SEScoops

Author: David Bixenspan

  • Shinsuke Nakamura Officially Signs With WWE

    Shinsuke Nakamura Officially Signs With WWE

    WWE.com has officially announced the signing of Japanese Wrestling legend Shinsuke Nakamura. An article at WWE.com states that he’s signed with “WWE NXT,” so it looks like his match at TakeOver is not a one-time thing. That’s not surprising, since he was expected to acclimate himself in NXT for a while, but since WWE likely had to sign him to a lucrative deal to get him to jump from NJPW, it was expected that he was earmarked for the main roster. Maybe he still is, but they’re pushing him as an NXT signing for now.

    Paul “Triple H” Levesque told WWE.com that “Talent is the lifeblood of our company, and the signing of Shinsuke Nakamura further demonstrates NXT’s commitment to bringing in the best talent from all over the world. His explosive style will make an immediate impact to an already dynamic NXT men’s division.” I’m sure we’ll hear more from WWE about him in the coming weeks.

     

  • Kota Ibushi Leaves NJPW & DDT To Go Freelance, Start New Company

    Kota Ibushi Leaves NJPW & DDT To Go Freelance, Start New Company

    Popular bilingual Twitter user Enuhito hipped English language Twitter to the news that broke in Japan today on sites like Tokyo Sports: Dual promotion star Kota Ibushi, who’s currently out of action with a neck injury, has left both NJPW and DDT to work as a freelancer out of his own company, Ibushi Pro Wrestling Research Institute. He’ll still be returning to action at DDT’s annual Sumo Hall show on March 2nd, but he’s no longer on their roster or NJPW’s.

    It’s hard to figure out whether this is going to mean anything, substantively speaking. He’s obviously still working for DDT and will probably still work for NJPW, as well. It’s probably a matter of how many dates he’s obligated to work, especially with the responsibility being the top guy in DDT in addition to being a top guy in NJPW. Most likely not much actually changes in terms of who he works for when, but he dictates his terms a bit more. NJPW’s going to need him in light of the departures of A.J. Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura, so maybe that works out for the best. Plenty of big stars have had great runs as freelancers, maybe he can be next.

  • Max Landis Reveals He’s A WWE Consultant

    Just under a year ago, Max Landis showed up on the radar when he released “Wrestling Isn’t Wrestling,” a YouTube short (embedded above) about how how awesome the weird drama of pro wrestling storylines can be.  WWE acknowledged it once it blew up, and Landis became more of an ongoing presence to wrestling fans, most visibly buying pizzas for all of the fans in attendance at Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s shows in southern California. Then, on Friday, he revealed (about 15 mnutes in) on #TableTalk, a video podcast, that he’s been a consultant on Monday Night Raw since not long after the release of “Wrestling Isn’t Wrestling.”

    Landis said that none of his ideas have really been used, but he was contacted by NBC Universal to help with the show and his contract is almost up. The way he explains it is a little confusing as far as if he works for WWE or NBC Universal, but most likely it’s with WWE after NBC Universal made the connection. WWE has a lot of consultants nobody ever hears about, as it’s a role they use to pay older wrestlers they want to help out. Make sure to check out the video to hear Landis’s thoughts on how Raw is best laid out: The gist is that he doesn’t like when Raw is a disconnected “variety show,” instead preferring when the big moments effect the other segments throughout the show.

  • ROH Star Michael Elgin Signs A Two Year Contract With NJPW

    ROH Star Michael Elgin Signs A Two Year Contract With NJPW

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okyTVkfBD1w

    It looks like New Japan Pro Wrestling is continuing to learn from the simultaneous exodus of A.J. Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows, which was made possible by the company having everyone under annual contracts that expire in January. Pro Wrestling Sheet majordomo Ryan Satin is reporting that Michael Elgin has been signed to a two year deal, so they’re clearly making changes by locking up one of the most promising foreign talents in the company.

    Elgin had an iffy last few years in Ring of Honor, to the point that a lot of fans were skeptical of NJPW bringing him in for the G1 Climax tournament in August. But something clicked for him there, whether or it was increased confidence or something else, and he fit in great there. He’s become more charismatic than he’s ever been before and has gotten  decent push as the tag team partner of long-time top NJPW babyface Hiroshi Tanahashi.

    As for Elgin’s contract, Satin says “the deal allows Elgin to continue taking bookings wherever he’d like outside of Japan,” meaning “ROH, PWG and even big companies in other countries.” Presumably, he means that it’s a compliment to a full-time ROH contract, as they limit American bookings to ROH and PWG.

  • Mike Quackenbush Talks To WWE.com About NXT Guest Coach Stint

    Mike Quackenbush Talks To WWE.com About NXT Guest Coach Stint

    In the latest sign of how WWE is changing, at least within the developmental system, Chikara founder and head trainer Mike Quackenbush was brought in as an NXT Guest Coach at the WWE Performance Center a few weeks ago. A veteran indie cruiserweight who originally had no formal pro wrestling training, prefers international wrestling, and runs a wacky comic book-inspired promotion does not sound like the type of person they’d normally look to. But times have changed, and they’ve changed so much that WWE.com actually interviewed him about the trip. That is also notable because a ton of guest coaches come through without public fanfare. You should check out the whole interview, but here are some of the highlights:

    How did he end up being brought in as a guest coach?

    Two WWE talents who spent some time at The Wrestle Factory had gone to bat for me and sung my praises to Head Coach Matt Bloom, those people being [Assistant Head Coach] Sara Amato and Cesaro. They were kind enough to stick their necks out a little bit for me. It came together very quickly through Coach Bloom and I was able to come down to the Performance Center and do my thing. […] I might have said [I was surprised] as well two weeks ago. I was really pleasantly surprised that they brought me down and gave me the measure of trust that they did in instructing this type of class and that type of class. I feel like I really got to put all of my skills to work in a variety of different ways and settings. They showed me such respect and trust in giving me the reigns. That was surprising and very flattering.

