Week in Wrestling #27
Wrestling News From the week of
February 7th- February 16, 2016
February 7th- February 16, 2016
Daniel Bryan's Retirement
The biggest news in all of wrestling clearly was the announcement last Monday of Bryan Danielson's retirement from wrestling. His message was clear, He was grateful for the experience. We have full coverage of his retirement here, and of his entire career here.
The biggest news in all of wrestling clearly was the announcement last Monday of Bryan Danielson's retirement from wrestling. His message was clear, He was grateful for the experience. We have full coverage of his retirement here, and of his entire career here.
Titus Suspended
Titus O’Neil was suspended for 90 days according to WWE officials, for unprofessional conduct. The suspension was later reduced to 60 days.
During the Bryan celebration, after Raw was over, and while the show was on the WWE Network, O’Neil was on the stage, near Vince McMahon and playfully grabbed him by the arm and McMahon took it the wrong way. The closing shot just as the network broadcast went off the air showed McMahon shoving O’Neil t went off and shoved O’Neil, which made it onto the WWE Network broadcast.
WWE had post-Raw celebration then removed from the network and taken down from YouTube apparently because it showed McMahon shoving O’Neil. When O’Neil came to Smackdown in Portland, he was sent home and old he was suspended. That removes him from WrestleMania, where he was expected to be in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal.
Titus O’Neil was suspended for 90 days according to WWE officials, for unprofessional conduct. The suspension was later reduced to 60 days.
During the Bryan celebration, after Raw was over, and while the show was on the WWE Network, O’Neil was on the stage, near Vince McMahon and playfully grabbed him by the arm and McMahon took it the wrong way. The closing shot just as the network broadcast went off the air showed McMahon shoving O’Neil t went off and shoved O’Neil, which made it onto the WWE Network broadcast.
WWE had post-Raw celebration then removed from the network and taken down from YouTube apparently because it showed McMahon shoving O’Neil. When O’Neil came to Smackdown in Portland, he was sent home and old he was suspended. That removes him from WrestleMania, where he was expected to be in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal.
Updated Wrestlemania Plans
Any talk of Undertaker vs. Strowman now is 99 percent dead. Right now the plan is for Strowman to win the Andre the Giant Battle Royal and get a major push from that point on as a monster, to build him for an eventual title program with Reigns as well as a potential PPV match with Lesnar, which right now is on the books for SummerSlam.
So at this point there doesn’t appear to be an idea what the situation is with Undertaker unless Cena is going to make it back by then. Owens pitched real hard backstage for the Undertaker match but that also isn’t happening.
As of a week ago, Austin had not been pitched an idea for Mania. The expectation is they will come up with an idea for him, and he’s expected to do the show, but unless it was in the last few days they haven’t come up with the idea.
Any talk of Undertaker vs. Strowman now is 99 percent dead. Right now the plan is for Strowman to win the Andre the Giant Battle Royal and get a major push from that point on as a monster, to build him for an eventual title program with Reigns as well as a potential PPV match with Lesnar, which right now is on the books for SummerSlam.
So at this point there doesn’t appear to be an idea what the situation is with Undertaker unless Cena is going to make it back by then. Owens pitched real hard backstage for the Undertaker match but that also isn’t happening.
As of a week ago, Austin had not been pitched an idea for Mania. The expectation is they will come up with an idea for him, and he’s expected to do the show, but unless it was in the last few days they haven’t come up with the idea.
WWE 4th Quarter Investment Call Notes
WWE reported their Q4 2015 results Thursday with a strong quarter with net revenue of $166.2 million (+18% year-over-year quarterly growth). Full year 2015 net revenue is record $658.8 million (+21% year-over-year annual growth). Both operating income and net income were the highest since 2013, but still below the profitability of the 2007-2010 traditional pay-per-view era.
WWE had a strong quarter for live events, television rights, WWEShop and WWE Network revenue.
Live events were up due to higher domestic ticket prices, higher international attendance and the NXT UK tour. Television rights continue to grow due to built-in contract escalators which ensure that key agreements pay more quarter-over-quarter regardless of any declines in ratings.
WWEShop had a big Q4 2015 with $10 million earned from 214,000 thousand online merchandise sales (compared to 172,000 in Q4 2014). WWE Network averaged the highest number of paid subscribers over Q4 2015 (1,237,000 subscribers) which lead to a monster $37.2 million quarter.
