Stephanie McMahon’s appearance on ESPN’s “Face to Face with Hannah Storm” show on Tuesday night. Regarding the challenges she’s faced in a male-dominated business, Stephanie said she also dealt with challenges being the boss’s daughter. She’s constantly had to prove herself, but doesn’t mind that at all and doesn’t want anything handed to her. She works very hard and tries to earn people’s respect every single day.
Stephanie was also asked about women in sports getting more recognition. She mentioned the “#GiveDivasaChance” hashtag that fans had trending for three days last year. Today’s WWE fans want to see more than eye candy and that’s why WWE listened and put the spotlight on the Divas Revolution. Women’s sports is on the rise and it was time for WWE to get with the times.
Storm also asked about WrestleMania 32 coming to AT&T Stadium. Stephanie revealed that Dallas Cowboys executive Charlotte Jones Anderson came and gave a big pitch to WWE. Vince was so impressed that he approved the pitch right on the spot.
One of the top storylines heading into WrestleMania 32 is Shane McMahon battling The Undertaker inside Hell in a Cell. If Shane McMahon is victorious, The Authority is removed from power and Shane assumes complete control of WWE.
While this is not necessarily a spoiler, it’s worth noting that Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, and Triple H are advertised for several upcoming RAW tapings after WWE’s biggest show of the year:
April 4th from Los Angeles
April 25th from Hartford, CT
May 2nd from St. Louis, MI
May 9th from Omaha, NE
May 23rd from Baltimore, MD
Additionally, Shane McMahon is not listed for any shows after Mania.
– Hulk Hogan is getting trolled on Twitter once again. It’s no secret that Hogan will retweet virtually anything, regardless of whether or not the person asking for the re-tweet is clowning him in. On Friday morning, Hogan re-tweeted a message from a guy asking, “Can a n—– get a RETWEET? Thanks Hulk!” Hogan obliged. You can see the tweet here.
– Another social media fail – Stephanie McMahon’s Instagram account was hacked on Thursday.
Hi, it appears my @instagram account has been hacked. We are working on fixing this problem; I'll send an update when it's up and running!
– The WWE Network is adding a new “Daniel Bryan Collection” later today.
– Despite reporting record earnings on Thursday, WWE stock took a major hit, dropping nearly 5%. As of this writing on Friday morning, the stock is down another 3% to around $14.50.
– JBL climbed another mountain on Thursday, spending 9 hours to reach the top of Quandary Peak in Colorado. Here are some photos from his journey:
Stephanie McMahon appeared on Tuesday’s episode of ABC’s Good Morning America. She spent a lot of time discussing women and gender in WWE. “Women play an integral role in WWE, both in the corporate side as well as, you know, on television …,” McMahon told Good Morning America’s Amy Robach. “There’s a lot of girl power at WWE. And we’re proud of it.” Here are the highlights from her appearance:
On women’s contributions in the male-dominated world of wrestling:
“I think what women bring to the table is perspective,” McMahon replied. “I think that it’s so important for women to have a voice at the table and in the room. And oftentimes, women feel insecure, like they don’t belong at the table with men. And why? Is your opinion any less valuable than anybody else’s? No. It’s actually more valuable because you’re the only woman … And I think that the best way to really come to the best decision is to have that diversity in the room.”
On whether she had to fight particularly hard for anything because of her gender:
“I think not only because I’m a woman, but because I’m the boss’s daughter, there is a perspective that everything’s been handed to me. So that makes me have to work and fight that much harder to prove why I belong,” she said.
On her character on WWE television:
“I think that there’s nothing more fun than what I get to do. WWE’s mission is to put smiles on people’s faces. Now, those smiles are usually at my expense in my character role, because I play a villain. I’m mean. I am really hateful,” she said, chuckling. “So it’s good if you don’t like me when you’re watching the show, it means I’m doing my job.”
– Sasha Banks has broken away from her former Team B.A.D. partners Naomi and Tamina. The split occurred at last week’s SmackDown tapings, but we’ve heard from a few readers that the segment did not air on Thursday’s show.
