— WWE held an anti-bullying rally at Wednesday night’s Brooklyn Cyclones game at MCU Field. Garcia sang the National Anthem and Natalya threw out the first pitch for the game. Zack Ryder and Mark Henry were also in attendence. All of the WWE talent signed free autographs.
SEScoops.com correspondent The Solomonster, who handles PR for the Brooklyn Cyclones, was at the event and posted several pictures to Twitter, which can be viewed here.
— The latest on planned WWE Network is that DirecTV has no interest in carrying it. This would be a huge blow to the Network’s potential revenue, as DirecTV serves approximately 30% of potential customers. Other top cable providers have also been hesitant to carry the WWE Network, which is the reason WWE is now considering a subscription-based “premium channel” model, similar to HBO & Showtime.
There is no official date set for the Network’s launch, but WWE recently filmed a new commercial for the channel which is expected to air some time this summer.
– Ryback demanded, “Feed Me Three” after destroying two more wrestlers WWE No Way Out, but he “only” wrestled two men at Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings from Baltimore, MD.
His latest victims are Maryland-based independent wrestlers Jared Walker and Frankie Valencia, better known locally as Blk Jeez and Brian Hardy.
– Former WWE ring announcer Lauren Mayhew was recently told by a fan on Twitter that she should return to WWE. Mayhew encouraged the fan to start a Twitter campaign to get her brought back. Since leaving the company back in 2009, she has been pursuing a career in music and acting. She’ll have a role on the upcoming season of the Showtime original series Dexter, which begins filming this week.
– WWE continues to hire more employees for the WWE Network. One of the top ongoing projects is converting old tapes to the digital format.
As reported earlier this week, WWE is currently considering a subscription-based “premium channel” model (similar to HBO, Showtime) for the WWE Network.
– WWE is reportedly paying a lot of money to Twitter, believed to be in the ‘six figure’ range, to be a part of the new features introduced by the social media service last week. WWE will be one of a few select partners that will be able to integrate, audio, video and visual media within tweets.
A well placed source in WWE says that another benefit of WWE’s close working relationship with Twitter is that they’ll be able to better protect their intellectual properties and crack down on parody accounts.
– With the WWE Network launch still a few months away, the latest word out of WWE is that the company is considering making it a paid premium channel, similar to HBO or Showtime, where subscribers pay a monthly fee. This model is not confirmed, but the feeling is that it would be easier to get the channel picked up by cable providers. Instead of companies like Comcast and Time Warner having to pay WWE rights fees to carry the channel, WWE could instantly begin making money from subscriber fees.
— A teaser for the WWE Network is running at the beginning of WWE Classics On Demand shows with 2012 being advertised as its premiere.
— A Raw SuperShow is scheduled for September 3 at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois. A pre-sale is underway at Ticketmaster.com with the password SUPERSHOW.
— WWE’s Over the Limit pay-per-view event will air live in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports 1 HD on May 20 at 1:00 a.m.
— — WWE has published a Legends of Wrestling clip from 2008 where Ric Flair, Mick Foley, Tazz and Jim Ross join host Mean Gene Okerlund for a no-holds-barred discussion on the greatest factions of all time, including The Four Horsemen.
– There has been talk of Randy Orton vs. Brock Lesnar headlining WWE SummerSlam in August. Whether or not the match actually takes place at SummerSlam, we can confirm that Lesnar is slated to feud with Orton when his feud with John Cena concludes.
As previously reported, WWE is also considering holding a Money in the Bank match at SummerSlam – if Wade Barrett [the rumored winner] is healthy to return by then.
– Earlier this week, independent wrestler Steven Walters did an interview talking about the planned Cruiserweights show that will air on the WWE Network when it launches this fall. WWE reportedly has a long list of wrestlers (200 pounds and under) in the United States and Mexico that
– The WWE website had 12.3 million unique visitors in March, down 13% from 14.2 million in March 2011. The WWE Shop website averaged 548 merchandise orders per day in March, down a sharp 58% from 1,300 orders per day in March 2011. WWE shipped approximately 246,000 DVD units for March 2012.
Independent wrestler Steven Walters was recently interviewed by Fight Club Chicago and said he has been in talks with WWE about appearing on the Cruiserweights show that will appear on the WWE Network.
