say it looks overdone is an understatement.”

Check out these [disturbing] pictures:

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– Gerald Brisco has been scouting amateur wrestlers for WWE in recent weeks. He was at the Olympic trials in Iowa City last week and currently has two heavyweight wrestlers that he sees as having potential, including a 6 foot 5 285 pound Greco-Roman wrestler from Turkey.

– Husky Harris is back on the road with WWE, wrestling Alex Riley at this weekend’s RAW-brand live events. Harris is now working a religious gimmick and will be evaluated by WWE officials to see how he’s progressed since the last time he was on the main roster.

– Booker T’s new “Reality of Wrestling” series will debut on YouTube next Wednesday, May 9th.

– Nick “Hogan” Bollea was granted an early release from his five year probation on Friday stemming from 2007 car accident that critically injured his friend John Graziano. Nick will not have the felony charge on his record as a result of his sentencing terms being met.

(Partial Source: pwinsider.com)

– Scott Steiner’s recent claim that TNA announcers no longer call TNA action for Orlando is partially true. Mike Tenay and Tazz do commentary live from the Impact Zone on weeks when that show airs the same week. On weeks when the episode of Impact that is taped does not air until the following week, they fly to Nashville do commentary in post-production, after the show has been edited. This is done because TNA wants to keep the commentary timely and does not want it to be outdated by the time the show airs a week later.

– Ric Flair’s daughter Ashley is now training to be a professional wrestler.

– Al Snow is the person who hand picked Alex Silva to participate in the most recent Gutcheck Challenge on Impact. Moving forward, Gutcheck will feature talents similar to Silva, mostly from TNA’s developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling. OVW has had an increase in business thanks to TNA, including a local pizza sponsorship and several former names returning, including Cliff Compton.

TNA plans add other new concepts to Impact in the coming months.

– TNA will run a series of shows in California this weekend, with a show at the Citizen’s Bank Arena in Ontario, CA tonight, a show at the Robobank Arena in Bakersfield, CA Saturday night and a Basebrawl event at the Visalia Rawhide Park in Visalia, CA on Sunday.

– Jeff and Karen Jarrett worked the April 30 AAA TV taping in Mexico over the weekend. Chessman and Jeff Jarrett defeated Juventud Guerrera and La Parka Jr when Jarrett used a guitar on Guerrera.

(Partial Source: PWInsider.com)

– Zack Ryder is back with a new episode of the Z! True Long Island Story. On this week’s show, Ryder accepts Dolph Ziggler’s challenge to wrestle for Ryder’s Internet Championship at WrestleMania 29 next April –

– WWE developmental talent DT Porter, who is currently out of action with a knee injury, posted the following message on his Facebook account. Based on what he’s writing – one has to question his mental stability and whether he has what it takes to make it in the business:

“Guys, I don’t know how much longer I can handle this. Every day is a constant struggle to keep my sanity. I love wrestling and it’s all I ever wanted to do. Already going crazy since I’ve been for like ten months now, but it gets worse. Every day a trainer goes out of his way to rib or disrespect me in front of the boys because I’ve been out so long. I can’t clear myself. I wanna wrestle more than anything, but I don’t even know who I am anymore. It’s so fucking hard. I just feel it just building inside of me and I don’t know how much longer I can contain it. I have daydreams of just fucking everyone up on some real shit. I’m not a kid. I’m a fucking man. But what do you do when the people in charge of helping you get to the main roster are the ones making your life the hardest. I’ve been drinking almost every day. It’s to the point to where I keep Vodka and Gin in my trunk. Help me!”

Arda Ocal (@arda_ocal) of theScore Television Network caught up with Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. Beefcake appears more open in this piece that in some interviews in the past. Highlights:

Pat Patterson giving him “The Barber” and how it spawned from a simple rib.

Watching Hulk Hogan play baseball as a kid and who decided to try wrestling first.

Memories of the “Barber Shop”:

“The one I did with Andre The Giant is probably my favorite because I watched him my whole life. It was the best interview segment that I ever saw him do. It makes me proud knowing that he was excited for it. He didn’t like doing interviews. For him to step up the way he did was an honor to me. That’s a show of respect in our business. That huge man stepped up and wanted to do a good job for me.”