It’s worth noting that the WWE.com RAW preview for tonight (2/1) references Team B.A.D, but makes no mention of their phantom appearance on SmackDown.
“How will Sasha Banks prove that she deserves to be next in line for Charlotte’s prize on Raw? Additionally, with Team B.A.D. nowhere in sight since The Boss’ return, what do Naomi and Tamina think of their Team B.A.D. ally’s recent actions?”
– The latest WWE Fastlane betting odds have been released by 5Dimes. Roman Reigns is still the favorite to win the triple threat main event (now at -505) while Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar have odds of +335. Fastlane takes place on February 21st in Cleveland, OH.
– 5Dimes also has odds for WrestleMania 32 on April 3rd from Alrington, TX. Roman Reigns as the favorite to walk out as WWE World Heavyweight champion (-350) and Triple H is now at +250 to retain the title.
– WWE announced on Sunday that Stephanie McMahon will be a guest on ABC’s Good Morning America. Stephanie is scheduled to appear during the 8AM hour on Monday, February 1st. WWE sent out the following email to promote her appearance:
Tomorrow, Stephanie McMahon will appear on ABC’s “Good Morning America” during the 8 a.m. hour. Tune in to see WWE’s Chief Brand Officer’s interview with Stephanie McMahon with Amy Robach as the two discuss such topics as female leadership, growing up in WWE and philanthropy.
Stephanie McMahon is working on getting in shape for WrestleMania 32. At last year’s WrestleMania, it looked like WWE was setting up a blockbuster mixed tag match featuring Stephanie & Triple H vs. Ronda Rousey & The Rock. Those plans fell through for various reasons and it remains to be seen if Stephanie actually wrestles on the card.
Vince McMahon, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon attended Sunday’s Dallas Cowboys game against the Washington Redskins at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Of course, the venue will host WrestleMania 32 on Sunday, April 3rd.
Vince McMahon was shown on television sitting in the owner’s luxury box with Jerry Jones.
The arrest of Vince McMahon’s character on Raw last week for laying his hands on a detective from the New York City Police Department brought back memories of the time Stephanie McMahon was arrested on WWE’s flagship show.
In spring 2014, Stephanie threatened to fire Brie Bella if her injured husband, Daniel Bryan, did not relinquish the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the Payback pay-per-view. This led Brie to quit WWE at the event before slapping Stephanie in the face. Stephanie got her revenge by putting Brie’s sister Nikki in several handicap matches in the ensuing weeks. Brie returned to WWE television the following month, appearing in the crowd on the July 21, 2014 episode of Raw to show her support for Nikki. She argued her way into a physical confrontation with Stephanie that saw her slapped and banned from ringside. Later in the show, plain-clothes detectives arrested Stephanie for aggravated battery at the urging of Brie.
While the arrest angles are quite similar, there is one major difference. WWE released a mug shot of Vince (through social media, and it was shown during Raw), but not of Stephanie. Kevin Eck, who was on WWE’s creative team at the time, explains in his latest column why there was no mug shot of her.
While tossing around ideas for the angle in a creative meeting, Eck suggested that a mug shot-style photo be taken of Stephanie and shown on television. Triple H, however, hated the idea.
Eck wrote, “Vince loved it. In fact, I think I may have gotten one of his “that’s good thinking” figurative pats on the back. However, when the creative team ran the angle by Triple H, he didn’t care for any of it, and he especially hated the mug shot idea.”
“His reasoning was that the faux mug shot of his wife would exist forever in cyberspace, and therefore if someone did a Google search on Stephanie and the photo popped up, people might think she had actually been arrested, which could be detrimental to her career as WWE’s Chief Brand Officer.”
Eck noted that Triple H stated his case to Vince, who nixed the proposal.
