Updated WWE Network Subscriber Count Revealed

WWE revealed in their second-quarter earnings report that the WWE Network averaged 1.63 million paid subscribers over the second quarter of 2017. This number is up 8% from last year. 1.158 million were from the United States while 410,000 were international.

The earnings report revealed that there was also a 6% increase in revenue generated by the WWE Network and pay-per-view buys, which totals to $54.9 million. WWE Network subscription revenue increased 7% to $49.1 million from $45.9 million in the prior year quarter based on an 8% year-over-year increase in average paid subscribers to over 1.63 million.

WWE expects the average number of paid subscribers to drop to 1.54 million in the 3rd quarter.

Backstage News on the Awkward Finish to AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens at WWE Battleground

As previously noted, WWE changed the plans for the outcome of AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens at the Battleground event. Styles was originally planned to retain the title prior to the show, however they made a last minute change to the match and Owens ended up capturing the title.

Dave Meltzer provided an update on the awkward finish to the match and confirmed that the change was actually made late into the match right before the referee bumped. The people that needed to know the finish were told that AJ Styles was winning and there was some commotion backstage when the finish went down.

Who’s Idea Was For AJ Styles to Win the US Title at Madison Square Garden?

While appearing on Edge & Christian’s podcast, AJ Styles revealed that it was actually Vince McMahon’s idea for Kevin Owens to drop the United States Championship title to him at the Madison Square Garden event a few weeks back.

“To me, it’s smart. It’s something that hasn’t been done in a long time and to do it at Madison Square Garden and everybody with WWE knows that’s a big deal. I think it was awesome. I think it was very clever and I loved it.”

Styles recalled, “there was a pop, ‘he won! Yes!’ but, ‘well, who’s going to walk out there?’ and then, there was another pop because nobody walked out there. It was really cool, but it was smart to not do that every year, but every couple of years to do something like that. I think it just came down to doing something different and it was Vince’s call and no one else’s. And yeah, it was great.”

Styles went on to explain how he wouldn’t be surprised to see the WWE Championship change hands at a SmackDown Live live event.

“You never know. And who knows? When the guys wrestling, whoever it may be wrestling Jinder Mahal, they may switch it. If you’ve got John Cena working Jinder Mahal on the main event or whatever, it could possibly happen. That’s a good idea. That’s a business move to some extent.”

The Taz Show Recap – NXT Analysis, Effective Commentary in Wrestling, Will Taz Return to the Announce Booth? More!

Block 1:

Taz opens today’s show speaking briefly about last night’s episode of NXT. He says that Velveteen is a very captivating character with a terrific look, great size and a ripped body. He thinks Velveteen Dream has a plethora of potential moving forward, and if he had to pick two NXT Superstars who he believes will become legitimate stars he’d choose Dream and Aleister Black.

Speaking about the NXT commentary team, one line in particular really bothered Taz during last night’s episode. After Velveteen Dream dropped his elbow finisher from the top rope, Mauro Ranallo said, “The elbow was Macho like Randy!”. Taz cringed at that line, and he really wishes Ranallo wouldn’t have compared Veleveteen Dream to ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage.

Taz understands that Ranallo is not making this comparison maliciously and he’s doing his best to get Velveteen Dream over, but Taz doubts Vince McMahon is aware that this type of comparison is happening on a weekly basis on NXT. He doubts McMahon would approve of these young talents being compared to some of the business’ all time greats, and Taz believes Ranallo is simply trying too hard to get these guys over.

Steve Austin Believes Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar Should Headline WrestleMania

During a recent installment of the Stone Cold Podcast, Steve Austin talked about Samoa Joe and mentioned that he would put him in the main event of WrestleMania against Brock Lesnar if he had influence on the WWE booking committee.

“If I was booking WWE or if I had influence on the booking of WWE, or whatever, my Wrestlemania main event would be Joe and Brock and I would build it and by the time we got there, people would be going crazy to see it.”

Austin also talked about Nakamura being brought up to the main roster and criticized WWE for booking him like he’s just another Joe Blow.

“You bring him over and he’s going 30-minute broadways with half the damn roster. Debuted down there in WrestleMania 32, NXT, with Sami Zayn, hell of a match. Hell of a match! A lot of credit to Sami Zayn and Shinsuke, but here’s ‘The King Of Strong Style’ and all-of-a-sudden, he comes in and he’s working Dolph [Ziggler] and it took him a long time to finish off Dolph for ‘The King Of Strong Style’. Do you understand where I’m going with this gimmick? That’s booking though. What is the plan? You’ve got this guy who’s one of those talents that just don’t come around every single day. He’s special. He comes in and you treat him like he’s another Joe Blow.”

