WWE has released a new SEC filing ahead of its annual stockholder’s meeting in May.
This is where they listed salary and compensation for top executives for 2021, which you can see here:
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Vince McMahon: $1,400,000
President & Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan : $1,200,000
Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon: $730,000
EVP, Global Talent Strategy & Development Triple H: $730,000
WWE stated, “In respect of 2021, we did not grant any salary increases to our named executive officers.”
For comparison, WWE also listed the earnings for these executives for last year that salary, stock awards, non-equity incentive plan compensation, and other compensation:
Vince: $3,905,792
Khan: $12,964,565 (Khan was granted a $5 million sign-on bonus. He joined the company in August 2020. He received $6,799,138 in stock awards)
Stephanie: $2,187,266
Triple H: $2,318,280
Regarding Stephanie, it was stated in the filing, “In 2020, Shane McMahon was retained as a performer for the Company for which he received minimum guaranteed performance fees and royalties aggregating approximately $820,369.”
Finally, WWE has “booking agreements” listed for Triple H and Stephanie. Here’s an excerpt:
Paul Levesque. We have a booking agreement with Mr. Levesque which currently runs until March 30, 2022, and thereafter extends for successive one-year periods unless either party gives notice of nonextension at least 90 days prior to the expiration date. Under this agreement, Mr. Levesque is entitled to a minimum guaranteed annual payment of $1 million which the Company is entitled to recoup from all payments under the agreement including pay for performing in live and televised events and royalties for merchandise sold utilizing Mr. Levesque’s name and/or likeness.
Stephanie McMahon. We have a booking agreement with Ms. McMahon which currently runs until October 6, 2021, and thereafter extends for successive one-year periods unless either party gives notice of nonextension at least 90 days prior to the expiration date. Under this agreement, Ms. McMahon is entitled to a minimum guaranteed annual payment of $750,000 which the Company is entitled to recoup from all payments under the agreement including pay for performing in live and televised events and royalties for merchandise sold including Ms. McMahon’s name and/or likeness.
WWE's proxy statement just published.
Here's the compensation table for WWE's top corporate officers.
Total compensation in 2020:
Vince McMahon: $3.9 million Nick Khan: $13.0M (includes $5M sign-on bonus) Paul Levesque: $2.3M (incl. talent pay) Stephanie McMahon: $2.2M (same) pic.twitter.com/AHlswe0lqA
WWE Superstar Rhea Ripley recently spoke to TV Insider. The Australian Superstar discussed a number of topics during the interview, including her RAW Women’s Championship victory at WrestleMania 37.
Ripley defeated Asuka on Night 2 of WrestleMania 37, using her Riptide finishing move to get the win and cement her place on the Red brand of WWE going forward on Monday nights.
Rhea Ripley Talks Vince McMahon
“One of the big ones was talking to Vince McMahon afterward” Rhea Ripley said during the interview, discussing what it was like backstage after her big win. “Hearing him say ‘well done’ and that I did great. It was so surreal.”
“It’s a dream, and I’m living it” Ripley added. “To have the big boss man say well done was pretty insane to me.”
Rhea Ripley also revealed some advice that Paul Heyman gave her. “It was Paul Heyman who said to me, ‘You can stay humble, but don’t stay silent’” Ripley revealed. “That really hit me because I’m a very humble person.”
Two decades after putting WCW out of business, WWE finally has legitimate competition in All Elite Wrestling. For all of AEW’s success up to this point, CM Punk does not believe Vince McMahon is losing any sleep over Tony Khan’s promotion.
CM Punk thinks it’s “interesting” that WWE is allowing an AEW contracted wrestler to appear on the WWE Network. He understands why the booking is getting buzz from fans online. He will probably tune in, but he does not expect any hard-hitting questions. “Maybe I’ll give it a shot and watch it, but it feels like it’s going to be softball questions,” said Punk. “I don’t if they’re going to ask Jericho all the tough questions and nor do I think that they possibly should… I’m sure they’ll mention AEW, but they won’t get into the hard questions that I think people are interested in.”