Mike Johnson at PWInsider is reporting that WWE alerted the roster yesterday to a new bit of policy enforcement. Back in May of 2011, all of the talent had to sign a rider to their contracts that was then added to the standard talent booking contract. From section 9.12 (d) of Stephanie McMahon’s 2013 talent contract, which is the most recent contract publicly available (all caps formatting is in the original):
NOTWITHSTANDING PROMOTER’S CURRENT POLICY OF PAYING MEDICAL EXPENSES FOR INJURIES WRESTLER MAY INCUR WHILE PERFORMING UNDER THIS AGREEMENT, WRESTLER SHALL MAINTAIN, AT HIS COST AND EXPENSE, HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE. THIS HEALTH INSURANCE MUST REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR THE TERM OF THE AGREEMENT, AND WRESTLER SHALL PROVIDE PROMOTER PROOF OF THIS INSURANCE ANNUALLY. WRESTLER MAY AT HIS ELECTION OBTAIN HEALTH, LIFE AND/OR DISABILITY INSURANCE TO PROVIDE BENEFITS IN THE EVENT OF PHYSICAL INJURY ARISING OUT OF OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES; AND WRESTLER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT PROMOTER SHALL NOT HAVE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUCH INSURANCE OR PAYMENT IN THE EVENT OF PHYSICAL INJURY ARISING OUT OF HIS PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES.
Since then, WWE and Linda McMahon (who ran for one of Connecticut’s United States Senate seats in 2012) have been able to truthfully claim in the media that all talent has health insurance. That’s even though WWE does not provide the insurance or offset the cost in any way (unless WWE covering all on the job injuries lowers the wrestlers’ premiums).
What Johnson is reporting today is that WWE announced to the talent that as of February 21st (Johnson wrote 2/21/15 but that appears to be a typo in the context of what he wrote), they will be doing random checks with insurance companies to make sure that the wrestlers are fully compliant with the terms of their contracts. The memo stated that anyone without insurance must get everything in order in the next 60 days or else risk their status being that they would “not be available” to wrestle.
In other words: If you don’t have insurance, you’re being sidelined.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEu6NGPA0Cg
If the details of the report are true, then WWE must have or be in the process of getting HIPAA waivers from each talent to contact their insurance companies. HIPAA refers to the terms set by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which put the current American medical privacy laws into effect. Without a HIPAA waiver from each wrestler for their respective insurance company,the insurer is legally bound from telling WWE (or anyone else without a waiver) if the person in question is a member. It’s not entirely clear why WWE is doing this right now. The obvious inference is that some wrestlers found ways to game the system, perhaps by dropping the coverage for most of the year.
Outside of WWE,there is now widespread coverage of wrestlers in Mexico stemming from a deal made this past Summer. Around 2003-2004, TNA did provide group health insurance to wrestlers, but it didn’t last long and reviews of the coverage were mixed at best.
The conclusion of Monday’s RAW saw Stephanie McMahon slapping the daylights out of WWE announcer Tom Phillips. Although WWE officially stated that Phillips was not injured during segment, his face had a bad welt and he was kept off Tuesday’s live SmackDown special to sell the angle.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that Phillips was legitimately shaken up by the first slap, much like Roman Reigns was the previous week. The angle has been a big topic of discussion backstage this week. Whether or not he was hurt by the attack, a lot of people were questioning why an announcer took so many strikes to the head, especially with Triple H working closely with Chris Nowinski on concussion awareness.
Big E shared his two sense regarding the assault on “Young Boy Tom”:
Stephanie did what I dream about doing to Young Boy Tom on the daily. But lawsuits & whatnot.
– Kristen Paige-Kirby of The Washington Post gave John Cena a positive review for his performance in the new Tina Fey and Amy Poehler film, “Sisters,” going as far as to compare his comedic abilities to that of The Rock. Kirby wrote the following of Cena’s performance in the movie:
“In “Trainwreck,” Cena’s effectiveness largely came from the fact that he was playing against type — big guys aren’t supposed to love independent film and cry easily. In “Sisters,” in which Cena plays a drug dealer named Pazuzu, his intimidating look makes more sense, so he can’t rely on visual incongruity to bring the funny. Cena still gets the laughs, though, because he has the rare ability to say ridiculous things with utter sincerity. That’s not something that comes easily, and it takes an immense amount of smarts to pull off.
