Black Widow
06-03-2008, 10:50 PM
FANS WANT CENA TO GO TO ECW, VINCE CALLS HIMSELF A 'CRAZY BILLIONAIRE' AND MORE NOTES FROM WWE'S PRESS CONFERENCE IN LOS ANGELES
The broadcast of today's WWE press conference from the Staples Center in Los Angeles opened with a video package focusing on WWE stars making mainstream television appearances and then various celebrities that have appeared on WWE programming over the last several years. The big surprise here was the actually used clips of Jay Leno wrestling for WCW in the video package.
The video package then switched to detailing WWE's work with Make A Wish Foundation, the Smackdown Your Vote initiative and the Tribute To The Troops show. The package then went over the schedule WWE keeps (two hours of live TV every Monday with no reruns, 200 non-televised events, etc.).
Todd Grisham welcomed us to the live press conference at the Staples Center. As usual, there were a lot more fans than press in attendance. Grisham then introduced the "star" of the show, and they brought out the case with the million dollars in it and placed the cash in the glass podium. It actually took a while to get all the money out of the case and place it in the podium. Luckily, the money has a long theme song.
John Cena was then introduced, to a mixed reaction of cheers and boos. There was a "Cena" chant as he approached the podium. Then there were boos. Cena said "For those of you who have never been here with us before, that is the sound of passion". Cena talked about the passion of the fans for WWE, and said that WWE giving away a million dollars shows their passion for them. Cena said Vince McMahon giving away this money shows his passion for his product and his fans. Cena pretty much did a huge hype promo about WWE's growth for the media. There were "boring" chants from fans as Cena compared WWE to various sports, saying WWE has done better in 20 years (Cena said WWE went nation in the mid-80's) than the NHL, NFL, MLB and other sports did in their first 20 years. Cena kept stating that he was making these comments for the "first time" media representatives.
Maria was out next. She put over being in Los Angeles, and the fact that the money has it's own entrance music. The fans went into a Cryme Tyme "Money, money, yeah, yeah", interrupting Maria. Maria said being on Raw is "pretty awesome" and that she doesn't want to go anywhere else. Maria put over the fans, then introduced the representative from E-Prize, Executive President Gabe Karp.
The fans chanted "Who are you?" at Karp. He said "We're the guys who make sure you get the money?" The fans gave him the "What" treatment as he put over his company. Karp seemed amused by it all. He put over the spike in Internet traffic after Vince's announcement last night. He said over 300,000 people have already registered. They had Maria show everyone how to register, using a laptop next to the podium. The fans chanted "She's On MySpace" while she filled out the information.
I'm usually not in favor of fans being at a press conference, but in this case, they are the only thing making this enjoyable. This is painfully boring so far.
Todd Grisham reminded Maria that WWE employees are not eligible to win. Maria said if she won, she would have given the money to the fans. Grisham then introduced Triple H, to an ovation.
Triple H joked that he was nervous having to follow Gabe Karp. Triple H then introduced one of the security guards, calling him "Rodeo Tod". Triple H said if you saw him at Raw last night, he rode a fan that came in the ring for a few minutes. Triple H said that when it comes to Vince McMahon giving away money, people wonder if he is crazy. Triple H said Vince is his father-in-law and he can attest that he is crazy. He said Vince is really giving away the money. Triple H said he told Vince to give him the money, and he would go around and promote the show. Vince's response was that he would give away the money ... and Triple H would go around and promote the show anyway.
Triple H then put over the WWE and their programming, intentionally mispronouncing John Cena's name a few times and noting that some wrestlers get ovations and others get "50/50 reactions". Triple H did a great job putting over the company and unlike Cena directed his comments in a more general way, pointing out that he was "preaching to the choir" with so many fans there.
Chris McCumber of USA Network was up next, saying USA was not surprised when Vince informed them of the plan to give away the money. He praised the way WWE has always given back to the fans, including their charitable efforts. He was pretty quick, just reminding everyone to tune in Monday for the chance to win.