Vince McMahon Isn’t Scared of AEW
Many wrestling pundits have speculated about Vince McMahon’s motivation to put a spotlight on Chris Jericho at this time. Whatever his rationale, CM Punk sees this as an alpha move by Vince and a sign that he’s not concerned about AEW.
“Honestly, my knee-jerk reaction and opinion is that I think it shows Vince McMahon isn’t afraid of AEW at all,” he said. “If he was, he wouldn’t allow that to happen.”
Punk feels that wrestling has evolved and the old rules no longer apply. There was a time where it would be considered a foolish move to allow one of your performers to appear on another company’s airwaves. That rational was, ‘AEW is the only place you can see Chris Jericho.’ Allowing him to appear on the WWE Network would hypothetically dilute his drawing power. However, it’s a new age and both companies need all the buzz they can get.
Chris Jericho’s appearance on Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions premieres this Sunday, April 11th on the Peacock streaming service.
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle revealed another unbelievable story during the latest episode of The Kurt Angle Show podcast.
During Angle’s rookie year he was involved in a love triangle storyline with Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. Kurt Angle would end up kissing Stephanie backstage whilst she was ‘concussed,’ and Angle revealed how Vince McMahon had to direct the scene.
“This was ridiculously weird,” Angle began on the podcast. “To come backstage with Stephanie and have to do a pre-tape that was going live so we weren’t going to tape it, it was going to be one take. I think Vince did that on purpose so we only had to kiss once.”
Kurt Angle Talks Vince Backstage
“We got backstage and Vince wants to direct it” Angle continued. “I was like holy s–t, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon’s father is going to direct me kissing her during a pre-tape.”
“I was nervous as hell” Kurt Angle added. “Vince was four feet way, his eyes were open and I was like ‘this is so weird man. I don’t know how I’m going to do this.’ I went down to kiss her and we caught eyes and then we went to kiss and I stuck my lips out, I didn’t want to go with an open mouth because Vince was there and I didn’t want to disrespect Triple H or Stephanie.”
“After the pre-tape she goes ‘you kiss like a fish.’ I was like ‘what’d you expect Stephanie? Your Dad is here watching, he’s directing and your dating Triple H. What did you want me to do?’”
Triple H apparently put the ixnay on that storyline shortly after, but this has never been confirmed publicly.
Stone Cold Steve Austin has known Vince McMahon for a long time and their iconic rivalry helped WWE in winning the ratings war against WCW. However, it appears that their friendship has weakened a bit over time and they are not as close as they once were.
The Texas Rattlesnake recently had an interview with WrestlingInc where he discussed things such as the Monday Night Wars and more. Talking about the boss, Austin made the revelation that he doesn’t stay in contact with Mr. McMahon like they used to but he does reach out every now and then:
“He don’t even take my phone calls but let me tell you, back when I was working on top, when I called Vince, that phone didn’t ring a half time before he picked it up, Now I’ll send him a text message and I’ll get an answer back in a couple of days.”
Though Vince McMahon does reply to the former world champion when it’s something important. The most recent instance of it was when Stone Cold reached out to ask him about bringing Chris Jericho in for an interview on the Broken Skull Sessions.
Apart from this, the former WWE star talked about things such as how the inception of AEW is a good thing for the wrestling world and more.
WWE CEO Vince McMahon is known for not liking much sleep, and spending as much time as possible in the gym.
The company’s corporate trainer Michael A. Monteforte recently shared some footage of Mr McMahon training over the weekend and ripping it up in the WWE gym.
From the footage that was shared, Vince McMahon does not skip leg day. Monteforte mentioned the workout that McMahon was put through, saying “we did Leg Press, & Hack Squats before doing 20 Reps with 5 plates on each side. 10 Reps with 6, 5 Reps with 7, before trying our 1RM : Total 22, 45lb. Plates.”
WWE Superstar Natalya recently appeared on the Inside The Ropes podcast. The Hart family member discussed a number of topics during her time on the show; including her history making match with Lacey Evans at WWE Crown Jewel 2019 event in Saudi Arabia.
“I was on cloud nine. I knew when WWE started doing shows in Saudi Arabia, I had a vision and I told everyone in upper management early on ‘if women are going to wrestle in Saudi Arabia, I want to be the first woman to wrestle in Saudi Arabia.’” Natalya began on the podcast.
