Rumble to become new home of WWE Main Event beginning Oct. 14 Media Man

Rumble to become new home of WWE Main Event beginning Oct. 14

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Rumble to become new home of WWE Main Event beginning Oct. 14

WWE and Rumble, a video platform powering human imagination, part of RUM Group Inc. (NASDAQ: RUM), have announced a long-term distribution and content partnership in which Rumble will become the new home of the weekly premium program WWE Main Event.

Beginning Oct. 14, Rumble will stream WWE Main Event every Wednesday starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, with each episode available at Rumble.com/WWE as part of Rumble Sports' lineup on Rumble.com and Rumble’s mobile and connected TV apps.

"WWE Main Event will be a key pillar in Rumble's expanding sports programming lineup," said Claudio Ramolo, Rumble's Chief Content Officer. "WWE content has consistently ranked among the most-watched programming on television, top streaming platforms and social media for decades – a rare combination that resonates with both fans and advertisers alike. This partnership reflects Rumble's ongoing commitment to bringing our users the very best in sports, entertainment and beyond."

“Serving a digital-first audience is a core focus for WWE, and Rumble has built an accessible platform that is committed to delivering premium sports and entertainment programming,” said Alex Varga, EVP, WWE.

WWE Main Event features matches that take place weekly ahead of Raw and SmackDown from venues around the world. Since its debut in October 2012, WWE Main Event has showcased several of the biggest WWE Superstars from Raw, SmackDown and NXT, including Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Charlotte Flair, Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton and more. The deal underscores Rumble’s continued push to grow its audience by bringing more premium sports content to the platform.

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Peter Thiel-backed YouTube rival Rumble wants to woo Kanye West, Nicki Minaj -
13th October 2022

A Peter Thiel-backed YouTube rival called Rumble has established itself as a place for right-wing political commentary — but the site is looking to widen its audience by wooing controversial celebrities like Kanye West and Nicki Minaj, a key backer tells The Post.

Darren Blanton, a frequent donor to GOP campaigns who invested in Rumble earlier this year alongside Thiel, told The Post he’s been making calls to creators as the site embraces “non-political, fun stuff.”

“All I spend my time on in media, honestly, is getting creators that are not conservative for Rumble,” Blanton said. In addition to West and Minaj, Blanton said he’s looking to get fashion influencers, chefs and athletes on board.

Rumble pitches itself as a free speech-oriented platform that’s more welcoming of a wider variety of political views than YouTube or Facebook, where certain posts can get stamped out by corporate censors. Currently, its most popular users include Donald Trump — who joined in June after being booted from Google-owned YouTube in January — as well as conservative pundits like Ben Shapiro, Dan Bongino and Jordan Peterson.

To widen Rumble’s appeal, the site is looking to recruit celebrities like West and Minaj. Blanton declined to say whether either has expressed interest in joining, but said he didn’t want the site to “be dragged down by only having politics.”

“We want people to come onto the site and laugh and have fun,” he said.

While Blanton has been cold-calling celebrities as part of the effort, Thiel — the billionaire PayPal co-founder whose other investments include Facebook and Palantir — doesn’t appear to be involved in the outreach.

“I wouldn’t think he would cold call anybody,” Blanton said of Thiel. “He’s more of a C.S. Lewis than a Joel Osteen.”

Toronto-based Rumble was founded in 2013 but remained relatively obscure until this year. Rumble had 129 million visits in September — a tiny fraction of YouTube’s 33.7 billion visits over the same period of time, according to analytics from SimilarWeb.

The site was valued at roughly $500 million during the May fundraising round that included Palantir co-founder Thiel, Blanton and a venture-capital fund run by “Hillbilly Elegy” author and Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance, according to the Wall Street Journal.