WWE announced yesterday the opening of their newest International office which is located in Mexico City.
With the opening of a new office comes a new General Manager for the region and WWE has appointed Rodrigo Fernandez in that role.
As General Manager of WWE Mexico, Fernandez will be responsible for growing WWE’s brand and business in the country. He will focus on expanding the company’s content distribution through strategic partnerships and deepening fan engagement across WWE’s live events, digital offerings, community outreach initiatives and retail programs.
Prior to joining WWE, Fernandez held key positions at Fox and Disney.
“With a rich lucha libre history and a strong affinity for the WWE brand, Mexico has always been an important market for us,” said Gerrit Meier, EVP International, WWE. “The opening of this office, and appointment of a General Manager with Rodrigo’s talent, underscores WWE’s commitment to the country and its passionate fan base.”
Apart from their world headquarters in Stamford and the new office in Mexico City, WWE now has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Munich and Tokyo.
WWE stocks continued to soar, ending the week at $24.19, a 4.18% increase over yesterday’s closing. Stocks jumped on the announcement of the WWE deal with BSkyB in the United Kingdom after rumors that Sky paid much more for the TV rights this time around.
At one point today stocks hit $24.82, which is a new 52-week high. WWE’s market cap on today’s closing stands at $1.7 billion.
How pissed off are fans that Daniel Bryan is not going to main event WrestleMania? So much that someone decided to create a petition with the White House!
The “We the People” petition page on WhiteHouse.gov allows Americans to ask the Obama Administration to take action on a range of important issues facing our country according to the page and as soon as any given petition hits 100,000 signatures, the White House staff have to consider it.
“We the people wish to see WWE superstar Daniel Bryan main event Wrestlemania XXX in a match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship,” read the description of the petition, which almost had 100,000 signatures.
But the White House staff deemed this was not an important issue to the country and deleted the petition. “The petition you are trying to access has been removed from the site under our Moderation Policy because it is in violation of our Terms of Participation,“ reads the note on the page.
Looks like the White House people aren’t fans of Daniel Bryan!
WWE’s first live wrestling broadcast on the WWE Network will be held on February 27 and it will be the future Superstars and Divas of the WWE along with the current roster participating in an NXT special being called NXT Arrival.
The show will be taped at the Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, the home of NXT tapings with tickets selling for $15 for general admission or $45 for ringside. The prices include admission for the tapings of the next day on February 28 and can be purchased online at http://nxttickets.ticketforce.com/ordertickets.asp?p=28.
Scheduled matches for the live event are Antonio Cesaro vs Sami Zayn in a two out of three falls, Paige vs Emma for the NXT Women’s title and Bo Dallas vs Adrian Neville in a ladder match for the NXT title. Also appearing on the show will be Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Paul Heyman, Bret Hart, New Age Outlaws, and Sheamus.
CM Punk has been replaced by WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair for the Saturday, April 5 meet and greet session at WrestleMania Axxess.
The change was announced in an e-mail by WWE to those who purchased tickets for the afternoon Axxess session. Those with tickets were given two options if they didn’t like the change: either replace it for another VIP session or get a full refund.
CM Punk was scheduled for the third autograph session at 6PM on that day which also has Daniel Bryan, Big Show, and Sheamus doing other VIP signings during the day.
As things stand and unless a compromise can be reached, Punk’s days in the WWE are over at least for the time being.
I’ve been a fan of the WWE for 25 years now since it first started airing in the UK. WrestleMania 5 was my first experience and since then I was hooked. Granted I’ve had little periods in recent years where I’ve drifted away, dismayed with the product, but I can’t ever stay away.
I am WWE through and through. I always felt that watching WCW and more recently TNA, was like betrayal to my beloved WWE, so I never did. That’s how important the WWE is to me and what it means to me.
Today I just can’t help but feel frustrated at such opportunities being wasted and chances missed for great storylines. I sometimes feel as if the creative team (led by Vince) have become lazy and continually take the easy option year after year.
I’ve been fortunate to experience the golden era first hand. And I’m realistic enough to know that we won’t ever experience the era that was dominated by Hogan, Warrior, Savage, Rude and a little later, the likes of Michaels and Hart.
But there is potential to get close!
I would go as far as to say that today’s roster has potential to rival it and when I look at the talent at their disposal, I get excited at the thought of the potential and possibilities. But time after time the management screw it up.
Instead what we get is storylines repeated every couple of years, we see the same feuds, over and over again, nothing feels fresh anymore and worse of all, they devalue some of the most important aspects of the WWE – their championship titles.
The reason for this? Laziness and making money.
Sadly for pure wrestling fans, the WWE has such a large fanbase that there are millions of fans out there that will pay whatever, shows, merchandise, etc etc, regardless of what product is being produced.