“I felt very strongly about that” Natalya continued. “Because I knew the magnitude, being a woman wrestling in Saudi Arabia, I knew how big it could be for women in the world and women in sports. I knew it was our chance to open a door that had never been open before. It was a dream of mine.”
Natalya on Crown Jewel 2019
Natalya then revealed that Vince McMahon himself had been pushing for a women’s match in the region ‘for years.’ Natalya and Lacey Evans did appear on the show in a bout, however Evans had visibly toned down her Southern Belle character and both acted like babyfaces during the match itself.
“When I was finally told about the match, I was brought into Vince McMahon’s office and he let me know I was going to be a part of it” Nattie revealed. “I was like, I can’t believe this is finally happening, but I also know, in WWE and in the world, things can change daily. I didn’t want to get my hopes too high. Vince said it was something he was trying to do for years. It was really a labor of love from him. He personally fought very hard for us to have that match.”
WWE chairman Vince McMahon is often targeted by the fans for incoherent WWE storylines. He is frequently called out for having lost his touch. Former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz was recently interviewed by Comicbook to discuss Young Rock (NBC) and more.
During the interview, Gewirtz spoke about Vince McMahon’s casting in the show. When discussing fan perception of Vince McMahon being out of touch, he told a story of how presented the Nexus storyline to the boss in 2010.
“I would say to anyone…the snarky ones who sit back and go, ‘the old man’s lost it,’ or ‘he’s not attached,’ or what have you, I would say you don’t mean Vince. I think the best example is us sitting around the room one day and then, almost at the top of his head, he pitches the entire Nexus angles — if you recall from 2010 when all the NXT guys turned on [John] Cena and stripped the ring.”
Vince McMahon, the ‘Mad Genius’
Vince McMahon
Gewirtz continued by sharing the reaction of the creative team to the idea. Everyone at the meeting was shocked and thought it was an amazing concept. Although McMahon may keep up with many social trends, the ‘mad genius’ that he’s famous for still exists.
“It was very, very highly buzzed about. It just seemed like maybe the idea did percolate in his head, but he verbalized it for the first time in the meeting. We were all looking at each other like, ‘wow, that was absolutely amazing.’ He might not be up on the latest social trends or whatever, but the mad genius still exists and probably always will.”
The Nexus storyline saw the 8 rookies from season one of NXT rebelling against the WWE management. Their goal was to secure WWE contracts for its members. The group’s 14- month run saw many ups and downs. However, the faction created a lot of buzz during its existence.
AEW held a post-show media scrum following Sunday night’s AEW Revolution pay-per-view from Jacksonville, FL. SEScoops was on the call and there were several interesting news items discussed.
Paul Wight was one of the AEW performers who took the time to field some questions.
White was a significant acquisition for All Elite Wrestling after spending nearly twenty years with WWE. However you feel about the way he’s been portrayed on television over the past few years, there’s no questioning he is a Hall of Fame caliber talent.
Paul Wight and Vince McMahon
The giant was asked about Vince McMahon’s reaction to the news of him jumping to AEW. Wight revealed that McMahon actually called him the day his signing was announced. McMahon was gracious, congratulated him on this new opportunity. He told Wight that he’d be an asset to AEW and this was a good move for his career.
He felt like he did everything there was to do in WWE and sees AEW as an exciting new opportunity.
Wight was adamant that there was no heat or ‘dirt’ between him and Vince McMahon. They remain on good terms. He recently starred in The Big Show Show on Netflix (2020), a sitcom that was not renewed after its first season.
WWE recently went on a talent signing spree for the NXT brand by signing independent wrestlers and athletes to contracts.
However, one of the big issues with WWE’s roster is there are a number of wrestlers who are hovering around 40 years if not older. Fans have a problem with the older wrestlers getting more TV time than the younger stars, which means there are even more limited spots for the younger guard to get over, and thus, they don’t get pushes so down the line they can replace the aging talent.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE is very aware of the aging aspect of their main and developmental roster. As a result, a doctrine has been laid out that states that they want to limit developmental signings to people under the age of 30.