Cena’s comedic gifts — like those of Dwayne Johnson and Channing Tatum, who are also in that very-low-body-fat boat — prove that to build your muscles you don’t have to shrink your brain.”
– The United Service Organizations (USO) chapter out of Washington, D.C. has awarded Stephanie McMahon and WWE with the first-ever “Golden Boot Award.” WWE has worked closely with the USO, which supports active duty service members and their families, for years. Stephanie tweeted the following photo of herself holding the Golden Boot Award.
Prior to capturing the WWE World Heavyweight championship on RAW, Roman Reigns first had to go through one of his toughest challenges to date – the McMahons. The opening segment of the show saw Reigns go face to face with The Authority’s Stephanie McMahon. Stephanie unleashed a barrage of bitchslaps to the former Shield member that began to swell up immediately.
Later in the show, Reigns would get kicked in the nuts by the Chairman of the Board, Vince McMahon.
WWE posted the following on Instagram of Reigns’ face shortly after getting slapped around by Stephanie.
– The November 24th “Off The Rope” ESPN segment featuring WWE World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus drew 99,000 viewers. By comparison, WWE Divas Champion Charlotte’s ESPN appearance the previous week drew 78,000 viewers.
– The following are some recent WWE attendance figures:
* November 11th in Rome drew 8,890 fans
* November 12th in Bologna, Italy drew 7,096 fans
* November 28th in Kansas City, MO dew 9,000 fans
* November 29th in Huntington, WV drew 3,200 fans
* November 30th in Pittsburgh for RAW drew 8,500 fans
– Triple H and Stephanie McMahon tweeted the following video clips of their latest late-night workout at the gym.
Former WWE Superstar Brad Maddox recently spoke with F4WOnline.com about his WWE release and being frustrated while in the company. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On if using the word ‘prick’ in a dark match promo got him fired:
“It was because of that…That particular night was a bad decision on my behalf…I didn’t think anything of it, but Vince wasn’t happy about that. I don’t know if it’s a generational word that maybe used to be worse than it is now….I didn’t really think it through, but I should have been more careful in that moment because I knew Vince was watching. I tend to take chances at stupid times.”
On being frustrated in WWE:
“It has been a long couple of years for me, working on angles and ideas trying to get (back) in. I’ve always wanted to wrestle…Absolutely, I wanted to wrestle from the get go…I could have talked to Vince more than I did, rather than sitting around in catering hoping that the writers were coming up with something for me.”
On practicing promos with Vince McMahon and Stephanie McMahon:
“I’ve got to do some cool stuff. Going over promos with Vince in his office, or the bathroom of his office – for some reason! – with him and Daniel Bryan and Stephanie.”
WWE’s Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon and six WWE Superstars and Divas have been nominated for DoSomething.org’s annual “Celebs Gone Good” list, which celebrates entertainers around the world who are using their voice and platforms to support important social causes.
DoSomething.org is a Be a STAR Alliance Member and one of the largest global non-profit organizations that empowers nearly 4.5 million members to combat social issues from poverty to bullying.
Along with Adele, Amy Schumer, Blake Shelton, Ellen DeGeneres and Justin Timberlake, the following WWE Superstars and Divas have been nominated:
Stephanie McMahon
John Cena
Nikki Bella
Brie Bella
Roman Reigns
Titus O’Neil
Big Show
In 2014, WWE Superstar John Cena was No. 7 on the “Celebs Gone Good” list, which was topped by Grammy award-winning artist Taylor Swift.
You can click here to see all of the 2015 nominees. Voting closes Friday, December 25. The winners will be announced on Monday, December 28.
– WWE Superstar David Otunga noted on social media that he will begin filming the independent movie “What Happened Last Night?” this week. In the film, Otunga plays a bartender named Tiny.
– Stephanie McMahon, Sin Cara, Kalisto, Ryback, Sasha Banks, Tamina Snuka and Naomi visited children at The Children’s Hospital Of Pittsburgh at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center ahead of tonight’s WWE RAW at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh this evening. Below are some photos:
– John Cena checked in on Twitter today with the following tweet. Cena is scheduled to remain off of WWE television for at least two more weeks, after the TLC pay-per-view.