Finally, Vince McMahon was introduced, with it being stressed that the $1 million being given away was his "own personal money". Vince almost knocked over the podium with the money, and joked with Triple H about it. Vince thanked USA Network for being their partner, saying it wasn't a case of providing a program to USA, it was truly a partnership. Vince said WWE programming is in 130 countries in over 20 different languages. Vince said WWE is the greatest "pop culture export" from America.
Vince said WWE "practically invented Pay-per-view" and then praised the success of WWE.com. He said they have 93,000 hours of wrestling in their video library. Vince had his glasses on (he called them "his cheaters") as he read various items putting over WWE's various successes. I've seen Vince speak countless times, and I got the distinct impression he was looking at his notes for the first time. Very un-Vincelike, with lots of pauses and he even said "Major League Football" when he meant to say baseball. Vince also noted that the future President of the United States recently appeared on Raw. The fans chanted "Vince for President" and Vince said "I've thought about it".
Vince said that they are giving away a million dollars "each and every week" and would be doing this for several weeks. Vince said they are doing this to bring media attention to the company and bring in more viewers. He then opened the field for questions.
The first question asked was "what makes WWE so popular". Wow, there's a lame question. What's next, asking Vince to "show the pythons?" Triple H noted that WWE always gives you more than you money's worth, unlike other shows.
Vince was asked what they hope to accomplish from this, and Vince reiterated that it was being done to get people to check them out again. Next he was asked why they were doing it now, instead of during sweeps week. Vince said they purposely were not doing it during sweeps week when so many other shows are trying to .
Vince was asked how often the giveaways would last for. Vince said every week for as long as he wants to. Vince once again said that he was a "crazy billionaire" that would be giving away a million dollars of his own money every week. Vince made it sound like it was going to be a total of a million every single week the way he was talking.
Vince was asked if Donald Trump would be giving away 2 million dollars to get people to watch the Apprentice. Vince said he knows Trump pretty well, and he is certain Donald wouldn't give away his own money. Vince was asked if the giveaway would help with the draft, and Vince noted that it would bring in more viewers. He noted that you never know where someone could end up, saying John Cena could end up on Smackdown. The fans chanted "ECW" and Cena egged them on.
At this point, the webcast ended as they were going to be conducting one-on-one interviews with the media.
PWInsider.com
The broadcast of today's WWE press conference from the Staples Center in Los Angeles opened with a video package focusing on WWE stars making mainstream television appearances and then various celebrities that have appeared on WWE programming over the last several years. The big surprise here was the actually used clips of Jay Leno wrestling for WCW in the video package.
The video package then switched to detailing WWE's work with Make A Wish Foundation, the Smackdown Your Vote initiative and the Tribute To The Troops show. The package then went over the schedule WWE keeps (two hours of live TV every Monday with no reruns, 200 non-televised events, etc.).
Todd Grisham welcomed us to the live press conference at the Staples Center. As usual, there were a lot more fans than press in attendance. Grisham then introduced the "star" of the show, and they brought out the case with the million dollars in it and placed the cash in the glass podium. It actually took a while to get all the money out of the case and place it in the podium. Luckily, the money has a long theme song.
John Cena was then introduced, to a mixed reaction of cheers and boos. There was a "Cena" chant as he approached the podium. Then there were boos. Cena said "For those of you who have never been here with us before, that is the sound of passion". Cena talked about the passion of the fans for WWE, and said that WWE giving away a million dollars shows their passion for them. Cena said Vince McMahon giving away this money shows his passion for his product and his fans. Cena pretty much did a huge hype promo about WWE's growth for the media. There were "boring" chants from fans as Cena compared WWE to various sports, saying WWE has done better in 20 years (Cena said WWE went nation in the mid-80's) than the NHL, NFL, MLB and other sports did in their first 20 years. Cena kept stating that he was making these comments for the "first time" media representatives.
Maria was out next. She put over being in Los Angeles, and the fact that the money has it's own entrance music. The fans went into a Cryme Tyme "Money, money, yeah, yeah", interrupting Maria. Maria said being on Raw is "pretty awesome" and that she doesn't want to go anywhere else. Maria put over the fans, then introduced the representative from E-Prize, Executive President Gabe Karp.
