Tag: espn

ESPN’s Ric Flair 30 for 30 gets its premiere date

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The edition of 30 for 30 that ESPN has been producing on Ric Flair finally has its air date.

ESPN announced today that “Nature Boy,” a documentary on Flair’s life and career in pro wrestling, will premiere on Tuesday, November 7th at 10 p.m. ET. The project is directed by Rory Karpf and has been in the works since 2015.

Triple H, Hulk Hogan, Ricky Steamboat, Baby Doll, Tully Blanchard, The Undertaker, Arn Anderson, Shawn Michaels, Sting, and Road Warrior Animal are listed as being interviewed for the 30 for 30, along with Flair’s first wife, his children, and others close to him.

“I grew up a huge wrestling fan in the 1980s and I was captivated by Ric Flair,” Karpf said. “It’s been a personally rewarding experience to tell the story of arguably the greatest wrestler of all time. Ric’s story transcends the wrestling business, and my hope is that it will appeal to wrestling and non-wrestling fans alike.”

Karpf has previously directed editions of 30 for 30 that were focused on basketball player Christian Laettner (and the dislike that some fans had for him) and race car driver Tim Richmond. John Dahl, an executive producer for 30 for 30, noted that Karpf’s interview with Flair for the Laettner documentary convinced them that he would be a fascinating subject to feature.

The 30 for 30 on Flair won’t be the first to focus on a subject related to pro wrestling, with “This Was the XFL” having been released earlier this year. A 30 for 30 short about the Von Erich family also came out in 2015.

The trailer for “Nature Boy” is available to watch below:

WOOOOOO!!! It’s official… Our #30for30, #NatureBoy, on @RicFlairNatrBoy will debut November 7th on ESPN.

Details: https://t.co/xRepS0jTGCpic.twitter.com/Pua4OZcdK3

— ESPN Films 30 for 30 (@30for30) July 26, 2017

Seth Rollins to make an announcement on Monday’s SportsCenter

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Another WWE star is set to make an announcement on Monday.

WWE posted that Seth Rollins will be appearing on ESPN SportsCenter at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time on Monday to make a “big announcement.”

Roman Reigns will be making a SummerSlam announcement on Raw from Evansville later that night.

Daniel Bryan, who has been off television while his wife was in her final stages of pregnancy and giving birth, returns as the SmackDown General Manager on Tuesday night in Dayton.

WWE is attempting to rebound from record low ratings. Raw, due to the NBA playoff final, tied its lowest rating in history, which was the night of the Trump-Clinton debate.

SmackDown drew its second lowest mark since moving to Tuesday, beating only the show that went head-to-head with election night.

Meanwhile, Impact did its highest rating in three months, Lucha Underground’s numbers were way up this week, and Ultimate Fighter did its biggest number in two seasons, so the record lows are not a pattern for other similar programming this past week.

Figure Four Weekly 4/10/2017: ESPN’s complicated relationship with WWE

Posted on by F4W Staff

As Mauro Ranallo’s absence from the SmackDown broadcast booth nears a month and may become permanent, concerns about the legitimacy of ESPN’s coverage of WWE have again been raised.

Singling out ESPN from a group of mainstream media outlets that provide similarly toothless reporting probably isn’t entirely fair, but the prominence of ESPN and their expanding relationship with WWE has made it so they will be criticized every time they fail to give a story that is critical of WWE the attention that it deserves.

ESPN was on location at WrestleMania for a second year in a row in Orlando. They launched a WWE-centric section of their website last August and continue to fill it with content daily.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

Josh Nason’s Punch-Out: ESPN’s Brett Okamoto on DJ, Conor & Bjorn

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: Sherdog

With five December UFC events to look forward to and another newsworthy week in the books for the MMA game, ESPN reporter, podcaster, and all-around swell guy Brett Okamoto dropped by Josh Nason’s Punch-Out to help recap the last seven days.

Among the topics covered in this nearly one-hour show:

– Brett’s launch into the podcasting world (5ive Rounds) and what he’s learned so far

– The promotional plight UFC found themselves in this week with flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson

– Josh’s plan for Johnson to eventually return to bantamweight and Brett’s reasoning as to why that might not happen

– This week’s introduction of a new MMA fighters association and the strange feeling of having Bjorn Rebney be part of it

– The barriers the group faces in achieving their goals

– How much of Conor McGregor’s new boxing license is posturing and how much is legit

– Could a McGregor/Mayweather PPV break the record set by Mayweather/Pacquiao?

Click below to listen:

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ESPN debuting XFL edition of ’30 for 30′ in February

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Image: ESPN

The story of the XFL will soon be coming to your television screens.

ESPN announced in a press release on Thursday morning that an edition of their 30 for 30 documentary series focusing on the XFL would premiere on February 2nd at 9 p.m. ET. The project — titled “This was the XFL” — was previously announced by Jonathan Coachman on an edition of The Ross Report with Jim Ross last May.

