Don't tell me you haven't noticed the rise in value of shares of World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE). The recent rally in the stock is supremely impressive. The shares closed on Thursday at $12.08. The 52-week low of $8.76 was made back in November of last year. If you look at a one-month chart, you'll see that it's been nothing but straight-up action.

Yes, my friends, the stock is Hulking up! (I love it when Hulk Hogan does that routine.) Of course, by the time this is published, maybe the shares will have experienced a sell-off, but for now, the shares are hot.

World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) entered a match it apparently was unprepared to win this time around. I'm talking about a match for the most coveted prize on Wall Street: The Earnings Championship Belt.

During the second quarter, WWE had to lie down for the count. The top line saw a depressing decrease of nearly 6%, coming in at $129.7 million. The bottom line saw no growth whatsoever, as WWE earned $0.10 per diluted share, the same amount that was earned in the year-ago period. According to Briefing.com, this represents a miss of two pennies. One thing that must be noted is that the big Wrestlemania event took place during the second quarter last year and the first quarter this year.

Of course, one of the most fascinating elements of WWE's stock is its incredible yield. Right now, the company is trading at a yield greater than 9%. Considering WWE's massive brand power in sports entertainment, and the fact that wrestling should always be with us, that sounds like a great deal, correct? It could be over the long term.

However, a look at the cash-flow statement does not offer a lot of encouragement, to be honest. Operational cash flow declined massively, dropping 94% during the six-month period. And for both the quarterly period and the half-year period, there was negative free cash flow by management's own calculation. So, as can be seen, servicing a dividend with no free cash flow is like Rey Mysterio trying to body slam Andre the Giant.

World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) reported Q4 earnings today, and they showed that this little media company isn't ready to submit yet. WWE generated $0.30 per share in net income, which represented growth of 36%. According to earnings.com, the street was figuring on $0.17 per share. Guess the street had better learn not to doubt Vincent Kennedy McMahon.

Nevertheless, all is not necessarily well with WWE. For one thing, the company has found that playing in the movie business is not as easy as it sounds. The WWE Films unit saw revenues of $3.1 million in the quarter but contributed nothing in terms of profit. WWE is recognizing revenues from films See No Evil -- which was distributed by Lions Gate (NYSE: LGF) in the summer of 2006 -- and The Marine, which was released by News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Fox in the fall of 2006. Also, the pay-per-view buy rates could use some help, maybe some marketing muscle to get things back on track.

Still, free cash flow for the year saw a body-slamming jump to $79.6 million versus $26.2 million for 2006. That was enough to cover the dividend obligation -- and WWE actually pays a decent yield. Shares are up as I write this over 7%, and the volume is Hulkin' up as well. So, investors are clearly pleased. But, Mr. McMahon really better take a good, hard look at his film business and get some exciting projects into production -- I believe there is great potential for this segment over the long haul. Sure, the company isn't a Disney (NYSE: DIS) or Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), but it still is a fun way to play the media sector.

Disclosure: I own shares in Disney.