By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

During a Q&A session at Friday's annual shareholders meeting, WWE addressed a number of questions about the current product. This was under the umbrella of WWE stressing throughout the meeting that WWE's "core" is the in-ring content they create on television and then distribute.

-- In response to the PG movement counter to the Attitude Era, WWE CEO Vince McMahon said "you have to go backwards to go forward." He said they pushed things too far creatively in the Attitude Era that they had nowhere to go. "Where do you go after a chainsaw?" he said. He said they're looking to go backwards to "establish roots, then go forward."

McMahon said they have "no plans" to go all the way back to where they were in the 1990s. He said there are ways to advance the product in a PG environment, saying he has "no doubt" they can be more aggressive and offer a sophisticated product that encompasses all of the audience, not just PG. McMahon closed his remarks on this topic saying they plan to broaden out the product a bit being more aggressive, but still within PG boundaries.

-- In response to criticism of the product "lacking passion" and being too campy, McMahon said he views the product as a menu at a diner having something for everyone, but he would prefer the more serious side to the "entertainment" side, which was an interesting concession.

McMahon pointed to WrestleMania having a very serious match in Triple H vs. Undertaker and having the "Michael Cole situation" on the same card. He said they're in the "entertainment business" and their goal is to balance the "really passionate and serious and aggressive" side with "entertainment" side. He said he would prefer the more serious side, "but at the same time, it's WWE - 'E' for entertainment."

-- McMahon stressed that Triple H, who was labeled "Senior advisor in the Chairman's office," heading up the new talent initiative will aim to draw in more international stars. The regular question about global expansion was brought up, but McMahon said they don't plan to have regional/global territories around the world because it would be difficult to set up.

WWE also stressed talent being the "lifeline" of the product and noted Hunter has been put in charge of "re-focusing on talent development," which WWE hopes will position the company for long-term growth.

-- A shareholder pitched a storyline idea for a wrestler to go on a six-month winning streak before having a big match on PPV. McMahon said they aim for long-term storylines, but they wouldn't be able to feature that wrestler on PPV for six months. He said they "do so many PPVs, it becomes a bit difficult." It brings to question whether WWE should cut the number of PPVs, but McMahon stopped short of addressing that aspect.

-- This aspect of the meeting started with WWE CFO George Barrios saying the decision to slash the dividend was to free up cash to invest in TV operations - the "core business" - and expand the TV facilities.

WWE's stated objective is to grow the company "organically" by supporting international operations such as digitizing their TV library to expand use of the library. The inorganic model, which is part of the New WWE initiative, is to expand the business by generating revenue outside of WWE using WWE's expertise in live events, home entertainment distribution, etc.

FYI: We'll have about five or six stories from WWE's annual shareholders meeting today covering a lot of what WWE had to say about the state of their company.

Link: WWE.com for video of the lengthy meeting.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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