It seems that Vince McMahon will be heavily present in the documentary, with ESPN’s press release touting that it will feature both McMahon and NBC executive Dick Ebersol. Director by Ebersol’s son Charlie, the documentary will focus on McMahon and Ebersol’s friendship as they attempted to build the failed football league.

Calling the league a “bold challenge, a fearless experiment and ultimately, a spectacular failure,” the press release noted that the documentary will focus not only on the failure of the XFL, but the influence it had on the way that sporting events are broadcast today.

The XFL operated as a collaboration between WWE and NBC for one season in 2001 while losing tens of millions of dollars for both companies.

Daniel Bryan: ‘Very little’ of Miz confrontation was scripted

Posted on by Joseph Currier

On WWE’s weekly SportsCenter segment with Jonathan Coachman, Daniel Bryan again addressed his heated exchange with The Miz from last week’s Talking Smack.

The confrontation between the two generated significant buzz online with many questioning how much of it was scripted. And in response to Coachman, Bryan finally answered the question.

“Very little, so I just knew that Miz was going to come up, we were just going to banter back and forth. But Miz and I have known each other for a long time, and we really know how to get like at each other’s nerves. I brought up the idea that he wrestled like a coward, and he knows I don’t like the way he wrestles, right? I just don’t like it; it’s not my thing. And I called him out on that. And then he called me out on something that’s very personal to me.”

Bryan said Miz knows he’s constantly having feelings of wanting to get back into the ring because he loves wrestling so much. But, Bryan says he knows it’s not a smart idea and his wife keeps him in check. Bryan reiterated his words from this week’s edition of Talking Smack, saying he sometimes thinks Miz is right and he thinks of himself as a coward for not returning to wrestling.

Bryan noted that part of him wanted to punch Miz in the face during the segment, but he figured it wasn’t such a smart idea on live TV.

Coachman asked how the two move forward, and Bryan said it would be interesting to see. He said he thinks WWE will keep them away from each other for a little bit because they know how intense it can get between the two of them, especially now that SmackDown is live.  

The segment from SportsCenter is available to watch below:

Triple H defends WWE booking in ESPN interview

Posted on by Joseph Currier

As part of launch day content for ESPN.com’s newly-created WWE dedicated section, Triple H (real name Paul Levesque) was interviewed by ESPN’s KC Joyner about booking and wrestling psychology.

In the interview, WWE’s Chief Operating Officer offered a results-oriented defense of WWE’s booking and was critical of those who use the term 50/50 booking.

“When somebody goes, ‘Well, you just can’t get people over with 50/50 booking,’ [I’ll always say] ‘Oh, I’m sorry, how’s your territory coming? Because this one seems to be doing pretty good over here.’ We just had the largest WrestleMania in history.” Triple H said. “People talk a lot of smack about ratings and things, but they don’t understand all of the dynamics of everything we do. They don’t. They sit on the internet and they read one thing and they give their point of view.”

On the topic of wins and losses, Triple H said that he doesn’t keep track of them and those decisions are more of a feel thing.

“Sometimes you’re beating a talent because you want to beat them and that’s the sympathetic reaction you’re trying to elicit. There are some talents that, when you beat them, they get more popular, but as soon as they start on a winning path, their popularity begins to wane… People want that underdog to strive to succeed and then get a little bit of success and then get knocked back off that perch and be the underdog again.”

Triple H acknowledged that critical opinions matter, but again came back to WWE’s success by mentioning that WWE will sell out the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY three nights in a row over SummerSlam weekend.

ESPN.com expands WWE coverage with new dedicated section

Posted on by Josh Nason

When ESPN began airing weekly interviews with WWE talent last fall, there were a lot of eyebrows raised among the anti-wrestling collective as to why the two were getting into content bed together.

Imagine their reaction Thursday morning when ESPN officially launched a WWE section on their website — a major happening for the Worldwide Leader In Sports.

The section will include news, results, profiles, championship lineages, and rankings with the Cheap Heat podcast as one of their flagship pieces of content. They have launched Twitter and Facebook accounts as well.

To be fair, ESPN has a lot of sections available for fans, ranging from major sports to niche ones like horse racing, endurance sports, and eSports in an effort to capture different audiences. Like with those other sports, adding WWE isn’t going to mean NFL and NBA coverage lessens.

What is going to be interesting to see play out is how ESPN covers WWE. Will they take an approach of kayfabe and analysis? Play it straight? If a major injury happens, could that get in the pole position on ESPN’s home page? If so, imagine the reaction from traditional sports fans and media critics alike.

But in a March media column penned by SI’s Richard Deitsch, the media critic (and wrestling fan) pointed out why ESPN was so interested in providing WWE coverage: the numbers.

Glenn Jacobs, senior coordinating producer of ESPN’s New & Next Group (a 25-30-person group that focuses on new content plays for the company), said his staff has spent a lot of time researching what ESPN viewers are paying attention to on social media.

They found that ESPN viewers are very interested in WWE content. For example: Last Monday’s WWE Raw, which airs on USA Network, was the most-talked about topic among SportsCenter’s nearly 26 million Twitter followers (The ESPN researchers look at hashtags and keywords). WWE content, in fact, drew three times as many as mentions as the second-most talked about topic that night​: LeBron James.