What gave him the will to live after enduring a near fatal para-sailing accident, both his parents dying and a divorce in the early 90s.

Check out the video interview here:

Following this week’s TNA Impact Wrestling tapings, here’s the card for the upcoming TNA’s Sacrifice pay-per-view on May 13th:

Ladder Match for the World Heavyweight Title
Bobby Roode (c) vs. Rob Van Dam

TNA Tag Team Title Match
Magnus and Samoa Joe (c) vs. Daniels and Kazarian

TNA Knockouts Title Match
Gail Kim (c) vs. Brooke Tessmacher

Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles

Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy

Austin Aries vs. Bully Ray

– WWE is negotiating with NBC Universal about airing Superstars and NXT exclusively on Hulu.com.

– WWE is looking to hire a new “Live Event Booking Assistant” that will work at company headquarters in Stamford, CT. For more information, visit WWE-Careers.com.

– Earlier this week, Evan Bourne announced on Twitter that he had the ‘PICC’ line (peripherally inserted central catheter) removed this week and is still wearing a cast.

He’s posted another update and told fans that he will be getting the pins removed from his foot in two more weeks. He is still wearing a cast on his arm but was able to do a push-up on Monday for the first time in six weeks.

Bourne tweeted back on April 19th that he has “no idea” when he’ll be cleared to return to the ring, but hopes it will be by “#endofsummer.”

(Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

– Jim Ross has been working with THQ in recent months recording commentary for the upcoming WWE ’13 game, due out this fall. Ross was asked this week whether he’s replacing Michael Cole on commentary in the game – and he stated no, this game will have more than two announcers.

– Terry Taylor has been at Florida Championship Wrestling in the past week, but his official role at developmental is still not known.

— For those wondering whether John Laurinaitis is actually going to wrestle John Cena at Over the Limit – it’s not just a ‘bait and switch’ angle. Laurinaitis was an active wrestler in Japan until 2000 and began training this week at one of WWE’s warehouses in Connecticut where they keep several rings set up.

(Sources: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, pwinsider.com)

– WWE CEO Vince McMahon has been furious with the staff of WWE.com and there’s a good chance WWE’s upcoming releases will include several members of the website staff.

Aside from soft website traffic, Vince could not believe that nobody from the WWE.com staff was at the WrestleMania 29 press conference several weeks ago when Vince met with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

– Vince McMahon also recently told his live events coordinators that there are to be more planning and rehearsals done for the shows. He also wants writers and producers to communicate more.

As hands-on as Vince already is with WWE events, a source in WWE said that televised and live events will be even more rigidly scripted moving forward.

Former WWE superstar Batista got another Tattoo this week of Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe:

There is a lot of mid-card talent in WWE that are concerned about their jobs. WWE typically does “spring cleaning” and releases several wrestlers this time of year. Especially with huge money being paid to Brock Lesnar and new talent getting called up to NXT and the main roster in the coming weeks, cuts are expected soon.

WWE Superstar Mason Ryan will be appearing at tonight’s FCW event from Eustis, Florida. He’ll be doing a meet and greet before the show and will be wrestling.

As previously reported, WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler made a surprise appearance at Wednesday night’s Memphis Grizzlies home playoff game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Lawler appeared during an intermission (wearing a Grizzlies jersey) and cut a promo in front of the crowd wound up giving a “fan” (wearing a Clippers jersey) a piledriver on the court.

John Cena will be appearing on next Tuesday’s “Dream Machines” show on Syfy. The official synopsis for the episode reads:

“In next Tuesday’s all new episode, the Parker brothers battle over WWE Superstar John Cena’s request for a one-of-a-kind Dream Machine. They only have 30 days to transform his Corvette into ‘The InCENArator,’ or face being on the wrong side of an Attitude Adjustment.”

Check out these promo pictures of John Cena’s appearance on the show:

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The following is a spoiler-free preview for tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown on SyFy:

* WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth vs. Hunico and Camacho.

* Brodus Clay vs. Jack Swagger

* Randy Orton and Big Show vs. Kane and Cody Rhodes

* Damien Sandow vs. Derrick Bateman

* Layla vs. Natalya (Non-Title Match)

* World Heavyweight champion Sheamus will be in action

There will also be appearances from Teddy Long, Eve, Alberto Del Rio, Daniel Bryan and more.