Still, not everything is rosy in WWE-land.
WWE stock tumbled as the day continued and seems to trading about 7% off for the day. The financials included a $7.1 million hit in order to write-off the value of costs related to stalled media center expansion project dating back several years. Operating income, which had finally turned in 2015 following after nasty string of five consecutive negative quarters from Q4 2013 and Q4 2014, returned to negative territory this quarter with a $1.5 million loss. Analysts challenged WWE’s business outlook for next quarter including why the company switched which WWE Network metric they would provide guidance on (“projected average paid subscribers” instead of the “period ending paid subscribers” number).
Domestic WWE Network subscribers as of December 31, 2015 had dropped by 50,000 compared to September 30, 2015. One analyst even questioned how the company could plug holes in the roster given the injuries to top talent.
There was some questions about WWE television ratings dropping throughout 2015. Vince responded that while their ratings were down, they were down as much as the networks they were on. And that it’s important to look at the “total ecosystem” which includes YouTube and Social Media. Vince McMahon concluded, “Our audience is consuming our product when they want to and how they to.”
WWE reported their Q4 2015 results Thursday with a strong quarter with net revenue of $166.2 million (+18% year-over-year quarterly growth). Full year 2015 net revenue is record $658.8 million (+21% year-over-year annual growth). Both operating income and net income were the highest since 2013, but still below the profitability of the 2007-2010 traditional pay-per-view era.
WWE had a strong quarter for live events, television rights, WWEShop and WWE Network revenue.
Live events were up due to higher domestic ticket prices, higher international attendance and the NXT UK tour. Television rights continue to grow due to built-in contract escalators which ensure that key agreements pay more quarter-over-quarter regardless of any declines in ratings.
WWEShop had a big Q4 2015 with $10 million earned from 214,000 thousand online merchandise sales (compared to 172,000 in Q4 2014). WWE Network averaged the highest number of paid subscribers over Q4 2015 (1,237,000 subscribers) which lead to a monster $37.2 million quarter.
Still, not everything is rosy in WWE-land.
WWE stock tumbled as the day continued and seems to trading about 7% off for the day. The financials included a $7.1 million hit in order to write-off the value of costs related to stalled media center expansion project dating back several years. Operating income, which had finally turned in 2015 following after nasty string of five consecutive negative quarters from Q4 2013 and Q4 2014, returned to negative territory this quarter with a $1.5 million loss. Analysts challenged WWE’s business outlook for next quarter including why the company switched which WWE Network metric they would provide guidance on (“projected average paid subscribers” instead of the “period ending paid subscribers” number).
Domestic WWE Network subscribers as of December 31, 2015 had dropped by 50,000 compared to September 30, 2015. One analyst even questioned how the company could plug holes in the roster given the injuries to top talent.
There was some questions about WWE television ratings dropping throughout 2015. Vince responded that while their ratings were down, they were down as much as the networks they were on. And that it’s important to look at the “total ecosystem” which includes YouTube and Social Media. Vince McMahon concluded, “Our audience is consuming our product when they want to and how they to.”
Fast Lane
Update on Fast Lane on 2/21 is Reigns vs. Lesnar vs. Ambrose for the WrestleMania title shot, Kalisto vs. Del Rio for the U.S. title, Charlotte vs. Brie Bella for the Divas title, The Wyatt Family vs. Kane & Show & Ryback, Lynch & Banks vs. Naomi & Tamina, and other stuff teased is Styles vs. Jericho and Owens vs. Ziggler, but neither of those are official.
Update on Fast Lane on 2/21 is Reigns vs. Lesnar vs. Ambrose for the WrestleMania title shot, Kalisto vs. Del Rio for the U.S. title, Charlotte vs. Brie Bella for the Divas title, The Wyatt Family vs. Kane & Show & Ryback, Lynch & Banks vs. Naomi & Tamina, and other stuff teased is Styles vs. Jericho and Owens vs. Ziggler, but neither of those are official.
Rey done with AAA
Konnan mentioned on his podcast that Rey Mysterio was open to doing a part-time WWE schedule. He said he couldn’t go back full-time like Alberto. That was in combination with saying Mysterio won’t be going back to AAA until their money issues are worked out. There are those close to the situation who believe there are issues that, if not rectified quickly, would enable him to get out of his Lucha Underground deal as well, and return here.