They have too many shows which doesn’t help storylines, but obviously helps the bank balance. 3 hours of RAW, 2 hours of Smackdown, plus Superstars and Main Event and the other various shows, means we are never ever likely to see a fresh feud between wrestlers with little or no history between them.
There are far too many pay-per-views as well and with every one that rolls round, it always feels rushed. They no longer build feuds, captivating the interest of the audience anymore.
Vince and his team are not prepared to take a risk anymore. Because risks might mean failures which might mean lack of revenue. Instead we get the cycle of John Cena and Randy Orton hogging top spot. Now I have no problem with these two, but I don’t want to see PPV after PPV based around them.
As things stand we are heading to WrestleMania 30 – a land mark PPV – with a probably Randy Orton v Batista match to headline…. We saw that 5, 6, 7 years ago. No one is excited for that. But Vince doesn’t care because he knows it will sell because he knows they are household names.
But for me? I’d rather see Daniel Bryan leading into a feud with Roman Reigns for example or CM Punk building a feud with Seth Rollings.
Both Bryan and Punk are very similar in the fact their popularity was pretty much self made. They ran with Punk a few years back, kind of. They made him champion, gave him a long title reign, but they buried him at every chance in favor of Cena.
Punk was the champ, he was the man, but Cena was headlining PPV’s. So they never really gave CM Punk a chance did they? And the same will happen to Daniel Bryan. And why? Because Vince doesn’t like it when something is successful that wasn’t his idea. I’m convinced of this.
I respect everything Vince has done for wrestling in general, but if he wants to progress further he has got to do what he did 30 years ago – get out of the comfort zone and gamble with something new.
As I already mentioned, feuds and angles are rushed through to fit the next PPV and that is the main reason that promising stars that get given a push, ultimately get dropped back down to earth, that coupled with the over-reliance to have the same people grab the headlines.
I’m all for Batista making a return, I’m sure he’s got lots to offer, but not carrying the company forward he hasn’t. Right now Vince has the hottest property in Daniel Bryan, he should be giving him the ball and letting him run, but he won’t, because it wasn’t his idea and he doesn’t want to be being seen as we told you so Vince.
And now Triple H seems to have more and more say, that trend is carrying on and those who should be getting exposure and a push, are not getting it and that must be frustrating.
Bray Wyatt is another who I think could be massive. He could genuinely be one of the company’s best heels in the last 15 years, I really rate the character and think he is superb. But will creative take the risk and got the whole hog?
I ask this simple question, if Bray Wyatt got into a feud with Cena and they built to a match at WrestleMania, could you really see Bray Wyatt winning that cleanly? I could only see them plumping for a Cena win, so as not to damage him and in turn, their revenue.
But the minute that happened, most people will look at Wyatt’s defeat and think “Ok, he isn’t going to get the push we all thought he might,” and that’s why great potential stars soon disappear to mid-card level. It’s not people losing interest, they just lose faith, knowing that another potential superstar has taken second fiddle and kicked to the side again.
One thing, above all, that annoys me is the misuse of the championship titles. Unless it is around John Cena’s waist, then the World title usually becomes second fiddle. It hasn’t been so bad lately and the unification has helped it back to prominence. But as we saw with CM Punk’s reign, making money was more important.
The Intercontinental was once such a prestigious title and was a stepping stone to World title level, but now it’s almost like they pick someone to have the title who they may want to push, then they end up leaving them in limbo land, barely defending the title and not building up any feuds of any significant note.
Same with the tag team division, it’s steadily built up and it’s the best it has been competition wise for 4, 5 years I think. But they don’t give it any proper significant airtime especially at pay-per-views.
The common theme of this post has been creative, which the WWE is not right now. But they won’t really care as the money rolls in and whilst we moan and vent our anger, they will only look at the bank balance. Sadly for us and great for Vince, TNA are even more inept at running a promotion and until there is a genuine rival promotion, Vince and those around him will only go with the safe, easy, money making options.
About the author: Lee Richardson has been a fan of WWE for 25 years. You can follow him on Twitter @Thewwevoice.
The new TNA investor was revealed on yesterday’s Impact and it was former WWE Superstar MVP, who’s back on wrestling television for the first time since the end of 2010.
The news of MVP being at the show was actually spoiled before the tapings actually happened. On Twitter, he also posted, “A decision has been made. It’s final. All systems go,” with later replying to a fan that he has not signed a contract “but a handshake will do for now!”
The former WWE Tag Team and US title holder spent four years in the WWE, making his depute on Smackdown in August 2006. He was released from his WWE deal in December 2010 after he requested one.
During his time away from WWE, MVP – real name Hassan Assad – worked for New Japan Pro Wrestling.