I never mind analyzation, but it's tough to process complaining. Identify the issue, work towards a resolve. #nevergiveup
– There are those who are adamant, despite claims to the contrary, that Alberto Del Rio is in fact earning a seven figure downside guarantee in WWE right now. Mexican wrestling legend Konnan is among them, as he and others close to Del Rio say he’s very clear he got in excess of double-to-triple what WWE claimed he makes. Those who are under this impression point to the fact that he was about to make at least $600,000 to work half the amount of dates as a WWE schedule, so why would he go back to WWE and that road schedule for less than seven figures guaranteed.
– Stephanie McMahon, who hasn’t been featured on WWE television as much as of late, will now be back as a regular on RAW each week as her Eisenhower Fellowship ended this past Sunday, November 22nd. Stephanie had been in Brazil for the past few weeks.
– A new episode of WWE’s new original series, “WWE Breaking Ground” will premiere next Monday night on the WWE Network immediately following RAW. The official synopsis for the show reads as follows:
“As Cal Bishop continues his injury-plagued return, Tino is helping his brother start his own journey to NXT. Tyler Breeze helps the Divas.”
– The producers of the new marijuana-themed documentary, “The Emperor, The President & The King,” which prominently features former WWE Superstar Rob Van Dam, recently released the above clip from the film that features RVD talking about marijuana curing cancer, Rick Simpson and the healing properties included in marijuana. For more information on Rick Simpson and his website for curing cancer with marijuana, visit PhoenixTears.ca.
– There is said to be a feeling among many in WWE that Billy Gunn will eventually be brought back to the company after he deals with being “punished” for about 9-12 months. As noted, Gunn was fired from his job as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center after he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs for a power-lifting competition he took part in back in July.
– Stephanie McMahon and Linda McMahon are currently in Miami, Florida for the Eisenhower Fellows’ “Making Strides: Global Networks Forum On Women’s Leadership” event. Stephanie tweeted the following photo of the two together at the event.
– WWE Diva and Total Divas star Rosa Mendes noted on social media on Tuesday night that the WWE television tapings this week was her last WWE event for a few months. Mendes is expecting her first child in February of 2016.
– James Storm sent Stephanie McMahon a random tweet on Tuesday, complimenting her on how her hair looks in the new WWE 2K16 video game. Storm’s original tweet read, “Your hair is on point,” and his newer tweet reads as follows:
WWE invited a young fan named Sadie and her family backstage at Monday’s WWE RAW in Dallas, Texas.
Sadie was diagnosed with Pre-B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia earlier this year and her journey has been documented on Facebook. You can check that out at Facebook.com.
Sadie was shown on-camera on Monday’s RAW when Nikki Bella hugged her at ringside.
Below are photos of Sadie and her family backstage at last night’s show with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
– It was announced on Monday’s WWE Hell In A Cell “go-home” edition of RAW that on this week’s SmackDown, both Dolph Ziggler and Summer Rae will be the special guests on a new Miz TV segment. Make sure to stop by here at SEScoops.com on Tuesday evening for the best live WWE SmackDown spoiler play-by-play on the web.
– With over 84,000 votes already, The Undertaker is leading a new WWE poll which asks fans to vote on which Superstar “rules Hell In A Cell.” The options for the poll include The Undertaker, Kane, Shawn Michaels, Batista, Randy Orton, and Triple H. Taker currently leads with 69 percent of the votes while the next closest is far behind with Triple H holding a mere 11 percent.
– Before tonight’s WWE RAW in Dallas, Texas, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Cowboys CBO Charlotte Jones Anderson were able to meet Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and Vince McMahon. Below is a photo of the gang backstage at the show.
– DDP posted the following “F-Bomb” compilation clip from the new “Resurrection Of Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts” movie.
– Paige is featured in the next edition of WWE’s “Superstar Ghost Stories.” Check out Renee Young’s episode of the show out below.
– As noted recently, WWE is supporting Spirit Day with GLAAD once again this year. Stephanie McMahon posted the following tweet, which encourages fans to take the Spirit Day pledge.