The fact that Mysterio, who is the biggest name Mexican wrestler in the world, who left with the idea that two companies were going to build around him as the top star and for him to be able to negotiate outside deals, is less than one year later open to returning just as Del Rio did speaks volumes. And Del Rio was at first adamant he’d never go back. Mysterio was never adamant about that. But there is a difference because Del Rio can go full-time, while with Mysterio, his body won’t hold up to a full-time schedule and more importantly, WWE had nobody to fill a Del Rio role while WWE has Kalisto essentially in the old Mysterio role.
WWE isn’t much for part-time wrestlers, as it’s really just HHH, Lesnar and Undertaker and HHH is a weekly TV character. Mysterio could probably get a job as a brand ambassador because he’s good with the public, but the income from that role isn’t going to be near what Mysterio was making on his old seven figure deal. There was the value of keeping him longer on his last deal so he didn’t work for Lucha Underground when they kicked off considering that company had Robert Rodriguez and Mark Burnett behind it and there was the prospect of it being on Univision, which could make it a major player. But now, unless something changes big within Lucha Underground when it comes to exposure, I’m not sure of the value they would have in taking Mysterio away, although clearly there would be some
Friends of Mysterio in WWE believe he won’t be long for Lucha Underground and will be back to WWE, but whether that is before or after season three is a question. But his situation is said to be similar to Del Rio, simplified as the two C’s, cash and creative, which were Del Rio’s two issues that led to him leaving
Konnan mentioned on his podcast that Rey Mysterio was open to doing a part-time WWE schedule. He said he couldn’t go back full-time like Alberto. That was in combination with saying Mysterio won’t be going back to AAA until their money issues are worked out. There are those close to the situation who believe there are issues that, if not rectified quickly, would enable him to get out of his Lucha Underground deal as well, and return here.
The fact that Mysterio, who is the biggest name Mexican wrestler in the world, who left with the idea that two companies were going to build around him as the top star and for him to be able to negotiate outside deals, is less than one year later open to returning just as Del Rio did speaks volumes. And Del Rio was at first adamant he’d never go back. Mysterio was never adamant about that. But there is a difference because Del Rio can go full-time, while with Mysterio, his body won’t hold up to a full-time schedule and more importantly, WWE had nobody to fill a Del Rio role while WWE has Kalisto essentially in the old Mysterio role.
WWE isn’t much for part-time wrestlers, as it’s really just HHH, Lesnar and Undertaker and HHH is a weekly TV character. Mysterio could probably get a job as a brand ambassador because he’s good with the public, but the income from that role isn’t going to be near what Mysterio was making on his old seven figure deal. There was the value of keeping him longer on his last deal so he didn’t work for Lucha Underground when they kicked off considering that company had Robert Rodriguez and Mark Burnett behind it and there was the prospect of it being on Univision, which could make it a major player. But now, unless something changes big within Lucha Underground when it comes to exposure, I’m not sure of the value they would have in taking Mysterio away, although clearly there would be some
Friends of Mysterio in WWE believe he won’t be long for Lucha Underground and will be back to WWE, but whether that is before or after season three is a question. But his situation is said to be similar to Del Rio, simplified as the two C’s, cash and creative, which were Del Rio’s two issues that led to him leaving
Davey torn ACL
Davey Richards suffered a serious ACL injury. It wasn’t made clear to me it was a tear although hinted, and it was said he will be out of action for a significant length of time. The good thing is that he legitimately had just signed his guaranteed contract with TNA because if he hadn’t, it would have meant a significant loss of income. But this pretty much forces them to use Eddie Edwards as a single, or get a new tag team partner, and the long-term plans for the Wolves vs. Beer Money have to be put on hold.
Davey Richards suffered a serious ACL injury. It wasn’t made clear to me it was a tear although hinted, and it was said he will be out of action for a significant length of time. The good thing is that he legitimately had just signed his guaranteed contract with TNA because if he hadn’t, it would have meant a significant loss of income. But this pretty much forces them to use Eddie Edwards as a single, or get a new tag team partner, and the long-term plans for the Wolves vs. Beer Money have to be put on hold.
