Press Release: WWE Announces First-Ever Women’s Royal Rumble Match, Stephanie McMahon Comments

WWE has issued the following:

FIRST-EVER WOMEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE® MATCH SET FOR JANUARY 28

STAMFORD, Conn., December 18, 2017 – For the first time in history, WWE’s female Superstars will perform in a Royal Rumble match on Sunday, January 28, where Superstars will go head-to-head with the winner receiving a championship opportunity at WrestleMania® 34 this April. This milestone was announced tonight by WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon during Monday Night Raw® live on USA Network.

The women’s Royal Rumble marks another milestone in WWE’s women’s evolution, which has placed a spotlight on its female performers, involving them in more prominent storylines, with deeper character development and longer matches.

“The first-ever women’s Royal Rumble match will mark a significant moment in the evolution of WWE,” said Stephanie McMahon, WWE Chief Brand Officer. “WWE’s female performers are role models, inspiring and empowering women and girls to be confident and strong. They deserve their own match at Royal Rumble.”

At WrestleMania 32, WWE unveiled a new Women’s Championship title belt and re-branded the Divas Division to become the Women’s Division. Since then, WWE has placed a greater emphasis on its female performers, including recruiting female talent from around the world, as well as the recent signings of the first female recruits from the Middle East and India.

This year, WWE created the first-ever women’s tournament, Mae Young Classic, which included 32 of the top female competitors from 16 countries, underscoring the breadth and international diversity of women in sports entertainment. In addition, earlier this month, WWE Superstars Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss took part in the first-ever women’s match in the Middle East, and this summer in partnership with Mattel, WWE unveiled the first-ever Fashion Doll line featuring its female Superstars.

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 programming reaches more than 650 million homes worldwide in 20 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.

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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: WWE Network; major distribution agreements; our need to continue to develop creative and entertaining programs and events; 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; 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 relating to CTE; 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; a possible decline in general economic conditions and disruption in financial markets; our accounts receivable; our revolving credit facility; litigation; our potential failure to meet market expectations for our financial performance, which  could adversely affect our stock; Vincent K. McMahon exercising control over our affairs, and his interests may conflict with the holders of our Class A common stock; a substantial number of shares which 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 relatively small public “float” of our Class A common stock. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and 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, are subject to change without any obligation on the part of the Company to update or revise them, and undue reliance should not be placed on these statements.

Related: Stephanie McMahon Confirms First Ever Women’s Royal Rumble Match