ESPN's SportsCenter to air a weekly WWE segment

[mvcg66b3r]

It was announced on Tuesday night’s (October 13th, 2015) 9:00 p.m. edition of SportsCenter that ESPN will be doing a weekly segment on the show about WWE.

ESPN is hyping it as the top five moments in WWE. The segment will consist of the top five moments from Monday night’s episode of RAW. The segment will be hosted by Jonathan Coachman.

Several news outlets picked up on the news on Tuesday evening prior to the 9pm segment because ESPN announced it during one of their teasers. The teaser referenced a WWE segment airing for the “first time.” This is not the first time that ESPN has covered WWE. ESPN covered WWE during WrestleMania week when Brock Lesnar was on to announce that he would not be going back to UFC and that he had signed a new WWE deal. That was the impetus for the relationship between WWE and ESPN.

http://wrestlingnews.co/espns-sportscenter-to-air-a-weekly-top-five-moments-in-wwe-segment/

 

[umfan]

WWE has a lot of fans and ESPN, understandably, is trying to draw viewers from that base. Considering their business model is being challenged, they're going to have to improve the product because the day is coming when they won't be a must carry on cable systems and, with ever more 'cord cutters' will likely need people to subscribe to them on a standalone basis.

 

[CTListener]

I wonder who's reaching out to who here. WWE is in a deep slump, routinely being beaten in the ratings in its money demo by new shows and shows Raw and Smackdown used to beat. ESPN, as umfan says, is losing revenue as cable loses customers while having to pay more and more to retain desirable event programming. Do both WWE and ESPN need each other at this point? I can't see how a weekly Top Five on SportsCenter, buried amid all those video highlights of men hitting, throwing, kicking, shooting and running with balls, will substantially help either. It's certainly not enough to become must-see TV for WWE fans, who will be able to watch the matches and see the highlights in any number of places before the SportsCenter segment airs.

I'd really be surprised if this leads to live WWE events on ESPN, which doesn't even have a deal in place with UFC, the leading MMA organization, which shares a substantial common fan base with WWE. Fox seems to be pretty tight with UFC, so it would make more sense to me if Fox and Vince McMahon got together.

I also wonder if Brock Lesnar is a horse worth hitching a wagon to anymore. His venture into a legit sport -- or at least one that doesn't call itself "entertainment" and features real, unrehearsed competition between men and women really trying to hurt each other -- showed that his skills were one-dimensional. His inexperience with throwing and taking real punches and kicks caught up to him quickly. How will that affect his previous bad-ass reputation, and ability to attract eyeballs to his matches, in the staged world of pro wrestling?

 

[Fakeem]

ESPN used to air AWA wrestling, daily, back in the 80's, and yes, I realize times were different, but when you need viewers, pro wrestling is always a safe bet.

 

[CTListener]

ESPN used to air AWA wrestling, daily, back in the 80's, and yes, I realize times were different, but when you need viewers, pro wrestling is always a safe bet.

Very different times. Wrestling was in the midst of a huge national boom. Also, the AWA deal came with a full show, with full matches and developing angles. It wasn't the WWF, because McMahon was in bed with NBC (and USA), so a deal with Disney/ABC/ESPN was out of the question. The alternative was Georgia, but obviously that was TBS property. Once the boom was over and the WWF emerged the overall winner, there was little reason to continue with wrestling.

I'm not saying that an ESPN equivalent of Raw wouldn't bring significant numbers of viewers, just that I can't see how a Top Five segment once a week on SportsCenter would.

 

[purpledevil]

Slight correction. The boom was over once WWE emerged as the overall winner.

I believe Fritz Von Erich's World Class promotion was also featured on ESPN once upon a time.

 

[brian4]

I can't see how a weekly Top Five on SportsCenter, buried amid all those video highlights of men hitting, throwing, kicking, shooting and running with balls, will substantially help either. It's certainly not enough to become must-see TV for WWE fans, who will be able to watch the matches and see the highlights in any number of places before the SportsCenter segment airs.

This, to me, is the biggest point. With YouTube, Hulu and WWE Network, this doesn't seem to be must-see TV, unless they have SuperStars and/or Divas on SportsCenter giving fresh narration and interacting with Coach.

Years ago, I would have marked out over this announcement. Similarly, I was excited when WWE brought back Saturday Night's Main Event in 2006. However SNME didn't really work in the post-WCW 'most good matches are already on Raw and Smackdown' era.