*SPOILERS* Detailed Results For Tonight’s WWE SmackDown

— Domestic violence charges against Scott Hall have been dropped after he allegedly choked his girlfriend while intoxicated last month. Hall will not face any jail time.

Hall’s told TMZ.com that charges were “dismissed and/or rejected by the prosecutor due to insufficient evidence.” After originally telling police that Hall had been drinking for days and tried pulling her out of her car by her throat, she later changed her story and said Hall never got violent with her and they have a happy, healthy relationship.

— SmackDown star Christian has yet to return to WWE television, but is advertised to challenge Sheamus this weekend for the World Heavyweight championship. During an interview with Citizen-Times.com to promote this weekend’s live event from Asheville, North Carolina, he spoke about working through WWE’s tough travel schedule:

“We just got back from a two-week tour of Europe where we wrestled every night. It is what it is. It’s not for everybody. No matter how tired you get, when you get in that ring and hear that crowd road, everything will go away.”

* Pictures of JOHN CENA’s Ridiculous New “DREAM MACHINE” Tricked Out Car

— Buff Bagwell underwent surgery on his jaw on Thursday, which had been wired shut, and is now walking. Indy promotion UCW, which Bagwell had been wrestling for prior to his accident, tweeted the following update on his condition:

“Buff Bagwell released after surgery. Buff is recovering after having surgery on his jaw , which is wired. Buff has 4 plates in his face from surgery. Under his eye, across the face / nose. Is walking..but has some tingling in his arms and hands.”

— WWE’s stock price increased by over 13% on Thursday, a sign that Wall Street was very satisfied by the company’s first quarter earnings report released earlier in the day. The stock closed at $8.90 per share after it had bottomed out around $7.75 three times in the past two weeks.

— Mark Henry has been pulled from advertising for this week’s RAW brand live events. He had been scheduled to wrestle John Cena and WWE Champion CM Punk this weekend.

As part of WWE’s First Quarter 2012 earnings report announced on Thrusday, the company released pay-per-view buyrate information for this year’s Royal Rumble and Elimination chamber events.

The Royal Rumble drew 443,000 buys, down from 446,000 buys in 2011, and 462,000 buys in 2010.

Elimination Chamber did 178,000 buys, down from 199,000 buys in 2011 and 285,000 buys in 2010.

Even though the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber both did fewer buys in 2012 than they did in 2011, revenue was essentially the same due to more viewers ordering the high-definition feeds of the events, which are more expensive and made up the lost revenue.

As for WrestleMania 28’s buyrate, the official numbers will not be reported until WWE announces its Second Quarter 2012 results in a few months, but WWE CEO Vince McMahon did say that the buyrate is expected to be “nearly 1.3 million pay-per-view buys globally,” indicating the final number might be less than the 1.3 million estimate WWE previously touted.

WWE announces better-than-expected financial results for the first quarter of 2012 – sending WWE stock soaring 10% on Thursday morning, up from its 52-week low earlier in the week.  Profitability came in well-above analysts’s expectations, increasing 17 percent to $54.7 million. WWE explained the increase in the financial report released today:

“Reduced losses from our movie business, improved sell-through rates in home video, and incremental rights fees for online programming content contributed to the expansion in profit and overall profitability.”

“Gross contribution margins increased to 44 percent from 39 percent in the prior year quarter. Excluding the impact of film impairments, Adjusted Profit contribution increased 12 percent to $55.5 million and Adjusted Profit contribution margin increased to 45 percent from 41 percent in the prior year quarter.”

Here’s the press release containing the financial data from Marketwatch.com.

WWE(R) Reports 2012 First Quarter Results

STAMFORD, Conn., May 03, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — WWEtoday announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2012. Revenues totaled $123.1 million as compared to $119.9 million in the prior year quarter. Operating income was $16.0 million as compared to $13.2 million in the prior year quarter. Net income was $15.3 million, or $0.20 per share, as compared to $8.6 million, or $0.11 per share, in the prior year quarter. There were several items that impacted comparability on a year-over-year basis, including expenses incurred in conjunction with our potential network, recognition of previously unrecognized tax benefits and film impairments. Excluding the impact of these items, Adjusted Operating income in the current quarter was $18.9 million and Adjusted Net income was $13.1 million, or $0.18 per share. In the prior year quarter, Adjusted Operating income was $16.0 million and Adjusted Net income was $10.3 million, or $0.14 per share.