However, there will be exceptions made for someone who is really good or has potential. This news comes after WWE recently signed former Impact Wrestling stars Taya Valkyrie and LA Knight (formerly known as Eli Drake), who are both in their late 30s.
It will be interesting to see which talent who are older get signed or doesn’t just because of their age.
WWE issued a new notice to wrestlers and wants them to stop doing “thigh slaps” when throwing kicks.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that there was a story going around about WWE fining wrestlers for doing this. The story goes onto state that WWE officials have sent a memo to NXT stars about doing the “thigh slaps” and no one has said a word about it since.
Fightful select reports that they were told that a sign was up at WWE events with big, bold letters that said “NO THIGH SLAPPING.” The memo was sent out to talent in February.
It dates back to the 50s when Mr. Wrestling II would do a back slap on his opponents when he would hit a knee lift. Many wrestlers have been known to slap their leg or opponents back.
Meltzer pointed out how Chris Adams did the thigh slap superkick when he came to the United States from the UK. Even WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, who is one of the key people in NXT, grew up watching Adams.
Doing “thigh slaps” or “leg slaps” in pro wrestling has received criticism on social media fans. In fact, Randy Orton tweeted about it and had words with Tommaso Ciampa over it after NXT Takeover: In Your House.
Bobby Lashley had his big crowning achievement by winning the WWE Title.
He did just that this past Monday night on Raw when he beat The Miz in the main event. The newly crowned champion spoke with FOX Sports to talk about it.
During it, he looked back on what WWE Chairman Vince McMahon told him after the big win. He began by noting that Booker T told him one time that he should be in the main event and realized to stop just having fun, but strive to get more of his career.
Lashley stated that McMahon doesn’t want you in the promotion to have fun, but rather wants to get in an argument with you because you’re fighting for something that you want. He said McMahon wants you to step out of the box and do something bigger such as a spot at WrestleMania and the crowd to form them to give you the title.
“When I was able to go through that curtain [after winning the WWE Championship] and give Vince a hug, he grabbed me and he held me for a while and was like, ‘Man, I’m proud of you.’”
There’s still no word yet on who he’ll defend the WWE Title against at Fastlane on March 21st.
The Rock is singing praises for Vince McMahon. During the airing of Young Rock’s episode 3 on NBC, The Rock fielded some questions about the episode from fans on Twitter. During the Q&A, a fan asked Rock about how influential Vince McMahon has been to him. Rock had high praise for the CEO of WWE, who said that he has been one of his greatest business mentors and like a father figure to him.
The Rock wrote, “@VinceMcMahon was one of my greatest business mentors and a father figure. Not always the relationship one would want with their boss but the convergence of our lives made it to be. We laugh when we get together because we always pick right back up where we left off. #YoungRock.”
@VinceMcMahon was one of my greatest business mentors and a father figure. Not always the relationship one would want with their boss but the convergence of our lives made it to be. We laugh when we get together because we always pick right back up where we left off. #YoungRockhttps://t.co/qqeJJ4JZDd
The Rock has shared many instances from his WWE career of Vince McMahon giving him advice that helped him to be the star he is today. The Rock once revealed that during the early days of his career the WWE Chairman advised him to smile. “I was told by Vince McMahon, who was a very close friend of mine still today, is a mentor in the world of business, he would tell me, ‘You gotta go out there, you gotta smile, you just gotta… you just gotta smile!’”
The Rock added, “This was my rookie year, so you can imagine. Smile! So, I said OK, and again, you’re pissing vinegar… you’re ready to get out there and bang, man. And he said, ‘I want you to be… you’re grateful that you’re here, so you gotta smile.’ And then I would go out and I would hear these fans, they just knew that I wasn’t being authentic. You know, and they would be like… ‘You f–king suck!’ And I would smile, ‘Hey, thank you, man! I know I do, right?’ I gotta smile.”
The Rock also revealed how Vince McMahon gave him an opportunity to speak his mind on live TV during Raw, when he had little experience. Rock had promised McMahon that if he bombed, then he would never have to give him mic time again. The promo was about Rock joining The Nation of Domination where he said that him being part of the faction is not a black or white thing — it’s a respect thing and he’s gonna earn it every night by kicking ass. This very promo helped Rock cement the direction his character would later take.
