WWE Jumping Into The Ring With ESPN And HBO

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. WWE has long been about more than just professional wrestling. That much will be on display very soon.

This week, two separate WWE-related projects made the rounds.

The first is related to who many consider the greatest pro wrestler of all time, Ric Flair. "The Nature Boy" will be profiled in an ESPN "30 for 30" documentary. Filming has already commenced on the project and is expected to wrap up by the company's "Survivor Series" event later this month.

"The WWE is very, very protective of their intellectual property," Flair said on his podcast this week. "[The project] is mutually beneficial for all of us, but it just took a while to get everybody on the same page and to work on it diligently for, I guess, it has been a year and a half now. And all of a sudden, it's coming to fruition."

Related Link: Why WWE Network Is 'Clearly' A Viable Business

Walt Disney Co DIS's ESPN recently signed a partnership with WWE that showcases WWE highlights during a specific time on ESPN's flagship "SportsCenter" show. This has caused some ire in the sports world, as many don't consider pro wrestling to be a real sport. Earlier in 2015, WWE's NXT promotion received its own 60-minute documentary on the network.

The "30 for 30" series began in 2009 and has since produced 120 episodes. The critically-acclaimed series was the brainchild of Bill Simmons, who coincidentally is reportedly at the helm of some other major WWE-related news this week.

Andre The Giant was perhaps the most famous wrestler on the planet in the 1970s and 1980s, before succumbing to gigantism in 1993. He crossed over to the mainstream with a supporting role in the "The Princess Bride." Simmons is a noted wrestling fan, so it should come as little surprise that he would want to produce a documentary on one of the giants (literally and figuratively) of the business.

Simmons left ESPN on not-so-good terms in the spring of this year and joined Time Warner Inc TWX's HBO in the fall.

Posted In: NewsEventsTechAndre the GiantBill SimmonsHBORic Flair
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