“In the first quarter, EBITDA grew 19%, reflecting increased profits across all our businesses. Our results were highlighted by the strong performance of our live events as we entered a new market in the Middle East. We are very pleased that our positive first quarter execution continued in April with the successful staging of WrestleMania, which is expected to deliver nearly 1.3 million pay-per-view buys globally,” stated Vince McMahon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Through the first quarter, we made important progress on our key strategic initiatives, developing our foundation for creating and distributing new content, and building on our tremendous brand strength, especially in social media. Looking ahead, we are confident that we will leverage the broad appeal of our content to transform our business and drive long-term earnings growth.”

Comparability of Results

Our current year quarter results included a $0.8 million film impairment charge, related to our film, Bending the Rules, $2.1 million in network related operating expenses and a $4.1 million benefit due to previously unrecognized tax benefits. Prior year quarter results included impairment charges of $2.8 million, related to our film 12 Rounds, and a $0.1 million tax benefit. In order to facilitate an analysis of our financial results on a more comparable basis, where noted, we have adjusted our results to exclude these items from our first quarter of 2012 results. (See Schedules of Adjustments in Supplemental Information).

First Quarter Results by Region and Business Segment

Revenues from North America increased 4%, led by the performance of our Live and Televised Entertainment segment. Revenues from outside North America were essentially unchanged from the prior year quarter. There was no significant impact from changes in foreign exchange rates in the current year quarter.

Live and Televised Entertainment

Revenues from our Live and Televised Entertainment businesses increased 8% to $75.7 million as compared to $70.4 million in the prior year quarter. The increase was primarily due to the performance of our live events and additional television rights fees, as described below.

— Live Event revenues increased 13% to $22.2 million from $19.6 million in the prior year quarter primarily due to the timing of our Fan Axxess events and the successful performance of our inaugural tour in Abu Dhabi. Fan Axxess was held in conjunction with WrestleMania XXVIII but occurred within our first quarter. — There were 75 total events during the current quarter as compared to 77 events in the prior year quarter, with the variance primarily due to touring logistics. There were six international events performed in the current quarter as compared to four in the prior year quarter.

— North American events generated $18.9 million of revenues from 69 events as compared to $17.4 million from 73 events in the prior year quarter, reflecting the timing of Fan Axxess, which added $1.4 million in incremental revenue to the quarter with $1.6 million in the current year quarter. A 6% increase in average ticket prices to $38.50 for our North American events was offset by the impact of four fewer events in the quarter and a 3% decline in average attendance to 6,200.

— International events generated approximately $3.3 million of revenues from six events as compared to $2.2 million from four events in the prior year quarter. The growth was led by the impact of our strong tour in Abu Dhabi, which attracted a total of more than 15,000 fans at three events with an average price of $147 per ticket. Accordingly, average ticket prices at our international events increased 157% to $125.60 as compared to $48.88 in the prior year quarter. Average attendance at our international events, however, fell 60% to 3,400 reflecting the performance of our tour in Central America, which was staged in more economically challenged areas of that region than in the prior year quarter. For these events, our International revenue included the effect of minimum guarantees, which we negotiate to protect our interests when traveling to territories with higher economic risks. These guarantees partially offset the impact of lower average attendance.

— Pay-Per-View revenues were $13.5 million in both the current and prior year quarter, as a 3% increase in the average revenue per buy was offset by a comparable decline in current year buys. The increase in average revenue per buy was attributable to higher retail prices charged for viewing our events in high definition. The decline in buys for the two events in the quarter was driven by an 8% decline in international buys as domestic buys remain essentially unchanged.

Detailed PPV Buyrate Data Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber & WrestleMania

— Television Rights Fees revenues were $32.5 million as compared to $31.6 million in the prior year quarter. The rise was primarily due to additional rights fees and contractual increases from our existing programs, partially offset by the absence of rights fees for our WWE Superstars program.

— Venue Merchandise revenues were $5.1 million as compared to $4.5 million in the prior year quarter, as the favorable impact associated with the timing of our Fan Axxess events was partially offset by a 13% decrease in total domestic attendance in the current year quarter.

