SEScoops

Author: David Bixenspan

  • Judge’s Order Nets WWE A Big Victory In Concussion & Royalty Lawsuits

    On Monday night, WWE got some major good news in the concussion lawsuits spearheaded by lawyer Konstantine Kyros. Judge Vanessa L. Bryant of United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (New Haven) ruled that the more recent “concussion lawsuit,” Laurinaitis v. WWE (the one with 50+ wrestlers on board and Road Warrior Animal as lead plaintiff) must be consolidated with the existing ones. While technically, the only two plaintiffs left in the existing suit are Vito LoGrasso and Evan Singleton, the case is officially known as “McCullough v. WWE” from when it was consolidated with Russ McCullough’s since-dismissed case.

    WWE is also looking to get the Marcus “Buff” Bagwell and Scott “Raven” Levy WWE Network royalties lawsuit consolidated with the others, as “Laurinaitis” addresses royalties and the legality of WWE contracts on top of the issues with head injuries. WWE had another victory last week, when an appellate court ruled that the plaintiffs’ appeals of some of the dismissed cases can’t proceed until Judge Bryant rules on various related issues in the consolidated cases.

  • WWE Back Negotiating With TNA; Where Does Everything Stand Right Now?

    WWE Back Negotiating With TNA; Where Does Everything Stand Right Now?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2G4iHT_4LM

    On last night’s Wrestling Observer Radio for F4WOnline subscribers,there was also a passing reference by Dave Meltzer to WWE being “back in the picture” as far as buying the company. As had been stressed in the past, he noted that this would mean that TNA would be shutting down, as WWE would only be interested in the video library. There’s still nothing known about who fronted the money for this week’s TNA shows other than that the funds did not come from Billy Corgan.

    Meanwhile, In spite of TNA talent being told that all of the rumors about the status of the company would be addressed at a talent meeting on Sunday before the Bound For Glory pay-per-view, PWInsider is reporting (note: NSFW ads) that such a meeting never took place. There was not even a sign of if the issues at hand will be discussed at any point in the near future. If TNA can still make payroll, though, then the company should have no hiccups for the next three months, as the plan is to try to tape enough shows this week to last them through the end of the year.

    Meltzer’s information about how much time the tapings will cover did not go quite as far, saying that they’ll cover through late November or early December. Technically speaking, it’s possible that both could be right, with TNA running year in review shows for the last couple weeks of December as they have in the past, since that wouldn’t require taping original TV through the December 29th episode of Impact.

     

  • VIDEO: Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling TV Show For 10/2/16

    Here’s this week’s episode of Reality of Wrestling, Booker T’s independent promotion based out of the Houston, Texas metropolitan area. Focusing on a mix of his students and outside talent, Booker’s promotion has been running a weekly TV show for the last several years.

  • Additional Notes On Release Of Tough Enough Season 6 Winner

    As noted earlier, in a case of history repeating itself, WWE has released Tough Enough season 6 female winner Sara Lee from her contract in Friday, which was first reported by Ryan Satin at ProWrestlingSheet.com. Being that the Tough Enough season finale took place on August 25, 2015, Lee lasted just a month past the term of her initial one year, $250,000 contract. Male winner Josh Bredl (NXT’s Bronson Matthews) is still under contract for the time being, as well as female runner up Amanda Saccomanno (NXT’s Mandy Rose) and overall #11 Daria Berenato (NXT’s Daria).

    While Lee had consistently done well in the viewer voting, Rose appeared to be the coaches’ pick, and if NXT bookings are any indication, Lee was not progressing as quickly as her peers. According to WrestlingData, Lee only had eight matches in NXT, all on Florida house shows, while Mandy Rose and Daria have had individual months where they had that many matches. Bredl/Matthews has had even less matches (five), but there are also more spots for the men.

    The winner of Tough Enough’s fourth season (the one on SmackDown), MMA fighter Daniel Puder, was similarly cut after one year of being paid $250,000. He was progressing well and getting pushed on OVW (developmental TV) by then-booker Paul Heyman, but that apparently wasn’t taken into account. Puder is best known for catching Angle in a double wristlock/Kimura during an actual shoot match on SmackDown. Referee Jimmy Korderas was the only one to realize what was happening and counted a pinfall victory for Angle even though Puder had a shoulder up. Angle complained to Puder afterwards that it was supposed to be an amateur wrestling match, even though it had three count pins and he won his previous match with a neck crank, which is illegal in amateur wrestling.

  • TNA Bound For Glory 2016 Is A Go; But Who’s Footing The Bill?

    TNA Bound For Glory 2016 Is A Go; But Who’s Footing The Bill?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ou7suydrcM

    This is where everything appears to stand right now for tonight’s TNA Bound For Glory pay-per-view and this week’s subsequent TV tapings:

    The New York Post reported that TNA had secured the funding from a third party (not Billy Corgan or WWE, and if it’s Aroluxe, they weren’t named) put up the money to fund this week’s shows, but Corgan and WWE will continue to be the ones negotiating with TNA. “A source familiar with the matter” told them that “No doors were closed,” while WWE had no comment on the situation and Corgan said that “It’s a go, as far as I’ve been told.” These tapings take TNA through December, so they’ve bought themselves quite a bit of time, hopefully enough to make a deal.

    In Saturday’s Daily Update at Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline, Dave Meltzer reported that there will be an “internal meeting” before Bound For Glory about the status of the company. Historically, when TNA has had business issues in the past, the company has kept wrestlers in the dark and/or had various excuses for when there were problems, so just how upfront management is in the meeting is something to keep an eye on. That also goes for whoever’s running the meeting, especially since Corgan (who is the president of the company now) has been pretty open and Carter made a point of tweeting that she doesn’t respond to speculation.

  • Dixie Carter Addresses Speculation About Bound For Glory & TNA’s Future

    Dixie Carter Addresses Speculation About Bound For Glory & TNA’s Future

    TNA President Dixie Carter tweeted this at 5:41 p.m. ET on Friday:

    The speculation in question revolves around whether or not TNA will even be running Bound For Glory on Sunday and the subsequent TV tapings. Reportedly, being that banks will be closed for the weekend and TNA needs funding to run the week of shows (Billy Corgan largely confirmed the latter when he appeared on The Dan Le Batard Show), the company had until the close of business Friday to make a deal. With TNA based in Nashville, which is in the Central Time Zone (where it was still 4:41 .m.),if a deal was made before the tweet, then they would have barely made it.

