--- description: The publicly traded company World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE, took a substantial hit Friday. title: Investors Body-Slam WWE Wrestling Network image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt733f30fb27a40106/69868fe3d0b6f213dc304554/world-wrestling-entertainment.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Markets](/tag/markets/) ## Markets Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # WWE Is Taking a Beating—And Not the Fake for TV Kind of Beating  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 16, 2014 3:01 PM CUT  WWE Network logo at 2014 International CES at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas on Jan. 8, 2014 in Las Vegas. WWE Network logo at 2014 International CES at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas on Jan. 8, 2014 in Las Vegas.Ethan Miller—Getty Images  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 16, 2014 3:01 PM CUT The publicly traded company World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE, took a substantial hit Friday as investors reacted to a dismal earnings outlook, sending shares plummeting 50% in premarket trading. The news comes a day after WWE and NBC Universal announced a [deal](http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2014/2014%5F05%5F15.jsp "undefined") to carry WWE programs _Monday Night Raw_ and _Friday Night Smackdown_ on the USA and SyFy networks, respectively. The company is [transitioning](http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2014/2014%5F05%5F15.pdf "undefined") from pay-per-view to a business model built on broadcast cable deals and online streaming; WWE hopes to capitalize on the roughly half of U.S. households with broadband it estimates WWE fans. The company estimates that globally it will need to add 1.3 to 1.4 million subscribers to offset cannibalization of its pay-per-view services. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/102777/wwe-stock/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/102777/wwe-stock/"},"headline":"WWE Is Taking a Beating—And Not the Fake for TV Kind of Beating","datePublished":"2014-05-16T15:01:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:53:15.110Z","description":"Shares in WWE plummet 50 percent","url":"https://time.com/102777/wwe-stock/","keywords":["Markets","WWE","NBC","wrestling"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt733f30fb27a40106/69868fe3d0b6f213dc304554/world-wrestling-entertainment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt733f30fb27a40106/69868fe3d0b6f213dc304554/world-wrestling-entertainment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"WWE Network logo at 2014 International CES at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas on Jan. 8, 2014 in Las Vegas.","caption":"WWE Network logo at 2014 International CES at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas on Jan. 8, 2014 in Las Vegas.","creditText":"Ethan Miller—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/markets/","name":"Markets"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/102777/wwe-stock/","name":"WWE Is Taking a Beating—And Not the Fake for TV Kind of Beating"}}]}] ```