– For whatever this is worth, John Cena is currently the betting favorite on online gambling websites to win tonight’s Money In The Bank ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
– Pat Patterson “coming out” made the latest issue of Time Magazine under the “Milestones” section, where they list him as “Opening Up” for revealing all that he did during the season one finale of the WWE Network original reality series “Legends House.”
WWE has continued sending out various surveys related to the WWE Network in recent weeks. The most recent surveys are focused on those who have six-month subscriptions that are about to expire, where WWE asks them questions intended to gauge their interest in renewing.
The questions included in these surveys ask about their overall experience with the Network, whether they are likely to renew their subscription for another six months and whether or not they have the auto-renewal function set.
Additionally, WWE has been trying to gauge what time of day subscribers traditionally watch the Network in order to find out when the appropriate time would be to launch their potential “SportsCenter” type news program.
WWE has been continuing to find ways to make as many budget cuts as possible due to enormous losses expected as part of the WWE Network upstart costs.
Outside of talent and executive cuts that we have reported in the past few weeks, WWE has done away with unnecessary things such as Fandango’s entrance stuff and Bad News Barrett’s giant podium.
It is believed that WWE will continue to make budget cuts wherever they can manage to, including more potential talent cuts and other production cutbacks.
WWE talent is scheduled to receive their WrestleMania XXX pay in the next two weeks. Most of the talent is said to be unsure how the pay is going to be structured, as they don’t know if they will only be paid based on the actual pay-per-view buys, or if WWE Network subscriptions will be taken into account.
If they are paid strictly off of PPV buys, they will be looking at a substantial pay decrease compared to recent years. If the Network is taken into account, they will still be looking at less pay, but nowhere near as much as if they were only to be paid based off of the pay-per-view intake.
Talent is said to be frustrated already due to the fact that their pay from live events is significantly down from last year, so if the WrestleMania payoffs are down quite a bit as well, considering it’s their big annual payoff, there is going to be a lot of unhappy campers in WWE.
WWE announced an estimate of 107,000 buys for their “Extreme Rules” pay-per-view in May. By comparison, the same event produced 209,000 pay-per-view buys in 2013, when the WWE Network was not available.
According to estimates, roughly 40,000 of the 107,000 buys for this year’s event came from North America, despite the fact that major distributors such as DirecTV, Dish Network and some cable companies did not carry the show. Roughly 67,000 buys came from international orders.
As previously reported, the WWE Network is now available on Amazon’s Fire TV devices. The following is the official details from WWE.com:
WWE Network now available on Amazon Fire TV
WWE Network is now available to subscribers through the WWE App on Amazon Fire TV. With the first-ever 24/7 live streaming network, WWE fans have access to all live pay-per-view events, including WWE’s upcoming Money in the Bank pay-per-view, as well as groundbreaking original programming, reality shows, documentaries, classic matches and almost 2,000 hours of video on-demand programming.
WWE Network is delivered directly to fans through over-the-top digital distribution, and in addition to currently being available on Amazon Fire TV and Kindle Fire devices, it is available on desktops and laptops, as well as through the WWE App on: Android devices such as Samsung Galaxy; iOS devices such as Apple iPad and iPhone; Apple TV; Roku streaming devices; Sony PlayStation® 3 and Sony PlayStation® 4; and Xbox One and Xbox 360.
Earlier this year, former WWE announcer Jonathan Coachman, who now works for ESPN, teased that he would be returning to the company in some capacity, even hinting at some potential involvement in this year’s SummerSlam pay-per-view.
It appears that the talks between Coachman and WWE have fallen through. Coachman was originally expected to do some work for the WWE Network as a side-project, as he planned to keep his ESPN gig the entire time. Apparently now that will not be happening.
Additionally, a fan recently told Coachman on Twitter that everyone wants him back in WWE. “The Coach” replied by saying, “Everyone except WWE.”
Longtime WWE announcer Josh Matthews has been released from the company, according to a report at PWInsider.com.
His profile has already been moved to the “Alumni” section of WWE.com, but no official statement has been made as of this writing.
Mathews has been with the company since the original Tough Enough reality series on MTV. In recent years, he served as an announcer and was most recently hosting the RAW, SmackDown and pay-per-view kickoff and post-game shows on the WWE Network.
A huge six-man tag-team match featuring teams of three Superstars, all of whom will be part of the second “traditional” Money In The Bank ladder match this Sunday night on pay-per-view, was announced on RAW as the main event for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event, which airs live on the WWE Network on Tuesday night at 8pm EST.
Tuesday’s edition of Main Event will feature Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler and Rob Van Dam vs. Bad News Barrett, Seth Rollins and Jack Swagger.
As noted recently, the new WWE logo, which has been used for the WWE Network, will become the official logo for the entire company starting the day after SummerSlam, August 18th.
It’s being said that the “3D bevel and gradient” version of the logo, which you can see below on the left, will be used for on-air programming and the WWE Network. The two logos on the side will be used for other branding, such as DVD and Blu-ray releases.
– One of the major backstage stories that’s been brewing since the launch of the WWE Network earlier this year has been how WWE will be handling “PPV bonuses” for talent, since the PPV revenue stream is being phased out.
As of last week, WWE management has still not addressed the issue. A lot the wrestlers have been frustrated without knowing how they will be paid for pay-per-view events, including CM Punk, before he left.
– Regarding the ongoing WWE budget cuts, there will be even more staff and developmental cuts between now and the next investors call this fall.