    If they did make a deal, it’s not yet clear who would be providing the investment, if not outright buying the company. In the Le Batard interview, Corgan said that his understanding as a TNA shareholder was that WWE was not in negotiations for the company.

  • Jamie Noble Stabbed Outside West Virginia Home, Current Condition Unknown

    WWE producer James Gibson, better known by his ring name of Jamie Noble, was stabbed Wednesday morning according to a report from Pro Wrestling Sheet’s Ryan Satin. According to what the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office relayed to Satin, Noble had just gotten home from the WWE loop and went on a short drive to get a snack. When he got home again, another motorist pulled up behind Gibson and accused him of cutting him off moments earlier. After Gibson tried to apologize, the other man continued to argue with him before “Noble eventually took the man to the ground when things got physical.”

    That’s when two more men got out of the suspect’s car, with at least one of them stabbing Gibson in the back. He was taken to a local emergency room and treated, but his condition as of this writing is unknown past the point that he remains hospitalized. Satin also noted that WWE is aware of the whole situation.

    Gibson had not appeared on TV as Jamie Noble since March, disappearing when The Authority storyline was largely blown off at WrestleMania. He retired as a wrestler in 2009, having already started as a road agent/producer a few years earlier when WWE wanted someone with a more “modern” in-ring style working back stage. One of his first contributions was teaching Shawn Michaels the reverse figure four leg lock that he used as a secondary finishing hold late in his career.

  • Billy Corgan: WWE Not Buying TNA, Doesn’t Foresee Anything ‘Ridiculous’ Stopping PPV

    Billy Corgan: WWE Not Buying TNA, Doesn’t Foresee Anything ‘Ridiculous’ Stopping PPV

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_tKRMoMkk0

    Earlier today, Billy Corgan appeared on The Dan Le Betard Show to discuss TNA’s precarious situation right, and while there wasn’t a ton of new information, there were a couple interesting quotes.

    With regards to WWE buying TNA or its intellectual property, Corgan said “No, as at this moment that has not happened.” He explained that “I have a piece of the company and so I have to be informed we hope to have to be informed — at least i would hope to be informed of that.” It sounded like he may have been joking about that last part and not doubting himself, but at this point, nothing would be surprising.

    When asked of Bound for Glory is happening this Sunday, Corgan didn’t answer the question directly. Instead, he said that “I don’t expect anybody’s going to do anything too ridiculous to make sure that doesn’t happen; it would put a lot of people out of work.” That’s a strange answer: Even if you don’t blame him for not giving a direct answer, what’s something “too ridiculous” that someone would make sure to do to keep the pay-per-view and subsequent TV tapings from happening? The shows aren’t happening if TNA doesn’t get funding for expenses before the end of business tomorrow. That’s not “ridiculous,” that’s no funding coming through.

    As he’s explained in his other interviews this week, Corgan does not want to fund the shows just to keep the company on life support again, something he strongly implied he’s done three times so far. But can he make a deal to outright buy the company with a day or so to go and a “standoff” (as he put it to Le Batard) going on between various interested parties?

  • Paige Undergoing Neck Surgery

    WWE Superstar Paige just tweeted this:

    https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/781565792743587840

    If you can’t see the image, here’s what it says:

    Thanks to Dr. Uribe yesterday. One of the best doctors I’ve ever seen. Gave me two great surgery options. Makes you think about risks you have to take when it comes to this business, the things you put your body through to entertain the masses, Still wouldn’t change it for the world. Tanks to everyone for the continued support.

    Paige, real name Saraya-Jade Bevis, has been out of action since the June 27th edition of Monday Night Raw. The nature of her injury had been kept somewhat quiet part of that time, which fueled speculation since she had some kind of undisclosed medical incident eight days before her last match. According to Las Vegas police, after Money in the Bank, civilians flagged down officers when Paige, in front of Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, ran into oncoming traffic. She was subsequently taken to the hospital, but because it became a medical incident, the police couldn’t say any more than that.

  • Report: TNA Cancels Some Wrestler Flights, No Clear Favorite to Buy the Company

    Report: TNA Cancels Some Wrestler Flights, No Clear Favorite to Buy the Company

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMfeUE4HRew

    The prospects for TNA surviving as a wrestling promotion in time for Sunday’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view event and the subsequent TV tapings appear to be getting more and more grim by the hour. First, on Wednesday evening, a report from WrestlingInc revealed that according to “a veteran TNA talent,” a number of wrestlers’ flights to Orlando for next week have been cancelled. It wasn’t made clear if this was any of the advertised talent for Bound For Glory or just wrestlers set to be in matches not yet announced for the show.

    In addition, the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscribers only), there are arguably some mixed messages. Dave Meltzer writes that “the feeling now is [Dixie] Carter is going to make the best deal for her[self],” but that at least as of press time late last night, WWE, who’s in the best position for a mercenary deal like that, is not at the negotiating table. Of course, it should be noted that when WWE bought WCW’s assets in 2001, WWE had already passed on a buyout and stepped in when it became clear there were no other buyers. Like with WCW, if WWE were to get TNA, it would be expected that they would buy only the assets and not the company outright.

    Meltzer added that TNA’s debt “is in the millions of dollars” with creditors including Billy Corgan, Aroluxe, and others, and the debt may very well be greater than the value of the company at this point. That gap is even more pronounced if the company can’t get the ~$600,000 they need by Friday: TNA will be in breach of its TV deals, quite possibly lose them, and literally lose all value other than that of the tape library.

    As of this writing, TNA has 30 hours or so to secure funding. If they don’t, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where the company doesn’t need to file bankruptcy. Even if the tape library and trademarks are sold to WWE, that most likely won’t cover all of TNA’s debt. For WWE’s purposes, with no rush on their side and no competition for the intellectual property if it went it’s not ridiculous to suggest that they could get a lower price that way.

  • What Does This Week’s Raw Rating Say About WWE’s Fanbase At Large?

    What Does This Week’s Raw Rating Say About WWE’s Fanbase At Large?

    This week’s rating and viewership for Monday Night Raw can be seen as a positive or a negative depending on how you look at it. The problem is that there are a lot of ways to look at it.

