WWE and ESPN deny claims the media company is unhappy with their deal

WWE continues to deliver PLEs through the new ESPN app (Credit: ESPNFrontRow.com)
WWE continues to deliver PLEs through the new ESPN app (Credit: ESPNFrontRow.com)

WWE and ESPN announced a partnership on August 6, a five-year $1.6 billion deal, which would bring PLEs to their updated ESPN app, as well as special events like Saturday Night's Main Event. However, a former writer claims that all is not well between the two parties behind the scenes.

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The first ESPN PLE event, a brand new IP called Wrestlepalooza, was not exactly well-received, with ESPN's own Andreas Hale rating it a "C." While the quality of the promotion's events has been debated over the past few months, they seem to be in good standing with ESPN. The brand made sure to promote the latest PLE, Survivor Series: WarGames, leading up to the event and throughout the day, even during highly contested college football rivalry games.

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But a former writer, "I Know What You Did Last Summer" star Freddie Prinze Jr., recently claimed that Disney, ESPN's parent company, is not happy. According to Prinze Jr., a friend of his at Disney says they are not happy with the current deal. On his podcast, Wrestling with Freddie, he said the following.

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"ESPN, by the way, so unhappy with the deal. I was talking to a friend of mine who works for Disney, and he was just like, 'Yo, they better make their money back on their deal.' He just said, 'They're hot.'" [H/TFightful]
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Between 2009 and 2011, Freddie Prinze Jr. spent a few stints with the promotion as a member of the creative team. While he didn't spend much time with the promotion, Prinze Jr.'s love of wrestling led to an ongoing quest to start his own.

WWE and ESPN deny Freddy Prinze Jr's claim

It's a toss-up as to whether or not critiques are ever answered, let alone assertions like Prinze Jr.'s. Today, though, less than a day since the latest episode of Prinze Jr.'s podcast, World Wrestling Entertainment and ESPN have responded.

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Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp reached out to both companies, and they have flat-out denied the rumor.

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"I asked sources in WWE and ESPN about Freddie Prinze Jr's comments about ESPN being unhappy with WWE. A WWE higher up said 'no one in WWE upper management is aware of Freddie Prinze's role in wrestling or otherwise.' An ESPN rep claimed that they haven't heard that chatter, and have enjoyed working with WWE."

We're three months into this five-year partnership. What do you think of it so far? Sound off in the comments.

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Edited by Greg Bush
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