On this week’s episode of Young Rock, Adam Ray debuted as a younger version of Vince McMahon. In the beginning of the episode, we see Ray calling one of Rocky Johnson’s matches on the commentary booth — this was before he took over WWF from his father Vince Sr. We also see him share a phone call with Maivia later. He offers some advice on how to deal with the competition and delivers the news that he needs all his wrestlers back for a show in the Madison Square Garden besides Rocky and the Wild Samoans. Coupled with the fact that Andre the Giant was the only wrestler to get his own action figure, this creates a little hostility between him and the other wrestlers. The episode also showed a rival promoter trying to recruit Rocky to his promotion.
WWE has decided to issue “violations” to talent if they send out messages on Twitter and Instagram while naming any third party business, person, brand, or charity.
Wrestling Inc reported the news today. Per the report, the violations start with a warning, then a fine, and finally suspension. WWE claims ownership of talent Twitter and Instagram accounts because of a clause in their contract, which grants the company the exclusive use of their likeness.
WWE made it clear to wrestlers who have complained that the current “flexibility” allowed in social media could be retracted by them.
Last September, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon sent out a memo stating wrestlers can no longer use platforms like Cameo and Twitch. A month later, WWE decided to release Zelina Vega due to fallout from her continuing to use platforms like Twitch and OnlyFans.
It was clarified that talent will be able to maintain both YouTube and Twitch accounts but has to use their real names.
LoveUX came out with a study about how lucrative these social media posts can be to celebrities and wrestlers. Lana earned an estimated $625,922 off 59 sponsored posts last year, which turned out to be $10,608 per post. Mandy Rose got $490,104 off 71 sponsored posts ($6,902 per post).
Young Rock debuts this week on NBC and wrestling fans will likely be pleased to know that two iconic personalities from the industry will be portrayed on the show. The Rock took to social media recently to reveal who will be playing the roles of Vince McMahon and “Macho Man” Randy Savage on the show.
Kevin Makely’s IMDB credits include Badland and Zeroville. Adam Ray was the voice of Slimer in the 2016 version of Ghostbusters. He was also a cast member on the 2016 reboot of MadTV.
Young Rock Additional Cast
More cast:
Joseph Lee Anderson – Rocky Johnson
Brett Azar – The Iron Sheik
Robert Crayton – Warren Sapp
Matthew Willig – Andre the Giant
The Rock talks about Young Rock
After the show was announced, Rock posted a video to social media where he spoke about the show.
“We’re going to find the Rock wreaking havoc in the streets of Hawaii getting arrested,” Johnson said in the above video. “We were forced to leave the island and move to all places, Nashville, Tennessee. Those were the years that were very formative and helped shape me. The confluence of wild personalities that came in and out of my life during these times are just fascinating.”
The Rock also recently discussed Young Rock on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon:
Young Rock on NBC
Young Rock premieres Tuesday, February 16th on NBC. Here’s the official premise:
“As Dwayne Johnson runs for president in 2032, he takes a comedic look back at his extraordinary life through the outrageous stories of his family and youth that shaped him into the man he is today. He explores his childhood years living amid influential wrestling icons while his dad rose to fame in the business, his rebellious teenage years attending high school in Pennsylvania, and his football years teamed up with powerhouse players at the University of Miami. In his telling, Johnson explains that while his experiences have been larger than life, he remains a down-to-earth guy who still relates to the American people.
WWE held a meeting on Friday that didn’t go so well.
It was reported by Fightful Select a major meeting took place today where many employees were told that they would not be provided promotions, bonuses, or raises. The meeting ended with several employees upset.
Per the report, it was said those who attended the meeting left with low morale. Employees from production, the WWE offices and other departments were involved. However, this was not a talent or wrestler meeting.
As it stands right now, there’s no word yet on why WWE isn’t providing pay raises or bonuses. This comes at a time where the company recently announced record financial results for 2020.
Overall revenue for 2020 was at $974.2 million, which represents an increase of 1% although the revenue for the fourth quarter was down 26% to $238.2 million.