The fans chanted "Who are you?" at Karp. He said "We're the guys who make sure you get the money?" The fans gave him the "What" treatment as he put over his company. Karp seemed amused by it all. He put over the spike in Internet traffic after Vince's announcement last night. He said over 300,000 people have already registered. They had Maria show everyone how to register, using a laptop next to the podium. The fans chanted "She's On MySpace" while she filled out the information.
I'm usually not in favor of fans being at a press conference, but in this case, they are the only thing making this enjoyable. This is painfully boring so far.
Todd Grisham reminded Maria that WWE employees are not eligible to win. Maria said if she won, she would have given the money to the fans. Grisham then introduced Triple H, to an ovation.
Triple H joked that he was nervous having to follow Gabe Karp. Triple H then introduced one of the security guards, calling him "Rodeo Tod". Triple H said if you saw him at Raw last night, he rode a fan that came in the ring for a few minutes. Triple H said that when it comes to Vince McMahon giving away money, people wonder if he is crazy. Triple H said Vince is his father-in-law and he can attest that he is crazy. He said Vince is really giving away the money. Triple H said he told Vince to give him the money, and he would go around and promote the show. Vince's response was that he would give away the money ... and Triple H would go around and promote the show anyway.
Triple H then put over the WWE and their programming, intentionally mispronouncing John Cena's name a few times and noting that some wrestlers get ovations and others get "50/50 reactions". Triple H did a great job putting over the company and unlike Cena directed his comments in a more general way, pointing out that he was "preaching to the choir" with so many fans there.
Chris McCumber of USA Network was up next, saying USA was not surprised when Vince informed them of the plan to give away the money. He praised the way WWE has always given back to the fans, including their charitable efforts. He was pretty quick, just reminding everyone to tune in Monday for the chance to win.
Finally, Vince McMahon was introduced, with it being stressed that the $1 million being given away was his "own personal money". Vince almost knocked over the podium with the money, and joked with Triple H about it. Vince thanked USA Network for being their partner, saying it wasn't a case of providing a program to USA, it was truly a partnership. Vince said WWE programming is in 130 countries in over 20 different languages. Vince said WWE is the greatest "pop culture export" from America.
Vince said WWE "practically invented Pay-per-view" and then praised the success of WWE.com. He said they have 93,000 hours of wrestling in their video library. Vince had his glasses on (he called them "his cheaters") as he read various items putting over WWE's various successes. I've seen Vince speak countless times, and I got the distinct impression he was looking at his notes for the first time. Very un-Vincelike, with lots of pauses and he even said "Major League Football" when he meant to say baseball. Vince also noted that the future President of the United States recently appeared on Raw. The fans chanted "Vince for President" and Vince said "I've thought about it".
Vince said that they are giving away a million dollars "each and every week" and would be doing this for several weeks. Vince said they are doing this to bring media attention to the company and bring in more viewers. He then opened the field for questions.
The first question asked was "what makes WWE so popular". Wow, there's a lame question. What's next, asking Vince to "show the pythons?" Triple H noted that WWE always gives you more than you money's worth, unlike other shows.
Vince was asked what they hope to accomplish from this, and Vince reiterated that it was being done to get people to check them out again. Next he was asked why they were doing it now, instead of during sweeps week. Vince said they purposely were not doing it during sweeps week when so many other shows are trying to .
Vince was asked how often the giveaways would last for. Vince said every week for as long as he wants to. Vince once again said that he was a "crazy billionaire" that would be giving away a million dollars of his own money every week. Vince made it sound like it was going to be a total of a million every single week the way he was talking.
Vince was asked if Donald Trump would be giving away 2 million dollars to get people to watch the Apprentice. Vince said he knows Trump pretty well, and he is certain Donald wouldn't give away his own money. Vince was asked if the giveaway would help with the draft, and Vince noted that it would bring in more viewers. He noted that you never know where someone could end up, saying John Cena could end up on Smackdown. The fans chanted "ECW" and Cena egged them on.
At this point, the webcast ended as they were going to be conducting one-on-one interviews with the media.
PWInsider.com