— WWE Classics on Demand(TM) revenues were $1.0 million as compared to $1.1 million in the prior year quarter.

Consumer Products

Revenues from our Consumer Products businesses increased 2%, to $35.5 million from $34.8 million in the prior year quarter, primarily due to increased revenue in our Home Video business, partially offset by a decline in our Magazine Publishing business.

— Home Video net revenues were $9.2 million as compared to $8.1 million in the prior year quarter, representing a 14% increase that was primarily due to higher than anticipated sell-through rates for releases in prior periods. The resulting increase in sales was partially offset by a 27% decline in average price and a 5% decrease in units shipped, where these factors stemmed from ongoing discounts and promotional activity primarily related to our catalog titles. Additionally, there was one fewer title released in the current year quarter.

— Licensing revenues were $24.2 million as compared to $23.9 million in the prior year quarter, as the recognition of minimum guarantees was offset by a decline in royalties earned from several product categories, including video games and toys. The decline in these categories was primarily due to difficult trends in our international markets. Overall revenue from the sale of video games declined 11%, or $1.5 million, while revenue from the sale of toys declined 6% or $0.4 million. Shipments of our franchise video game, WWE ’12, declined 25% to 2.0 million units, driven by a reduction in the number of platforms supported by the current release and reflecting broader industry challenges.

— Magazine Publishing net revenues were $1.4 million as compared to $2.2 million in the prior year quarter, reflecting lower newsstand sales in the current quarter.

Digital Media

Revenues from our Digital Media related businesses were $7.1 million as compared to $6.1 million in the prior year quarter, representing a 16% increase.

— WWE.com revenues increased to $3.9 million as compared to $2.7 million in the prior year quarter, primarily due to increased rights fees and higher online advertising sales. The increase in rights fees was driven by a new programming agreement, which licenses original, short-form content to YouTube.

— WWEShop revenues of $3.2 million were essentially unchanged from the prior year quarter as an 18% increase in the average revenue per order to $48.04 was offset by a 20% decrease in the sales volume to approximately 66,000 orders. Discounted sales and promotional activity accounted for the relatively lower price and higher sales volume in the prior year quarter.

WWE Studios

During the quarter, WWE Studios recognized revenue of $4.8 million as compared to $8.6 million in the prior year, reflecting the relative performance and timing of releases from our movie portfolio. In the prior year quarter, we released The Chaperone. In the current quarter, we released Bending the Rules, which has generated lower than anticipated home video receipts in its initial weeks of release. As a result, we revised our long-term ultimate projections for this film and recorded an impairment charge of $0.8 million contributing to an overall WWE Studios loss of $1.0 million in the current year quarter. This result compared to a loss of $3.6 million in the prior year quarter driven by the $2.8 million impairment for our film 12 Rounds.

Profit Contribution (Net revenues less cost of revenues)

Profit contribution increased 17% to $54.7 million reflecting better results across all of our businesses. Reduced losses from our movie business, improved sell-through rates in home video, and incremental rights fees for our online programming content contributed to the expansion in profit and overall profitability. Gross contribution margins increased to 44% from 39% in the prior year quarter. Excluding the impact of film impairments, Adjusted Profit contribution increased 12% to $55.5 million and Adjusted Profit contribution margin increased to 45% from 41% in the prior year quarter.

Selling, general and administrative expenses

SG&A expenses were $34.7 million for the current quarter as compared to $29.9 million in the prior year quarter reflecting increased staffing costs, a $1.4 million rise in bad debt expense and to a lesser extent an increase in legal and professional fees. The increase in staffing costs was incurred primarily to support our content and distribution initiatives. Total network-related costs reached approximately $2.1 million in the current year quarter. Excluding these network expenses, adjusted SG&A expenses increased 9% to $32.6 million from the prior year quarter.

Depreciation and amortization

Depreciation and amortization expense was $4.0 million for the current quarter as compared to $3.6 million in the prior year quarter.

EBITDA

EBITDA increased 19% to $20.0 million from $16.8 million in the prior year quarter. The increase was primarily due to the expansion in profit contribution across our businesses, partially offset by the increase in SG&A expenses as described above. Excluding the impact of network related expenses and film impairments in both the current and prior year quarter, Adjusted EBITDA increased 17% to $22.9 million as compared to $19.6 million in the prior year quarter.