    The numbers for this week’s show, in and of themselves, don’t mean anything because Raw was airing opposite the most watched presidential debate in the history of television. We knew the show would not do well, and it ended up doing the second lowest rating (1.75; the record is 1.5) in the history of the show while pulling in what Dave Meltzer reported was the lowest average viewership (2.46 million) in the show’s history.

    While Meltzer speculated that it could end up doing the lowest rating for Monday night wrestling on USA Network going back to the Prime Time Wrestling days, a cursory look at historical ratings information suggests that Prime Time most likely never went that low. The earliest number I could get, from July 1988 (which week wasn’t clear), was a 3. while when the show went off the air at the start of 1993 to make way for Raw, it was hovering in the low 2s. Suffice to say, based on how the cable universe shifted and the numbers we have, Prime Time dropping below a 1.5 seems unrealistic.

    It was Wade Keller of PWTorch who probably made the most astute observation about Mondays rating:

    https://twitter.com/thewadekeller/status/780876302991491072

    However, there are two ways to look at this:

    1. WWE has an amazingly loyal audience, and that counts for a lot.
    2. WWE’s audience has eroded to consist only of hardcores who don’t pay attention to world news.

    The latter is admittedly a little extreme, but you have to remember that WWE programming and pro wrestling in general gets exceedingly low rates for its commercial time. That problem is twofold: While a lot of it is steeped in negative stereotypes about pro wrestling fans being idiots who think it’s a real sport, past research into wrestling fans have given critics (and thrifty advertisers) some ammunition.

    For example, in 1999, SummerSlam was mainstream thanks to Jesse Ventura’s involvement, so Gallup did some polling of wrestling fans. “Not surprisingly,” Gallup’s Mark Gillespie wrote, “wrestling fans tend to be young males with high school educations who earn less than $30,000 annually.” Not surprisingly, for an article from 1999, he didn’t exactly word that tastefully. Other takeaways included wrestling fans largely being Democrats, 33% of black men and women surveyed calling themselves fans compared to 16% of whites, and, surprisingly, the east coast having the least wrestling fans of any region in the United States.

    A 2013 poll from Scarborough had similar results:  It showed the median household income of WWE fans as $35,229, well below the “average U.S. sports fan” median of $50,667 and even the UFC’s $47,238. On top of that, almost two thirds of WWE fans surveyed were high school graduates or less, Whatever you think of the data and whether you not you think it reflects you, these surveys were conducted by established pollsters that sponsors and potential corporate partners will listen to. The last thing WWE needs is more data the points in a similar direction, and it can definitely be argued that Monday’s rating does just that.

    Of course, we know that WWE has tried to clean up their image over the years. Toning down the content helps, as does publicizing charity work and even the change in media perception of pro wrestling the last few years. Still, WWE programming is filtered through Vince McMahon’s aesthetic and we’re only a couple weeks removed from the last poop joke. The women wear so much makeup and have such ridiculous hair extensions that even without a “T&A”-heavy image, the company’s presentation of them is still questionable.

    And even if all of that changed? Sponsors still have hard data that reinforces their most negative perceptions of wrestling fans.

    I’m honestly not sure how WWE addresses this. But they have to try.

     

  • Cesaro Swears Off Doing Topes After Botched Spot at Clash of Champions

    On Tuesday, Cesaro decided to get memetic with this tweet about the nasty spill that he took at WWE Clash of Champions on Sunday:

    https://twitter.com/WWECesaro/status/780746501706440709

    Whether or not he’s expressing his actual intentions in a lighthearted way after landing on his head Sunday remains to be seen. It’s not something that’s been part of his regular repertoire, so we should probably take him at face value for now. While Cesaro is well regarded  by both fans and fellow wrestlers alike for his smoothness and body control in the ring, he’s usually singled out as more of a “base,” that is, the wrestler catching dives and taking moves. When he does that, he’s as good as anyone in the world, especially in WWE where much of the talent trained in house appears to be lacking when it comes to skill at catching dives.

    That said, even if he was wrestling himself, this still may have happened:

  • Bobby Lashley: “There’s a Tremendous Amount of Money” in Facing Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania

    Bobby Lashley: “There’s a Tremendous Amount of Money” in Facing Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania

    This week on The Ross Report, Jim Ross’s podcast, one of the two guests is Bobby Lashley, who’s doing media to promote both this Sunday’s TNA Bound For Glory pay-per-view and his next fight in Bellator MMA, which is against Josh Appelt  in Memphis on October 21st. Early in the interview, Ross asks Lashley a Twitter question about if we’ll ever see him face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. Lashley definitely seemed enthused at the prospect:

    “You know, I hear that all the time, and J.R., you know as well as I do, it’s not in my hands. If you ask me, I would say absolutely, but it’s the powers that be. I think that there’s enough fans who would love to see it. They’ve been saying it from day one. And you know what the funny thing about it is? I’ve never met Brock in person. Never crossed paths with Brock anywhere. So we don’t even know each other at all, whatsoever.”

    Lashley is under contract with Bellator and Brock Lesnar’s situation with UFC is complicated to say the least, but Lashley thinks there’s huge money in the two monsters facing off in a WWE ring.

    “And I’ve always been compared to Brock, and they say ‘Are you and Brock gonna fight? Are you and Brock gonna wrestle? I don’t know if the fighting is still an opportunity with me being in Bellator and him kind of being with the UFC; or I don’t know what the situation is right now. So I don’t know if the fight thing is possible, but to see me as Brock’s destroying everyone and save the day, or vice versa, whatever the case is, have us stand face to face? I think the crowd would go insane. And there’s a tremendous amount of money in it. If it were to happen, then I’m open for it.”

    Of course, they’re under contract to competing companies, but as we’ve heard repeatedly this week, that may not be an issue soon if TNA doesn’t get bailed out.

    Check out the full Ross Report episode over at PodcastOne.com.

