Kevin Patrick Comments on His Recent WWE Release
As noted before, WWE commentator Kevin Patrick was released from WWE this past January following him being dropped as the lead commentator for their SmackDown brand.
Patrick, real name Kevin Egan, reflected on Twitter about his recent release from WWE and being grateful for his time in the company. Patrick also stated that the reason for his release was due to him feeling that it was time for him to go in a new direction for his broadcast career.
Patrick also announced that he will be the lead host for this season of MLS 360 on Apple TV. MLS confirmed that Patrick will be one of the hosts for this season of MLS Season Pass on the service.
“Beyond excited to announce that this year I will be Lead Host of MLS 360 on Apple TV. Four hours of live whip-around coverage, jumping from game to game, catching all the goals and big moments as they happen – all alongside three top pros and brilliant people! 😁
The rise of our beautiful game here in North America is undeniable. Messi plays here. We’ve got a World Cup on our shores in 2 years. The match attendances & atmospheres are better than ever. And now we’re broadcasting to over 100 countries on Apple TV. Let’s be havin’ ya
Nothing but love for 3 incredible years at WWE! From the exhilarating experiences & all the brilliant friends I worked with along the way, I’m flooded with gratitude. In saying that, it was time to turn the page, and I couldn’t be more excited for this new chapter! Cheers ♥️”
Nothing but love for 3 incredible years at WWE! From the exhilarating experiences & all the brilliant friends I worked with along the way, I’m flooded with gratitude. In saying that, it was time to turn the page, and I couldn’t be more excited for this new chapter! Cheers ♥️
— Kevin Egan (@kev_egan) February 16, 2024
More on NXT Viewership for February 13, 2024
The February 13th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT suffer a slight decline in key demographic ratings and key demographic rankings.
NXT drew 650,000 viewers and a 0.17 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking was 9th place.
Detailed key demographic viewership breakdowns were not available in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Dave Meltzer reported that the main reasons for NXT’s declines this week was due to the large decline from their overall key demographic viewership, which was down 12.7% compared to last week’s show. This mostly offset the gains from their Over 50 viewership group, which its percentage was not stated. Another reason reportedly was due to NXT not really recovering from the viewership decline suffered throughout the show following its first 15 minutes.
In terms of notable head-to-head competition, the NBA basketball game of Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Orlando Magic drew 839,000 viewers on TNT, the College basketball game of North Carolina vs. Syracuse drew 1,093,000 viewers on ESPN, the College basketball game of Ole Miss vs. Kentucky drew 858,000 viewers on ESPN, the College basketball game of Marquette vs. Butler drew 280,000 viewers on FS1, the College basketball game of Oklahoma vs. Baylor drew 199,000 viewers on ESPN2, Vanderpump Rules drew 955,000 viewers on BRAVO, Watch What Happens Live drew 592,000 viewers on BRAVO, Moonshiners drew 697,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, Curse of Oak Island drew 2,442,000 viewers on History Channel, and Love & Hip Hop Atlanta drew 358,000 viewers on MTV.
In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 219,000 viewers.
In terms of peak viewership, NXT’s peak overall viewership reportedly was at 735,000 viewers for the first quarter hour featuring the Mr. Stone & Von Wagner vs. Meta Four tag team match. NXT peak key demographic viewership reportedly was at 261,000 viewers for the same quarter hour. NXT’s overrun reportedly drew 648,000 overall viewers and 227,000 key demographic viewers, up from their eighth quarter’s 551,000 overall viewers and 175,000 key demo viewers.
In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 1.6% in overall viewership and up 9% in key demographic viewership.
WWE News & Notes
WWE recently announced that they will be holding an Elimination Chamber 2024 Kickoff fan and press event on February 23rd at the Southern Oval in Perth, Australia. Similar to their WrestleMania 40 Kickoff event in Las Vegas, Nevada earlier this month, this upcoming Kickoff event will also be free for fans to attend.
WWE and Panini recently announced that a new WWE digital trading card series called Blockchain Donruss Elite WWE will be released on the Panini Blockchain.
WWE recently touted the opening of their new WWE Experience indoor theme park on Friday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
2K Games recently announced that musician Post Malone will be a playable DLC character for their upcoming WWE 2K24 video game. It was also announced that this year’s game soundtrack was also curated by Post Malone.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that WWE received $1,675,986 in tax break from the state of Ohio for holding televised events in their state in 2023.
In a recent Q&A article, PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that there were recent talks within WWE regarding the potential of holding next year’s WrestleMania 41 event in Las Vegas, Nevada. Johnson reported that Minneapolis, Minnesota is still the frontrunner to be the host city for next year’s event.
A&E is currently scheduled to air a WWE Legends Biography marathon on Sunday from 1PM EST to 12AM EST on their network.
As noted before, Shotzi suffered a knee injury at this past Tuesday’s NXT tapings and was replaced with Alba Fyre for her scheduled Women’s Elimination Chamber Qualifying match for Friday’s SmackDown show as a result. Shotzi recently reflected about not being able to compete for a spot in this year’s Women’s Elimination Chamber match and will reveal more details regarding her injury at a later date. Shotzi stated “I don’t have much to say right now other than I am devastated. It’s heartbreaking to be missing my Elimination Chamber opportunity tonight. But I just wanted to wish all the women competing good luck. I’ll open up more about how I’m feeling and my injury later. @WWE“
As noted before, NXT talent Amari Miller departed from WWE last week following a mutual decision made by both sides. In a recent interview with WrestlingNews.co, Miller gave her thoughts about her reasons for leaving WWE and keeping the door open to a potential return in the future. Miller stated “It was mostly creative. They didn’t have anything for me creatively, and my contract was ending anyway, so I felt it was best for both worlds. It mostly came from their side. Not like an ‘oh, please, I’m begging.’ It was more, ‘Thank you for the opportunity, I appreciate it.’ There is nothing I felt I could have done. I worked my butt off. I was there every day. There is no bad blood on either side. It’s perfectly understandable from a business perspective of where they were coming from. I did have injuries through my path in WWE. I get why it’s, ‘Ah, she might be a liability,’ to end it all, it was nothing creatively for me, so it was time to go our separate ways. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to go back. The door is not shut. Coach was saying he always puts his name behind me if needed. It’s a very good tight relationship between me and WWE right now.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
WWE announced one new match and one updated match for the card of their February 19th WWE RAW show in Anaheim, California:
- Chad Gable vs. Ivar
- Last-chance Battle Royal for Women’s Elimination Chamber match – Shayna Baszler vs. Michin vs. Zoey Stark vs. Alba Fyre vs. Zelina Vega
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