Investment, Interest and Other Income

Investment income of $0.5 million was unchanged from the prior year quarter. Other income and expense was essentially flat to the prior year quarter as benefits from changes in certain state taxes were offset by interest expense related to our revolving credit facility.

Effective tax rate

In the current year quarter, the effective tax rate was 7% as compared to 37% in the prior year quarter. The decrease in tax rate from our anticipated rate of 35% was primarily due to the recognition of a $4.1 million benefit relating to previously unrecognized tax benefits. The prior year rate was also impacted by a $0.1 million unrecognized tax benefit.

Cash Flows

Net cash provided by operating activities was $27.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2012 as compared to $28.9 million in the prior year quarter. Improved current year operating performance was offset by an increase in television production spending and other changes in working capital.

Purchases of property and equipment increased $5.6 million from the prior year quarter, primarily due to a $6.4 million investment in assets to support our efforts to create and distribute new content, including through a potential network. Partially offsetting the increase was a $1.6 million purchase of music rights in the prior year quarter.

Additional Information

Additional business metrics are made available to investors on a monthly basis on our corporate website — corporate.wwe.com.

Note: WWE will host a conference call on May 3, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. ET to discuss the Company’s earnings results for the first quarter of 2012. All interested parties can access the conference call by dialing 855-993-1400 (conference id:WWE). Please reserve a line 15 minutes prior to the start time of the conference call. A presentation that will be referenced during the call can be found at the Company web site at corporate.wwe.com. A replay of the call will be available approximately three hours after the conference call concludes, and can be accessed at corporate.wwe.com.

WWE, a publicly traded company,is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 145 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 600 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Istanbul and Tokyo.

Additional information on WWEcan be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to https://www.wwe.com/worldwide/ .

Trademarks: All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to maintaining and renewing key agreements, including television and pay-per-view programming distribution agreements; the need for continually developing creative and entertaining programming; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent McMahon; the conditions of the markets in which we compete and acceptance of the Company’s brands, media and merchandise within those markets; our exposure to bad debt risk; uncertainties relating to regulatory and litigation matters; risks resulting from the highly competitive nature of our markets; uncertainties associated with international markets; the importance of protecting our intellectual property and complying with the intellectual property rights of others; risks associated with producing and travelling to and from our large live events, both domestically and internationally; the risk of accidents or injuries during our physically demanding events; risks relating to our film business; risks relating to increasing content production for distribution on various platforms, including the potential creation of a WWE Network; risks relating to our computer systems and online operations; risks relating to the large number of shares of common stock controlled by members of the McMahon family and the possibility of the sale of their stock by the McMahons or the perception of the possibility of such sales; the relatively small public float of our stock; and other risks and factors set forth from time to time in Company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results could differ materially from those currently expected or anticipated. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends, general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant.

Wade Barrett is in Philadelphia, PA this week shooting scenes for the WWE Studios film,  “Dead Man Down,” a romantic thriller starring Colin Farrell, features Terrence Howard, Armand Assante, Dominic Cooper and Naomi Rapace. No word yet on what character Barrett is playing. The project is scheduled for a 2013 release.

The local ABC affiliate provided the following photos:

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– There were reportedly several top members of WWE management that were concerned about how much John Cena bled at Extreme Rules. Cena was busted open ‘the hard way’ in the opening minutes of the match after a brutal elbow to the head from Brock Lesnar that almost ended the match.

– William Regal announced on this week’s NXT that he has scouted new wrestlers that will soon be appearing on the show. He did not reveal the identities of the new talent, but did promise we’ll see several NXT debuts in the coming weeks.

– WWE has posted a new video looking at some of the company’s funniest bloopers. The video, which is inspired by Lilian Garcia’s recent fall on the entrance ramp, features clips of the Shockmaster, Matt Hardy falling down, “Mean” Gene Okerlund cursing on live television and more.

“If Lilian Garcia’s recent tripping on the entrance ramp left you in stitches, watch this series of hilarious trips, falls and blunders by a host of sports-entertainment’s top grapplers — a partnership between WWE Classics and “Are You Serious?”