Pat Patterson's Book
Pat Patterson’s autobiography, called “Accepted: How the First Gay Superstar Changed WWE,” will be released in August. Bertrand Hebert, who co-wrote the great Montreal history book, will be the ghost writer. I’m looking forward to this book. Patterson had two very different careers.
Obviously the title has me concerned, in the sense they may focus on sexuality as the main angle, and it being a WWE book, although Bryan Danielson’s book was a WWE book and in reading it I never felt he was heavily edited. When it comes to the sexuality aspect, a key is that Patterson’s success everywhere showed that for all the charges of wrestling people and biases or being behind the times of social acceptance, Patterson was a headliner his entire career. And for both the promotions and the fans, it’s shocking in hindsight how little of a difference it made.
Pat Patterson’s autobiography, called “Accepted: How the First Gay Superstar Changed WWE,” will be released in August. Bertrand Hebert, who co-wrote the great Montreal history book, will be the ghost writer. I’m looking forward to this book. Patterson had two very different careers.
Obviously the title has me concerned, in the sense they may focus on sexuality as the main angle, and it being a WWE book, although Bryan Danielson’s book was a WWE book and in reading it I never felt he was heavily edited. When it comes to the sexuality aspect, a key is that Patterson’s success everywhere showed that for all the charges of wrestling people and biases or being behind the times of social acceptance, Patterson was a headliner his entire career. And for both the promotions and the fans, it’s shocking in hindsight how little of a difference it made.
Lucha Underground Updates
The third season tapings will be done at the studio in Boyle Heights on 3/19, 3/20, 3/26, 3/27, 4/9, 4/10, 4/16, 4/17, 5/7, 5/8, 5/14 and 5/15. The season three Ultimate Lucha shows are scheduled for the last two dates. Some talent have informed independent promoters they are unavailable from 3/11 to 3/19, so they are likely doing pre-taping segments the week before the first shows are taped. The main AAA stars will be doing Rey de Reyes on 3/11 and then coming in. These shows won’t air until early 2017. It’s a way to save money from clearing out of the place and moving back in.
It’s interesting that they are taking WrestleMania week off from taping, which allows the talent to make money at some of the events in Dallas, although the original plans for a house show that weekend seem to have fallen through. At that point they will have a huge window, probably a minimum of seven months and it can be stretched out to the fall of 2017, before they’d have to tape a fourth season. So they’d have that time to make deals, whether they’d be television deals, merchandise deals or outside business deals, to be able to generate revenue to tape a fourth season.
Apparently the AAA talent that worked season one would have their checks sent to AAA, and AAA, which had them under contract would then pay them, with AAA taking out a booking fee. But now Lucha Underground is sending the checks to the wrestlers. So some are upset in believing too much was taken out in season one that they weren’t aware of. Plus, AAA is asking for its booking fee from the wrestlers with the change in how payment is done. There’s been a locker room split between those under Lucha Underground contract, and those who aren’t. Many of those who aren’t are the ones who either left, or had thought of leaving. The ones that were under contract to Lucha Underground never considered leaving, figuring they’d lose their Lucha Underground gig.
The third season tapings will be done at the studio in Boyle Heights on 3/19, 3/20, 3/26, 3/27, 4/9, 4/10, 4/16, 4/17, 5/7, 5/8, 5/14 and 5/15. The season three Ultimate Lucha shows are scheduled for the last two dates. Some talent have informed independent promoters they are unavailable from 3/11 to 3/19, so they are likely doing pre-taping segments the week before the first shows are taped. The main AAA stars will be doing Rey de Reyes on 3/11 and then coming in. These shows won’t air until early 2017. It’s a way to save money from clearing out of the place and moving back in.
It’s interesting that they are taking WrestleMania week off from taping, which allows the talent to make money at some of the events in Dallas, although the original plans for a house show that weekend seem to have fallen through. At that point they will have a huge window, probably a minimum of seven months and it can be stretched out to the fall of 2017, before they’d have to tape a fourth season. So they’d have that time to make deals, whether they’d be television deals, merchandise deals or outside business deals, to be able to generate revenue to tape a fourth season.