    What did he want the talent to take away from what he taught?

    I wanted to leave everyone at the PC with a sense of my passion for the craft, and to renew their belief in this simple thing, which I think goes overlooked when you spend hours in the ring, gym and on the road: The true net yield of wrestling is always joy. It is our responsibility to give that to our audience, time and time again. Sometimes, you need to hear a different voice, a different perspective on it to remind you of the value of it. That’s what we’re trying to give the audience. You have people down there from all over the world, from all kinds of disciplines, different age groups, they speak different languages. If I was able to remind them of that in a way that really resonated, then I think I did my job.

    The article has a whole lot more, including Quack talking about working as a road agent/producer at that weekend’s NXT live events, spending time with Chad Gable, and much more.

  • Apollo Crews: “I Look At NXT & I See I’m A Part of History”

    To promote tonight’s NXT live event in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Apollo Crews spoke to Bill Bodkin of NJ Advanced Media for an article that went up yesterday. You should read the whole article, which also includes some thoughts on how he developed his style among other quotes, but here are some of the highlights:

    On the rise of NXT:

    I look back at the Attitude Era, which was historical for me, but I look at NXT and I see I’m a part of history. I can look back and tell my kids, and my grandkids that I was a part of NXT when it was growing.

    Swearing during his NXT Takeover entrance:

    People still make fun of me about it. I had rehearsed my entrance backstage, but I remember coming out and the first thing I did was cuss.

    How stacked is the NXT roster?

    The roster from top to bottom is talented. We want to challenge and outdo each other in a friendly and competitive way [every show]. [The audience] is going to have so much fun, and they’re going to want more. The environment is going to be through the roof.

  • Fans Discover Sami Zayn Easter Egg On Google Translate

    Fans Discover Sami Zayn Easter Egg On Google Translate

    Last night, Wrestling Twitter was abuzz over something that had been discovered when a fan was playing around with Google Translate. Apparently trying to figure out if there was some special meaning to Sami Zayn’s name (or more likely just playing around), someone translated “Sami Zayn” from English to Arabic. Remember, Rami Sebei, the man behind Sami Zayn, is of Syrian descent, so it’s not like this was the most random thing in the world. So then, when you translate the Arabic text back to English, it says…El Generico??!?!?

    El Generico Google Translate Easter Egg

    Clearly, there’s a big wrestling fan at the Google Translate team as no, that’s not any kind of real translation. Other machine translation sites, like the one on Bing, turn it into “Zain Sami,” and El Generico was, of course, Rami Sebei’s pre-WWE gimmick. Officially, though, they’re friends, as opposed to the Hideo Itami, Finn Balor, and Asuka treatment of acknowledging their past with different names.

    It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if there were more wrestling relate Easter eggs like this within Google Translate, but since this one is so perfect, it may be best if they just stopped with this one. They can’t top it.

  • WWE 2K16 Apparently Getting The Tokyo Dome In Next DLC Pack

    WWE 2K16 Apparently Getting The Tokyo Dome In Next DLC Pack

    At a couple different points tonight, the official WWE Games Twitter account tweeted these animated GIFs to hype Tuesday’s release of the Hall of Fame downloadable content pack for WWE 2K16, which is out this Tuesday:

    It was already known that 1991 versions of Ric Flair and Tatsumi Fujinami plus a relevant match replay mode were in the Hall of Fame pack, but they had two matches that year. It seemed like it made more sense for 2K to base it off their match from Superbrawl in St. Petersburg, Florida, but from the above footage, it looks like they didn’t. Instead, 2K picked the OTHER Flair-Fujinami match, from the NJPW Tokyo Dome show that year, which is known as both WCW Japan Supershow and NJPW Starrcade ’91 In The Tokyo Dome. So that means that the arena that comes in the pack is an ersatz Tokyo Dome, faithfully recreated by 2K Sports. They can’t call it that (and I don’t believe WWE games ever name real venues), but 2K does a great job with the presentation of the arenas and this should be no exception.

    Here’s the full lineup for the DLC pack, which, if this is any indication, should also include at least two more WCW arenas and some early ’90s WWF arenas along with period appropriate versions of the wrestlers:

    • “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts
    • Rikishi vs. The Rock
    • Alundra Blayze vs. Paige
    • Larry Zbyszko and Arn Anderson vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and Dustin Rhodes
    • Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ric Flair
    • The Bushwhackers (Butch Miller and Luke Williams) vs. The Natural Disasters (Typhoon and Earthquake)
    • The Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) vs. Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray)

  • Total Divas Ratings Down Again For 2/16/16; Preview For 2/23

    ShowBuzzDaily reported that this week’s edition of WWE’s Total Divas reality show on E! drew 808,000 viewers for a key demographic rating of 0.38. This was down very slightly from last week’s show, which drew 810,000 viewers and a 0.41 key demographic ratings. While realistically, it’s flat compared to last week, technically speaking, it’s down, as it has been every week this season since the premiere, though it’s easily the smallest loss so far.

    Meanwhile, WWE put up the preview clips for next week’s episode on their YouTube channel:

    In the first clip, Rosa Mendes and Alicia Fox plan for Rosa’s baby shower…but Fox isn’t really into decorating like it’s a baby shower. As in she’s planning on decorating it like a Halloween party. Why? I guess we’ll find out Tuesday.

    In the second clip, Nikki Bella talks to Rosa Mendes and Eva Marie about her neck and back injury. Her immediate concern appears to be that she “feels fat” because she can’t really work out.

    The new episode, titled “End of a Friendship,” premieres Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m. ET on E!

  • Lucha Underground Ratings Still Rising With 2/17/16 Show

    Lucha Underground Ratings Still Rising With 2/17/16 Show

    ShowBuzzDaily.com, which has become the go to source for breaking news on TV ratings/viewership figurees, has posted the numbers for last night (February 17, 1016), and the numbers therein are good news for Lucha Underground. This week’s episode on El Rey Network drew 152,000 viewers in its first run time slot, up from 136,000 last week. The rating in the key adult demographics was 0.06, and for what may be the first time, Lucha Underground made the list of the top 150 shows on cable for the  night at #140. College basketball on ESPN was the pay TV winner for the night with 2.86 million viewers.