In the press release, Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon touted how WWE has continued to produce live content in new ways amid the COVID-19 pandemic and not live touring.
Vince McMahon was among a few top WWE executives to buy more WWE stock in recent days.
WWE has uploaded several SEC filings to their corporate website regarding Vince, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Kevin Dunn, and WWE President Nick Khan increasing the amount of WWE stock that they own. All of the purchases were done on February 5th.
Vince has picked up 19,875 shares for a total of 89,496, which totals over $4 million.
Vince’s daughter, Stephanie, added an additional 5644 shares of WWE to her name and has 82,042 in total stock, which is over 3 million dollars in worth.
Triple H, the son-in-law of Vince and husband to Stephanie, picked up 5644 shares, which now sees him have a total share of 87,046. His total stock is also worth a little over $4 million.
Khan also acquired 15310 shares of stock. Dunn, who is one of WWE’s longest-tenured employees, added 7552 shares bringing his total number of shares to 81,411.
This comes at a time where WWE is at its most profitable due to the increase in TV rights fees. The company has also recently signed a United States streaming deal with NBCU to move its US rights of the WWE Network to Peacock.
Roderick James “Rod” McMahon, the brother of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, has passed away. He was 77-years-old. A cause of death is not currently known.
Although Rod McMahon never did enter the world of pro-wrestling, there were once plans for him to do so. Vince’s brother was planned to be part of the 2007 angle regarding Vince’s death in a limo explosion. The angle was eventually scrapped due to the real-life double-murder suicide of the Benoit family.
Rod McMahon graduated from the University of Memphis with a degree in business administration in 1969. He would go on to found and serve as President of the North American Metals company.
SEScoops extends our condolences to the family and friends of Rod McMahon.
Rod McMahon
Ryback has spoken about being friends with Rod McMahon previously on his podcast. On an episode from 2019, Ryback had the following to say regarding his relationship with Rod.
“The only communication that I’ve had is with Vince McMahon’s brother, Rod McMahon, who uses Feed Me More Nutrition. We go back and forth in emails,” Ryback said.
“He lives in Houston, which is where I met him at Gold’s Gym many years ago. I told Vince McMahon that I met his brother and told him that I could see the resemblance, they look very similar and Vince got red in the face and got extremely angry with me and then he locked me in a room with his mother to meet his mom in Houston.”
Jim Ross recently spent some time on his “Grillin JR” podcast talking about the time WWE hired Randy Orton. According to JR, Orton was someone he had to convince Vince McMahon to hire. This was due to Vince being hesitant to sign the 3rd generation Superstar on account of his dishonorable discharge from the US Marines.
“Believe it or not, he was somewhat a controversial hire for us,” Ross said on the show regarding Orton. “Vince was the problem child that went to military school and Randy was the problem child that went to the Marines and got dishonorably discharged.”
“That was an issue for Vince?” Conrad Thompson asked.
“Big time,” JR responded.
“I said ‘Vince, you got a second chance, so why not this kid? He’s only a 3rd generation performer and both his father and his grandfather were outstanding in-ring guys.”
Orton wrestled Triple H in the main event of last night’s RAW. He was originally scheduled to face Drew McIntyre.
According to a report from TMZ, Orton spent 38 days in a military prison as a result of multiple incidents of going AWOL.
Orton’s history with the Marines came up again in 2012 when he was removed from the Marine 3 WWE film project. A WWE representative told TMZ that Orton’s removal was due to his past with the organization.
“WWE demonstrated poor judgment in signing Randy Orton for the 3rd installment of the film,” the statement reads. “Despite Randy’s popularity, the fact that he was dishonorably discharged from the USMC made it inappropriate for him to be cast in this film.”
Former ECW, WCW, WWE, and TNA alumni Raven recently spoke about why he had heat with Vince McMahon. Raven was on the Scheduled for 2 Falls podcast, when he commented on the situation.
“Me and Shane used to be really tight but we drifted apart. He’d go out with me every night. Big heat with Linda and Vince. The boys thought I was kissing ass for my career but it actually killed my career, giving me heat.”
