{"id":9668,"date":"2016-02-02T11:49:41","date_gmt":"2016-02-02T17:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=9668"},"modified":"2016-02-02T13:43:32","modified_gmt":"2016-02-02T19:43:32","slug":"9668","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/02\/02\/9668\/","title":{"rendered":"Report &#8211; The Face of WWE highlighted on ABC&#8217;s GMA"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-65173908\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>WWE is looking to overhaul its image heading into WrestleMania 32, where the company hopes to set attendance records at AT&amp;T Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>Whether it&#8217;s John Cena on NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Today Show,&#8221; a weekly segment on ESPNews, or new partnerships with the likes of Coca-Cola, WWE is trying to make inroads in the corporate world.<\/p>\n<p>This is a long-term play, as TV Ratings have remained one or two stairsteps below 2014\/beginning of 2015 and domestic house show attendance is soft\u00a0based on\u00a0higher ticket prices mixed with lower star power.\u00a0Just because WWE has a presence on ESPN&#8217;s third-tier channel does not mean people are all of a sudden going to flock to Raw or Smackdown or buy a ticket.<\/p>\n<p>The goal is hammering home a new, softer side of WWE that will impact decision-makers family-by-family. Whether it&#8217;s a dad, mom, or other\u00a0gatekeeper in the home, WWE is going after heads of families who might be leery of letting their kids watch wrestling or taking them to a live show.<\/p>\n<p>Enter Stephanie McMahon, the on-air villain by night and advocate, mom, wife, and WWE Chief Brand Officer by day.<\/p>\n<p>Stephanie is\u00a0the centerpiece of this year&#8217;s WrestleMania. Not necessarily from an in-ring standpoint, unless WWE swings a major special attraction match for Mania, but from a corporate reinforcement perspective. It&#8217;s why WWE accepts the trade-off of undercutting their own product showing Stephanie being nice and friendly at a B.A. Star rally one segment after showing her being\u00a0mean and power-hungry\u00a0in a backstage interview.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, WWE booked Stephanie in a coveted &#8220;Good Morning America&#8221; interview segment on ABC. While dads and moms were getting ready for work or taking their kids to school, there was Stephanie representing a new image for WWE. And, getting across a\u00a0narrative of Stephanie as an underdog fighting for respect within WWE.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think not only because I&#8217;m a woman, but because I&#8217;m the boss&#8217;s daughter, there is a perspective that everything&#8217;s been handed to me. So that makes me have to work and fight that much harder to prove why I belong,\u201d she said.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-751021603\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Stephanie&#8217;s interview was with GMA&#8217;s Amy Robach, who\u00a0talked to shunned WWE legend Hulk Hogan over the summer when Hogan needed to rehab his image following the racism revelations from several years ago.<\/p>\n<p>WWE did not have a scandal to address or an image to repair. This is about presenting a new image, complete with Stephanie acknowledging that WWE&#8217;s product is theatrics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that there&#8217;s nothing more fun than what I get to do. WWE&#8217;s mission is to put smiles on people&#8217;s faces. Now, those smiles are usually at my expense in my character role, because I play a villain. I&#8217;m mean. I am really hateful,\u201d she laughed. \u201cSo it&#8217;s good if you don&#8217;t like me when you&#8217;re watching the show, it means I&#8217;m doing my job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stephanie also acknowledged the difficult balance of executive\u00a0and family life, something viewers watching at home could resonate with as they prepared for work or school. It&#8217;s about connecting with the top decision-makers family-by-family.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbsolutely I struggle with it,&#8221; Stephanie said of work\/home balance. &#8220;I&#8217;m no different than anybody else. And it&#8217;s never going to be perfect. Sacrifices have to happen along the way, whether it&#8217;s a sacrifice at work or a sacrifice, you know, at home. But, where I think women can be better at home is allowing our husbands to do more.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The GMA piece looped in Stephanie&#8217;s husband, Triple H, as the next leading male\u00a0executive as they &#8220;pave a new path&#8221; for WWE performers, including female wrestlers through the marketed &#8220;Divas Revolution.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Monday&#8217;s Raw seemed to be a step backwards with the latest edition of WWE presenting the Divas as catty, combative, and untrusting of each other. However, WWE is presenting a different version of what unfolds week after week on TV.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<div class=\"article-copy\">\n<p>\u201cEven when we aren&#8217;t aware that we&#8217;re having an impact, we are. Little girls who see, you know, women in the ring, or they see strong female characters, that&#8217;s just the way it is. There&#8217;s no reason why they can&#8217;t be like that. You know, I think that us just having that presence means more than we even realize,\u201d Stephanie\u00a0said.<\/p>\n<p>WWE would argue that giving the Divas division two full segments on Monday&#8217;s Raw is the &#8220;presence&#8221; that Stephanie talking about, but the nature\u00a0of the content is still stuck in the pre-&#8220;Divas Revolution&#8221; era.<\/p>\n<p>Stephanie acknowledged an uphill battle in that area: &#8220;They&#8217;re not just eye candy, we want more. And we are doing everything we can to super serve that need.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The overall marketing\u00a0is that WWE &#8211; through Stephanie and Triple H via NXT &#8211; is listening to the audience and trying to connect with fans and family decision-makers. It&#8217;s even something that Stephanie lets her nine-year-old daughter be part of.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is an unbelievable feeling of connection,\u201d Stephanie told <a href=\"http:\/\/americanwaymagazine.com\/content\/lords-ring\" target=\"_blank\">Scott Fishman for the &#8220;American Way&#8221; Magazine feature<\/a> WWE highlighted on Raw. \u201cHaving my children being a part of it is special. Because I remember how I felt when I was their age, sitting in the stands watching the show, knowing my family was such a big part of it, cheering and booing and having the greatest time. Just like everyone else.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>WWE hopes this new image led by Stephanie, as well as Hunter whenever he takes Vince McMahon&#8217;s seat, will pay off down the road when families have a better image of\u00a0WWE in their head. As a publicly-traded company, that means spending money, subscribing to the Network, and being comfortable watching Raw and Smackdown. It&#8217;s part of the future of marketing.<\/p>\n<p>[ Stephanie McMahon&#8217;s full GMA Interview at <a href=\"http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Entertainment\/stephanie-mcmahon-fight-harder-prove-belonged-wwe\/story?id=36633315\" target=\"_blank\">ABCNews.com<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Don&#39;t miss <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StephMcMahon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@StephMcMahon<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GMA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@GMA<\/a> with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/arobach?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@arobach<\/a> this morning at 8:30am ET. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/V1oVdUcny0\">https:\/\/t.co\/V1oVdUcny0<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Lw590ciDk4\">pic.twitter.com\/Lw590ciDk4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWE\/status\/694490504860418048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 2, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-2026846488\"><div id=\"pwtor-2046467495\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>WWE is looking to overhaul its image heading into WrestleMania 32, where the company hopes to set attendance records at AT&amp;T Stadium. Whether it&#8217;s John Cena on NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Today Show,&#8221; a weekly segment on ESPNews, <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/02\/02\/9668\/\" title=\"Report &#8211; The Face of WWE highlighted on ABC&#8217;s GMA\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[250,132,71],"class_list":["post-9668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news_wwe","tag-stephanie-mcmahon","tag-wrestlemania","tag-wwe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/WWELogo_3x2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9668"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9679,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9668\/revisions\/9679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}