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WWE will kick off their week tonight with Monday Night Raw from The Nassau Coliseum, their first event since the Coliseum's renovations. The entire show will be built around the Superstar Shakeup with talents moving from Raw to Smackdown Live and vice versa.
Prior to the Nassau Coliseum shutting down in May 2015 for a complete renovation that saw capacity lowered, WWE had been running there for decades, dating back to the early 1970s when the Coliseum first opened. The first episode of Saturday Night's Main Event was taped in the venue and the second Wrestlemania had it's New York portion featuring Mr. T boxing Roddy Piper hosted there. The venue also hosted a number of PPVs over the years, including Summerslam 2002 which saw Shawn Michaels return to the ring against HHH, Brock Lesnar win his first WWE championship and was one of the best top to bottom WWE shows ever. WWE already has a 12/19 return date booked at Nassau.
Following Raw, the WWE Network will air a new episode of Ride Along featuring Miz and Maryse ad well as Carmella and Alexa Bliss.
The Shakeup will continue tomorrow on Smackdown Live in Boston, MA. They will also broadcast 205 Live from Boston tomorrow.
Christy St. Olson, who had been working for Maria Menounos' AfterbuzzTV has been signed as an broadcast personality and has already started in Orlando. We reported a few weeks ago she was at the Performance Center for a final tryout in the Elite section of PWInsider.com.
Alberto el Patron's rant about WWE and the "guy with the big nose" has been picked up by several mainstream UK outlets, including The Sun and The Mirror because of the Paige connection. You know WWE has to be thrilled with that. Patron has also claimed that before debuting with Impact, WWE contacted him about returning to the company. WWE sources we have checked with confirm that story, stating that it was a Vince McMahon idea.
WWE will broadcast a new episode of WWE NXT this Wednesday featuring the official re-debut of Drew McIntyre. The McIntyre signing came about the same day as NXT Takeover: Orlando. The two sides had been talking since he left Impact but had not locked in a deal. We are told that McIntyre finally agreed to terms for a one year deal specifically for the NXT brand on 4/1, which is why he pulled out of the WWNLive Supershow that was scheduled for the same time as Takeover. McIntyre played the return so close to the vest that some of his best friends didn't know he was returning until he was on TV.
Lio Rush, who finished with Ring of Honor over the weekend, was backstage at Raw last Monday in Orlando. There has been a lot of interest in signing him for NXT. Rush started out in Maryland at the MCW training academy as a tag team with current NXT talent Patrick Clark.
Jinder Mahal responded to online scrutiny of his physique via Instagram over the weekend, writing, "#TBT to a few weeks ago, no idea exactly when or where... Anyone else on the roster have veins in their abs ??... And of course I'll get a hundred "steroid" or "wellness" comments .... I've been tested multiple times since coming back, and have never once in over 6 years with WWE had any issues. Follow my IG stories or my SnapChat and you can see that no one is out-training me, and no one is out-dieting me."
WWE NXT has live events this Thursday in Atlanta, GA, Friday in Spartanburg, SC and Saturday 4/15 in Concord, NC. Shinsuke Nakamura is slated to work the events. If anyone is attending, we are seeking live reports.
Frank J. Wilson sent the following....Sunday's NY Daily News and their celebrity gossip page, Confidential, features a few HOT photos of WCW/WWE alum Torrie Wilson, who was identified as "Bodybuilder, former professional wrestler and ex-Alex Rodriguez gal pal..." The two photos included are from a photo shoot in Miami and one especially cheeky pic is tagged as "Photo of the Day." They can be found at this link. The write-up also mentions Torrie's friendship with Stacy Keibler and Stacy's two-year relationship with George Clooney.
WWE has released a new "It's True, It's Damn True" Kurt Angle shirt. Thanks to Paul Jordan.
WWE issued the following press release today:
04/10/2017 TOKYO & STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- WWE (NYSE:WWE) and DAZN today announced that WWE’s flagship programs Raw® and SmackDown® will be available live in Japan with Japanese commentary for the first time ever, beginning tomorrow at 9AM on DAZN.
Fans will be able to live stream all three hours of Raw and two hours of SmackDown exclusively on DAZN. Raw will be available live every week on Tuesdays at 9AM, while SmackDown will be available live every week on Wednesdays at 9AM. Fans will now be able to follow all the action in real time featuring their favorite WWE Superstars, including Japan’s own Shinsuke Nakamura™. Raw and SmackDown will also be available via video on demand for DAZN customers.