  • More Details: Monday ‘s Raw Was 2nd Lowest Rated Ever Thanks To Presidential Debate

    More Details: Monday ‘s Raw Was 2nd Lowest Rated Ever Thanks To Presidential Debate

    Last night’s edition of Monday Night Raw made history, and not in a good way, though it was expected opposite the first presidential debate. According to tweets from James Caldwell of PWTorch, it was the lowest rated episode of the show in its almost 24 year history…well, maybe not, read on:

    https://twitter.com/jctorch/status/780872865432215552

    12 minutes later…

    https://twitter.com/jctorch/status/780875689784254464

    EDIT: Actually, it’s the second lowest rated ever:

    https://twitter.com/jctorch/status/780878307763945472

    Last week’s show did a 1.97, with the previous week’s edition pulling in a 1.88.  PWTorch’s Wade Keller pointed out that with regards to the effect of the debate, relative to the competition, this was a win that shows the loyalty of WWE’s core audience:

    https://twitter.com/thewadekeller/status/780876302991491072

    The cable rating used historically by the wrestling media for Raw represents the number of households subscribing to USA Network that are watching the show. That’s not necessarily the figure used as much by those in the TV business anymore, as ratings representing the adults 18-49 demographic represent the targets for ads, but it’s what we’re all use to using.

    https://twitter.com/thewadekeller/status/780876302991491072

    According to earlier reports from Dave Meltzer at F4WOnline as well as the staff at TV By the Numbers and Show Buzz Daily, the total viewer number wasn’t good, either: Raw averaged 2.46 million viewers across the whole three hour show, down from 2.68 million last week. This is an all-time low for Raw.

    Before getting the actual rating, Meltzer noted that last night’s rating could end up being the new valley “for any WWE wrestling television show ever on Monday night dating back to the Prime Time Wrestling era” that ended in 1992. That remains to be seen until we start digging through our records. Also, in the key 18-49 year old adult demographic, Raw peaked at a 1.0, down from last week’s 1.1

  • What Is TNA’s Value To WWE In A Potential Sale?

    What Is TNA’s Value To WWE In A Potential Sale?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwxDdROYte4

    Since Monday night, we’ve gotten two separate reports suggesting that WWE is back in play as a suitor for TNA. Dixie Carter has been attempting to sell the company in time to be able to fund Sunday’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view and the subsequent TV tapings, to the point that a deal needs to be made by Friday, the last business day before the PPV.  That said, if WWE were to buy the company, one would think that they’d have little reason to continue operations, and based on past precedent, it may be best for them to just let TNA fall flat on its face.

    To WWE, it’s hard to see the value to TNA as much more than a video library. Ever since the purchase of WCW’s assets in 2001, WWE has acquired the vast majority of historical master video  and film footage left of American and Canadian wrestling, to the point that just a small handful remain outside of their control. Generally speaking, WWE purports to pay $500/hour for each library, though there have always been stories of WWE paying more for some collections.  For TNA, that would mean that, if for argument’s sake, if we say that they’ve averaged three hours of programming a week (weekly PPV or Impact and Xplosion) for their existence, then you’re at over $1.09 million for 14 years of footage just using WWE’ video library formula.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-235kTGl0Vs

    Granted, it’s possible that the argument could be made for TNA’s library to be worth more than others WWE has acquired. Barring maybe a small number of late era developmental promotion shows, none of WWE’s acquisitions have had high any definition content. TNA, on the other hand, has been producing their shows in HD for many years, and those HD shows include a lot of talent now in WWE like A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe, and Bobby Roode. Maybe that’s worth more to WWE than $500 an hour.

    Still, past reports suggest that TNA needs somewhere in the mid to high six figure range to hold a block of Impact tapings at Universal Studios. It would make no fiscal sense for WWE to put money into running next week’s tapings. If Billy Corgan, Aroluxe, or anyone else like that doesn’t buy the company, then it’s highly unlikely that there will continue to be a company. It would require a much higher valuation on the library for it to make any sense for WWE to fund next week’s shows.

    It may actually be to WWE’s benefit to let TNA go bankrupt and try to pick up the pieces at auction. This is what they did with ECW, which, like TNA has now, had all sorts of financing agreements going on at the end to keep it afloat. Most notably, Annodeus, an affiliate of Acclaim, ECW’s video game licensee, loaned the company $1 million with the idea of keeping the promotion alive to boost the video game license. And while WWE met some opposition from Annodeus, who wanted ECW’s intellectual property so they could keep making ECW video games, there would be nobody similarly situated with TNA.

    To prevent anything like the above scenarios, TNA, as a wrestling promotion, has a little over 72 hours to be rescued. It wouldn’t be the first time that Dixie Carter has pulled a rabbit out of her hat, but it would be the most miraculous.

  • WWE’s First Round of Roster Cuts In Two Years Analyzed & Contextualized

    The last time WWE did a big round of cuts, it was Thursday, June 12, 2014, when they released JTG, Drew McIntyre, Jinder Mahal, Aksana, Curt Hawkins, Teddy Long, Camacho, Brodus Clay, Evan Bourne, Yoshi Tatsu, and referee Marc Harris. Since then, the company moved in a different direction, electing to allow most contracts to expire. It made enough sense: It’s not the type of thing you necessarily want to publicize. For whatever reason, that changed today, Friday, May 6, 2016.

    While WWE doing a big round of cuts is surprising in and of itself, the choices themselves aren’t necessarily out of left field. Let’s take a look at who got cut and why it may or may not make sense:

    Zeb Colter (Wayne Keown): Veteran wrestler and booker Dutch Mantel had has career revived for one last big run starting in 2013 as Jack Swagger’s manager. Billed as having served with Swagger’s father (who was portrayed by fellow southern veteran Jimmy Golden) in Vietnam, he reprised his mid-’90s Uncle Zebekiah gimmick as a Tea Party-loving heel and was cutting some of the best promos in the business. However, the character had largely run its course and, except for a six week run last fall, he had been off TV for two years. A lot of people already thought that he was gone, as he’s been taking independent bookings, using his Dutch Mantel Twitter account again, and the official Zeb Colter Twitter account had its “Verified” check mark removed.

    El Torito (real name unknown; formerly Mascarita Dorada): The Mexican mini star had nothing to do after Los Matadores were dissolved, having been off TV since last fall. Unless WWE brought in someone from Mexico to be his opponent as a house show opening match act, what could they even have done with him? It’s a shame since it’s so talented. Hopefully he can pick up where he left off in Mexico.

    Alex Riley (Kevin Kiley Jr.): He was never really given a shot. His initial babyface turn on The Miz got over to a surprising degree with live crowds, but that fizzled. He could talk well and improved in the ring and occasionally got a minor spotlight (like his match with Shinsuke Nakamura airing on NXT next week) but he clearly hasn’t been any kind of priority for a long time. He didn’t wrestle for an eight month stretch last year and only worked 29 matches to date in 2016.

