From www.pwinsider.com WWE OFFICIALS MEETING WITH MMA GROUP TODAY by Buck Woodward @ 11:55:00 AM on 11/17/2006 WWE.com is reporting that "WWE officials and members of the group PRIDE have a meeting scheduled later this morning". The website teases that the meeting will "focus on the possibility of the two groups doing some form of business together in the future". For those that aren't aware, PRIDE is a Mixed Martial Arts group based out of Japan and run by Dream Stage Entertainment. Now, before speculation runs wild, it should be remembered that WWE.com has reported on meetings in the past that have led nowhere, most notably Brock Lesnar's visit, so just because a meeting is taking place doesn't mean anything is forthcoming. Still, it is very interesting that PRIDE and WWE would be meeting, for a number of reasons. UFC is doing big PPV business right now, and PRIDE, while huge in Japan, is a distant number two when it comes to Mixed Martial Arts on Pay-per-view in the U.S. Obviously, WWE could help PRIDE create serious inroads in the PPV industry in North America. UFC is definitely grabbing more and more of the disposable income that people spend on PPV, so WWE and PRIDE could be looking at a "strategic alliance" to gain control of the marketplace. It could also simply be a meeting regarding cross promotion of their respective events. The meeting could have something to do with sending WWE stars to work in Japan for the HUSTLE pro wrestling promotion, which is run by Dream Stage Entertainment, which also handles PRIDE. It could also be a talent trade with fighters from PRIDE or HUSTLE coming to WWE. Again, these meetings may not result in anything, or it could be the first chapter in an interesting story.
