WWE Never Say Never: WWE and AMC Networks Would Make a Strong Partnership

Just when it seemed WWE's stock couldn't get any hotter, rumors of an unlikely merger between WWE and AMC Networks reportedly led to a significant stock uptick of 7 percent. 

It's worth mentioning that talk of a WWE-AMC merger is merely a rumor that is best sourced to a UK financial blog.

The fact that this story is appearing in the Never Say Never series speaks to its unlikelihood, and according to PWInsider (via WrestlingInc), WWE officials have reportedly already dismissed talk of this merger internally.  

Still, after the aforementioned traction this hole-in-the-wall story gained in the finance world, this isn't your average rumor. Prominent wrestling dirtsheets, from PWTorch, to SEScoops to PWInsider, have picked up the story amidst a sensitive financial environment for both cable powerhouses.

WWE’s current television rights negotiations (via Joe Flint of Los Angeles Times)—one of a few reasons for its resurgent (via Grantland.com) stock performance—combined with AMC Network’s own rumored sale, make a potential relationship between the two peaking brands mind-blowing.

Despite AMC’s reputation of catering to highbrow viewers, a caveat that makes WWE seem like a bad fit, the mere talk of a WWE-AMC partnership couldn't have come at a better time.

With WWE to bolster its already ballooning viewership, AMC Networks would become more attractive to the alleged (via Deadline.com) high-powered suitors. At the same time, WWE’s stock would continue its unprecedented march.  

AMC’s march up the cable rankings has come on the strength of addictive programs like The Walking Dead, Mad Men and the dearly departed Breaking Bad. It had the second-highest growth of any top-20 cable network. This translated to the highest year-to-year growth in the coveted 18-49 demographic.

USA Network has topped that list for the past eight years, with double the audience of AMC, but it will only continue to do so as long as WWE (and its sizable audience of 4.61 million) is in the fold. Although AMC had half the audience of cable king USA Network in 2013, adding WWE to its all-star line-up will quickly bridge that gap.  

Like WWE, AMC realizes the value of making its popular shows destination programming. Post-shows like Talking Bad and Talking Dead—a show frequented by former WWE Superstar CM Punk—feature celebrities having spirited discussions about characters and storylines.

The same could be said about WWE’s Raw and SmackDown pre- and post-shows, without the celebrities.

Despite differences in content, the AMC and WWE brands are more compatible than a first glance would suggest.

To say a dream merger between WWE and AMC would be mutually beneficial is modest. This would be the cable version of Brangelina.

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