Walters, who has appeared on WWE television a few times as an extra, corroborates online reports that the WWE Network will be launching around November. Here are highlights of what what he said about:
Being Contacted by WWE: “I’ve been in contact back and forth from WWE about that Cruiserweight Show they’re going to be putting on the network soon. They’re looking for guys my size, around 200 pounds, like around five foot nine to six foot tall also. I’ve been going back and forth with them a few times about that.”
When He was Contacted: “It wasn’t long after I did that extra spot for them in December. I got hit with a chair. I got a chance to talk to Laurinaitis a little bit. I got a one on one meeting with him. That was one of the things he approached me about.”
The Last Time He Talked to Them: “I talked to them about three to four weeks ago. They had to push the debut of it back to later this year around November or so.”
To listen to the full interview, including his close friendship with Hall of Famer Edge, check out Sportstownchicago.com/fightclub.
– WWE is currently planning to launch the WWE Network in the fourth quarter of this year, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
– Former WWE star Bobby Lashley could be headed to the Bellator MMA promotion. Lashley tweeted this week that he recently met with Bellator VP of Talent Relations Sam Caplan.
– Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon will participate in the first 90-minute Republican Senate debate for the state of Connecticut tonight in Norwich. The debate will stream live at 7pm EST on norwichbulletin.com.
– The WWE website held a poll asking fans who will win at Extreme Rules between John Cena and Brock Lesnar. John Cena won the poll with 60% of the votes.
– With just a few weeks before their WWE contracts expire, the Bella Twins continue to pick up wins against Eve Torres and Divas champion Beth Phoenix on WWE’s overseas tour.
– WWE stars Titus O’Neil and Darren Young say they are headed to SmackDown and are looking to become the new WWE Tag Team Champions. Titus O’Neil wrote:
“Me& @DarrenYoungWWE put the issues of @TaminaSnuka behind us&We are headed 2 @WWE Friday Night Smackdown!!We will be Tag Team Champions Soon”
His partner Darren Young added the following:
“The #realdeal @TitusNXT & #nodaysoff @darrenyoungwwe WILL change the face of @WWE & the question is who gon stop us HUH? #ImpactPlayers”
– Brock Lesnar signed a 1-year contract with WWE over the weekend – and the backstage buzz is that Lesnar received one of the most lucrative contracts in company history. After seeing what a juggernaut Lesnar was in terms of PPV sales for the UFC, WWE is rumored to have guaranteed Lesnar $5 million to work a limited schedule. Based on what we’re hearing, Lesnar is contracted to appear twice a month for the next 12 months.
– The Miz returned to MTV this week, hosting the “Challenge: Battle of the Exes” reunion show. During the episode, the official MTV Twitter account wrote that they would pay anything to get The Miz to come back for another Challenge show. Miz replied: “ANYTHING???”
– In preparation of the upcoming WWE Network launch, WWE is considering reaching out to former announcers so they don’t put too much strain on current employees.
– WWE is looking to run more storylines on Twitter. The Twitter rants from Epico and Rosa Mendes about being left off WrestleMania 28 were an example of this recent company initiative.
WWE officials held a state of the business meeting this week in Miami, Florida and it was disclosed to Variety that the organization has plans to launch a one-hour weekly television show on a yet to be announced United States television station. WWE will also produce an hour-long Spanish-language program. Details on both shows were not issued. Additional news from the meeting are as follows:
* WWE announced the following series for the forthcoming WWE Network: WWE Divas Tour Bus, WrestleMania Rewind, The Monday Night War: Raw vs Nitro and WWE Countdown.
* The official cast list for the WWE Network program WWE Legends’ House is “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Hillbilly Jim, Howard Finkel, Jimmy Hart, Mean Gene Okerlund, Pat Patterson, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Tony Atlas.
* WWE would not reveal business plans for the WWE Network nor the potential launch date. “We continue to evaluate the best approach,” said Michelle Wilson, Chief Marketing Officer of WWE.
WWE Chief Marketing Officer Michelle Wilson says WWE is in late-stage negotiations with potential television partners for the WWE Network.
“There will be a WWE network in some shape or form,” Wilson told StamfordAdvocate.com. “Getting a distribution agreement for a cable network is not easy.”
Wilson disputed the New York Post‘s report earlier this month saying company is behind schedule in its plans to launch the network on April 1. She says there was never a deadline as the company is hiring staff to operate the network.
“We’ve filled 30 positions so far specifically for the network. They come with cable experience at ESPN, Viacom, Discovery and Warner Brothers TV,” said Wilson, who expects up to 120 new employees to be hired for the network.
