The 5 News Week: Jim Ross Possibly Done With WWE On March, WWE changes their Main Event for TLC PPV 2018

Hello, my fellow wrestling fans and welcome to the 5 news week. The post where I report 5 major or minor news of the week that I don't have time to do it separately. Without further ado, here are the 5 news week. 

WWE RAW Will Go Straight 3 Hours 

If you hate RAW going overtime because you got work/school the next day then I got some good news for you. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com reported that Monday Night RAW will be a hard 3 hours for now on which means that overruns are done from now. WWE RAW's overruns have been a thing since the mid-1990s with the Monday Night Wars in ratings supremacy between WWE RAW and WCW Nitro. 

A source close to them said that this was possibly a USA network decision. I feel like this will fix the pacing of the show itself and just get to the point without dragging on. In other words, I approve of this. 

 Jim Ross Possibly Done With WWE On March 

As you might know, Jim Ross signed a 2-year deal with WWE while he's under contract with AXS TV which Vince McMahon himself gave Ross the blessing to fulfill those obligations until WWE didn't allow him to promote future NJPW shows because his AXS TV contract expires on December 31, 2018, which means that Jim Ross won't be calling Wrestle Kingdom next year. 

Because of that, he might not sign a new deal with WWE considering that his contract will expire on March 31, 2019. This all came from Dave Meltzer in the recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.  

Stephanie McMahon Reveals Her Goals For WWE

Well, this is strange. Stephanie McMahon was recently in an interview with CNBC's Elizabeth Schulze at Web Summit in Lisbon and in it she was asked on where she sees WWE in ten years and warning, this transcript contains a lot of BS: 

“10-20-30 years from now, there’s no reason we can’t be as big or bigger than Disney,” Stephaine said.“Now that’s a tall order, especially given recent transactions. However, there’s no reason why we can’t get there. You have to dream big, have big, bold goals, and go after them.”

Look, WWE right now has made big business but are they going to make Disney Money?  The Walt Disney Company's total revenue is 178 billion dollars while WWE as of a CNN money article earlier this year is worth nearly 3 billion dollars. That's a 1.6% difference. 

The Walt Disney Company is more than just Big Blockbuster movies. they own theme parks and hotels around the world, ESPN, ABC, A&E Network, The History Channel, has their own games division called Disney Interactive etc. 

WWE, however, has a music division for producing entrance music for wrestlers, a movie division and subdivisions that has something to do with pro wrestling. What I'm trying to say is that Disney caters to different audiences which is why they make that amount of money while WWE caters to one type of audience. Unless WWE diversifies and caters to different audiences, they're not going to be as big as Disney. 

   WWE changes their Big Match for TLC PPV 2018 

The SAP arena in San Joe, California will host TLC on December 16 and is now advertising a Baron Corbin vs Braun Strowman match (See what I just did there) and not Drew McIntyre vs Braun Strowman. The arena is also advertising an Intercontinental championship match between the champ Seth Rollins and the challenger Dean Ambrose (Which I'm looking for too), a RAW women's championship match between the champ Ronda Rousey and the challenger Nia Jax and the Mixed Match Challenge Season 2 finals.

CM Punk Joins the Broadcast team for An MMA Promotion

And finally, while CM Punk lost 2 straight MMA fights he is, however, going to be a commentator for An MMA promotion called Cage Fury Fighting Championship or CFFC for short according to MMA Junkie and will debut on December 14th at CFFC 71 in Atlantic City, New Jersey's Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. The event will stream on UFC Fight Pass that same day. Punk and the president of CFFC Rob Haydak made a statement about this and I quote: 

Punk's:  

 “I can’t wait for this opportunity to call the CFFC fights on UFC Fight Pass. CFFC has a long history of putting on exciting fights featuring some of the sport’s up-and-coming athletes. This card is going to be a lot of fun, and I’m really excited to have the chance to be a part of it.” 

Rob Haydak: 

"CM Punk’s knowledge and passion for MMA is incredible, and his charisma and personality make him a perfect fit for this role. By pairing him with Mike Gill, a true sports broadcasting veteran who has been around the fight game his whole career in Atlantic City, we have a great combination for our first show on UFC Fight Pass.”

CM Punk will join a veteran play by play broadcaster and New Jersey radio host Mike Gill as well as a long time stay in CFFC's commentary team Brian Palakow.  I liked his short role as a colour commentator very much with Micheal Cole and Jerry "The King" Lawler back in 2010 so I'm might watch it based on that. Good on him for picking that gig. 

Well, I hope you're caught up with the news and let me know your thoughts on the news I just reported and follow the blog for honest pro wrestling opinions. Anyways, stay safe smarks.