PAT PATTERSON GIVES NOTICE TO WWE A few weeks ago, we reported that Pat Patterson was sent on the road to the house shows by Vince McMahon to get a first hand look at how things were operating, with the intention being that he would report back to Vince and talk about/implement changes in the product.
Last week we reported that Patterson had been very vocal to Vince McMahon that one of the major problems that he sees on the Raw brand is the over-pushing of HHH, especially at the expense of building new talents. We reported last week that the situation had gotten so heated that Patterson might quit working for WWE. Rumors have been swirling for the past two days that he was going to give notice to WWE. Well, he has.
Patterson will leave WWE after next week’s Taboo Tuesday PPV. The company line is that he is retiring. Unofficially, people are saying his leaving is due more to the direction of the product and McMahon’s decision to not implement changes than wanting to retire, though Patterson had lessened his work load in the past and was working as more of a consultant than a full time employee for a while.
It can't be understated how big a move this is since Patterson has been one of McMahon’s most trusted lieutenants for years now.
Patterson reportedly felt that HHH is over-pushed and as top guy has not "made" any new talent, other than Chris Benoit, into top guys. And even with Benoit, looking at how he has been pushed since losing the title, you can even make a case that he was important while he was champion, but much less so now. Then there is the one-month title reign of Randy Orton to consider, which many WWE people have told me they felt was "HHH cutting out Orton’s legs from under him". Whether it ends up being that way or not time will tell, but Jess McGrath and Mike Johnson made an interesting point on this subject on this week's Elite Radio when they said that since HHH is now "office" and part of the McMahon family, he should push himself just under the top slot and be something of a safety net if a guy they are pushing at the top gets hurt or holds WWE up for money. It's possible Patterson feels the same way, and frankly that makes perfect sense to me. H does not need to be pushed as the top guy and certainly doesn’t need to dominate Raw the way he does. As the major financial indicators have shown, Raw business is definitely slumping right now and even when he wasn't the champion earlier this year, HHH was still the most focal point of the show (not to mention very influential in the booking process), so he definitely shares some of the blame for Raw’s current state and according to sources close to the situation, Patterson is the only one in the company who has been willing to stand up and say that.
WITH SPIKE TV DEAL SET TO EXPIRE IN UNDER A YEAR, WWE SEEKING OUTSIDE OPTIONS INCLUDING USA NETWORK RETURN AND TURNER BROADCASTING
With World Wrestling Entertainment's deal with Spike TV scheduled to expire next year, negotiations to hammer out a new contract are ongoing, but WWE isn't content to just wait and see what happens. WWE is currently shopping around for a new cable partner, which could include their old home at the USA Network or even Turner Broadcasting, according to today's edition of The Hollywood Reporter.
The Reporter's Andrew Wallenstein reports that WWE has had "preliminary discussions" with NBC Universal (which now owns the USA Network), the FX Network and (irony of ironies) Turner Broadcasting in regard to moving their fleet of cable shows from Spike TV if their current agreement should expire this coming September without a new deal being inked.
"We still have a mutually beneficial relationship with Spike TV, and we're looking for a longer-term one with them," said Kurt Schneider, WWE's Executive Vice President of Marketing. "But for us, we think we have an obligation as a public company to our shareholders to seek the best deal out there that we can get."
The article notes that the front runner for WWE programming appears to be the USA Network, which lost out to Viacom in 2000 when a Delaware judge threw out their lawsuit against WWE, trying to stop their jump to what was then known as TNN.
WWE's Viacom deal included additional media opportunities for the promotion, but the Reporter noted that beyond WWE's line of books, the cross-pollination between the two companies hasn't worked out well. Viacom no longer owns an equity stake in WWE. Viacom is not handling any of WWE's feature films, and recently turned down the chance for another "Tough Enough" series. Tough Enough is currently being incorporated into Smackdown.
Another reason the USA Network may be ahead of the pack for WWE's programming is that Bonnie Hammer, who worked with WWE during the Monday Night Wars era as a USA Network representative and helped the company tighten their product, is currently USA Network President.
Spike TV currently pays a $28 million annual license fee for Raw and other WWE programming. WWE is currently seeking a $40 million annual license for the renewal.
WWE is "desperate to get out of there," says an unnamed executive source.
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