Mark Henry Staying With WWE, WWE/Microsoft, More

There had been recent speculation that Mark Henry's days in the WWE were coming to the end when his contract expired, but The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Henry recently signed a contract renewal.

WWE issued the following press release today: STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–World Wrestling Entertainment? is working with Microsoft Corp. to develop a new, cutting edge interactive video experience at WWE.com based on the Microsoft Silverlight cross-browser, cross-platform interactive plug-in. WWE will make this interactive video player the primary front-end tool for delivering all streaming video, as well as providing a rich and compelling "web 2.0" experience to the WWE fan nation. WWE.com currently attracts more than 20 million unique visitors and streams more than 40 million videos each month. "We are very excited that WWE.com will be utilizing Microsoft Silverlight to deliver the type of interactive, media-intensive and high-quality experiences that its dedicated and fervent fan base demands," said Brian Goldfarb, group product manager in the UX Platform and Tools team at Microsoft. "The support of an established brand such as WWE is proof that Silverlight is fast becoming a new standard in delivering media online." In September, Microsoft will publicly release Silverlight 1.0, a web plug-in that allows for the development of world class, interactive and cutting edge user experiences. With Silverlight as its backbone, WWE will develop a one-of-a-kind experience that will provide fans with the rich and compelling interface they deserve, while at the same time providing advertisers with new and innovative methods by which to reach the loyal and dedicated WWE customer base. "Using the Silverlight tool kit we have been able to take advantage of tremendous creative flexibility and create a compelling user environment that our previous video product had only begun to offer," said Ross Angert, WWE.com Creative Director. "We plan to continue to use these new tools to extend the WWE brand and the consumption of our unique and amazing content."