WWE Looking to Partner with ESPN?

[punk13]

A Day In The Life Of Triple H, WWE Special Coming To ESPN?

Triple H is looking to “cozy up†to ESPN in hopes that over time, WWE will be treated with more respect by some of the mainstream media.

We’re not talking highlights on SportsCenter but Hunter does feel like a good relationship with ESPN would mean more exposure. He gave ESPN the exclusive in breaking the news that Bruno Sammartino had accepted WWE’s offer to be inducted into their Hall of Fame as the beginning of what he is hoping will be a friendly relationship with them.

ESPN cameras have actually been filming Hunter recently in hopes of doing a “day in the life†type piece on him. The idea would be to provide a “behind the scenes†documentary type feature to show viewers what it’s like running a major franchise like WWE, especially for a guy that is new on the job.

This is all part of WWE’s plan to position Hunter as a more respectable leader in the eyes of the mainstream media, as Vince McMahon’s aggressive demeanor over the course of decades has resulted in quite a few enemies.

Side Note: A partnership with ESPN would be amazing and HUGE for the WWE. With guys like Rock, Lesnar and Cena already having mainstream exposure outside of wrestling and with HHH continually turning water out of wine with some his business deals lately this could be the start of a 3rd wrestling BOOM for the WWE if they play their cards right with ESPN. That would just mean more positive mainstream exposure.

A "Day in the life of Triple H" documentary would be Great to see.

I think having a partnership with ESPN would be great also.

 

[Rated R Superstar]

But ESPN talks about sports, not entertainment. I see a lot of backlash for this on ESPN's part, mostly their fans who will probably not like the idea of a fake sport getting specials over actual sports.

 

[Gimmick]

Pretty smart move.

I don't know how interested ESPN would be in covering WWE (even if it would just be news/behind the scenes rather than results/storylines etc) but it's definitely worth a try. It would certainly be a great chance for WWE to show how much they've changed as a company.

 

[SAIYANS]

Espn has a whole weekly feature on wwe and power ranking system since trips took into office. Its not like they haven't delved there or that they don't have the guys to cover it in the right manner Todd and Coach. And they are about entertainment, increasingly veering that way now.

 

[Troy]

HHH has been making some good moves since moving into a bigger backstage role. Would be a good get for WWE if they could get it, any exposure on a big channel like ESPN would be huge. I can easily seem them doing a behind the scenes feature on HHH or even on someone like Cena. Even if this is entertainment and not sport people would still be interested in what they actually go through each day and the physical aspect is still there.

 

[Chris]

If you don't hear some kind of wrestling-related remark on ESPN at least once a day, then you didn't watch ESPN enough. Almost all of their guys still watch or did watch wrestling at some point, so this wouldn't surprise me much. I'd love to see it

 

[Troy]

Do Todd Grisham and Coach still work for ESPN? If so they could be used in these documentaries.

 

[SAIYANS]

Yep both do sportscenter and espn news

 

[We Are Legion]

Even if it happens, it won't last long. ESPN will be criticized repeatedly for delving into something like professional wrestling which isn't even remotely a "sport". Especially since they rarely cover real sports with similar packaging, mainly UFC and other MMA promotions which is what ESPN should be doing. Detractors would say "Well since ESPN is covering WWE now, they may as well review weekly events from "Days of Our Lives"" and they would be 100% correct.

 

[Weez]

I don't see it as something that'd be on Sportscenter, but What if it opens the door to the WWE being featured in those wildly popular 30 for 30 specials? That's a win/win.