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Citing that an "unreliable online news source" published the report, the piece featured quotes from HHH about the developmental system.
Triple H commented, "It is absolutely not true. FCW is not closing. I don’t know how the rumor started but I believe it’s a situation where the ‘dirt sheets’ want to believe they have the scoop on everything. If anything, we are in the process of ramping up our entire developmental system. It’s the lifeblood of our company. It’s what feeds our future and in no way are we going to close it down."
When asked about plans to relocate developmental and taking FCW tapings outside of Tampa, HHH commented, "There are plans in the works, but nothing definitive I can discuss right now. Shortly after WrestleMania, there will be a major announcement about our developmental system."
As I wrote earlier today, there have been plans to move the FCW TV Tapings outside of the FCW school in Tampa in recent weeks. The most likely location appears to be The Full Sail University facility, where WWE filmed several secret pilots a few months ago.
In regard to the idea of expanding the developmental system, there has been talk for years of expanding to add something in the Northeast, but the company has never pulled the trigger on those plans. Some of the discussed plans in the past ranged from running a small promotion (think ECW in 1990s level in small facilities) to a system where the top prospects in developmental would work and train in CT directly before going to the main roster, so WWE Creative and production could have a hand in grooming them before they debut. There were also plans several years ago to open a number of smaller regional groups as developmental outlets, but again, the trigger was never pulled on those plans.
The WWE article did not address the end of FCW TV on The Brighthouse Sports Network, which Brighthouse confirmed this morning to PWInsider.com.
PWInsider.com did not report that FCW was closing down, but did break that the stories making the rounds were false, according to WWE sources. WWE has now gone on the record to back that.
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Mike: With all that said, Triple H taking a shot at news outlets is ironic in a way, since the company refuses to have a relationship with websites such as ours. The reality is that unless you are attached to a major online entity (think Yahoo), a mainstream radio station or a mainstream newspaper, they will not provide you with access. Trying to build and maintain a relationship with the company is haphazard at best. Until WWE offers an open line of communication for reputable online news providers, it's unfair to batch everyone into one group - and equally unfair to complain about reports being untrue when they don't provide the forum for outlets such as PWInsider.com to seek confirmations and denials on news stories. They can't close the doors of communications and then complain about it.
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