The WWE App – out for Android and iOS devices – has surpassed the 10 million downloads according to a press release issued by WWE today. The app was downloaded from 220 countries ever since it launched back in August 2012.
Rather than using a new app, WWE will be using the existing mobile app to launch the WWE Network which starts on February 24. The WWE Network will also be available through the WWE App on TV via connected devices including Roku streaming devices, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PlayStation 4 and Xbox 360.
Over the past year, the WWE App has been downloaded more than 6 million times with more than 500,000 fans experiencing its second screen capabilities on Monday nights.
TNA today announced that it will be sending 11 of its Superstars to Japan for a special event with Wrestle-1, a company founded by Keiji Mutoh, better known to wrestling fans as The Great Muta.
The event will happen on March 2 at the Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena and will feature matches pitting members of the TNA roster against Wrestle-1 talent.
“The Japanese have an incomparable respect and appreciation for professional wrestling,” said TNA Executive Vice President John Gaburick. “As TNA continues our global expansion, we are honored to partner with Mutoh and Wrestle-1 to give our fans an exceptional night of unparalleled entertainment. We envision a long and successful relationship with Wrestle-1, as we partner to deliver innovative live events and programming for our fans across the U.S., in Japan and around the world.”
Those scheduled to appear are Magnus, Bobby Roode, Samoa Joe, Gail Kim, Austin Aries, Abyss, Kaz and Daniels, Madison Rayne, Davey Richards, and Eddie Edwards.
In return, Mutoh and Wrestle-1 star Seiya Sanada will be in Miami on March 8 and 9 for Lockdown, where they are scheduled to participate at the Fan InterAction event and the pay-per-view as well.
Footage from the Japan event will be broadcast as a One Night Only pay-per-view event later this year.
Tonight’s Impact Wrestling will be broadcasting from Glasgow, Scotland, as TNA is currently in the United Kingdom for their yearly Maximum Impact tour.
The big angle set for the show is the new investor’s reveal, something that TNA has hyped for the past couple of weeks ever since Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards made their debut on Impact.
Carter offered The Wolves a try out match but the newcomers told her that they are already signed to a deal thanks to a new investor. The angle kicked off from there and will culminate with the reveal of the mystery person on tonight’s show.
E! has published the first look video of the upcoming Total Divas season two featuring a new cast member, Summer Rae.
The new season kicks off on E! on March 16 with a 9PM premiere with hopes that the show will get more viewers from last season which was a big hit for both WWE and E!
Total Divas Season 2 will also feature the wedding of Trinity and Jon in Hawaii and the upcoming wedding of Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan which will probably air as a season finale.
All the cast from the first season minus JoJo Offerman will be returning for season two.
CM Punk leaving the WWE continues to be the major talk of the week as more details continue to come out.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, Punk had a concussion test on Monday after some concerns from the Royal Rumble match however the results came out negative, and despite Punk being banged up a bit he had no signs of concussion. A leaked photo from one of the RAW scripts on Monday showed that Punk was set for an in-ring interview but no match was scheduled at anytime during the broadcast.
The story that Punk left because of Batista, a story that has been circulating online, also seems to be false as Punk is said to be a friend of Batista and had no problem with him winning the Rumble however he was unhappy that he was put in a scheduled match with Triple H for WrestleMania.
Punk leaving has got some mainstream press attention as well including a story in a newspaper across the pond in the United Kingdom. John Cena has somewhat addressed the situation on Twitter saying, “Interesting time 4 @WWEUniverse on both sides of curtain. Strap in, hold on, 1 helluva ride is coming.”
Meanwhile, former TNA champion Bully Ray issued an invitation for Punk to come to TNA. “If the rumors are true, let me be the 1st to invite @CMPunk to @IMPACTWRESTLING and get in the ring w/ me. Fans would LOVE it. Yes or no?”
The WWE official account has also stopped following Punk.
WWE and The Creative Coalition, the co-founders of the Be a STAR anti-bullying campaign awarded $125,000 in grants to five qualified non-profit public charities that develop and implement anti-bullying programs.
The five grantees of the inaugural Be a STAR grant program are The Armory Foundation from New York, New York; Blue Star Families from Falls Church, Virginia; DoSomething.org from New York, New York, East LA Boys & Girls Club from Los Angeles, California; and National Voices for Equality, Education and Enlightenment from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
“WWE is proud to implement its first-ever Be a STAR grant program, and offer five distinguished and deserving non-profits support for their anti-bullying programs,” said Stephanie McMahon, Chief Brand Officer, WWE. “Due to the overwhelming response from many deserving organizations, we decided to award an additional grant for a total of $125,000. Our hope is that these five grants will provide the additional resources needed to help combat bullying in their communities.”
