JBL’s Farewell Address & Future?, WWE Stocks, & More News

JBL posted a farewell blog on the WWE Universe website earlier today. “I had wanted to make it to WM 25 for years, and when injuries cut my career short the one regret I had was that I wouldn’t make the 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania,” JBL wrote. “Well, I made it. I never dreamed after I retired the first time that my back would get better and I would be allowed to return to wrestling… I don’t know what the future holds, never say never in life. But I have wrestled my last match. Months ago, I picked out this match. If Eddie Guerrero couldn’t be here for it then my dear friend Rey [Mysterio] was the obvious choice, and I’m proud he was. I want to thank the WWE for a great career, for taking a chance on me and allowing me the keys to the car for a while. I will always represent the WWE wherever I go, I am proud of my 13 ½ years with the WWE. And, I am proud of the WWE for cleaning up a great sport to make it more healthy to everyone that is a part. However, I have no current plans on doing anything in the future on a professional level with WWE. I don’t plan on doing commentary. In fact, it hasn’t even been brought up to me. I don’t plan on being an on air character. I plan on starting the next chapter in my life, and closing the door on this one.”

WWE sent out the following press release, hyping their stock’s performance in difficult economic times: STAMFORD, Conn. – (Business Wire) Despite a challenging economy, World Wrestling Entertainment® stock outperformed other entertainment companies on both stock price performance and total return basis for Q1 2009. WWE is up 4.2% on a stock price basis versus CBS (-53.1%), Dream Works (-14.3%), Lions Gate (-8.2%), Marvel (-13.7%), News Corp. (-19.6%), Time Warner (-36.1%), Viacom (-7.2%) and Walt Disney Company (-20.0%). On a total return basis*, WWE was up 8.0% also besting CBS (-52.4%), Dream Works (-14.3%), Lions Gate (-8.2%), Marvel (-13.7%), News Corp. (-18.8%), Time Warner (-27.8%), Viacom (-7.2%) and Walt Disney Company (-20.0%). * Total Stock Return is defined as the change in stock price and value of reinvested dividends over a given period, i.e. 12/31/2008 – 3/31/09 in the above example. Investors should note that past returns are not a guarantee of future performance. Additional information on World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (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/.
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