Raven actually went into greater detail about this during a Talk is Jericho appearance in 2015.
“They used to call me Johnny Port Chester Polo because Stamford, they rolled the sidewalks up at one o’clock, but Port Chester was open till five in the morning. It 5 miles away. My downfall was I’d bring Shane out with me, Shane McMahon. And the boys are like, ‘ah, you’re sucking up to him’ and I’m like, ‘no, I’m not! I’m burying myself’ because he’d call his dad, and on commentary, I’d call his dad ‘Vic’ instead of ‘Vince’, so he’d go, ‘hey, Vic,’ which is just horrible! He’d say, ‘hey, Vic, it’s,’ and it would be, like, four in the morning, ‘I’m just going to sleep at Johnny Polo’s tonight’ and so I just buried myself.”
TheRavenEffect Podcast is a cornucopia of slapdashery, hijinx, shenanigans, Bennigans, ichthyology, jaywalking, lucid dreaming, wet dreaming, childish banter and pseudo-intellectual drivel, all here on @MLW every Monday whether you want it or not… I’d go with not.. Yay us! pic.twitter.com/t5e2LQOsok
“The thing about Raven, it was never a talent issue. He had talent. He was a good talker, smart guy, high IQ. Probably could have been a good road agent at some point later on. He could have contributed in a lot of ways.”
Recently, several of the bigger male Superstars on the WWE main roster were sent for additional training at the Performance Center. Otis, Keith Lee, Dabbo Kato, Omos and Mace are now taking 2 classes per week. Adam Pearce and Drew Gulak are serving as trainers.
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, this is partly due to Vince McMahon wanting these wrestlers to work more like giants or monsters.
“Part of it is Vince wants more monsters in the ring, as historically whenever WWE business is bad, Vince blames smaller guys on top, but right now, his thought process is he doesn’t have big guys who can work at that level,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
The report continued to say it’s not clear what is happening with Lars Sullivan at the moment. The big man had been up on the main roster for a few weeks but hasn’t been seen since October. Sullivan’s name has not surfaced as one who is taking additional classes at the Performance Center either.
“That Performance Center is a tool for us to get better. If another big man wants to come up to me and wants to work on stuff, or vice versa. We’re always working,” Otis said.
"It wasn’t like, "Hey, we were told this and that." That @WWEPC is a tool for us to get better…now that we don’t have live events, so we can’t really get our stuff out." – @otiswwe to @ryansatinpic.twitter.com/Vvw1lJT5tz
Former WWE Superstar EC3 recently appeared on Chris Van Vliet’s podcast. The ‘One Percenter’ discussed a number of topics during the interview, including the fight club concept he pitched to WWE and how the Covid-19 pandemic prevented him from requesting his release.
“I was going to force her hand,” EC3 began, explaining how he was close to leaving WWE before the COVID-19 pandemic. “The only thing that kept me there? It was the fact that I’m like ‘Oh man there is a pandemic. My parents have a small business, my family might need it. I can’t pass up that money, they might need it.'”
EC3 later discussed pitching a a new character idea as he was preparing to return from a bad concussion.
“Around WrestleMania time I was coming back from a pretty serious concussion that cost me about five or six months. That really changed my life and really made me think about this character.”
“I pitched this idea,” he continued. “I’m a decent writer, I was typing it up, this real great thing, and I included a promo with it. I send it in on a Wednesday, and two hours later I got fired!”
He finished by saying how he was ‘ready to leave’ when the news was presented to him. “The day I sent in some magnificent pitch, I’m fired! The first thing I thought was, ‘Oh, I’m actually okay with this, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be okay.’ Then I just posted the [same] promo to the world [on YouTube]. The only thing I didn’t want was people to think I sat around and did nothing.”
Do you think that EC3 could’ve been a much bigger star in WWE? Let us know in the comments
Former WWE Superstar CM Punk has compared his former boss Vince McMahon to UFC President Dana White. Punk joined his former WWE Backstage co-host Renee Paquette on her new podcast, Oral Sessions, where he shared his opinion on the two. During the discussion, he deliberated on who he believes to be more generous.