    While Lucha Underground’s ratings are not great numbers in the grand scheme of television, it’s clear that the show has a following and continues to pick up momentum. That said, in terms of overall viewership, they’re still behind the first season due to the loss of the Spanish language broadcast on Unimas (the network formerly known as Telefutura). The Spanish version was consistently in the 200,000 viewer range on a much stronger network. It’s still unclear why Unimas dropped the show, and it’s locked a lot of people out from watching since El Rey has such limited distribution.

  • WWE Supercard Mobile Game Gets A New Update From 2K Sports

    WWE Supercard, the popular mobile game from 2K Sports, got a new update today with 2K listing all of the changes in an email to their press email list. Supercard, which is essentially a collectible card game style of play adapted to being a mobile video game, has developed a pretty fervent following since its release in August 2014. It’s had several updates to date, and here’s what’s changed in the latest revision:

    • Team Ring Domination: This brand new eight-person event tasks teams with collectively uncovering glass shards from a card, piece by piece, after competing in matches. Once all shards are removed from the card, the entire team can claim that WWE Superstar or Diva card;
    • Team People’s Champion Challenge (PCC) Returns: Team PCC returns to the event rotation;
    • “Get Cards” Redesign: The new “Get Cards” screen makes it easier than ever for players to find their favorite card packs;
    • Chat Toasts: Real-time notifications now enable teammate chats to pop up over the game, eliminating the need for players to enter the Team Chat menu to see the latest discussions.

    WWE Supercard is available in the Amazon App Store (for Fire, Kindle Fire, & Fire TV), iOS App Store (for iPhones and iPads), and the Google Play Store (for Android devices).

  • ESPN’s Bomani Jones Takes Exception To Steve Austin’s Titus O’Neil Comments

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_h57Pv9I-o

    Earlier today, Eric noted that on one of Steve Austin’s podcasts this week, he chimed in on WWE’s suspension of Titus O’Neil. Austin felt that while the length of O’Neil’s suspension (60 days, reduced from 90) was excessive , grabbing Vince McMahon as he’s said to have done is a legitimate offense to be punished for. As a result, Austin also feels that this negates the racism allegations that have come from some fans throughout the news cycle of this story. Here’s what he said, and his wording in how he tried to get his point across:

    Vince is 70 [years old] right now and that was a serious moment for him. He was totally in character. He cares about Daniel Bryan. He gets jerked pretty forcibly over there to Titus O’Neil and it was completely inappropriate. This may be pro wrestling/sports entertainment, whatever you want to call it, but that was a serious moment. It’s not a time to be shucking and jiving out there, so lay some type of punishment down. Fine him, this, that, or whatever. I don’t know. Something was appropriate, but when I started hearing the racism things, I was like, ‘I’ve got to roll my eyes and I’ve got to call complete and utter bulls–t in this one.’

    Austin’s usage of “shucking and jiving” was quickly noticed in the comment section of Cageside Seats’ article about Austin’s comments, where it became a heated topic of discussion. The term is very loaded, as its origins are as a reference to black slaves singing while shucking corn (more details in this 2012 Slate.com article), and it’s generally used in a racial context of some kind. ESPN’s Bomani Jones found out about what Austin said via Cageside’s article and chimed in on Twitter:

    A wrestling fan quickly replied and accused Jones of ” misconstru[ing] the usage here” because  “[i]f you know Southern wrestling history, that is long used vernacular,” but Jones quickly shut it down:

    None of this means that Austin or the fan who replied to Jones is racist. Still, it’s hard for a lot of people to see “shuck and jive” in a non-racial context for obvious reasons, and Jones is not wrong that using the phrase made Austin look completely oblivious (or worse). As for the fan quoted by Jones who argued it’s a pro wrestling term: I’ve only ever heard it used to describe wrestlers (both black and white) who tried to appeal to black audiences. So it’s a bit strange to see that argument, and doubly so since, unfortunately, the N-word was the “official” insider term for black wrestlers in some circles for decades. Being a pro wrestling term doesn’t excuse anything, especially in a business with so many decades of racial issues.

  • WWE Launches Redesigned Version Of WWE.com

    WWE Launches Redesigned Version Of WWE.com

    With no buildup, WWE launched a brand new version of WWE.com this morning. Reviews have been mixed of the redesign, which covers the entire site. The previous design lasted almost four years, having launched on March 11, 2012, and was one of many looks the site had gone through since launching in 1997. The new look is more akin to a blog or mainstream news site than past designs, with good mobile device optimization.

    WWE announced the change with not just the above video showing off the new site, but also the following press release:

    WWE® LAUNCHES ALL- NEW WWE.COM

    STAMFORD, Conn., February 18, 2016 – Today WWE (NYSE: WWE) launched an all-new WWE.com, a global destination with the most immersive and personalized experience the site has ever featured, and a functional design across devices that optimizes content for fans anytime and anywhere.

    New WWE.com features include:

    · An all-new look with a variety of site designs and experiences that change depending on the time of day and day of week that fans access the site.

    · Mobile-first approach in design, delivering a seamless experience for fans across handsets, tablets or desktop computers.

    · A best-in-class, innovative video experience that puts video first and nearly everywhere. The persistent, site-wide video experience presents contextually relevant clips, depending on when fans visit the site and what pages they visit.

    · The launch of English, Spanish and German language sites offer locally relevant content driven by WWE teams around the world, who will curate up-to-the-minute content during and around all WWE live TV programming.

    · Improved social sharing and commenting features, allowing fans to share content immediately from anywhere on the site. WWE’s worldwide social media discussion will continue on WWE.com where WWE Superstar and fan social posts will be showcased and integrated into the content experience.

    · Infinite scroll on the homepage and key destinations allowing users to explore unlimited content options.