    Hornswoggle (Dylan Postl): He had been off TV for the better part of two years, barely wrestled, and failed a drug test last fall. If WWE was going to do a round of cuts, it was inevitable that he’d be on the list, though not necessarily due to any fault of his own. He deserves credit for lasting a decade in the company, especially since he was brought it seemingly to sabotage Finlay’s push.

    Cameron (Ariane Andrew): The former “Tough Enough” contestant never really improved to the point she could carry her end of a match, though she was a very entertaining personality on “Total Divas.” That, and her boyfriend Vinny becoming a fan favorite character, clearly helped extend her run. Even if she had improved more, she had a big hill to climb with fans after saying on Tough Enough that Melina vs. Alicia Fox was the greatest match she had ever seen. She had just nine matches this year, had been off TV since a January NXT appearance, and hadn’t been on main roster television in about a year.

    Santino Marella (Anthony Carelli): He had announced his retirement at a house show in his home town of Toronto almost two years ago, though he had teased returning at times on social media. That seemed a lot less likely after this:

    It was honestly pretty surprising that he was still under a talent contract at this point, especially if releasing him was in the cards.

    Wade Barrett (Stu Bennett): He had announced he wasn’t renewing his contract. While a lot of his setbacks in WWE were just bad luck with injuries, he was completely derailed by the transition from Bad News Barrett to King Barrett. He went from a guy who was funny but able to be taken seriously as a tough guy to a total joke who ran around wearing a crown.

    Damien Sandow: They built to his babyface turn with the Damien Mizdow gimmick…then it fizzled. Then he vanished. What happened? Who knows?

  • Adam Rose Posts Doctor’s Note Addressing 60-Day Suspension

    Adam Rose Posts Doctor’s Note Addressing 60-Day Suspension

    A couple weeks ago, WWE performer Ray Leppan, best known as Adam Rose, posted a vague note about his second suspension for a failed drug test under the WWE Talent Wellness Program. In that letter, he promised to post a full response later along with one from his doctor, all while expressing concern that:

    • WWE might punish him further.
    • His children, who just lost their aunt to heroin addiction, could see that he failed a drug test and get the wrong idea.

    Tonight, Leppan tweeted the note that his doctor sent to WWE, along with a follow-up:

    https://twitter.com/WWEAdamRose/status/727624876794753024

    https://twitter.com/WWEAdamRose/status/727635634630856705

    The gist is that Rose/Leppan was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder a year ago and has been taking Adderall (dextromethamphetamine) ever since as directed to treat the condition. He swears that WWE has known about this the whole time. While FDA approved for ADHD, Adderall is a banned substance because it’s an amphetamine with high abuse potential, but obviously Rose/Leppan and his doctor are saying that there was no abuse here. Also note that his doctor is, in fact, a psychiatrist, so he’s not just getting this from his general practitioner.

  • Ryback Details WWE Contract Dispute, Unhappiness With WWE Pay Structure

    Ryback Details WWE Contract Dispute, Unhappiness With WWE Pay Structure

    In light of the news breaking that Ryback (Ryan Reeves) is leaving WWE and pulled from TV pending the expiration of his contract in a few months, he poured his heart out in a blog post on Tumblr, which he shared via his verified Twitter account. Here’s the full statement:

    Feed Me More

    Today I sit and fly home and for the first time in years feel absolutely free. I will start by saying I did request to be taken off of WWE television until myself and Vince could get a yes or no on a new deal. This has been going on since my IC Title run and had been nothing but a major strain on my life as all I ever wanted to do was work for WWE. I was told to head home until we agree or not agree to specific terms and contrary to reports it isn’t over money or a bus that stuff was settled a while ago. It comes down to a major problem I have with not only WWE but wrestling in general.

    Wrestling is pre determined, we as performers know before we go out to that ring or perform a backstage scene who is winning and losing etc or have a general idea of what we are going to say. It blows my mind how in a sport which is pre determined from a company standpoint winners are paid so much more than the losers. Every single person who works for WWE from top to bottom is absolutely just as valuable as the next. The winners cannot win unless the losers go out there and agree to lose to them.

    It blows my mind that in this day and age though we still adhere to this formula. Obviously things have always been this way, but does that make them right? Times have changed and our goal as humans should be to evolve and learn from our past and the past of others so we could make this world a better place. Why is it a guy who is told he is going to go out and lose and does everything he is told be paid not only less, but much less than said winner over a period of time. Every single performer for WWE sacrifices the same amount of time from home and their families and every single man or women goes out and does what they are told. Looking at this formula though losers turn into what fans like to call jobbers and their value decreases in the companies eyes and before you know it they get released. For what? For doing exactly as they are told!

    Why not pay the talent equally? The winners have more MERCH as it is or are supposed to anyways so they get that extra perk, but why make the guy who is told to and agrees to lose earn less and sacrifice spots in big pay per view match ups etc. This is one of the major problems with wrestling and WWE today. Most guys take great satisfaction in helping making other talent, the bitching and the moaning we always hear about stems from the fact they know they are ultimately over time going to make less and live in fear of being released.

    I am proud to say I have never gone to change a finish and have gladly took pride in helping put over other talent. Hell look at my pay per view record of 12-26 and you will see that has been the pattern of my career. I have always been confident in my ability and work ethic to being my best every day and ultimately always felt that by doing good it was the right thing to do. Personally seeing my money go down over the years though even though I was working as much as ever and being denied magazine covers and other projects as well as watching my role diminish no matter what I did or how hard I tried takes its toll on a human. Being told no matter how hard I work or how good I get doesn’t always pay off is something I fucking refuse to ever believe in my life. I am a creative being and to be restricted time and time again is no way to live life. There is nothing I cannot do and I know no matter what comes of this situation I am going to be just fine. It isn’t soley about money, it is about commitment. Commitment to a guy who fucking cares and who loves this more than anything in the world and wants to know that his passion his efforts and his determination to constantly improve is going to be recognized and taken care of.

    WWE may very well release me, which if it is the case so be it. If we can work things out a lot needs to change as I am not living in fear and creatively cannot continue to live a life that limits me creatively. I have many other interests and passions and have been very smart with my finances over the years. I thank every WWE superstar from top to bottom for their sacrifices and for working with me. The world is an amazing place and there is more than just a WWE universe there is The Universe and I will prove one way or another over time I am the greatest big guy in the universe!

  • WWE Network Survey Asks If Fans Would Pay Extra For Current Raw & SmackDown

    Last night, Andrew “CarlosTheDwarf” Milage tweeted this:

    The images as of a WWE Network survey, which included two new items of note:

    • This question: “If current episodes of Raw and SmackDown were to be added to WWE Network the day after airing on TV, how much more likely would you be to subscribe to WWE Network?“
    • The question “Which of the following are reasons why you would return to WWE Network? (Select as many that apply.)” with this as a new choice: “If there was a premium WWE Network subscription for $12.99 that includes current episodes of Raw and SmackDown the day after they air on TV.“

    Access to current episodes of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown has often been cited by cord cutters as something that would entice them to subscribe to WWE Network and ditch cable/satellite television subscriptions. WWE’s TV contracts are a hurdle there, and not just domestically. As it is right now, Raw and SmackDown are added to WWE Network 30 days after they air, which is in compliance with all of their TV contracts.

    Domestically, the only way to see more than WWE’s YouTube clips online via an officially licensed partner is Hulu Plus. On one hand, it does offer next day Raw and SmackDown. On the other hand, not only is it a separate paid subscription service, but Raw isn’t even complete. USA Network is very protective of the full version of Raw, so they go with one of the edited versions that WWE sends to international television partners. That edit runs about 90 minutes or sowithout commercials, so it would be a “two hour” Raw with commercials. Of course, some fans say it’s a far superior version of Raw, so your mileage may vary.

    Last year, WWE ran into a different roadblock with a TV partner when they launched WWE Network in the United Kingdom. At the time, and going back to the early days of the network, Main Event aired live or almost live on Tuesdays. WWE’s deal with Sky Sports, their television partner in the region, conflicted with Main Event airing first on WWE Network, so a change had to be made. From then on, without any announcement or other kind of fanfare, Main Event was taken off the network’s linear feed and wasn’t added to the on demand library until three weeks after it aired everywhere on traditional television.

    $3 per subscription doesn’t sound like close to enough to give WWE a war chest big enough to satisfy all TV partners, but they clearly have something in mind.

  • Bret Hart: “No Desire” to Be On TV, Thinks Triple H Will Keep Chyna Out Of HOF

    Bret Hart just did a speaking tour in the United Kingdom, and Total Wrestling Magazine has published an article about the the Cardiff, Wales date with some of the key quotes. Hart has been increasingly outspoken lately, and this was no exception, especially when it comes to current events. The Cardiff date was the night after news of Chyna’s death broke, and when Hart was asked about her, he said that “It was sad, I think she should be in the Hall of Fame but I don’t think WWE will ever put her in there. Because of her relationship with Triple H.”

    The Hitman also made some news during the show when he discussed his upcoming appearance at WWE Payback in the corner of his niece, Natalya. “I do it to honour Nattie,” he said. “I [have] no desire to be there[,] no desire to be on TV. I’m happy to be there for Nattie but I’ve just had wrist surgery so it’s not a great time. It’ll be great to put Flair in the sharpshooter though.” Hart and Flair have had a rocky relationship over the years, though it seemed as if it had improved as of late. They had previously cornered Natalya and Charlotte against each other for the NXT Women’s Championship tournament final at the first NXT TakeOver card.

    Make sure to check out the full article for Bret Hart’s thoughts on the evolution of the WWE women’s division.

  • Meet The WWE Performance Center’s New Class Of Recruits

    Meet The WWE Performance Center’s New Class Of Recruits

    WWE issued a press release today announcing a number of new developmental signings. With a group that includes a few well-known names in there as well as more obscure international wrestlers, let’s take a look at who the newest additions to the developmental system:

    Michael Nicholls and Shane Veryzer of Perth, Australia are Mikey Nichols and Shane Haste, also known as The Mighty Don’t Kneel (TMDK). They were the top foreign tag team in Japan’s Pro Wrestling Noah for several years and were due to sign about a year ago when Haste blew out his knee. It was considered a forgone conclusion that they’d sign once he was cleared and their work visas were in order. With their size, look, athleticism, and ability it was always inevitable that they’d go to WWE at some point.

    Nicola Glencross of Glasgow, Scotland is well-known female wrestler Nikki Storm.  “Glencross has eight years of experience wrestling on the independent circuit for Japanese Women Pro-Wrestling (JWP), Pro Wrestling Eve, Scottish Wrestling Alliance, Insane Championship Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Elite, Stardom and Shine.”

    Daniella Kamela of Los Angeles, California was a Tough Enough finalist. “Trained with Rikishi Fatu and David Gangrel Heath at Knokx Pro Entertainment, Kamela was an on-air talent for FOX Sports Arizona, Phoenix Suns dancer and Arizona Cardinals cheerleader.”

    Macey Estrella of Parris Island, South Carolina has some experience with smaller indies but would be best known as the blonde haired women who cut a really passionate promo at a tryout camp that was aired on Breaking Ground. “Trained with Tom Caiazzo of American Premier Wrestling, Estrella is a former U.S. Marine and mmber of the Marine Corps SWAT Team.”

    Nikola Bogojevic of Superior, Wisconsin is a Gerald Brisco recruit. “World-class Greco Roman Wrestler who was the National Champion in Greco Roman Wrestling at the Junior Pan-American Games in 2011. Bogojevic also won bronze at the Pan-American Games in Greco Roman Wrestling in 2014 and has extensive experience training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.”

    Terrance Jean-Jacques of Boston, Massachusetts is another Gerald Brisco recruit, and he parlayed his amateur wrestling credentials into a single pro MMA fight.  “Standing 6 feet 3 inches and weighing 265 pounds, Jean-Jacques was an All-American wrestler at the University of Rhode Island in 2015. Prior to that, he accumulated a 32-2 record in wrestling at the University of Iowa.”

     

    Babatunde Aiyegbusi of Olesnica, Poland is a non-wrestler athlete who was recruited into the system. “Standing 6 feet 9 inches and weighing 350 pounds, Aiyegbusi is a former professional football player who had stints in Poland and Germany. Most recently, he spent the 2015 pre-season with the Minnesota Vikings as an offensive lineman.”