Jacobs said WWE Raw has been a top five talked-about topic over the last five weeks among SportsCenter followers on Twitter and a top 10 topic for 15 straight weeks.

“We are seeing a really strong and clear correlation between wrestling and those followers, and that helps make the argument all the more clear that this is something our fans care about,” Jacobs said. “So why should we not try to serve them? Data takes it out of the theoretical and into reality.”

The column also cited six figure video play counts for both Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns interviews as further proof why ESPN wants in the WWE business.

The wrestling media world officially has a new player. What happens next is anyone’s guess.

John Cena to host 2016 ESPYs, first match back is official

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Former WWE Champion John Cena announced today that he would be the host of this year’s ESPY awards on July 13. Additionally, his first match back from injury is now being advertised.

The ESPY spot is his biggest breakthrough when it comes to exposure within mainstream sports, and is a significant coup for WWE to get one of its performers so prominently placed before that audience.

The ESPYs are ESPN’s fan voting awards for a number of different sports categories, aired on their main network and treated like other major award shows with a red carpet, celebrities from all walks of entertainment, pre-show, etc.

On the in-ring front, Cena returns to WWE on the May 30 Raw in Green Bay, Wisconsin, teaming with WWE Champion Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose against A.J. Styles & Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows.

That would indicate his first major show appearance would be June 19 at the Money in the Bank PPV from the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV.

March 29, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: ESPN program on drug deaths in the pro wrestling industry, ECW Living Dangerously review, more

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

The 3/30 ESPN “Outside the Lines” television show one hour piece on the pro wrestling industry has become something very much talked about within an industry that seemingly only sees reporting as black and white. Either pieces are favorable, or in most cases, they are considered negative. I suspect the ESPN piece will be fair and the best of its kind. 

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

Josh Nason’s Punch-Out: ESPN’s Brett Okamoto on Hendricks vs. Wonderboy, UFC free agency madness

Posted on by Josh Nason

With such a busy week in the world of cagefighting and with an event scheduled for Las Vegas Saturday night, the 32nd edition of Josh Nason’s Punch-Out flew virtually to the Nevada desert to catch up with ESPN.com MMA writer Brett Okamoto.

Also, this is a free show so share it and help a guy out, won’t you?

For an hour, Josh and Brett wrestled with such issues as:

– Has Brett ever gone to work with a strep throat?

– Does he care about the possiblity of the Las Vegas Raiders?

– Where he was when he got the call from ESPN and the changes with the MMA department since he’s been there

– His thoughts on Benson Henderson’s departure to Bellator and what it could signal for MMA free agency in the future

– Where Josh hopes Alistair Overeem, Matt Mitrione, and Aljamain Sterling will land

– The plight of Sage Northcutt, whether he should have even fought Saturday, and the fallout online from his loss

– What do you do with Cain Velasquez next?

– The prospect of Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier II

– The California weight cutting changes and whether it actually means anything for the UFC

– A look ahead at UFC Fight Night Saturday with Johny Hendricks vs. Stephen Thompson, Roy Nelson’s prospects, interesting fights

– And more!

*****

Right click below to download or just click and stream the damn thing.

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Ric Flair’s legacy to be documented by ESPN’s 30 for 30

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Coming on the heels of the acclaimed Prince of Pennsylvania 30 For 30 that aired two weeks ago, ESPN is going in a completely different wrestling direction with a new pro wrestling piece. Legacy Talent and wrestling legend Ric Flair announced today that the 16-time world champion started shooting a 30 For 30 piece on his career.

It’s unclear whether it’s a full length doc, a 30-minute short, or even a 10-minute version.

“We named this company Legacy Talent because it’s our mission to help preserve the legacies that our clients have worked a lifetime to build,” stated Flair’s management company in a press release.  “Yesterday we took a huge step in documenting Ric Flair’s legacy by starting to shoot his 30 for 30 ESPN Film. We are honored to work with such a prestigious group on a project we are so passionate about!”

ESPN ran a 15-minute 30-For-30 short on the Von Erichs earlier this year.

WWE/Evolve agreement, Seth Rollins to appear on ESPN

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

WWE has agreed to send Sami Zayn to the Evolve live shows on Saturday and Sunday night in Queens, NY, and Deer Park, NY, for non-wrestling appearances.

Zayn, currently out of action due to shoulder surgery, will be doing an autograph signing and posing for pictures with fans both nights.  He will also be doing something in the ring but it will only be for the live audience as they are not allowing him to appear on the iPPV portion of the show it is believed.

WWE is working with Evolve as a place for talent WWE is interested in to work before they go to WWE, as WWE doesn’t want to sign talent if at all possible that has been on national cable or can be merchandised in some form based on prior agreements.

Seth Rollins is scheduled to appear on ESPN Sports Center at 9 p.m. tomorrow night .  Jonathan Coachman, who will be on with Rollins, has teased a major announcement regarding WWE and ESPN within the next 48 hours.