    “WWE has always been at the forefront of embracing new technology, and the all-new WWE.com will allow us to better serve our fans by providing them with compelling content anytime, anywhere on the platform of their choice,” said Rajan Mehta, WWE Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer. “With locally relevant content, WWE.com will enhance the experience for our fans around the world.”

    WWE collaborated with Code and Theory to establish the strategy, design and development of its new website. Code and Theory has extensive experience designing successful content distribution and publishing platforms for partners including Bloomberg, Vogue and NBC.

  • Jim Ross Makes Deal To Call Boxing On CBS Sports Network

    Last night, Jim Ross dropped a little bit of news on Twitter:

    The best guest we’ve seen so far is that he’ll be the latest voice on the roster of Premier Boxing Champions, the promotion that you’ve seen blanketing seemingly every television network with boxing cards in the last year or so. Previously, Ross called a Golden Boy Promotions card on Fox Sports 1 as a one-off as well as the Battlegrounds MMA tournament in Oklahoma, which aired on pay-per-view and saw him flanked by Chael Sonnen. He had expressed interest in doing more work in non-simulated combat sports, and clearly that’s panning out.

    It’s been a busy couple months when it comes to Ross making new deals, since, as we’ve previously reported, he’s also the new voice of New Japan Pro Wrestling on AXS TV and the spokesman for the FITE TV internet streaming platform. He also serves as an advisor to FITE. He’s clearly picking up a lot of stream with his outside ventures, so it will be interesting to keep an eye on if he’s got more to reveal in the coming months. In addition to his combat sports assignments, Ross has also done radio play by play for the Atlanta Falcons, and he was later a part of the XFL broadcasting team, so he certainly has non-wrestling qualifications.

  • Global Cruiserweight Series Shows Shift In WWE Attitudes

    WWE doing a “cruiserweight show” of some kind as a WWE Network project has been rumored for years now, going back even before the network launched. Back in 2012, when WWE was first shooting pilots at Full Sail University before the launch of the current version of NXT, one of those pilots was some kind of cruiserweight show. The rumors kept going as for a while, disappeared last year, and finally returned a few months ago when it finally got close to reality. Yesterday, WWE finally announced the Global Cruiserweight Series, which is coming in July with 32 wrestlers from around the world.

    There’s always been a complicated relationship between WWE and smaller wrestlers. Historically, even long before Vincent Kennedy McMahon was in charge, the WWWF/the Capitol Wrestling Corporation was a territory built around bigger wrestlers working a slower style, with a heroic champion slaying giants in main events. That a big (pun not intended) reason why the rings are bigger and were historically harder than other promotions’ rings for many years, as well. That informed McMahon’s preferences, and so on and so forth.

    Even when they eventually tried, they badly missed the mark. In 1997, after the cruiserweight division became a key ingredient in WCW’s success, the WWF light heavyweight division was launched. The problem was that it was badly mismatched mix of great junior heavyweights from around the world (TAKA Michinoku, Mr. Aguila, Pantera, and so on) with whatever shorter wrestlers they had hesitated in signing before, like Scott Putski and Brian Christopher (who was a great performer, but wrong stylistically). It never clicked, and eventually disappeared from TV for long stretches of time. Eventually, it improved, and while there were hiccups, the version that inherited the WCW Cruiserweight Championship as a WWE belt featured good action in the style fans wanted.

    Until it vanished after Hornswoggle won the title.

    So you can see how WWE introducing the Global Cruiserweight series is a big change, In context, though, it’s not surprising at tall that it’s happening now. PWInsider’s interview with Triple H yesterday made it very clear.that this is one of his projects, and, well, look at what’s happened with NXT. If this was ever going to happen, it was going to happen now. WWE is now actively recruiting from “workrate indies,” the same people they laughed at a decade ago, and paid good money to lure Shinsuke Nakamura from New Japan Pro Wrestling. Even if the main roster shows still have issues, this is not the WWE we used to know.

    Of course, the question is if any of this can make its way to the main shows. Triple H is not in charge of the main roster shows, Vince McMahon is. Based on how Raw has looked as of late, it seems like it could be a long time before any of this is reflected on “Vince’s” shows. But it’s a start.

  • Axl Rotten’s Cause Of Death Released By Medical Examiner

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBt6BPue5uo

    Jonas Shaffer of the Baltimore Sun reported last night that Brian Knighton, best known as ECW wrestler Axl Rotten, died of an accidental drug overdose when he passed away on February 4th. Unfortunately, given his long history of drug addiction and how he was found, this was largely what most had expected when the news broke that he had died.

    According to the report, Knighton appeared to be using the infant diaper changing table in a public restroom to prepare drugs. On the table were various forms of drug paraphernalia including a burnt spoon with a  “crystalline residue” and a pill bottle with capsules of a “brownish substance” that the police believed to be heroin. Knighton was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:09 p.m. local time that day.

    Knighton had gone through an especially rough time the last few years, even setting aside his substance abuse issues. His in-ring injuries had gotten more debilitating, he developed Bell’s Palsy (the same facial paralysis that Jim Ross has). Then, recently, long-time friend and fellow ECW alumnus Hack Myers passed away.

     

  • Shane Douglas On WWE Network Royalties, Axl Rotten, & More

    Shane Douglas On WWE Network Royalties, Axl Rotten, & More

    Shane Douglas was the latest guest on The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, and it looks like a relatively timely appearance for someone who’s largely out of the business. Not only does he follow up on the WWE Network royalties topic that Kevin “Kevin Thorn” Fertig brought up on a recent episode of that show, but he also touches on the death of friend and ECW colleague Axl Rotten. Here are some of the highlights that they sent in:

    ECW’s role in the development of WWE Network and the ECW talent not getting royalties for their likenesses being used:

    Their are two ends of this compendium. The one end is the amazement of the technology. When I was a kid it was black and white television with rabbit ears to now with my son he can pull up with his smart phone WWE content or historical content or pay per views or a video game. It is astounding with the technology. It has made all of us present and accounted for to young kids. I can’t even tell you how many 8,9,10 year old kids have come up to me and said you are my favorite wrestler and I’ve seen you on “the network” or on YouTube. All of these social media’s and networks have kept us current and brought us back in a time past where our age would allow and that is the amazing part of it.

