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WWE RELEASING NETWORK VIEWERSHIP, BATISTA'S TURN AND MORE

By Mike Johnson on 2014-03-13 09:00:00
When will WWE release viewership information on their Network? I'd like to know what the #s of the different shows are doing.

If I am WWE, never. WWE has stated they will release subscriber information on 4/7. They will have to release that as a public company. In terms of the viewership of shows, I wouldn't be surprised if WWE never officially releases them. Netflix doesn't release information for "House of Cards" and I don't expect WWE will ever release anything for "Legends House, etc."

It was reported that WWE's Main Event was scheduled to be televised live on the WWE Network from this point on starting Tuesday. Does this mean that Main Event will no longer be seen on Ion Television Wednesday evening?

Main Event is scheduled on Ion through the end of April.

Would you like the idea of holding a couple Saturday Night?s Main Event specials on the WWE Network a year? I think I remember hearing that WWE was upset with the promotion that NBC gave the show in recent years and haven?t had more since because of that. I think that if promoted properly, they could be big for the WWE Network.

I'm open for any original programming WWE can provide for their audience. I think they should absolutely do Saturday Night's Main Events, King of the Ring tournaments, etc. Whatever gives the consumers more bang for their buck, I am happy to hear about and watch.

I am wondering why some legendary wrestlers aren't in the HOF. The Steiners, Freebirds, and other notables who have had awesome careers not yet inducted. I guess the question is why? Especially the Steiners. Great tag and solo careers and not yet inducted.

It is pretty much up to WWE to make the call as to when certain names will get inducted. There's no real voting committee or criteria beyond who WWE wants to honor in a given year. Sometimes regional recognition is given and talents are inducted in certain markets because of their history there, but beyond that, it's all about when WWE wants to honor them.

Do you think it was a good idea to do a quick 180 with Batista and turn him heel? Surely the powers-that-be realize that the boos he was generating weren't heel heat, but rather "we don't want to see you main event Wrestlemania" heat. Or is the heel turn more of a way to give the announcers an easy out to justify the negative crowd reaction?

I think it's a little of each. It's a way to justify the reaction as well as a way to try and come up with a way to give the audience a storyline they might want to see him in. As far as turning him, they had to do something since he seemed pretty dead in the water after a few weeks back. In fact, by the time his first segment had ended, it felt like he had never left with very little fresh about him. That wasn't a good sign right out of the blocks. It's Wrestlemania, so WWE had to do something.

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