Apparently the AAA talent that worked season one would have their checks sent to AAA, and AAA, which had them under contract would then pay them, with AAA taking out a booking fee. But now Lucha Underground is sending the checks to the wrestlers. So some are upset in believing too much was taken out in season one that they weren’t aware of. Plus, AAA is asking for its booking fee from the wrestlers with the change in how payment is done. There’s been a locker room split between those under Lucha Underground contract, and those who aren’t. Many of those who aren’t are the ones who either left, or had thought of leaving. The ones that were under contract to Lucha Underground never considered leaving, figuring they’d lose their Lucha Underground gig.
FITE TV
Flipps Media made an announcement this week of the creation of a streaming service called FITE TV, using Jim Ross as a public face of the company. It’s a new streaming service that will air live pro wrestling, MMA, boxing and other combat sports events. This is one of the two major projects Ross has been in serious negotiations to be involved in.
Flipps Media is a San Mateo, CA, based company that is starting the FITE TV concept to handle the on-line streaming of PPV events from TNA and ROH, as well as iPPV events from all the WWN umbrella of promotions (Evolve, Shine and FIP). Flipps had already had a deal with TNA and ROH in play and the WWN shows just started under their auspices. They also streamed Wrestle Kingdom 9 internationally through a deal with Jeff Jarrett.
FITE TV will have both free television shows, and a PPV component, and has also reached deals with Jarrett for GFW, the Las Vegas based Future Stars of Wrestling promotion and Wrestlelicious. They also have MMA promotions like Tuff N Uff and Legacy Fighting also signed up, as well as an arm wrestling and a sumo promotion. Ross’ connection with the product came through Mike Weber, the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Flipps Media, who had a long career in pro wrestling as the Director of Media Relations for WWE (1986 to 1989), Director of Marketing with WCW (1992 to 1999) and Vice President of Marketing with TNA (2008 to 2013).
One idea I’d like to see them try is to venture out more into international wrestling, particularly some of the leading U.K. groups like Progress, Preston City and ICW, at least when they run major events that feature a lot of U.S. talent, as well as groups like Dragon Gate, NOAH, AAA and CMLL, but in particular PWG, although PWG is resistant to changing its formula. There may be issues in talent under contract to TNA or ROH appearing on other promotions that are streaming, and that’s where PWG may fall in because they right now can use talent from just about anyone except CMLL (because they use AAA talent) and maybe New Japan because they are a house show and DVD promotion. But those PWG shows streaming live could be a huge underground thing, but they’ve been reluctant to undercut their DVD business.
Flipps Media made an announcement this week of the creation of a streaming service called FITE TV, using Jim Ross as a public face of the company. It’s a new streaming service that will air live pro wrestling, MMA, boxing and other combat sports events. This is one of the two major projects Ross has been in serious negotiations to be involved in.
Flipps Media is a San Mateo, CA, based company that is starting the FITE TV concept to handle the on-line streaming of PPV events from TNA and ROH, as well as iPPV events from all the WWN umbrella of promotions (Evolve, Shine and FIP). Flipps had already had a deal with TNA and ROH in play and the WWN shows just started under their auspices. They also streamed Wrestle Kingdom 9 internationally through a deal with Jeff Jarrett.
FITE TV will have both free television shows, and a PPV component, and has also reached deals with Jarrett for GFW, the Las Vegas based Future Stars of Wrestling promotion and Wrestlelicious. They also have MMA promotions like Tuff N Uff and Legacy Fighting also signed up, as well as an arm wrestling and a sumo promotion. Ross’ connection with the product came through Mike Weber, the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Flipps Media, who had a long career in pro wrestling as the Director of Media Relations for WWE (1986 to 1989), Director of Marketing with WCW (1992 to 1999) and Vice President of Marketing with TNA (2008 to 2013).
One idea I’d like to see them try is to venture out more into international wrestling, particularly some of the leading U.K. groups like Progress, Preston City and ICW, at least when they run major events that feature a lot of U.S. talent, as well as groups like Dragon Gate, NOAH, AAA and CMLL, but in particular PWG, although PWG is resistant to changing its formula. There may be issues in talent under contract to TNA or ROH appearing on other promotions that are streaming, and that’s where PWG may fall in because they right now can use talent from just about anyone except CMLL (because they use AAA talent) and maybe New Japan because they are a house show and DVD promotion. But those PWG shows streaming live could be a huge underground thing, but they’ve been reluctant to undercut their DVD business.