    The other side of that compendium is you have somebody making an awful lot of money off of footage that we all have worked and tore our bodies to pieces to film and shoot originally. Nobody in 1982 or 1992 or even 2002 could have conceived the incredible technology ever existing and coming into the market everyday and that is only going to speed up. It’s hard for you to sign away your rights and say I just filmed you doing this wrestling match today and now we are going to take this and you sign away so that we can use this whenever we want in the future. Nobody could possibly conceive that, that is like Star Wars or Star Trek back in those days.

    I feel strongly that the guy who played Eddie Munster on The Munster’s back in 1965/66 or Leave It To Beaver still get residual checks. I think that clearly we should be getting at least similar feedback and benefits and we are not getting that. So that’s why I have a big difference with Vince McMahon because I think the technology is astounding and as he has always done he has brought wrestling into areas that nobody could have ever conceived of. But again as always in the past, Vince benefits from it and the wrestlers who are literally dying to make that footage [are not].

    I am not saying that Vince McMahon did it but do you think that Axl (Rotten) came into the business a drug addict? All the banging and Tapie Death matches forced him to self medicate some of that pain. So if we are going to do that then clearly we should be some beneficiary of it. For me, I have two sons 10 and 14 years old and by my thinking if anybody on the planet is going to benefit from what I broke my body up to do it should be two kids named Connor and Caden ,nobody else. If Vince makes a million dollars selling Shane Douglas merchandise or footage then should get I $999,000 ? Absolutely not, but aren’t I worth a thousand of it? Two thousand? Ten thousand? Some percentage of that should be coming to me and my kids and sadly there is a difference of opinion with Vince on that and to my understanding there is a lawsuit being brought over it very soon so it will be very interesting to see how that lawsuit turns out.

    The passing of Axl Rotten & a tribute that Douglas posted online:

    Axl was first and foremost a friend and a colleague and one that I respected as a worker in the ring. He was one of the guys that if I saw my name on the card tonight versus Axl Rotten I knew I was in for a hell of a match on my hands and I knew it was going to be a good match. Axl did more than up-hold his end of the bargain in a good wrestling match. So often it is easy for us to digress and we all want to say that the guy deserved what he got and whatever else and there is some validity to that because at the end of the day each of us is responsible for ourselves. I look at it from the perspective of having been through that. Axl Rotten had worked to overcome his demons, he’s been through rehab how many times and if the guy didn’t care he wouldn’t even do that.

    I can assure you that when you are addicted to something you are not having fun and having a big old party and it’s great, it is a real heavy burden and monkey on your back. So the fact that Axl at so many times worked to try to over come them tells me that he wanted to get well and the nature of that disease is it never goes away, it tries to sneak up on you and is a cunning foe. He (Axl) entertained a hell of a lot of people for a good, long time and he did that with his body. Like I said in what I wrote and it came straight from the heart; all Axl ever wanted was to be a professional wrestler and entertain people and in that context Axl’s life was a success.

    Axl Rotten exemplifying what ECW was all about in Re: “cast-off” wrestlers getting chances to perform for a passionate fanbase:

    No question about it. With what we were doing in ECW the first thing you had to overcome was the fear of getting hurt. ECW was extraordinarily physical and you can see that in the tapes and Axl did that above and beyond. The Axls, the New Jacks, the Sandmans, Terry Funk those guys went out and gave ECW its flavor. This (ECW) was clearly something different then Saturday morning “rasslin” or even Saturday evening wrestling. That started with the physicality of it and to do that there was no smoke and mirrors and no trickery to what you were seeing because guys were beating the hell out of each other. Axl certainly personified what ECW was all about and helped give it its flavor.

     

    The Franchise gimmick from ECW:

    It has really stuck after all these years. When Eddie Gilbert had called me to come to ECW my first name in ECW was the “Fabulous One” Shane Douglas and it was going back to the Memphis days for Eddie and my theme song was “Are You Gonna Go My Way” by Lenny Kravitz and I think there would have been something to that character and you would have seen some incarnation of the The Franchise character at that time. But the name (The Franchise) was so perfect because the NFL had each team name the franchise player and since Paul knew who he was building the company around Shane Douglas’s character and thats where the franchise character came from and it stuck. Paul only gave me one direction of the franchise character and he said you are the captain of the football team that steals everyones girlfriends then screws them and leaves them at the dance. It was a great character and very timely. As hard as it is to do something new in wrestling, it was something new in wrestling.

    In the full podcast, Douglas also covers the death of ECW, throwing down the NWA title, Vince McMahon’s promises,The Clique, Ric Flair, The Dynamic Dudes, his relationship with Johnny Ace, his WCW stint in 2000, The Triple Threat, WWE today, and much more.

  • Examining The Impact Of WWE’s YouTube Success On Their TV Ratings

    Several months back, I found myself starting to wonder about WWE’s YouTube channel as WWE was getting a lot of press for just how successful it is. By most metrics, it’s among the top channels on the service:

    It’s clearly a success by YouTube standards, and it’s noticeable even just looking at the numbers for the individual videos. The main event level segments from Raw usually top 1 million views within a few days. As I write this, he edited version of the previous night’s SmackDown main event is closing in on 400,000 viewers after just 16 hours. The edited Daniel Bryan retirement speech, while an anomaly to a point for obvious reasons, is nearing 2.5 million views after less than four full days.

