WWE News WWE conference call notes: Company officials admit they did not pay $20 million for Floyd Mayweather's WrestleMania 24 appearance May 6, 2008 - 11:10 AM Email This Article | Printer Friendly Page Send Us News & Results | Back to Main Listing The following are the notable items taken from today's WWE conference call regarding the first quarter earnings report that was released earlier today. -The conference was hosted by Linda McMahon, CFO George Barrios, and COO Michael Sileck. They all read prepared statements regarding the earnings before turning it over to the investors for questioning. -One of the executives claimed that USA Network is happy with the ratings that WWE is producing for them. -Roughly a third of the WrestleMania buys came from international buyers, which is the same as last year. WWE officials are confident that pay-per-view business will increase internationally as the pay-per-view industry grows in foreign markets. -"We didn't pay Floyd (Mayweather) $20 million, but we did pay out more for top talent that we have before," Sileck stated while trying to explain WWE's dip in WrestleMania earnings compared to last year. -WWE is coming after "lesser known wrestling sites that are existing on our back." They want to lure users of these sites back to WWE.com. They discussed layout and internal changes but did not mention Joey Styles's big "promotion." Rather, they hyped the WWE Fan Nation website. -The admitted that they may have to eliminate some of the live events in small markets and replace them with more overseas dates. -They are hoping to do a tour in China next year. -Upcoming DVD releases include collections featuring The Rock and Ric Flair. They admitted the fourth quarter is the strongest when it comes to DVD sales. HELP SUPPORT DOT NET! BECOME A MEMBER AT OUR CHARTER RATE OF JUST $5 A MONTH - GET THE FIRST LOOK AT EXCLUSIVE INSIDER DOT NET NEWS, TONS OF EXCLUSIVE AUDIO SHOWS, MESSAGE BOARD ACCESS, START YOUR OWN BLOG, AD-FREE MAIN LISTING: SIGN ME UP (or MORE INFO) GOT AN IPHONE OR IPOD TOUCH? THEN BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD OUR NEW FREE iPhone APP: (click here!) (or SEARCH "pro wrestling" in iTunes App Store) FOR MORE BREAKING WWE & TNA NEWS AND COMMENTARY, VISIT OUR AFFILIATE PWTORCH.COM (click here!) FOR MORE MMA & UFC NEWS AND COMMENTARY, VISIT OUR AFFILIATE MMATORCH.COM (click here!) CLICK TO RETURN TO DOT NET MAIN LISTING OR SELECT A LINK BELOW FROM THIS CATEGORY WWE News Latest Twelve Articles Jim Ross shoots down talk that he's targeting WrestleMania 26 for his return, comments on his current contractual status with WWE Shore's WWE Superstars Hitlist: Shelton Benjamin vs. Zack Ryder, Eric Escobar (w/Vickie Guerrero) vs. Jimmy Wang Yang, and Mark Henry vs. Cody Rhodes 11/20 WWE Smackdown preview: The complete lineup for tonight's show headlined by Undertaker and Kane vs. Chris Jericho and Big Show, plus a hot Intercontinental Title match (no spoilers) 11/20 WWE Smackdown spoilers: Full results of the show that airs tonight with John Morrison defending the Intercontinental Title against Dolph Ziggler in a best of three falls match (spoilers) Where Are They Now: Former WWE wrestler Duke "The Dumpster" Droese WWE "ECW on Syfy" rating: How did the return of C.M. Punk to the Tuesday night show perform in the ratings?