WWE is also cutting the budgets on several planned projects. There had been plans to expand certain departments in the company and hire more employees, however, all of that is on hold for now.
As reported last week, WWE is scaling back the money spent on wrestler entrances and buses and trucks for the production crew.
The official WWE website destroyed their previous record for all-time high traffic in April of this year with 31.9 million unique visitors. By comparison, WWE.com drew 18.3 million unique visitors in April of 2013. WWE website traffic has exploded since the launch of the WWE Network at the beginning of this year.
Additionally, the WWE Shop website averaged 1,200 orders per day in April of this year, which was considerably higher than the average of 867 orders per day in April of 2013.
– With season one of Legends House now completed, the WWE Network will begin airing season one of Total Divas in the same time slot, Thursday night at 8pm EST. The Total Divas episodes will begin airing this coming Thursday night.
– The latest edition of WWE Top 10 takes a look back at the top ten “mic mishaps” of all-time. You can check that out below.
– There will be no new episode of “WrestleMania Rewind” next Tuesday (June 24th) on the WWE Network. Instead, a replay of the episode that features a look back at the WrestleMania 19 match between Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho will air.
– The following is a new workout clip featuring former WWE Diva Torrie Wilson:
– There is a lot of talk in WWE recently about Hulk Hogan being the big Superstar on the second season of the WWE Network reality show “Legends House.” Following the success of season one, which has consistently been one of the most-watched shows on the WWE Network, Hogan would come in to fill the role that Roddy Piper had in the first season.
– Sting is appearing at the PCW “Dream Night 13” event tonight in Oak Lawn, Illinois. For ticket information, visit PCWWrestling.net.
The following are highlights from the latest Jim Ross blog:
On WWE Network marketing: “WWE should target the older fan who may have ceased becoming a regular, weekly viewer in recent years as their primary target demo to subscribe to their WWE Network. The older fan has more disposable income and makes more long term buying decisions than do the younger crowd who still lives at home or are still students. If my take is somewhat accurate then hearing more about the classic, footage from those endorsing the product is important. It would be good to hear what Cole, Lawler and JBL watch every week on the WWE Network as I feel that it would remind many fans on what they are missing.”
On two Money In The Bank ladder matches: “Having two MITB Ladder matches is a unique booking for one WWE PPV event. Quality control and exclusivity of spots, stunts, etc is extremely imperative plus the first MITB match of the night get[s] the fresher of the audience. I’d assume the WWE World Title Ladder match will go on last which means that every participant in that bout must watch the first MITB contest. Communication between management and the talents on this particular event is especially imperative. The WWE Title MITB has seemingly more ‘catchers’ than ‘flyers’ so one can expect the other MITB match to be loaded with ‘daredevils.'”
You can check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
WWE head writer Jay Gibson was fired by Vince McMahon over the past few days, according to a report at PWTorch.com. It’s unclear whether he was let go on Friday or over the weekend, but last night’s RAW was the first WWE television show written without Gibson’s input.
RAW appeared to feature a lot more input from Vince McMahon than usual, including his unique brand of humor that included spiked coffee and the ‘payoff’ of Stephanie vomiting all over Vickie Guerrero.
Vince McMahon is spearheading WWE’s effort to reduce payroll costs to offset the recent financial damage done as a result of the WWE Network and the disappointing TV rights fees deal with NBC Universal.
According to WrestleZone.com, WWE is looking to cut $20 million from their budget this year. Aside from WWE releasing 11 people last week, firing their head writer and cutting NXT’s budget, WWE is taking other measures to reduce production costs. For example, elements of Fandango’s entrance and Bad News Barrett’s scissor lift are no longer being used. The truck WWE used to transport those entrances is no longer being used, which will result in the company saving upwards of $250,000 per year.
It was announced on Monday night’s edition of RAW that the headline match on this week’s edition of WWE Main Event will be a six-man tag-team match featuring The Wyatt Family vs. Sheamus and The Usos.
WWE Main Event takes place live on Tuesday night at 8pm EST. on the WWE Network.
– WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair is now medically cleared to return to WWE and will be managing his daughter, NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte, at WWE live events next month. While there have been rumors that Flair would be returning to television on tonight’s RAW, he was not part of the script that was being worked on over the weekend.
– Savio Vega has been added to the Alumni section of WWE.com.
– The “Legends’ House Reunion” special will air this Thursday on the WWE Network at 8pm (Eastern). The reunion show was taped last year in Florida.
– In related WWE Network news, tomorrow’s Wrestlemania Rewind will focus on Kurt Angel vs. Eddie Guerrero from Wrestlemania 20.
Apparently the back-story behind Pat Patterson coming out of the closet publicly on this past Thursday night’s season finale episode of the WWE Network reality show “Legends House,” is that it was done by design.
When WWE first filmed Legends House, the company fully intended to sell the show to a network such as SyFy or E!, and the feeling was Patterson’s revelation would likely garner a lot of media attention, much like Darren Young’s announcement did last year.
While TMZ did pick up the Patterson story, it didn’t receive nearly the amount of media attention that some assumed it would generate. Patterson is, however, trending number one worldwide on Twitter due to the news.
– WWE has announced that there will be a special Legends House Reunion show next week on the WWE Network. This is the show that the cast reunited to tape earlier this year in Orlando, Florida. Jerry “The King” Lawler will serve as the host of the episode.
– Curt Hawkins, who was one of the WWE Superstars that was released on Thursday, will be going by his real name, Bryan Myers, on the independent wrestling scene. He will also be billing himself as “The Prince of Queens.”
