• WWE announced a new deal where they have sold the exclusive U.S. distribution rights of the WWE Network to the Peacock streaming service. Peacock will now have the entire past, present, and future WWE catalogue for the duration of the deal with Peacock.
• U.S. subscribers now have the opportunity to get their subscription for $4.99 with ads or $9.99 without ads. Some people will even get free access if they live in a home using Comcast or Cox cable.
• The start date for this deal is March 18 when all current WWE Network subscribers will be ported over to Peacock.
• From a financial perspective, this deal is great for WWE. Various reports are valuing the deal at 1 Billion Dollars for 4 years. That’s a lot more than WWE currently makes selling subscriptions themselves. It is also guaranteed, so they can worry less about spikes and dips in their subscription numbers.
• From Peacock’s point of view, they’re very late to the subscription game. It gives them exclusive content and over a million new subscribers on Day 1. In theory, the new subscriber base should be happy considering they’ll be getting a lot more content for the same or lesser money. Peacock will hope to see advertisements that air during the heavily watched WWE content. That will be how they make back their investment.
• It’s unclear how well searching for wrestlers will work within Peacock nor do we know if the shows will have segments like they do today that allow you to skip to a particular match on the card.

More WWE News

• WWE sent out a press release on 1/25 announcing that they expect record 2020 financial results. The company estimates its full year 2020 Adjusted OIBDA (unaudited) to be approximately $286 million, which would be a record, up nearly 60% from the prior year.
• WWE plans to release fourth quarter and full-year 2020 financial and operating results on Thursday, February 4, 2021. The Company will hold a conference call at 5:00 pm ET the same day to discuss these results.
• The WWE Icons Documentary Series will debut on this Sunday 1/31. The first episode focuses on Yokozuna
• WWE held a Superstar Spectacle show on the WWE Network featuring main roster and developmental talent of Indian heritage. The show was held in honor of India’s republic day.
• Rod McMahon, the elder brother of Vince McMahon, passes away at the age of 77
• Straight Up Steve Austin Season 2 Ratings
  • 1/11/2021 – Premiere, Luke Combs – 598,000
  • 1/18/2021 – Ice-T – 698,000
  • 1/25/2021 – Tiffany Hadish – 703,000
  • Lowest for Season One was 841,000 on the Gabriel Iglesias Episode
• Brie and Nikki Bella told Mario Lopez (guest host of the Ellen Show) that they will return to the ring. They specifically point to WrestleManias in Dallas and Los Angeles. They want to challenge for the Tag Titles.

• Male Rumble Participants: Daniel Bryan, Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Otis, Jeff Hardy, Jey Uso, The Miz, Cesaro, Edge, Big E, Sheamus, John Morrison, Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, Dolph Ziggler, Mustafa Ali
• Female Rumble Participants: Nia Jax, Charlotte Flair, Bianca Belair, Bayley, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke, Shayna Baszler, Alexa Bliss, Peyton Royce, Tamina, Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott
• Roman Reigns v. Kevin Owens – Universal Championship
• Drew McIntyre v. Goldberg – WWE Championship
• Charlotte Flair and Asuka v. Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax – Tag Team Championships
• WWE announced that multi-platinum recording artist and international superstar Bad Bunny will perform his hit single “Booker T” off his new album “El Último Tour Del Mundo” live for the first time at Royal Rumble

NXT

• Next Week (2/3)
  • Lucha House Party v. Legado del Fantasma – Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic
  • Undisputed Era v. Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher – Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic
  • Santos Escobar v. Curt Stallion – NXT Cruiserweight Championship

NXT UK

• Pretty Deadly won a Four Way Match to earn a Tag Team Championship Match against Gallus.
• Trent Seven told Jordan Devlin that he would cut 35 pounds to wrestle him for the cruiserweight championship.
• Bailey Matthews, son of William Regal, has signed with NXT UK.
• Meiko Satomura, a Japanese legend, and former Mae Young Classic competitor signed with NXT UK
• Tony Gill and Metehan Kocabasoglu also signed with NXT UK.
• Next Week:
  • Jordan Devlin Continues the Cruiserweight Open Challenge
  • Nina Samuels v. Xia Brookside

Monday Night Raw

Smackdown

Here and There

My 1,360 page e-book has the 2020 win-loss data for over 400 wrestlers that competed in AEW, WWE, ROH, Impact, and NXT. Every page is in full color, and I’ve also included a bunch of retrospective articles and top 10 lists.

Purchase Here: www.TheWinsandLosses.com

One customer printed out several pages and has been getting them signed by wrestlers. That’s a really fun use for this reference book.

I have this massive collection of wrestling stats and articles priced at $20, but I want people to see my work. If you email me ([email protected]), I’ll happily give you a discount code for 50% off.

If you have a wrestling podcast or if you write for a wrestling website, this could be a valuable tool when discussing professional wrestling in the year 2020.

The Body Slam Brigade Newsletter comes out on Friday, but if you want news closer to real-time, Body Slam Brigade author Ryan Joy is hosting a new podcast called the Daily Wrestling News Show!

The show is live every day at 10 AM on Facebook and You Tube or you can subscribe to the audio version on Apple, Spotify, or pretty much anywhere else you get podcasts. Use the links below to find the show!

Subscribe on Apple Podcast: Click Here
Subscribe Spotify: Click Here
Watch Live on Facebook: Click Here
Watch Live on You Tube: Click Here

Essential Wrestling Podcast Episode 38 – Click Here