10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (June 26)

What happened to cause a major backstage blowout between Sable and Torrie Wilson in 2004?

There's still weeks to go until WWE presents their next Pay-Per-View, Battleground on the WWE Network. Events are still offered via more traditional means, which is why they're still classed as PPV events, but numbers have obviously fallen dramatically since the company started their own subscription-based model last year. For example, WWE Payback, which took place on May 17th, 2015 managed just 54,000 buys in total. Only 19,000 of those were from the United States, with the remaining 35,000 coming from overseas. The show was headlined by a Fatal-4-Way encounter, as Seth Rollins defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against challengers Randy Orton, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. It's interesting to note that the overall number is down from 2014's Payback show, which pulled in 67,000 buys. That event was capped off by a bumper No Holds Barred Elimination match, pitting The Shield against Evolution (Randy Orton, Batista and Triple H). Both events were available on the WWE Network, so it's intriguing to see the disparity between buyrate figures. Of course, WWE don't seem to be as focused as they were before on large Pay-Per-View numbers, simply because of the WWE Network, and it makes sense that more people would want to watch the shows on that platform. In this week's article, there are fascinating statements from the likes of Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels and even Torrie Wilson. Elsewhere, a former star passes on, and a former writer gets in touch with an old employer about helping them out.
 
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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood.