Fans of WWE RAW were quick to point out the other day when the press release came out about Donald Trump buying “RAW” that it was just a part of the RAW storyline. And having seen some of the commercials promoting the Donald’s appearance as the new owner Monday night, it clearly seemed to be the case.
Indeed, today USA Network admits as much, while apologizing for any confusion with a very brief statement via press release:
USA Network and WWE issued a press release on June 16 that referred to Monday Night RAW’s storyline of a ’sale’ of WWE’s RAW to Donald Trump. We intended the release to be promotional for that ongoing story arc on the series. There is no such actual ’sale’. We apologize for any confusion.
I dislike the story line …. since its only a story line I’m gonna email them and ask politely for trump to fall down an elevator shaft next week…
Wow. I love it how the media dismisses wrestling as worthless and fake; yet they ALWAYS fall for this kind of stuff. Even TVGuide had an article about the sale (they took down soon after) and WWE’s stock went down because of the news.
So if I go by the logic that since the SHOW said it, it must be true, I have a question. How is it possible that James Franco was in Pineapple Express when I saw him die in Spider-Man 3?
It always amazes me how the mainstream media gets WORKED every time by WWE. You’d think they’d have learned by now.
This apology is not enough, the WWE should apologize to all the fans they have offended! I suggest people keep their children away from the WWE. Fire Vince McMahon!
Is what I would say if I were Sarah Palin.
I think it’s hilarious that people continue to fall for these WWE storylines. Why should the WWE and USA apologize? Does ABC apologize for all the Lost headlines that are promoted by ABC that enhance the shows experience? WWE should be treated the same. It is a scripted program, played by actors who happen to be athletic.
Tony, I think the reason USA issues an announcement wasn’t because the media was fooled and looked silly, it was because when the media was fooled and looked silly, WWE stock dropped by ~7% on the “news”…
That said, I noticed also that USA Network toned down its preview language somewhat as well. Where they were saying something like “The first WWE RAW with new owner Donald Trump, and brought to you with no commercials” now says something more modest like “WWE RAW brought to you commercial free by Donald Trump” (with the word “owner” nowhere to be found).
I’d be surprised if lawyers are not at this moment preparing class action shareholder lawsuits.
Lawsuits, are you serious? These sharehodlers don’t seem to be the sharpest knives in the drawer. I wonder did they think Mr. McMahon really got killed when his limo blew up. Or what about the time Triple H broke into Randy Orton’s house, I wonder why he isn’t in jail.
Don’t just stop there, let’s hold these TV shows accordingly for their “storylines”. Let’s arrest Teri Hatcher for burning down Nicollette Sheridan’s house a few seasons back.
Now who’s responsible for the stock dropping? Is it USA for issuing the press release, or is it the various media outlets who repeated the press release as “news” without doing even the tiniest amount of due diligence?
JayDub, don’t you remember, Orton dropped the charges so he could get to HHH and attack his wife.
This just proves how stupid the media is with this whole story. Ten years ago, maybe even 5 years ago the media doesn’t even bother with this. They obviously have nothing else to do.
Any reporter that was duped by a WWE storyline should be fired immeaditely.
The funniest part is that Trump caused the stock to fall.
Does WWE even have good ad revenue for USA, and are their ratings considered good for cable?
Juan, WWE RAW’s ratings are definitely good for cable. Both hours of the Monday block almost always place in the top 10, and one of them is frequently in the top 5. As for the ad revenue sales, unfortunately it’s not data we have. I hear that advertising for WWE RAW is at a discount to scripted shows like Burn Notice and Royal Pains, but exactly how steep the discount is, I don’t know. Also, you can figure that the cost of the programming for USA is probably pretty reasonable since the show is effectively an ad for the WWE.
It would be interesting to know exactly how WWE and USA worked out the arrangement for this coming Monday, since it will be commercial free.