WWE Financials/Notes; Donald/Vince; Dusty; K. Doane story; ROH 5th Anniversary; Nowinski; UFC; MMA notes

By Art Shimko
shimko_7@hotmail.com

WWE Financials/Notes; Donald/Vince; Dusty; K. Doane story; ROH 5th Anniversary; Nowinski; UFC; MMA notes

-- WWE released its financial report for the 2006 Transition Period in which finances were tracked from May 1, 2006 through December 31, 2006. Here are a few notes from the report:
- Revenues totaled $262.9 million, up from $247.7 million the previous period
- Operating income was $39.2 million, down from $44.2 million the previous period
- Net income was $31.6 million ($0.44 per share), up from as compared to $29.8 million ($0.43 per share) the previous period
- “Revenues increased 6%, despite the absence of nearly $14 million in domestic cable TV advertising. Growth was led by our live events, venue merchandise and home video businesses,” stated Linda McMahon, Chief Executive Officer.
- Live attendance revenue was said to increase in North America during this period and revenue brought in was $52.3 million as compared to $43.7 million in the prior year period. There was an increase in live events this period, at 246 events including 34 international shows along with 38 ECW events. Average attendance in North America jumped from 4,500 during the previous year period to 4,900. Excluding figures from ECW events N.A. average attendance was 5,700 compared to 4,500 in the previous year period. ECW events brought in $1.1 million with an average $25 ticket and an average attendance of 1,100 (in houses that could hold an averaged-size Monday Night RAW crowd or even half that number).
- Pay-per-view events during this current period went from Backlash to Armageddon including two ECW events, One Night Stand and December To Dismember. PPV revenue was down slightly this period at $53.4 million compared to $54.5 million the prior year period. As far as buyrates go, SummerSlam did 541,000 buys which was the highest number, the lowest being ECW December To Dismember which did a dismal 90,000 buys, and of course things can change between now and December 2007 but the company should've waited for the buyrate for that show to come out before announcing doing another December To Dismember this year.
- The complete report can be read read here.

-- - Steve Austin's movie, The Condemned, is released in theaters on 4/27.

-- During last night's RAW taping in Portland, OR (which airs this Thursday in the States), Donald Trump challenged Vince McMahon to a hair match at Wrestlemania 23. Both the ego-driven billionaires will get to choose a wrestler to fight for their cornerman's hair because whoever loses the match either Vince or The Donald will get their head shaved.

-- Raw: Eight-man mayhem!

-- Dusty Rhodes has been named the first inductee in this year's WWE Hall Of Fame.

-- The Worcester Telegram has an article on local boy-turned-WWE wrestler Ken Doane.

-- The Buffalo News reported on former WWE wrestler Chris Nowinski's visit to St. Mary's High School in Lancaster, NY discussing the severity of concussions in sports to over 300 students on Monday. He also spoke of former Philadelphia Eagles defensive back Andre Waters who commited suicide last November, "Unfortunately, I couldn't do anything for Andre, but maybe we've done something to prevent future Andres from taking their life, because they didn't understand why they feel the way they feel."

-- King Booker will make an appearance at this Saturday's AHL Houston Aeros hockey game at Houston's Toyota Center, game starts at 7:35PM.

-- The This Is TNA special on Monday night did a 1.12 rating (1.5 million viewers), as noted on www.f4wonline.com 100,000 less people saw this show then last Thursday's Impact.

-- TNA's got a new gimmick match for next month's Destination X PPV... ELEVATION X~!!! It's pretty much an old gimmick being a scaffold match for X-Division wrestlers. I'm convinced that TNA really wants to KILL OFF the X-Division, here's further proof. The best line in the report on TNA's website states that the scaffold match is an attraction not seen in the sport in nearly 20 years! That's because wrestlers hate doing that shit, I can't remember if it was Lawler or Cornette that said it, but someone in the business had said that the reason scaffold matches are slow and such is because the guys involved were scared to death of being 20 feet or so above a concrete floor and a ring on a thin plank.

-- From CZW's website: (02/13) From the Desk of Maven T. Bentley Esq.

Last Saturday, we saw something amazing. We saw the birth of a legitimate star in Combat Zone wrestling. Although it has been said before, I feel that I must say it again. A star was born.

Through the years, wrestling fans have had dream match ups. They have lusted to see return bouts. They have scrapped pennies together to see what promised to be the greatest championship bout ever promoted. Unfortunately, it seems not every bout can live up to the hype. Whether it is over exaggeration by the promoter, illness, injury, or just lack of chemistry, sometimes even the best performers can stink up a wrestling ring.

This could have happened at H8, but one man stepped up to save the show. One shining example of how great a company can be. One man, not driven by personal greed, but driven by the passion to entertain stepped up. That man was none other than DJ Hyde.

Let's face it, Adam Flash is a great performer and former champion in the Combat Zone. Chris Hero is okay, but by no means a savior of anything. That match could have been a real "stinker". But the man who has retired two useless pieces of garbage, LuFisto (check her myspace, she claims her back began hurting after wrestling DJ) and Mana (the man got so scared he ran back to Samoa or wherever he was from), stepped up and took the "combat" to the "zone". This man sacrificed his night off to ensure that the Iron Man title match would be match of the night, if not match of the year. To borrow a goofy loser's expression "I was here. Where were you?" when a star named DJ Hyde... the Iron Man champion DJ Hyde was born.

-- An article on Samoa Joe's 131 ROH matches.

-- Fans can expect action at LCW's FIRST STRIKE SHOW

-- Ultimate Fighting Machines

-- Xyience Announces Winners of the Xenergy Big Apple Girl Search

-- Blackout Media Corp. Announces The Fight Network Signs Multi-Year Deal With EliteXC to Bring "LIVE" MMA Events to Canadian Television

-- Teen fighter turning heads

-- Rising star on a ‘Rampage’
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