Reason for no Hogan on Smackdown, Linda Conference Call notes, more
    Submitted by Mr. Tito on Wednesday, February 26, 2003 at 8:49 PM EST

    Hulk Hogan apparently did not have a family emergency as it was rumored to be. Instead, he was just with his family in support of his daughter either receiving some sort of singing tryout or some kind of singing performance. It was just a situation of a father being there for his daughter. He said this while calling in to the Bubba the Love Sponge radio show, a favorite of Hogan's.

    Here are some brief notes from the Linda McMahon Conference Call yesterday:

    -"The World" was closed because it was simply not profitable to them in New York City, namely Time Square.

    -Despite some shortcomings, the WWE is still happy with the progression of the "brand extension". She also noted that ratings and attendance were up slightly in recent weeks.

    -WWE Films is currently working on an animated project, with hopes of it airing on television in 2004.

    -Linda said that the WWE was headed towards a $9 million loss for the fiscal year, but they have been making recent budget cuts to avoid that.

    -The WWE is close to purchasing 2 video libraries from 2 past federations (possibly the AWA and ECW libraries, which the WWE has been seeking lately).

    -Linda confirmed the fact that RAW and Smackdown will get their own Pay Per Views coming up.

    -Linda mentioned that the Rock will be "in and out" of RAW, and mentioned the fact that on RAW this past Monday, he was used to create new stars.

    -The Pay Per View buyrates are apparently too slow to confirm, despite numbers being low lately.

    -Linda said that the WWE keeps a large amount of cash handy in case they need to make a big talent acquisition. HOWEVER, she said the WWE has no interest in making one anytime soon.

    -There are no plans to "buy back" the WWE stock at this time, despite the stock being under 10.00 lately.

    -The WWE's goal for Wrestlemania is to obtain 850,000 buys on Pay Per View.

    -She acknowledged that Heyman was removed as the head Smackdown writer, but that he'll still be able to contribute ideas as a consultant for both shows. She dodged the real question, though, as to why Heyman was demoted as being the head Smackdown writer.

    [ Credit: 1wrestling.com ]



    UPN's top rated show was WWE Smackdown, once again. It was ranked #81 out of 125 network prime time shows rated.

    Last week's Monday Night RAW, from 10-11 pm, was the highest rated show on prime time cable television last week. It's not saying too much, though, given that prime time ratings for cable have been low lately.

    [ Credit: Yahoo! News ]



    Valley Wrestling Federation - Great Gimmicks, Multimedia, and much more!




  • Jeff Hardy Skips Court Appearance & WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2010 Rumored Names (think FACEPAINT)

  • Quick Links -
    [Back to LOP] [News Archives] [Results] [Columns] [Forums]