As noted, Stephanie McMahon recently appeared on The Bill Simmons Podcast for an in-depth interview to promote the WrestleMania 37 two-night extravaganza this weekend at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
In addition to the highlights from the interview we have posted here on the website previously, the longtime WWE executive and on-air performer also spoke about the origins of the launch of the WWE Network.
Featured below are some more highlights from the new Stephanie McMahon interview on The Bill Simmons Podcast.
On it being scary to launch the WWE Network back in 2014: "We started looking at it before the pandemic, maybe even two years ago, we started looking at the space. It’s funny because my dad has always taught me that you have to stay slightly ahead of the curve. You never want to be so far ahead that people can’t get it and you never want to be behind, you want to be slightly ahead. When you looked at the landscape and see these big-time players start to make moves, big-time players with a lot of capital that could be invested in technology and infrastructure. We’re not a technology company, we’re a content company. It was a smart move for us to launch [in 2014], and it was scary."
On having a partner that wanted to lock up their rights for ten years leading to them launching the network instead: "We actually had a linear deal. Our fans all said they wanted a WWE channel and we started working on a linear deal. We were in redline, but the partner wanted to lock up our rights for 10 years. Vince doesn’t do 10-year deals, at least he wouldn’t at that time. He took a step back, we did more research, and we found our audience was five times more likely to watch online videos than the norm. We decided right then and there that we would own our own destiny. In eight months, we launched the WWE Network, which is pretty unheard of."
Check out the complete interview at TheRinger.com. H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes.
WRESTLING NEWS REACTION & DISCUSSION
* For late-breaking WWE & AEW news & rumors, follow our social media reporter on Twitter @MattBoone0709
* Follow Rajah owner Rajah Kumar on Twitter @RajahNews
* Follow the official Rajah account on Twitter @Rajah_News
* Follow the official Rajah Instagram account at Instagram.com/RajahNews
* Follow the official Rajah Facebook page at Facebook.com/RajahWWF
* Join the official Rajah Forums by signing up at Forums.Rajah.com
* Chat with other fans about this article in the official Rajah Disqus feed below, or at Disqus.com/home/forums/rajahcom
