The following is a report on the WWE conference call held on August 5 regarding the second quarter earnings report.

-"Basically, we had a lousy quarter," Vince McMahon said. He called it a perfect storm. He mentioned the Icelandic volcano issue and also noted the retirements of two wrestlers and injuries that have sidelined top stars. He mentioned that they expected Shawn Michaels to retire, and then referred to Batista's situation as being a hiatus.

-George Barrios ran through the earnings report and noted that they believe the pay-per-view business took a hit now, but will improve over time. The pay-per-view business was down 19 percent domestically.

-The Smackdown vs. Raw video game sold 370,000 units, which is a 20 percent decline from the previous year. Revenue from the toy line increased by 175 percent due to the relationship with Mattel.

-Once the presentation was completed, they opened up the phone lines. The first caller brought up the new talent that's been featured lately. Vince put over The Nexus faction concept and noted that it stemmed from the NXT television show. "I think there's been a very favorable response to our new talent." Vince said the return of older stars such as Undertaker and Triple H will help the company.

-Vince said there's no quick turnaround. He brought up retirements and injuries. "We've never had that many top talents injured at one time," Vince said.

-A caller asked how quickly it will take to get the storylines and the talent back on course. Vince pointed out that television ratings have been increasing since they started featuring new talent. He said they are looking at SummerSlam to reverse the downward pay-per-view trend and said he sees it as the kickoff for the new talent boosting numbers.

-The same caller asked about the WWE cable network plans. Vince said they are going to cable systems with a presentation in January. He said they are making a pitch based on the Major League Baseball model. Vince added that they've received a strong reaction in some cases to the idea of a WWE Network from within the cable industry.

This concluded the conference call.

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