Media Mogul Wants To Buy WWE?, Post-Rumble RAW Beats Post-Mania, WWE Network Drops In US Subscribers

- A quick correction from earlier regarding the last time the post-WrestleMania RAW went up against the NCAA. The last time it happened was for WrestleMania 30 in 2014, not WrestleMania 29 as previously reported. We have fixed that error. The post-WrestleMania 30 episode of RAW drew 5.146 million viewers, which was 26% higher than the 4.094 million viewers garnered by this past Monday's show.

- This past Monday's post-WrestleMania RAW will make it the first time in three years that it won't be the highest rated episode of the year. It currently is the second most watched episode of the year, with the post-Royal Rumble episode edging it out by 1% with 4.098 million viewers. With the exception of the post-Rumble RAW, it is the most watched episode since the June 15, 2015 episode, which took place the night after WWE Money In The Bank and averaged 4.114 million viewers.

- The New York Post reported last weekend that there is "a strong rumor" that media tycoon John de Mol, whose net worth is estimated to be $2.2 billion, is interested in buying WWE if Vince McMahon ever decided to sell. His company, Talpa Beheer, acquired a 6% stake in WWE last year. A spokesperson for de Mol declined to comment, while WWE issued the Post this statement:

"WWE, controlled by founder and Chief Executive Officer Vince McMahon through Class B shares, isn't in any discussions about a potential sale."

- Seeking Alpha has a story here about WWE stock dropping yesterday. As noted, WWE announced that the Network reached 1.82 million total subscribers after Sunday's WrestleMania, which was a 39% increase from the Monday after WrestleMania last year. WWE stock actually started going up, however WWE later issued more details and revealed that the number included free trial subscribers.

Excluding the free trial subscribers, WWE reached 1.45 million paid subscribers, with 1.1 million domestic subscribers. The 1.1 million domestic number is actually a 1% drop from last year. It was also noted that WWE CFO George Barrios expected the total number of subscribers to drop in the second quarter to 1.5 million.

Craig contributed to this article.