Wilson declined to predict the network’s launched but would discuss planned programming.
“They just got done shooting a reality show, `Legends House,’ where eight of our superstar legends live together in a house in Palm Springs, California,” she said. “Another reality show will feature our WWE Divas. We did a lot of research on what our fans want to see. We’re developing new shows taking advantage of our amazing library.”
WWE is not having an easy time getting its television network off the ground – and a new article published by the New York Post reveals just how much trouble they are having.
According to the Post, WWE has yet to sign with single cable or satellite deal with providers to carry the Network. WWE has also been seriously lagging on hiring experienced cable executives.
WWE was expected to hire 200 employees including a general manager for the Network, but one cable executive told The Post:
“WWE has the programming and marketing muscle, but they just have no one with cable experience who can execute for them.”
Industry expert Gerri Dinini says that whole channel of WWE content might not have a broad enough appeal to be successful:
“Given the content issues, I think a whole channel would be a stretch. It is very limited in who it reaches.”
– The latest word internally on the planned WWE Network is that it will launch in November during sweeps. No official launch date has been set, but the compant definitely wants it to air before the end of the year.
– November is also when WWE plans to debut a new show featuring only Crusierweight wrestlers. Talents who had been in touch with WWE about working the show were told that plans to sign anyone were pushed to the fall. WWE is looking for wrestlers in the 200 lb range.
– The dark match main event at last night’s WWE SmackDown tapings had The Big Show defeating Daniel Bryan by DQ. Cody Rhodes interfered. Sheamus then came out and made the save.
– The Eve Torres segment that you saw on RAW was the exact same segment they did at weekend live events.
New details have become available regarding the upcoming “Legends House” reality show that will feature various wrestling legends living under one roof.
Filming begins this week at the Harpo Marx estate near Palm Springs, California, according to the Desert Sun newspaper.
The cast of, which is rumored to include legends such as “Mean” Gene Okerlund, Dusty Rhodes, Roddy Piper and the Iron Shiek, will live at the mansion until Saturday, March 31 – the day before WrestleMania 28. Most of the show will be shot at the house – but the legends will also explore the local community, including golf and hot air balloon outings.
The show was originally announced for the WWE Network, but the Wrestling Observer reports it could air on Syfy due the Network’s launch being delayed, so we’ll see.
Check out this look at the Harpo Marx estate, the house being used for WWE Legends House:
One of the new shows being developed for the upcoming WWE Network will exclusively feature Cruiserweight wrestlers, according to a report by pwinsider.com.
WWE has been scouring the independent scene looking for talents weighting around 200 pounds that will be featured on the new show.
We reported several weeks ago that WWE held a pilot TV taping at Florida’s Sunlife University back in December for an undisclosed project. WWE reportedly love the feel of the building and is looking to film the new cruiserweight show there.
As of this week, the plan is still for WWE to launch the Network this fall.
– Kevin Dunn, WWE Executive Vice President of Television Production, has taken initiative on the WWE Network project by hiring numerous people for mid-level management. Many of the people hired had worked for WWE in past.
Regarding Dunn, the Wrestling Observer says he understands how to interface with Vince McMahon and adapt to his haphazard decision making.
– An unnamed WWE employee texted a UFC employee during Saturday’s show on FOX to say their production is terrible. The WWE employee received a text back reading,
“At least we don’t have an imbecilic lead announcer ruining our show.”
– WrestlingFigs.com reports that Maryse Ouellet will appear alongside John Morrison at George’s Collectibles 7755 New Falls Road Levittown, Pennsylvania on March 10, 2012 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Visit GeorgesCollectibles.com for more information.
– WWE is currently planning to launch the WWE Network around November of this year. The company recently created a new batch of commercials to promote the launch, which are scheduled to begin airing in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania 28.
With the huge media attention that will surround WWE’s biggest pay-per-view of the year, it’s possible WWE will announce a hard launch date at WrestleMania.
– The USA Network has updated its TV schedule through March 2012 and as of now, there is no three-hour RAW leading to WrestleMania 28. It was previously reported that the final RAW before WrestleMania 28 (the March 26th Supershow from Atlanta, featuring The Rock) would be a 3-hour show. Instead, WWE will be taping both RAW and SmackDown matches that night, since the WWE crew will be headed to Miami the day after RAW to WrestleMania 28 festivities.