In addition, fans will soon be able to watch other WWE featured content and highlight shows on DAZN, including WWE Experience®, WWE Bottomline®, and WWE This Week™(release dates of these shows to be announced). Fans can download the DAZN App and watch WWE content on Smart TVs, smartphones, tablets and gaming consoles, as well as via Chromecast on iOS and Android.
“We’re really excited to add WWE to our portfolio in Japan,” said John Gleasure, Chief Commercial Officer of DAZN. “Raw and SmackDown complement and strengthen our overall international sport offering, plus the live and non-live content available for fans to watch works perfectly for our business model.”
“Our new partnership with DAZN will enable WWE to engage with fans in Japan like never before,” said Ed Wells, WWE Executive Vice President, International. “DAZN will provide WWE fans with a destination to watch Raw and SmackDown live and in Japanese on the device of their choice and follow WWE Superstar Shinsuke Nakamura as he continues his WWE journey.”
WWE joins DAZN’s strong portfolio of international sports which includes La Liga, Bundesliga, Major League Baseball, Formula One and UFC.
About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE:WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming reaches more than 650 million homes worldwide in 20 languages. WWE Network, the first-ever 24/7 over-the-top premium network that includes all live pay-per-views, scheduled programming and a massive video-on-demand library, is currently available in more than 180 countries. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, Munich and Tokyo.
Additional information on WWE (NYSE:WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/.
About DAZN
DAZN is a revolutionary live sports streaming service that lets fans to watch their sport, their way. With access to the world’s best sports, including top European football, US sports, tennis, darts and more, fans can watch their favorite teams, leagues and players at home or on the go for an affordable monthly price. DAZN features the widest array of live sports ever offered on one TV service and has the ability to play, pause and rewind any game with no commercial interruptions and no long-term fixed contracts. Currently available in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan, fans can find DAZN on most connected devices including Smart TVs, smartphones, tablets and games consoles. For more information please go to http://media.dazn.com/en/.
About Perform Group
Perform is a leading digital sports content and media group. Our mission is to connect the world of sport by supplying some of the quickest, most detailed and most engaging content, managing a network of wholly-owned global media brands and delivering premium sports content directly to fans. Our B2B brands do this by contributing to one of the world’s most comprehensive sports content collections and distribution operations, servicing global customers in the broadcast, digital media and bookmaking industries. By investing in and developing our own media brands, we create destinations in which global advertisers and brands can engage with a huge worldwide audience of sports fans across all types of digital platform. Most recently, Perform has been working on the launch of DAZN, a new live sports streaming service. Visit http://www.performgroup.com/ for further information. Perform Group is majority-owned by Access Industries, a privately-held US industrial group with global strategic investments in four key sectors: natural resources and chemicals; media and telecommunications; technology and e-commerce; and real estate. Access Industries was founded in 1986 by its Chairman, Len Blavatnik, a major American industrialist and philanthropist. For more information, visit www.accessindustries.com.
Trademarks: All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to: WWE Network; major distribution agreements; our need to continue to develop creative and entertaining programs and events; the possibility of a decline in the popularity of our brand of sports entertainment; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent K. McMahon; possible adverse changes in the regulatory atmosphere and related private sector initiatives; the highly competitive, rapidly changing and increasingly fragmented nature of the markets in which we operate and greater financial resources or marketplace presence of many of our competitors; uncertainties associated with international markets; our difficulty or inability to promote and conduct our live events and/or other businesses if we do not comply with applicable regulations; our dependence on our intellectual property rights, our need to protect those rights, and the risks of our infringement of others’ intellectual property rights; the complexity of our rights agreements across distribution mechanisms and geographical areas; potential substantial liability in the event of accidents or injuries occurring during our physically demanding events including, without limitation, claims relating to CTE; large public events as well as travel to and from such events; our feature film business; our expansion into new or complementary businesses and/or strategic investments; our computer systems and online operations; a possible decline in general economic conditions and disruption in financial markets; our accounts receivable; our revolving credit facility; litigation; our potential failure to meet market expectations for our financial performance, which could adversely affect our stock; Vincent K. McMahon exercises control over our affairs, and his interests may conflict with the holders of our Class A common stock; a substantial number of shares are eligible for sale by the McMahons and the sale, or the perception of possible sales, of those shares could lower our stock price; and the relatively small public “float” of our Class A common stock. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends (including under our revolving credit facility), general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant. Forward-looking statements made by the Company speak only as of the date made and are subject to change without any obligation on the part of the Company to update or revise them. Undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with the Company’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of the Company’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.
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