WWE Stock Dropping Due To Declining Ratings?, Drake Maverick And R-Truth Hug It Out, Lio Rush

By Marc Middleton

- Today's episode of WWE's "The Bump" featured former WWE 24/7 Title rivals Drake Maverick and R-Truth burying the hatchet and hugging it out, now that they are on separate brands. The show also had call-ins by Heath Slater and Carmella.

Above is video of Drake presenting Truth with an early Christmas present – a framed Wanted posted from his 24/7 Title chase. Below is the full episode with hosts Kayla Braxton and Matt Camp, and others.

- WWE stock was down 0.16% today, closing at $66.62 per share. Today's high was $67.99 and the low was $65.75.

Speaking of WWE stock, CNN has a new article that says WWE has been "smacked down by Wall Street" this year. The piece notes that WWE stock is now down about 10% this year and is trading more than 30% below its 52-week high. CNN reports that some investors are concerned that we have reached peak WWE.

"Ratings are a barometer of fan interest and they have been going in the wrong direction," said Brandon Ross, a media analyst with LightShed Capital.

They also look at how there is concern over the international WWE TV deals, and how investors hope WWE officials will reveal details of those deals when they report 2019 Q3 earnings on Thursday, October 31. Despite the concern, some analysts remain optimistic.

"WWE is on the brink of a period of unprecedented growth," said Evercore ISI analyst John Belton in a recent report. Belton also believes there are "several growth opportunities not priced in" to the current stock price, such as the possibility of international TV deals being more favorable for WWE than expected.

Regarding competition from AEW, investors are not worried. "In the past new competitors brought more attention to all of wrestling and WWE has been able to withstand the competitive threat," Loop Capital Markets analyst Alan Gould said in a report.

CNN ended their report with the following line: "So even though investors have taken a steel chair to WWE's stock as of late, WWE could wind up making a heroic comeback and once again emerge as a Wall Street champion."

- WWE NXT Cruiserweight Champion Lio Rush has finally received his custom title plates, as seen in the video below from his Twitter. Rush defeated Drew Gulak for the title back on the October 9 NXT episode when the title was re-branded under the black & yellow brand. Rush is expected to appear on tonight's episode, but that hasn't been confirmed.

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