WWE and BSkyB in the United Kingdom today announced that they have extended their partnership for five more years, with Sky retaining the exclusive rights for WWE programming until 2019.
Currently Sky airs all WWE programming including the twelve pay-per-views, and starting now all the twelve PPV events will air on Sky Box Office, the company’s PPV channel. In previous years, two of the pay-per-views aired for free on Sky Sports to Sky Sports subscribers.
“WWE is brilliant entertainment, and I am delighted to once again extend our relationship with them,” said Barney Francis, Managing Director, Sky Sports. “WWE is hugely popular with our viewers, and now, they can continue to watch all the big events and weekly programmes with us.”
This milestone agreement sees WWE and Sky extend their partnership beyond a whooping 30 years.
“This partnership is a testament to the passion our fans have for WWE content and the long-term growth potential for our brand worldwide,” said Gerrit Meier, Executive Vice President, International, WWE.
WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka is set to relive events that happened 31 years ago as a grand jury in Lehigh County will take a look at what happened once again in 1983 after his then girlfriend Nancy Argentino passed away after she was found gravely injured in a motel.
Snuka was never charged in the case however he was a person of interest at one point and many believe he was the one who killed the 23 year old Brooklyn native.
In 1985, the woman’s family won a $500,000 wrongful death case against Snuka, but he claimed he had no money and never paid a cent.
The New York Daily News has an article dealing with the case which you can read at http://nydn.us/1byheYB.
Sting and the WWE appear to be close to reach a deal that will see the former WCW, NWA, and TNA champion jump ship to WWE for the first time ever in his career.
Sting admitted a few years ago that he was almost headed to WWE to wrestle the Undertaker at WrestleMania but eventually decided to stay with TNA, signing a new one year deal. His latest deal expired earlier this month and Sting wrestled his last match for TNA against Magnus on Impact.
Rob Feinstein of RFVideo.com and formerly of Ring of Honor said on his Facebook page that his source said that Sting signed a deal with WWE over the past 24 hours but no one has confirmed this yet. In a later post, Feinstein said that he stands by is story as the source who told him about the deal never lied to him.
With the Undertaker scheduled to take on Brock Lesnar at this year’s WrestleMania it will be interesting to see what WWE would do with the Stinger if he did indeed sign a new deal with the company since the expectations over the last few years were a Sting vs Taker match on the big stage.
Sting’s arrival would not necessarily mean a WrestleMania match for him this year but could certainly help in other WWE properties such as the WWE Network.
WWE has rescheduled the three non-televised live events which were going to take place in February in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to April.
The three events were originally going to be on held on February 13, 14, and 15, at the Green Halls Stadium but a conflict of events at the same venue forced WWE to postpone for a couple of months later.
The change was done to accommodate the annual ceremony for the national Al Janadriyah Heritage and Cultural Festival.
“WWE remains committed to bringing WWE LIVE to Saudi Arabia for the first time ever and rescheduled its shows out of respect for the Festival and its cultural importance to Saudi fans,” said a WWE press release.
Fans who has purchased tickets already will be contacted directly by Ticketmaster to issue a new ticket with the same seat or a refund.
The Ultimate Warrior congratulated Jake “The Snake” Roberts on his WWE Hall of Fame induction after Roberts apologized for his remarks towards the Warrior when he called Warrior an a$$hole during a radio show.
“We’ve all been a-holes. Now two are #HOF inductees; each great yet unique in talent, each deserving. Congratulations, Jake,” Warrior wrote on his Twitter.
Warrior initially replied to Roberts’ rant and pretty much tore him a new one although it looks like he somewhat accepted the apology from his former WWE colleague.
“Now, who will be the next a-hole inducted? This a-hole theme for #WWEHOF Class of 2014 is becoming interesting. I like it…let’s run w/ it,” Warrior added.
Monday Night RAW this week with the fallout from the Royal Rumble did a total of 4,719,000 viewers, down 141,000 viewers from last week which saw the return of Batista.
Hour one pulled 4,849,000 viewers, followed by 4,837,000 in the second, and then down to 4,470,000 in the third and final hour. (Ratings credit: PWInsider.com)
TMZ.COM is reporting that former WWE and TNA Superstar Matt Hardy was arrested along with his wife Rebecca earlier this month at the Hampton Inn in Virginia after they got into a fight…with each other.
The recently-married couple got all bloodied and scratched up with Matt having scratches all over her face while Rebecca had a black eye, some scratches, and a fat lip.
Cops responded to a 911 call at 5:45AM after a guest told the hotel staff that someone was beating his wife or girlfriend in the room.
Both Matt and Rebecca were arrested and charged with assault and battery and later released on $3,500 bail and both of them got restraining orders against each other.
