WWE: The CW Network Names New SVP of Sports & Will Oversee WWE NXT, Triple H and Stephanie & Shane McMahon Attend Linda McMahon’s Senate Confirmation Hearing, More News

Feb 14, 2025

The CW Network Names New SVP of Sports & Will Oversee WWE NXT

The CW Network announced on Thursday that they have named Michael Perman as their new Senior Vice President of Sports for the company.

It was announced that Perman will “oversee all strategy, programming, and media rights on behalf of CW Sports”, including WWE NXT on the network.

Official press release:

MICHAEL PERMAN NAMED SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF SPORTS FOR THE CW NETWORK
BURBANK, CA (FEBRUARY 13, 2025) – The CW Network today announced that it has named Michael Perman as Senior Vice President of Sports. Mr. Perman will begin his new duties immediately and report to Brad Schwartz, President of The CW Network. In this newly created position, Mr. Perman will oversee all strategy, programming, and media rights on behalf of CW Sports.
Mr. Perman brings more than 20 years of experience with three globally acclaimed sports media brands to his new role, serving most recently as Senior Vice President, Global Media Rights, at Aggregate Sports, a media agency working with premier sports properties to increase their value, generate revenue, and negotiate media rights agreements. Previously, Mr. Perman was Vice President Programming, NBC Sports Group, where he oversaw acquisitions, program planning, and scheduling for NBC and NBCSN, including several tent-pole properties such as NASCAR, the National Hockey League, IndyCar, and the Tour de France. Prior to the merger between Comcast and NBC Universal, Perman served as Director of Scheduling for the Comcast-owned cable sports channel, where he managed the network’s relationships with the UFC, boxing, and college sports.
“As our sports programming schedule continues to grow at a breakneck pace, we are excited to bring a consummate pro like Mike Perman to our team of experienced industry executives, producers, and talent who are leading the charge to transform The CW into a must-see destination for live sporting events,” said Brad Schwartz, President of The CW Network. “With nearly 400 hours a year of sports content now under Mike’s leadership, including NASCAR, WWE, ACC, Pac12, Grand Slam Track, and Inside The NFL, we are confident he will play a significant role in driving continued success for CW Sports.”
Prior to NBC Sports, Mr. Perman served as Director, International Programming, at the National Basketball Association, where he was responsible for creating and overseeing the day-to-day operations of NBA TV International and the scheduling of NBA programming around the world. Mr. Perman also played an instrumental role in building the NBA brand on a global basis.
“I am thrilled to be able to deliver first-class sports programming across The CW’s ubiquitously available broadcast and digital platforms while fostering strong and enduring relationships within the sports world,” said Mr. Perman. “Together, we will continue to transform the network into a premier destination for fans, offering dynamic live sporting events and engaging programming.”
Mr. Perman will be based in The CW’s New York City office.

Triple H and Stephanie & Shane McMahon Attend Linda McMahon’s Senate Confirmation Hearing

The United States Senate held a confirmation hearing for Linda McMahon’s nomination for the position of Secretary of Education in Donald Trump’s presidential cabinet.

Among those who had attended the hearing included McMahon’s children Stephanie and Shane and also WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque.

Stephanie, Shane, and Levesque were all seated directly behind McMahon during the hearing proceedings.

Besides questions related to Trump’s current plans to dismantle the Department of Education during his term as President, McMahon’s involvement in the current WWE Ring Boys scandal lawsuit was also brought up during the hearing.

Here’s the full video of Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) completely bungling her “question” for Linda McMahon about the ring boys child sexual abuse lawsuit and McMahon’s response. pic.twitter.com/MnFhdbxoUI
— Babyface v. Heel (@BabyfacevHeel) February 13, 2025

WWE News & Notes

As noted before, WWE will be debuting a new WWE EVOLVE television series on March 5th on Tubi. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that WWE recently had a new WWE EVOLVE Championship belt made for their upcoming new developmental brand. Johnson reported that WWE officials currently are planning to introduce this new championship in upcoming episodes of their new EVOLVE television series.

Professional Bull Riders (PBR) recently announced that their upcoming events this weekend will be airing live for free on WWE’s official YouTube channel. PBR is currently owned by WWE’s parent company TKO Group, who had purchased the company in October of 2024.

WWE recently released a new sneak peak trailer video for their upcoming new WWE LFG series on A&E featuring a look at the prospects who will be competing on the show.

WWE also recently released two new videos to their WWE Vault channel on YouTube. The first new video was the full “R-Truth’s road to redemption” episode of WWE 24. The second new video was a singles match of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. Psycho Sid from the February 13, 1997 episode of WWE RAW.

WWE also recently released one new video to their NXT Vault channel on YouTube. This video was the full July 10, 2013 episode of WWE NXT.

In a recent interview with the Unlikely with Adrian Hernandez podcast, Rey Mysterio gave his thoughts about the growth of his son Dominik’s wrestling career in WWE. Mysterio stated “Walking in, in my shoes? Had to have been the hardest thing he’d ever done. But the fact that we’re so detached, it’s like that umbilical cord has been snatched. He’s his own entity now, which is so cool.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)

The Owen Hart Foundation announced on Twitter that Dr. Martha Hart and her son Oje Hart recently met up with Ann Callis, who is the attorney for Janel Grant for her sexual abuse and sex trafficking lawsuit against Vince McMahon. It was announced “The OHF crew sat down again with another NYC based production company to chat about the OHF’s 25th anniversary and the backstory that lead to its creation, which will air in the Fall so watch for it. We also had the pleasure of meeting up with lovely attorney Ann Callis, a former chief judge of Illinois’s Third Judicial Circuit and the current lead council for Janel Grant who is based in St. [Louis] MO and we wish them much luck in their quest for justice.”

As noted before, former AEW talent Ricky Starks made his official WWE debut at this past Tuesday’s WWE NXT show. In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Roxanne Perez gave her thoughts about Starks’ surprise debut appearance and her reaction when she found out he was in WWE. Perez stated “It was awesome. I have known Ricky Starks since I was literally 15 years old. He came up in Texas as I did, so we definitely ran into each other a lot. I didn’t even know he was going to be there. I didn’t even see him walk out into the crowd. I saw it on the TV screen with everybody else and that made me so happy because he’s awesome. He’s such a great person and I think he deserves everything… To see him here now and hopefully maybe get to work with him, that’s going to be awesome.”

In a recent interview with the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast, former WWE wrestler Michelle McCool gave her thoughts about her being hopeful that herself and former WWE wrestler Layla get inducted together as LayCool in WWE’s Hall of Fame in the future. McCool stated “I don’t know. I get that question all the time. It would be an honor. I don’t know — not my call, don’t even know whose call it is. But, I have no idea. I hope LayCool would go in. It would be an honor to go in as Michelle McCool, obviously. But — think about it — LayCool is what put Michelle McCool really on the map. And I’ll never take that for granted, but [Layla] just disassociated from wrestling for quite some time. And I’ve respected that, but I’d give anything to have a LayCool reunion at a [Royal] Rumble.” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)