    Of course, Raw ratings have been in a freefall over the past year-plus, so I got to thinking: While there are certainly other issues at play, could this be a big factor in the ratings decline? I tabled it for a while, but that sentiment grew in me after WWE dropped their 2015 annual report yesterday. In conjunction with the report, they put together an infographic, and the YouTube part piqued my interest:

    https://twitter.com/davidbix/status/697811272604250112

    And those 8 billon views for 2015? They doubled the 2014 mark, and that increase comes with two noticeable changes:

    1. I don’t recall when exactly this was, but I believe it was in the past year or so that WWE sped up the uploading schedule of the video clips from their TV shows. Raw clips, for example, now go up as the live show is going on with a pretty short delay (especially considering the editing being done). Before, they went up at irregular times between early Tuesday morning and early Tuesday afternoon.
    2. WWE scaled back on some of their original content during 2015, like ending The JBL & Renee Show (formerly the JBL & Cole Show). While there’s still compelling original content, like “5 Things” and “This Week in WWE History,” the comedic destination programming is gone.

    While one theoretical draw is gone, they’ve made it much easier to consume an edited version of the weekly TV shows, and that appears to have been one reason for the huge increase in views year over year. Which is where this really starts to get interesting.

    WWE programming tends to skew pretty old in that the average viewer is a middle aged man…the type more likely to consume Raw in “traditional” ways, watching on cable/satellite TV during the live broadcast or maybe later on their DVR. But more and more, young people (think kids, tweens, and teenagers, as well as cord-cutting young adults) are consuming most of their content online, often primarily from YouTube only. That would explain a lot, wouldn’t it?

    Which isn’t to say that it’s the only reason: The company is in a rut creatively, of course. On top of that, Raw is a slog at three hours except for the very best episodes, which, as I alluded to, we haven’t seen as of late. So a large chunk of the audience may be closely following along, but only checking out the most interesting looking YouTube clips so as to not go through the three hour mixed bag that is Monday Night Raw in 2016.

    As the YouTube numbers keep going up, though, it’s hard to look at the situation as if it can’t be a major factor in the ratings going down. On the surface, it’s not a big deal, but YouTube ads are much less lucrative than traditional TV and there’s always the risk of angering NBC Universal, who gets nothing from the YouTube channel. The Hulu deal is through NBC Universal, who owns part of that service, but we have no idea how many people are watching WWE shows on there.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egLks2yh4L4

    Another potential factor is the change in how WWE does social media now. Last May, WWE dropped the WWE App’s second screen experience. Instead, all supplementary content was shifted to third party platforms (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube of course, etc.) as well as WWE.com. As part of the change, they’ve dramatically increased the amount of video and animated GIFs on their Twitter accounts. If you were planning on watching Raw because you want to see New Day do a funny dance, it will probably show up in your Twitter feed, anyway. It’s probably not close to as big a factor as YouTube, but it should be in the conversation.

    What does everyone else think? How has your WWE consumption changed in the last few years? Do you use the YouTube channel frequently? Please et us know in the comments.

  • PHOTO: Jim Ross In Los Angeles To Call NJPW on AXS Shows

    WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross tweeted out this photo earlier tonight:

    This is just the second time Ross has called pro wrestling since his departure from WWE. The first was Jeff Jarrett’s version of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 last year, where he was paired with Matt Striker. As noted in the tweet, Ross’s first episode will air on March 4th, the week after Mauro Ranallo’s final episode, which was recorded just before he signed with WWE. AXS deserves credit for making the type of deal that would get Ross, as Ranallo did such a tremendous job that his shoes would be hard to fill. Who better than the Hall of Famer who’s the most legendary announcer in the modern history of the business? Ross is the only replacement who wouldn’t have been subject to intense skepticism and criticism, even if other theoretical candidates would have done excellent jobs.

    Ross was also in the news earlier in the week when he was announced as the new spokesman and executive advisor for the FITE TV streaming video platform.

  • WWE Q4 & 2015 Annual Report Conference Call Liveblog

    WWE has released their annual report for 2015 (PDF of the press release summary), with an infographic (PDF) explaining some of the key notes. Check out Eric’s post from earlier for some of the key details.

    Right now, WWE’s investor call is ongoing with Vince McMahon, George Barrios, and Michael Weitz running the show. At first, it’s mostly repeating information from the above releases, but once the investment firms start having their representatives call in, it can get interesting, and we’ll pick up ongoing coverage when that part of the call kicks off.

    You can stream the conference call here.

    11:19 a.m. ET Lines are open!

    11:21 a.m ET Engagement levels of specific WWE Network shows? Barrios gives vague answer that they’re happy with. Will they bundle Network with over services, whether hosted by MLB Advanced Media (WWE Network partner) or otherwise? Maybe something like Crunchyroll? Barrios gives a vague answer and thinks it’s early. Makes a reference to major players vs. minor players that sounds like a shot at Crunchyroll, who was in WWE’s infographic as a top 10 paid internet streaming service.

    11:23 a.m. ET Barrios not really answering anything, as usual. Vince asked how they’ll deal with the injury bug for WrestleMania. “By being creative! We’ll have an awesome WrestleMania.”

    11:25 a.m. ET Oh no, it’s Laura Martin. She’s asking a weirdly specific and pointless question about hours viewed by Network subscribers and what shows they are, which Barrios happily answered because Laura Martin. She asked for India-specific numbers and of course she’s not getting them.

    11:27 a.m. ET What will impact WrestleMania quarter Network numbers? No specifics. How many current subscribers were around for WrestleMania last year? Barrios refuses to discuss.

    11:29 a.m. ET Any correlation they’ve seen between ratings and Network churn (subscriber loss)? “Not at the granular level” week to week, but yes, in the big picture. Is WWE going to build the planned media center? Looking like a no now.

    11:32 a.m. ET How should we think about the continued ratings decline? Vince: “Hours are down, but not as much as the networks we’re on.” TV is old media and important, but when you add YouTube, the audience is consuming their content how and when they want to. Which is a totally fair answer given their YouTube numbers being sky-high, to be honest. He included other social media in there, and your mileage may vary on that, but they’ve tweeted more and more GIFs, short video clips, etc. during shows as the year went on, as well.

