WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has directly been asked about CM Punk's current situation, responding today with "He's taking a sabbatical. Let me just put it that way." The comment came in McMahon's scheduled conference call to discuss WWE's Fourth Quarter Earnings for 2013. Obviously the Chairman has a fiscal responsibility to be honest with his investors, so this was a very interesting insight into what exactly is going on with CM Punk and WWE right now. The comment is very basic but does confirm that Punk is still a WWE employee. Vine has to be honest with his answers in this conference call, so we should take the comment at face value. Punk is taking some time out. There will of course be speculation that the boss was being clever and dodging any real confirmation of Punk's status. It was a pithy remark and some people may read it as an indication that Punk could be back soon. A sabbatical is after all a period of time out, with a return usually implicated at some point. If the whole Punk walkout is a work then the Chairman's response at the call could have been a smart way to maintain the work while still being honest with investors - work or real Punk is still on sabbatical right now. My own opinion is that Punk could well be back on the Chicago Raw come March 3rd. Vince hasn't shut the door to the performer, he hasn't thrown him under the bus like he did with Steve Austin in 2002. Both Punk and WWE must be aware of the brilliant angle they could do with this walkout over the Wrestlemania period. Things are looking far more positive for both sides right now, the sabbatical comment is encouraging and Steve Austin stated earlier this week that he is certain that Punk will be working at Wrestlemania 30. Other highlights from the conference call include - Key successes were attendance being up 2%, Total TV viewers increasing to 14.2 million viewers a week up 19%, and also an increase to 260 million Social Media followers, up 90%. The TV deal with BSkyB was described as 3 times the value on the previous deal. It is the most valuable international TV deal. The company hopes to finalise negotiations for a new US TV deal by the end of April. The majority of PPV carriers have agreed to carry Wrestlemania. Vince stated that further PPV's will be decided month to month. The company is going to spend $20 million on WWE Studios in 2014. Network will launch in UK late 2014/early 2015. Network subscribers projected between 1 million and 2 million subscribers. WWE stated they will be happy with 1 million subscribers at the end of the year. Dish Network and Direct TV account for around 35% of PPV Revenue. Overall there were the usual positives and underlying negatives that happen in these conference calls. WWE business isn't in a bad place, but it is in an uncertain transition. The Network represents a major risk, killing off pay per view, the WWE have some very ambitious subscriber numbers to achieve. It will be fascinating to see how reality matches up to Vince McMahon's expectations.
