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WWE News: Vince McMahon says UFC's ratings are "abysmal," explains why he feels WWE talent move on to film careers, and discusses social media

Posted in: WWE News, MUST-READ LISTING
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Jul 22, 2012 - 01:00 PM

WWE CEO Vince McMahon spoke with The Hollywood Reporter to promote Monday's Raw 1000. The following are the highlights of the interview, which can be read in full at Hollywoodreporter.com/news/vince-mcmahon-wwe-raw-351254.

McMahon on UFC as competition: "We're in show business, they are a sport. Their ratings are abysmal. They are in the pay-per-view business, and they do reasonably well there. We just set a record for WrestleMania. We had 1.3 million buys for this year's WrestleMania, and our pay-per-view numbers for our shows have been up 30 percent since then. So, we are looking pretty good."

McMahon on why WWE performers move on to Hollywood: "Our talent is taught not to be prima donnas, to be on time and know their lines. And quite frankly, people in Hollywood, once they see what we do, they are amazed. Our talent doesn't demand the biggest trailer or a certain amount of grape juice or whatever the hell it is. Our talent is extremely flexible and knows how to act, so it's a logical extension for them."

McMahon on social networking and the interactive nature of WWE Raw: "Back in the early days, our performers elicited a response -- a boo or a cheer. Today, we use all this social media. We are going to do Tout, in which the WWE just invested. With that, you get a 15-second video shout-out that goes straight to our TV programs. Beginning with the 1,000th show, people can participate in terms of the types of matches and what actually happens on air. It will be the most interactive TV programming in the world."

Powell's POV: The WrestleMania 28 buy total continues to drop each time WWE releases an updated figure. The final number should be released when Vince hosts a conference call on August 2 to discuss the second quarter financial numbers. It will be interesting to see whether it's a record buy total as he said, or below that mark as recent estimates suggest. As for Hollywood, The Rock has had great success and there are other wrestlers who have has a smaller degree of success on the big screen. Of course, the reason so many wrestlers are making films these days is because those films are produced by WWE Studios.

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