    11:35 a.m. ET Brad Safalow is unbanned. Wants NXT revenues. Barrios won’t talk about specific product lines, but they’re happy w/ the engagement. What’s on the plate for NXT live events outside of Full Sail and Florida in general? Generic answer. Top five network subscriber countries? UK is a terrific market. Canada is good. “Outside of that, in the top 10, we’ve got a nice mix of countries.” TV budget? No pre-cashflow guidance from Barrios. More seasons of Total Divas, though.

    Asking about YouTube: Someone can watch a significant portion of Raw, any tension with NBC Universal over this given the huge gap from the monetary perspective? Vince; It’s a combination of valuation. We’re live programming, which adds tremendous value. Keeps saying “huge ecosystem.” Not really answering the question and he came off terribly since he effectively cited YouTube as a big reason why ratings are down.

    Brad: “It’ll be interesting.”

    Vince, not sounding upbeat: “It sure will…”

    11:40 a.m. ET Is the cost of putting archival content on the Network de minimis (too minimal to warrant consideration) to WWE? Barrios says so. Network spending in the future will depend on subscriptions.

    11:42 a.m. ET Follow-ups! Is there a way to draw more fans to the WWE app instead of third party platforms to keep them closer to the WWE Network subscribe button? App is an important part of their strategy per Barrios, but the established platforms are important. Still, continuing to invest in WWE owned and operated platforms. Remember, they dropped the live app experience fairly recently.

    Could NXT be on regular TV? Depends on the market.

    11:44 a.m. ET What markets does the Network need to get into? China, Phillipines, and Thailand.

    11:48 a.m. ET Brad Safalow follow-up. When does the India TV deal change so that pay-per-views will air live on the WWE Network? Don’t comment on specifics of current deals. Barrios: “How the rights work, I’d like t stay away from that.” Haven’t discussed Japan lately, signing talent from New Japan, increased focus? Think about it as a really good market from a talent perspective.

    11:50 a.m. ET Analyst thinks their stockholders are frustrated by flip-flopping between different criteria for network guidance (end of quarter numbers vs. average numbers). Barrios doesn’t do a good job explaining the switching back and forth. Basically said that end of quarter guidance on the subscriptions is too difficult to predict, so it’s easier to go with the average.

    It’s over. Stock is $14.59 per share right now (-$1.16 which is -7.37%). Much more interesting call than usual, thanks in large part to the YouTube stuff, the return of Brad Safalow, and the YouTube stuff. SeekingAlpha should have a transcript soon.

  • Daniel Bryan Thanks The Fans Again On Social Media

    Last night Daniel Bryan posted the following message on his Instagram account right after Jonathan Coachman’s interview with him aired on ESPN Sportscenter:

    Just wanted to say THANK YOU. To all of you. The incredible amount of love and support you’ve given me, not just in the last 48 hours, but over my entire career, sends chills thru my body. My life is better because of all of you. Gratitude. Always.

    Here’s the full Instagram post:

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BBlp-D5yVOu/

    By the way, if you haven’t seen it yet, WWE’s Instagram page posted a really beautiful photo of Bryan and his wife Brie right before his retirement speech in Seattle on Raw:

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BBkwbW_AFKH/

    As Bryan explained on Sportscenter, a new form of testing revealed a lesion on his brain that was responsible for the post-concussion seizures had had been experiencing and hiding (it’s not clear if he means from WWE only or his family as well). The test was done using the eVox system from Evolve Neuroscience, which you can read more about in this Digital Trends article.

  • WWE Hall of Famer Sticks Up For Kevin Owens Amidst Criticism

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcsW8HmFQUw

    WWE Hall of Famer “Superstar” Billy Graham has been posting a lot about current WWE as of late on his Facebook page. One topic that came up was who should face The Undertaker at WrestleMania 32. He and most of his followers who commented were in agreement that Kevin Owens was the best choice of who is available right now. Howevr, one fan made a bit of a miscue, which seemingly angered Graham to the point that he posted a screed defending Owens:

    Kevin Owens

    Hey fans, I got an interesting response to my post about me liking to see KO against Taker at mania 32. Daniel Thoma wrote and I will paraphrase here “I am surprised Superstar that you like Owens, as the guy has no build and not sure what people see in him.” Well Daniel, you need to do your homework on me before you make statements that you know what I like and don’t like. Actually you know nothing about me at all do you? I have wrestled a ton of guys in my career that have no build. Please check out the shot below of Dusty and I working in MSG. Did Dusty have a build? Far from it and actually he was quite obese at times. I have wrestled Chief Jay Strongbow for my WWWF belt, did he have a “build”? I have also worked with Wahoo McDaniel in the AWA and did record setting business. Did Wahoo have a build? He had never set foot in a gym. I am not the only one that likes KO. I remember talking in a phone conversation with Triple H about KO just after I signed my Legends Contract back in October of 2015 and he told me and I quote “Oh yes Superstar, we love Kevin Owens and have big plans for him. We think he will be the future heel for our company.” So don’t be surprised about me liking KO because you sir know nothing about me, nothing at all.

    Superstar Billy Graham

  • Jim Ross Announced As Spokesman For New Combat Sports Streaming Platform

    This morning, Jim Ross was announced via press release as the face of FITE TV, a new venture from Flipps Media, best known as the company behind the Flipps app. Ross will be both the official spokesman and executive adviser. Flipps first got notoriety among wrestling fans when they were the provider of the streaming version of Global Force Wrestling’s version of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9. Lately, they’ve become a secondary provider of WWN Live shows as well as offering TNA pay-per-views among other programming. Now, with FITE TV, they’ve launched a new app devoted to combat sports of all kinds.

    As far as I can tell, this is just a vehicle for live pay-per-view events and a la carte video on demand, not any kind of all you can eat service like WWE Network, UFC Fight Pass, NWA Classics, or the various indie promotion services on PivotShare. So this is really just a more specialized interface for Flipps. Technologically speaking, Flipps takes a different approach from most platforms: They don’t make apps for different set top boxes/streaming sticks; instead, they make phone/tablet apps that can work with a large number of devices. In addition to Google Chromecast, it also works on most devices that support the DLNA or AirPlay media sharing protocols.