Punk confessed there are “levels” to a discussion comparing Dana White and Vince McMahon. “Obviously you can draw that they’re both right-wing, the word I’ll use is weirdo because obviously they vote based on what’s good for their pocketbook.”
“If I really had to compare and contrast, I would say Dana is more generous,” Punk said. “Dana does a lot of stuff for the fighters behind the scenes. I think there’s a lot of locker room money that people don’t know about and he gets a lot of flak for [not paying fighters enough]. That being said, I do also think fighters need to get paid a whole hell of a lot more.”
Punk and Paquette previously worked together on the FS1 show WWE Backstage alongside WWE Hall of Famer Booker T. Filming of the show was halted earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. FS1 later suspended all production on the show. Paquette left WWE following August’s SummerSlam event.
Since leaving WWE, CM Punk has fought twice in the UFC. He lost both bouts, one by submission and the other by decision.
Kevin Owens has opened up about original plans that were in place for WrestleMania 34. Owens teamed up with Sami Zayn, competing against Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan. According to Owens, the match was supposed to pit him and Zayn against Shane McMahon and his father, Vince McMahon.
Leading into that matchup, Owens headbutted Vince McMahon on an episode of SmackDown. Reflecting on working with Vince McMahon, Owens revealed how he wished it “led to more.”
“Yeah, that was really cool. I wish it would have led to more, honestly,” Owens confessed in an interview with ITRWrestling.com and SPORF.com. “But who wouldn’t feel that way? I think it could have, and I think it almost did. I really think, at one point, there was a chance that it was going to be me and Sami Zayn against Shane and Vince at WrestleMania – which would have been incredible – but Vince, I remember one of the things he had told me was, ‘I can’t run WrestleMania and focus on a match at the same time.'”
Kevin Owens On Daniel Bryan’s “Perfect Situation”
Kevin Owens explained how Vince McMahon felt the best position for him was backstage, not in the ring. This decision helped deliver a “perfect situation” for Daniel Bryan’s return.
“He got cleared medically and the storyline was already in progress,” Owens explained. “He was already so heavily involved in the storyline just because him and Shane were running SmackDown together, and obviously that was an incredible thing to be a part of Daniel’s return, especially in that building where he won the title at WrestleMania XXX, so it was great.”
Owens admitted he would have liked to have kept Vince McMahon involved in the feud at the time. Alternatively, he would have liked to have continued, furthering an on-screen rivalry with him afterward.
He stressed how being involved with Vince McMahon on television helps to immediately “add credibility” to a Superstar or feud.
Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon would defeat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 34.
WWE Hall of Famer and current AEW commentator Jim Ross recently discussed the WWE Armageddon 2000 PPV on his Grilling JR podcast. As is usual, Ross and Conrad Thompson would go through topics from that time frame, although sometimes conversations may be broader.
Jim Ross was previously the Head of Talent Relations in WWE/then WWF. Ross had a hand in bringing in some of the biggest names in WWE history. Sometimes, WWE writers would have their vision of what/who they wanted to work with, or, what they perceived Vince McMahon wanted to see on his television programme.
Jim Ross on WWE Recruitment
“Bill Parcells said one time to Bob Kraft in New England that ‘if you expect me to cook the meals? You got to let me buy some groceries'” Jim Ross would begin on the show; using one of his many NFL and College Football analogies.
“I think that’s kind of what their theory was” Ross continued, discussing the WWE writers who struggled to come up with storyline ideas for the likes of Jerry Lynn, someone Ross mentioned on the podcast. “‘We [the writers] need to have a say in who we bring in. [That’s] in terms of the size all that stuff, and what they are gonna do.'”
“Well this is not gonna shock you” JR continued. “They’re (the writers) gonna kiss Vince’s ass even more by bringing guys in that pass Vince’s ‘eye test.’ They may have a sh*t character? They might not be reliable? We’re not gonna get any [crowd] reaction from them but we know he’s (McMahon) gonna like the 6’3, 6’4 bodybuilder tattooed up with wet hair. It is same sh*t as nowadays.”
Do you agree with Jim Ross? Can you think of any wet hair look, six foot something WWE Superstars with tattoos…..? Let us know in the comments
