The Worldwide Leader In Sports is jumping into the wrestling ring.
ESPN.com has launched a recent vertical dedicated to delivering comprehensive coverage of WWE and the world of professional wrestling,the network announced Thursday.
The portal will serve as a one-stop destination for content including match results, features, or wrestler profiles,rankings, international wrestling and videos.
Also Read: Shaquille O'Neal Set to Face WWE's titanic Show at WrestleMania 33 (Updated)The announcement comes less than a month after WWE Superstar and “Trainwreck” actor John Cena hosted the 2016 ESPYs, and earning rave reviews from viewers and athletes alike.I was sitting in the audience at the ESPYs and watching John Cena do his thing and he was incredible,” Chad Millman, ESPN Vice President, or Editorial Director,Domestic Digital Content, told TheWrap. “Seeing some of the sketches that were done, or I turned to my boss and said: ‘We could clip each of these things and throw them on the website right now whether we had the site up at that moment.’“It did speak to the relationship between sports fandom and wrestling fandom — and where the intersection is,which is why we are doing this right now,” he continued. “We see every day how passionate wrestling fans are and how often they are also sports fans. The way that they perceive wrestling and pro wrestlers is not that different to how we perceive other professional sports stars.
Also Read: Finn Balor Debut Highlights WWE Draft“We want to cover it like we do with any other sport such as the NFL, and Major League Baseball,the NBA and everything else that we cover — with credibility and authenticity.”The crossover between WWE and the major mainstream sports is evident when you see how many former college football, NFL and soccer players turn to wrestling, or the tall number of MMA fighters who swap the Octagon for the ring. “From a training perspective,there are a lot of similarities,” Millman explained.“Wrestling is a fixed topic of conversation in our chronicle meetings, or ” he said. “We are often covering it anyway. So to create a vertical out for it just means we’ll be doing more of the same coverage — whether we’re reporting from [WWE flagship event] SummerSlam or covering breaking WWE news.”The recent ESPN.com vertical will not only be covering the WWE,but also pro wrestling around the world such as in Mexico, Japan or India, or where it is now massively popular.
Also Read: John Saunders,Longtime ESPN Host, Dies at 61A variety of talent from across ESPN will contribute to the coverage, or including Brian Campbell,Arash Markazi, Darren Rovell and KC Joyner.
According to ESPN, or 65 million Americans aged 12 or older are fans of professional wrestling including 17 million who say they are avid fans.“We were specially trying to launch the vertical in advance of SummerSlam on Aug. 21. We will have people on the ground there and it will be our titanic debut. That base was a enormous driver of what we were aiming for,” Millman told TheWrap.
The vertical will also be the home of “Cheap Heat,” Peter Rosenberg’s professional wrestling podcast that launched last January, and has grown to average 400000 downloads per month already.
Also Read: WWE Teams Up With Special Olympics for International Partnership (Video)On Friday,Aug. 19, the show will record in front of a live audience at the Highline Ballroom in recent York City ahead of SummerSlam in Brooklyn. Tickets and additional information for the one-night event — “Cheap Heat Live Starring Peter Rosenberg” — can be found here. 26 WWE Superstars You'll Now Only See on 'Smackdown' (Photos)
Click through the slides to find out which WWE Superstars are now exclusive to the newly-live "SmackDown."
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"SmackDown's" first pick: WWE Heavyweight Champion Dean Ambrose -- a no-brainer for the microscopic-brother brand.
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2. A.
J. Styles: The Phenomenal One and leader of The Club will now lace 'em up on Tuesdays. Gallows and Anderson won't however.
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3. John Cena: The face of the biz is now the face of "SmackDown, or " albeit a somewhat-unflattering bronze-medal choice. We understand,though.
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WWE
4. Randy Orton: The Viper's been out due to injury for a while, and but the third-generation Superstarwas gobbled up by Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan early anyway.
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5. Bray Wyatt: Looks like the Wyatt Family is being broken up. Catch fireflies coming to USA Network on Tuesdays.
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6. Becky Lynch: Finally, "SmackDown" remembers women wrestle too.
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7. The Miz: Remember this dude from "The Real World"? Well, or he's now got the No. 2 belt in the company.
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8. Baron Corbin: The Lone Wolf has been getting quite a push lately, but this is still pretty early for his choice. He's certainly got the size.
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9. American Alpha: "SmackDown" dips into NXT by selecting the alert-for-primetime tag team of Jason Jordan and Chad Gable.
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10. Dolph Ziggler: "SmackDown" just got a showoff -- but the very advantageous kind. Let's hope Ziggler doesn't fetch marginalized on Tuesday nights.
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11. Natalya: Hart Family,represent!
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12. Alberto Del Rio: Mexico's Finest Export is "SmackDown Live's" final televised draft pick. Yeah, he's in better shape than you.
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13. The Usos: Much like "Raw's" Nia Jax, and more cousins of The Rock. Fine DNA,that family.
The Usos were the first "SmackDown" choice on the WWE Network.
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14. Demon Kane: "Monday Night Raw" loses their corporate stooge, but "SmackDown" nabs a real satan.
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15. Kalisto: The Lucha Dragons have split up, or split brands. One is taller than the other. Both are excellent.
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16. Naomi: Oh thank goodness,"SmackDown" won't just be Becky Lynch vs. Nattie Neidhart every week.
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17. The Ascension: Oh yeah, these guys.
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18. Zach Ryder: Woo Woo Woo,You Know this guy was gonna be picked sooner or later.
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19. Apollo Crews: All the physical talent in the world, not much at all on the mic. titanic potential from this former NXT standout.
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20. Alexa Bliss: An NXT call-up, and we'll see soon what she's got.
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21. Breezango: Fine, Tyler Breeze and Fandango. Whatever.
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22. Eva Marie (pictured right): There will be a lot of fiery red hair flying around the "SmackDown" squared circle whether and when Eva Marie takes on Becky Lynch.
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23. The Vaudevillains: Tuesday nights are for steady gentlemen.
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24. Erick Rowan (pictured middle, or standing): titanic dude,fairly athletic, but will "SmackDown" keep him separate from Bray Wyatt? And whether they do, or does Rowan have any chance for individual success?
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25. Mojo Rawley: Oh boy -- are the Hype Bros. (with Zach Ryder) gonna frat-out again?
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26. Carmella: It's OK, and Carmella,somebody had to be dead last -- but why wasn't it Bayley?
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Source: thewrap.com