    Here’s the full press release about the launch and Ross’s role:

    Flipps Media Launches FITE TV with Jim Ross as Spokesperson

    Free mobile app delivers live and on demand fighting sports video on TV

    San Mateo, CA (February 9, 2016) – Flipps Media, a popular mobile app for entertainment enthusiasts to easily discover and project digital content onto a TV using only a smartphone, launches a new product, FITE TV. FITE is a one-stop shop for viewing all sports within the fighting discipline globally including MMA, professional wrestling, boxing and traditional martial arts.

    “The global popularity of fighting sports was a catalyst to our decision to developing this new product, “said Kosta Jordanov, co-founder and CEO of Flipps Media. “Flipps has been downloaded by more than 15 million people and many of them gravitate towards our sports content. With over 300 million fighting sports fans and 150 million practitioners worldwide, FITE plans to leverage the global popularity of the sports by providing seamless TV access to all fighting related content.”

    FITE is launching free and pay-per-view programming including live events, shows, movies and documentaries in collaboration with over 20 organizations such as: TNA Wrestling, Tuff-N-Uff MMA, Ring of Honor Wrestling, Legacy Fighting Championships, WWN Live, World Armwrestling Championships, USA Sumo and Xtreme Power TV.

    “By leveraging the global popularity of combat sports, Flipps existing audience and their unique TV streaming technology, FITE is set to disrupt this space,” said Tim Draper, investor in Flipps Media. “As an early investor in Justin.TV to become Twitch, I’ve seen the power of niche video focus in establishing an exceptionally strong brand, attracting key partners and delivering an amazing value to viewers,” added the legendary investor Draper, inventor of viral marketing and an investor in numerous great companies including Skype, Hotmail, Tesla, Twitch, and Baidu.

    FITE partnered with Jim Ross as the brand’s celebrity spokesperson, executive advisor and investor. Ross is widely known as the “Voice of WWE.” With over 40 years of experience in the professional wrestling, boxing and mixed martial arts world, the 2007 WWE Hall of Famer is one of the most prolific wrestling announcers and renowned wrestling executives at Mid-South Wrestling, Turner Broadcasting’s World Championship Wrestling and more recently for over 20 years at WWE. The two-time New York Times Bestselling Author also hosts a wildly popular weekly podcast, The Ross Report, with over 750,000 weekly listeners on Podcast One and is a main stay in the Twitter Universe with 1.4 million followers. As WWE’s EVP of Talent, Ross was instrumental in attracting and developing such world-renowned personalities as The Rock, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, John Cena, Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar.

    “Getting involved with FITE is an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. It is the future of televised fighting sports,” said Jim Ross, executive advisor at FITE TV. “There is no easier way to stream wrestling, MMA and other fighting sports content including special commentaries on those sports by me.”

    To learn more about FITE, go to www.fite.tv or to download the app, log on to Google Play: http://bit.ly/1QnPolu or iTunes: http://apple.co/1PxQGKT.

    About FITE TV:

    FITE TV is a product of Flipps Media and is a free mobile app that is a one-stop shop for viewing all sports within the fighting discipline globally including MMA, professional wrestling, boxing, and traditional martial arts. With only access to a smart TV and a smartphone, with the FITE app, viewers can watch live events, on-demand programming, interviews and fighting sports related movies and documentaries on the big TV screen.

    More information can be found at www.fite.tv.

    About Flipps Media:

    Flipps delivers on-demand entertainment to any nearby connected TV from your mobile device without any additional hardware. The company has offices in San Mateo, New York and Sofia, Bulgaria and is backed by Tim Draper, Earlybird Venture Capital, Aslanoba Capital and LAUNCHub. Flipps’ patented technology immediately works with over 350+ million connected TVs and is compatible with over 7,000 manufacturer models requiring no set up, no pairing devices, no cables, no dongles and no set top box. The Flipps mobile application is free and available on iTunes and Google Play. More information can be found at www.flipps.com.

  • WWE Superstars & Other Wrestlers React To Daniel Bryan’s Retirement On Twitter

    With Daniel Bryan announcing his retirement on Twitter, the wrestling world has been reacting in the last hour or so. Here are some of the tweets that have gone up so far from both WWE stars and other wrestlers from all over the industry:

    https://twitter.com/MartyScurll/status/696773165285040128

    https://twitter.com/HEELZiggler/status/696768100922839040

    https://twitter.com/mikethemiz/status/696774740636098560

  • Departing ESPN Anchor Could Be Heading To WWE

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEP1PGX4Syc

    Last night, ESPN anchor Robert Flores announced his departure from the United States’ leading sports television network after 11 years. Based on his well-known wrestling fandom, how he worded his statement, as well as social media comments from people within WWE, it looks like he may be moving from The Worldwide Leader in Sports to The Worldwide Leader in Sports Entertainment. Specifically, there’s this:

    So, that’s it. My new employers should be announcing something next month. I wish ESPN all the best in their future endeavors.

    Obviously, the “future endeavors” bit sounds like a wink and a nod to how WWE addresses newly released talent. In addition, WWE has made a point lately about telling new hires to keep their hiring under wraps until the company announces it. Then, this morning, Joey Styles, who runs WWE.com, tweeted this:

    https://twitter.com/JoeyStyles/status/695650314104471552

    Last night, SmackDown announcer Mauro Ranallo tweeted congratulations to Flores, though he tried to make it clear that nobody should read too much into it:

    https://twitter.com/mauroranallo/status/695486542064668672

    https://twitter.com/mauroranallo/status/695487039660142595

    https://twitter.com/mauroranallo/status/695493394819190786

    Regardless of what his actual destination is, and it could very well not be WWE, it sure looks like that is where the public thinks he’s going right now.