WWE issued the following:
WWE® AND SONY PICTURES NETWORK INDIA ANNOUNCE WWE SUPERSTAR SPECTACLE
MUMBAI, India & STAMFORD, Conn., January 13, 2021 – WWE Superstar Spectacle, an unprecedented two-hour television special event for India featuring WWE’s Indian performers alongside Superstars from Raw®, SmackDown® and NXT®, will premiere exclusively on Sony Ten 1, Sony Ten 3 and Sony MAX on India’s Republic Day, Tuesday, January 26 at 8PM IST, with commentary available in both English and Hindi.
The unique showcase of Indian-inspired action will emanate from the state-of-the-art WWE ThunderDome, and incorporate stunning elements of traditional and contemporary Indian culture among epic matches featuring WWE Champion Drew McIntyre® and WWE Superstars including Rey Mysterio®, Charlotte Flair®, AJ Styles®, Bayley®, The New Day®, Shinsuke Nakamura®, Cesaro®, Dolph Ziggler®, Robert Roode®, Ricochet® and many more plus an appearance by WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair®.
“We love the passion and support from the huge WWE Universe in India so we’ve teamed up with SPN, the exclusive home of WWE in India, to surprise our fans with an incredible event to kick off 2021,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Global Talent Strategy & Development. “WWE Superstar Spectacle will be an epic event with electrifying matches featuring some of the biggest names in WWE along with our incredible Indian performers, plus thrilling and authentic Indian-inspired entertainment.”
“WWE has consistently featured among the top watched sports properties in India over the years,” said Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head – Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India. “We are excited about presenting WWE Superstar Spectacle to WWE fans and viewers in India on Republic Day which will showcase and celebrate the best of the next generation Indian talent in WWE.”
With matches announced in the coming weeks, WWE fans can look forward to witnessing appearances by 10 Indian WWE talent including:
WWE Superstar Jinder Mahal, the first WWE Champion of Indian descent.
The Bollywood Boyz, WWE Superstars Samir and Sunil Singh.
The first all-Indian tag team in WWE, Indus Sher, featuring Rinku and Saurav.
NXT Superstar Jeet Rama.
Kavita Devi, the first Indian woman to sign a WWE contract.
The Great Khali trainees Giant Zanjeer (7ft 2in, 340 pounds) and Dilsher Shanky (7ft, 310 pounds).
Guru Raaj, the first Indian-born high-flyer in WWE.
The arrival of WWE Superstar Spectacle comes at a time when WWE’s popularity in India continues to increase. WWE is one of the most-watched sports properties in India, and India ranks #1 for WWE YouTube consumption and #1 in WWE Facebook followers. In addition, WWE has been actively recruiting elite athletes and performers from the country. In 2019, WWE hosted its largest tryout in history, where more than 70 top athletes from India showcased their abilities in Mumbai and four Indian recruits were selected to train at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, U.S.
About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The Company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE’s TV-PG, family-friendly programming can be seen in more than 800 million homes worldwide in 28 languages. WWE Network, the first-ever 24/7 over-the-top premium network that includes all live pay-per-views, scheduled programming and a massive video-on-demand library, is currently available in more than 180 countries. The Company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, Munich and Tokyo.
Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/.
About Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN)
Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation, Japan.
SPN has several channels including Sony Entertainment Television (SET and SET HD), one of India’s leading Hindi general entertainment television channels; MAX, India’s premium Hindi movies and special events channel; MAX 2, another Hindi movie channel showcasing great India Cinema; MAX HD, a high definition Hindi movie channel airing premium quality films; WAH, the FTA channel for Hindi movies; SAB and SAB HD the family-oriented Hindi comedy entertainment channels; PAL, a genre leader in rural Hindi speaking markets (HSM) showcasing the best of Hindi general entertainment and Hindi movies from SPN’s content library; PIX and PIX HD, Sony BBC Earth and Sony BBC Earth HD, the premium factual entertainment channels, Sony AATH, the Bangla entertainment channel; YAY!, the kids entertainment channel; sports entertainment channels – SONY SIX, SONY SIX HD, SONY TEN 1, SONY TEN 1 HD, SONY TEN 2, SONY TEN 2 HD, SONY TEN 3, SONY TEN 3 HD; Sony मराठी, the Marathi general entertainment channel; SonyLIV – the digital entertainment VOD platform; SPN Productions, the networks’ film production arm and Studio NEXT the independent production venture for original content and IPs for TV and digital media. SPN reaches out to over 700 million viewers in India and is available in 167 countries.
The network is recognized as an employer of choice within and outside the media industry. SPN is a recipient of several awards, including India’s Best Companies to Work For 2020 by the Great Place to Work® Institute, India, ‘Aon Best Employers India’ awards in recognition of SPN’s unique workplace culture and exceptional people practices, consistently ranking amongst India’s Top 10 Companies with Best Health & Wellness Practices by SHRM & CGP Partners and listed by Working Mother & AVTAR as one of the 100 Best Companies for Women in India.
Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited is in its 25th year of operations in India. It has a subsidiary, MSM-Worldwide Factual Media Private Limited and an affiliate, Bangla Entertainment Private Limited in India.
Trademarks: All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to: the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on our business, results of operations and financial condition; entering, maintaining and renewing major distribution agreements; a rapidly evolving media landscape; WWE Network (including the risk that we are unable to attract, retain and renew subscribers); our need to continue to develop creative and entertaining programs and events; the possibility of a decline in the popularity of our brand of sports entertainment; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent K. McMahon; possible adverse changes in the regulatory atmosphere and related private sector initiatives; the highly competitive, rapidly changing and increasingly fragmented nature of the markets in which we operate and greater financial resources or marketplace presence of many of our competitors; uncertainties associated with international markets including possible disruptions and reputational risks; our difficulty or inability to promote and conduct our live events and/or other businesses if we do not comply with applicable regulations; our dependence on our intellectual property rights, our need to protect those rights, and the risks of our infringement of others’ intellectual property rights; the complexity of our rights agreements across distribution mechanisms and geographical areas; potential substantial liability in the event of accidents or injuries occurring during our physically demanding events including without limitation, claims alleging traumatic brain injury; large public events as well as travel to and from such events; our feature film business; our expansion into new or complementary businesses and/or strategic investments; our computer systems and online operations; privacy norms and regulations; a possible decline in general economic conditions and disruption in financial markets; our accounts receivable; our indebtedness including our convertible notes; litigation; our potential failure to meet market expectations for our financial performance, which could adversely affect our stock; Vincent K. McMahon exercises control over our affairs, and his interests may conflict with the holders of our Class A common stock; a substantial number of shares are eligible for sale by the McMahons and the sale, or the perception of possible sales, of those shares could lower our stock price; and the volatility of our Class A common stock. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends (including under our revolving credit facility), general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant. Forward-looking statements made by the Company speak only as of the date made and are subject to change without any obligation on the part of the Company to update or revise them. Undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with the Company’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of the Company’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.