It’s worth noting is that the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony is not scheduled to air the night before WrestleMania, when the actual ceremony takes place.
– WWE Hall of Fame ring announcer Howard Finkel announced that yesterday marked 35 yaers since becoming a ring announcer. Congratulations to the Fink, who, for our money, is the best ring announcer of all time.
– The Memorial Day edition of WWE RAW Supershow (5/28) will take place at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, LA. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
– WWE Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase turns 58 years old today (Wednesday).
– WWE has released a new promo video hyping the upcoming WWE Network, including “Countdown” and more:
– As we reported earlier this week, the launch of the WWE Network has been delayed several months. The talk in WWE this week is that nobody knows the launch date yet, but it will be some time in the fall.
Vince McMahon is looking to get more Legends involved with the Network and has reportedly reached out to people who in the past he wouldn’t have. A reality show, presumably Legends House, will begin filming soon and will go for 21 weeks, including post-production. The house will be in the Palm Springs area and 10 episodes will be shot.
– To follow up on our report from last week about there being major heat on Evan Bourne for leaking details about R-Truth’s suspension, we’re now being told the heat on Bourne is unrelated to the R-Truth situation.
Regarding last week’s story, one source is saying it was actually Evan Bourne who went to Triple H and apologized for failing the drug test – not Triple H confronting Bourne.
WWE will reportedly be pushing back the launch of the WWE Network several months to the fall, according to a report on PWInsider.com.
WWE had been planning to launch the WWE Network the day of WrestleMania 28, April 1st. However, the tremendous amount of work involved in creating a new television network from scratch as well as the issue of securing clearances from the big television carriers was too much to get done by 4/1.
WWE recently decided pushing the Network back several months would be their best chance for the Network to be a success.
Despite the delay, projects that were being produced will still go on as planned.
With the scheduled launch date for the WWE Network less than 3 months away, there is a great deal of concern in WWE as to whether the company will be ready in time. Getting clearances from cable and satellite providers is the number one issue, as well as whether they can line up sufficient quality programming. Many are fearing the Network will be perceived as a flop right out of the gate.
There are plans mapped out for the first day of programming to focus on WrestleMania, but there is still a great deal of work that needs to be done by April 1st.
As for WWE 24/7 Classics On Demand, that service is set to end on March 31st. WWE first notified providers that it would end on January 1st, but there are existing contracts in place that will keep the on demand channel on the air until the end of March.
For much more on the upcoming WWE Network, head over to our WWE Network news page.
– WWE ring announcer Tony Chimel announced at Wednesday’s SmackDown live event in Detroit, Michigan that Randy Orton was absent due to injury and that refunds would be offered. Wade Barrett then cut a promo saying he put Orton out of action for six months.
– The first program to air on the WWE Network will be WrestleMania Rewind. The three-part series will air the day of WrestleMania XXVIII.
The program is based on last year’s The True Story of WrestleMania, but with additional footage from recent shows.
– Matches taking place on today’s episode of WWE Superstars on WWE.com include Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston vs. Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks, Alex Riley vs. JTG, Darren Young vs. Trent Barreta and Tyson Kidd vs. Yoshi Tatsu.
(sources: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, ProWrestling.net)
There is a lot of concern within WWE headquarters that the Network won’t be ready in time for the planned launch date of April 1st, WrestleMania Sunday. The Network will be launching as scheduled no matter what, but the quality of the programming and how smooth everything runs is still a major topic of discussion behind the scenes.
While some staffers fear that the Network could bomb within the first year, top company officials are still firmly behind the project and see it as Vince McMahon’s biggest venture since the first WrestleMania.
WWE has offered some current employees the chance to work on the new Network and most have declined. One WWE office staffer told us that people do not want to leave secure jobs to work on the Network, because if the Network does not work out, their previous jobs would likely be filled by then.
For much more on the WWE Network, visit our official WWE Network news page.
– As we reported over the weekend, CM Punk’s WWE title reign could be in jeopardy due to poor ratings. Despite the ratings issue which is getting more alarming by the week, Punk has the respect of virtually everyone backstage and has been winning more and more people over in recent weeks.
– During a recent meeting of WWE’s creative team, a feud between John Cena and World Heavyweight champion Daniel Bryan was discussed.
– One of the new shows that will air on the WWE Network will be a 1-hour RAW pre-show. In recent weeks, WWE officials have also been discussing “post-game” shows for RAW and SmackDown as well.