You can listen to the complete podcast here.

Shawn Michaels Working NXT Live Events This Weekend

Shawn Michaels indicated on Twitter that he will be working the NXT Live Events this weekend in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

PWInsider reports that Michaels will be working as a producer at these events. While Michaels has been helping out at the performance center, this will be his first time on the road with the yellow brand.

Alberto El Patron Remains Suspended

During today’s Global Force Wrestling conference Call with Dutch Mantell and Bruce Prichard, it was noted that Alberto El Patron’s suspension has not been lifted, despite him being cleared as a suspect in the Orlando airport incident with Paige from earlier this month.

It was noted during the call that the company is conducting their own internal investigation and once they come to a conclusion, a decision will be made.

“We’re doing an internal review of it because it’s something we don’t take lightly,” Mantel said. “When that’s completed, we will release our findings.”

Anthem Sports Refusing to Negotiate with The Hardy Boyz

It doesn’t look like you will see the “BROKEN” gimmick being used by Matt and Jeff Hardy on WWE programming anytime soon, as Anthem no longer wants to negotiate with The Hardy Boyz anymore.

While speaking to Sports Illustrated, Anthem’s Ed Nordholm touched based on the on-going issues between Anthem Sports and the rights to the “BROKEN” gimmick. When asked if The Hardy Boyz initial investment of $3000 into the gimmick would change the dynamic of the ownership, Nordholm explained why he doesn’t think it does.

“No. The company spent millions of dollars producing television last year, including all of the shows that incorporate the various aspects of the “Broken Brilliance.” I don’t know whether Jeff and Matt had some out-of-pocket expenses that they might have had on the volcano and the like, but that would not change, in any way, shape, or form, what their contracts say about who owns the IP. If they had some out-of-pocket expenses, they certainly never brought them to my attention. To suggest that they somehow funded the show is absurd.”

When asked about the possibly selling the intellectual property, Nordholm revealed that the door has been shut on The Hardy Boyz and they never plan on negotiating with them again.

“I’ve stopped thinking about this. We have a show to put on, and a company and a brand. We’ve got things on our plate that are more important than sorting out the “Broken Brilliance.” I made a genuine effort to resolve something to benefit the Hardys as a goodwill gesture to Matt. It didn’t reach a conclusion and we’re moving on. We’re not going back to it, I’m not interested in opening a new dialogue, I’m not interested in opening another conversation about it. We made our best effort, it didn’t happen, and I’m not going to negotiate all over again.”

Reby Sky Says Ed Nordholm Is Lying Through His Yellow Canadian Teeth!

It didn’t take long for Reby Hardy to respond to Ed Nordholm’s claims to Sports Illustrated regarding the on-going situation with the “BROKEN” gimmick. Nordholm basically said that the negotiations are closed with The Hardy Boyz and they don’t plan to revisit the possibility of selling the gimmick to them at all.

Reby, who has been very vocal about the whole ordeal, has took to her Twitter account to address Nordholm’s recent remarks and claimed that he’s “lying through his yellow Canadian teeth.”

AJ Styles Reacts to Taking Back the WWE United States Title

As seen on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, AJ Styles participated and won a Fatal 3-Way match for the United States Championship against Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens. WWE posted a Fallout video where Styles talks to Renee Young about his win.

In the video, Styles says he just proved that Owens isn’t the man to carry the US Title, which he’s been telling people. AJ would go on to mention that the title represents the workhorse of WWE and that is AJ Styles.

Styles also posted the following on Twitter regarding the victory:

Paige Reacts to False Reports of Arrest Warrant Being Issued

Several non-reliable websites reported yesterday that Orlando PD issued an arrest warrant over the Orlando airport incident that involved Paige and Alberto El Patron. The report claimed that the District Attorney was moving forward with the charges and a warrant was issued for her arrest.

Paige addressed these false reports on Twitter with the following remarks:

Brock Lesnar Says He’d Fight Jon Jones — Anytime! Anywhere!

During a Facebook Live chat, UFC Fighter Jon Jones was asked about possibly having a fight against Brock Lesnar sometime down the line. Jones responded, “It would be a massive draw, really big for the sport.”

He continued, “It would be a great challenge. [He’s] a big old boy. I doubt Brock Lesnar would take that fight, though. I definitely wouldn’t try to wrestle with him the whole time. I’m not going to tell you what I would do.”

Jones also spoke to BT sports and made similar remarks when asked about a possible fight against the current WWE Universal Champion. You can check it out in the video embedded below:

Greg Beacham of The Associated Press reached out to Lesnar about Jones’ comments and Lesnar responded, “Would I fight Jon Jones? Anytime. Anywhere. Right now he should be worried about [Cormier] on Saturday night.”