    Bianca Blair of Knoxville, Tennessee is another non-wrestler recruit. “Blair was an All-American and All-SEC track & field performer in hurdles at the University of Tennessee, and was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll in 2011 and 2012. A CrossFit competitor and powerlifter, Blair has been featured in RX Magazine, Femme Rouge Magazine and CrossFit.com.”

     

    Carolyn Dunning of Las Vegas, Nevada is one of the non-wrestler recruits, with her background being as a fitness model. “Dunning is a former Air Force ROTC member and nationally ranked bodybuilding bikini competitor by The National Physique Committee (NPC).”

     

  • Jeff Jarrett Using Global Force Brand To Sell Gold To Fans For Some Reason

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guoYk6jayeY

    Yesterday, a curious link popped up on Wrestling Twitter which also showed up on Reddit an hour later: GlobalForceGold.info. Someone, and I’m not sure who it was, must have gone to the Global Force Wrestling website and seen the pop-over ad that it now serves up:

    https://twitter.com/davidbix/status/718485718058799104

    For starters,  whatever it is, in the welcome video (embedded above),Jeff Jarrett calls it “GlobalForceGold.com,” which is not a good sign when the domain is actually GlobalForceGold.info. In the video, he says that he, his family, his friends, and his fans are all joining “Team Jarrett” and that we can, too! The website explains that if you enter your name, email address, and phone number, you will be contacted about getting a free autographed photo and get an opportunity to watch a seven minute video.

    So what the heck is it? If you just put in dummy information, you get this video, called “Karatbars Explained”:

    What the heck is Karatbars? Well, their website has a frequently asked questions page. Apparently,  they’re a German company that is a “bank-independent trading houses [sic] for merchandise and precious metals, especially Gold bullion in form of a card in small denominations.” Uh Oh. It looks like just one of many businesses trying to capitalize on various myths, conspiracy theories, etc. about owning gold…but with some kind of multi-level marketing layer added in. It doesn’t sound completely on the level, does it?

    There are a number of websites proclaiming it to be a scam, with one self-proclaimed “scam buster,” Ethan Vanderbuilt, even calling it a “ponzi scheme.” Technically, it sounds more like a pyramid scheme, as it’s based on recruiting affiliates who will recruit more affiliates, with promises of unrealistic financial returns. On top of that, among many other red flags, Vanderbuilt claims that one purported “scam busting” site that’s pro Karatbars is actually a Karatbar affiliate in disguise, and he has this to say about the “Business Packages” that they sell:

    [You get a] cardboard box. That’s it! A large, FedEx delivered cardboard box with less than 10% of the value of gold actually contained in the box. For example, the VIP box is almost U$ 2,300 (shipment and transaction ‘fees’ are extra charges) and you get 3 grams of gimmick gold (approximately U$ 180 in value) therefore 90% of what you paid for is the card board box.

    There’s a whole lot more at his site and others, but you probably get the gist. Karatbar’s own site has an incredibly convoluted “marketing plan” (PDF) that makes it pretty obvious to anyone with a discerning eye what’s actually going on here. Being involved with something that sure sounds like a pyramid scheme is an absolutely terrible look for Jarrett, especially in 2016 when the general public is more educated about what to look for to identify scams than ever before.

    As much skepticism as there’s been about him the last couple years, especially with how nebulous a concept Global Force Wrestling was early on, it’s not entirely surprising to see Jeff Jarrett doing something like this. Still, t’s still a bit sad to see him mixed up in such a blatantly suspicious venture.

  • WWE Sued By Rene Dupree Over Potential WWE Network Royalties

    While WWE has had a number of victories in court last month, just as the dust cleared from WrestleMania weekend, they were named in another lawsuit. Yesterday, Rene Goguen, best known as Rene Dupree, filed a lawsuit against the company in federal court in WWE’s home state of Connecticut. The main thrust of the complaint is that Dupree has not been paid royalties for his matches being aired on WWE Network  Just over a week ago, Dupree had been asked on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast about the rumors of such a lawsuit being shopped to wrestlers, and here’s what he had to say:

    “I wish they would pay me for the WWE Network because I think everyone who is on it should get some type of royalty off of that. Because I guess you are still part of the company in some way if they are showing your stuff, but at the same time they say that nobody watches the “old stuff”. Well take off all the old stuff off and watch your f–king subscriber count drop within six months. You know there is a lawsuit coming from that as well? They are being sued by everybody. They are being sued with the concussion lawsuit, the guys with the royalties and also the investors. Remember when they lost like 400 million dollars in one day? They pissed off a bunch of people and a bunch of investors are suing them too.”

    When asked if he was a potential plaintiff, Dupree replied that “I cannot confirm or deny, I plead the fifth” while laughing. That was the last he said publicly about the potential lawsuit before it was filed yesterday.

    I reached out to Jerry McDevitt, WWE’s outside counsel, for comment on the lawsuit, and here’s what he provided us in response:

    “Aside from the complete lack of merit, the fact there are numerous decisions precluding the non-contractual claims, and the fact that the contract does not give him any rights that relate to the WWE Network, Goguen signed an agreement in 2011 which we believe precludes these claims. I do not think he told his lawyers about the above agreement, and they were notified of it last night with the obvious demand that the lawsuit be dismissed. They thanked me for telling them, and said they would look into it, which to me confirms he did not tell them.”

    McDevitt later added that the 2011 agreement was not a WWE “Legends’ Contract.”

    The 19 page complaint, which is embedded at the bottom of this article (and can also be viewed on Archive.org) focuses primarily on the language regarding home video royalties in Dupree’s 2003 Talent Booking Contract with WWE. Subsequent to Dupree signing with WWE (believed to be about 2004 when WWE launched the WWE 24-7/WWE Classics on Demand subscription video on demand service; an online version was added later), this language was added to the standard contract (emphasis mine):

    7.5 No Royalties Paid to WRESTLER. Except as specifically set forth in Section 7.1 through 7.3 above, WRESTLER shall not be eligible for any payment or royalties with respect to any other goods, services or otherwise including without limitation to the following: television license fees; television subscription fees; internet subscription fees; subscription video on demand fees; magazine subscription fees and/or advertising; and/or distribution fees of any kind paid to PROMOTER by any entity in connection with the exploitation of the Intellectual Property.

    Dupree’s attorneys (Clinton A. Krislov and Matthew T. Peterson of Krislov & Associates in Chicago and Brenden Leydon of Tooher Wocl & Leydon in WWE’s home town of Stamford, CT) are arguing that under the language of the contract Dupree signed in 2003, he’s entitled to royalties from WWE Network. There are various sections of the contract entitling him (or anyone else who signed this version of the contract) to various different royalty rates on different forms of WWE Video Products. Those are defined in the contract as (emphasis taken from the complaint) “video cassettes, videodiscs, CD ROM, or other technology, including technology not yet created,” In addition to WWE Network, the complaint argues that this language should also include licensing fees that WWE gets from Netflix.

    The basic argument of the complaint is that…

    Defendant breached its Booking Contract with Plaintiff by selling WWE Video Products (streaming videos on the WWE Network) of PPVs and Non-PPVs without paying any royalties to Plaintiff. Plaintiff assigned his intellectual property rights in perpetuity to WWE in exchange for royalty payments from the sales of WWE Video Products of PPVs and Non-PPVs.

    And…

    Defendant breached its Booking Contract with Plaintiff by licensing WWE Video Products (streaming video) of PPVs and Non PPVs without paying any royalties to Plaintiff.

    Dupree’s lawyers are also trying to have the case certified as a class action lawsuit, which means that others similarly situated could join in. Here’s how they’re trying to define the class:

    All individuals who have assigned their original and new intellectual property rights to WWE or a promotion that WWE has acquired the assets and/or the video library of, in exchange for perpetual royalty payments from WWE’s (or acquired promotion) or licensees’ sales of past pay-per-view events or non pay-per-view productions.

    They then split the class into two sub-classes for WWE performers and non-WWE performers who were signed to promotions that WWE bought the video libraries of. I’m just a layman, but the way this is laid out in the complaint seems like it’s opening them up to plenty of scrutiny for WWE, as they make sure to note the contract language entitling wrestlers to home video royalties going back to 1980 (which may not be entirely accurate in the first place) while ignoring the aforementioned language about not being entitled to royalties from  “television subscription fees; internet subscription fees; [and] subscription video on demand fees” that has been there for the past decade or so.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBKuom1D9W8

    There have been other lawsuits like this in the past, but they didn’t involve plaintiffs with a WWE Talent Booking Contract. Doug Somers’ lawsuit over using his AWA matches failed, as did Steve Ray’s lawsuit over ESPN airing matches from herb Abrams’ UWF, while Doug and Tommy Gilbert (with Tommy representing his son Eddie’s estate) dropped their lawsuit against both WWE and ESPN over various footage of Eddie and Doug in the GWF, ECW, and WCW.

    Here’s the whole complaint:

    https://www.scribd.com/doc/307333948/Rene-Dupree-lawsuit-for-WWE-Network-Royalties

  • Scott Hall Tweets Photo Of Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows Backstage At Raw

    Scott Hall Tweets Photo Of Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows Backstage At Raw

    Scott Hall tweeted this photo late last night:

    https://twitter.com/SCOTTHALLNWO/status/717258622586060801

    Hall is one of the former NWO members who endorsed the “NWO tribute band” aspects of the Bullet Club’s act in New Japan Pro Wrestling, with his son Cody even joining the group before long. As for Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows, it was somewhat surprising that they didn’t make their debut on Raw last night, especially with WWE seemingly going all in with bolstering the main roster’s tag team division. On the other hand…maybe it shouldn’t have been. The belief is that they’ll be joined by Finn Balor to reform the Bullet Club as the Balor Club, but Balor is still:

    1. A babyface.
    2. NXT Champion.

    So it remains to be seen when and how they’ll debut, but they’re clearly signed at this point. Gallows and Anderson held the IWGP [Heavyweight] Tag Team Championship on several occasions in NJPW and finished up with the promotion several weeks ago.

  • Additional Details On WrestleMania 32 Attendance: What’s The Exact Real Number?

    Additional Details On WrestleMania 32 Attendance: What’s The Exact Real Number?

    At the Wrestling Classics Message Board, Matt Farmer, who’s a well-known pro wrestling historian and former indie wrestler known to be very well connected in the industry, has posted the exact attendance for WrestleMania 32. Reports from Dave Meltzer and Brian Alvarez of WrestlingObserver.com pegged the number as somewhere between 93,000 and 94,000, which made sense because WWE usually exaggerates by about 8,000 people and they announced 101,763.

    According to Farmer, the actual number is 93,730. [UPDATE: Farmer updated his number to 97,769,  which Meltzer and Alvarez are also now reporting.] That includes several thousand standing room tickets to the “Dallas Cowboys Party Plaza,” which is in the AT&T Stadium facility but not the main stadium bowl. It’s not unlike counting the old closed circuit crowds at the Felt Forum (now The Theater) as part of the attendance for Madison Square Garden cards where the forum was opened up due to overflow. They’re in the same building, but they’re not necessarily the same venue, though the Party Plaza is always counted in AT&T Stadium numbers.

    Farmer also noted that “As of last week there was just over 86,000 tickets sold.”

    This is the new undisputed WWE record, and is the verified professional wrestling record outside of the two shows at Mayday Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea in 1995. Those shows are extreme outliers, being that they took place in a dictatorship, nobody there had ever seen pro wrestling before, and, for lack of a better term, those in attendance felt it was their civic duty to attend. The previous announced record was, of course, WrestleMania III at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1987, which WWE has always insisted publicly was 93,173. According to both Meltzer and PWTorch’s Wade Keller, Zane Brushoff, the local promoter (who’s since passed away), provided documentation to them showing the number was about 78,500. Meltzer was later given access to internal WWE records that showed the same number.

    The actual record for WWE was 78,927 for SummerSlam 92 at Wembley Stadium, which was announced as “just” (as in relative to WrestleMania III) 80,355. Presumably the reason for that was wanting WrestleMania III to be the “official” record until they could beat it by a wide margin. Since then, stadium WrestleManias usually topped off a few thousand short of the record. There have been a number of stadium shows in places like India, Pakistan, and Greece that are believed to have drawn anywhere from 100,000 to 200,000 fans, but it’s not at all clear how verifiable those figures are. Particularly, King Kong Czaja is believed to have drawn a number of six figure crowds in the 1940s.

    But until we get more verification of those numbers, WrestleMania 32 at AT&T Stadium is the biggest crowd that doesn’t involve loyalty to a dictator.