WWE Sells, Vince McMahon's Future Involvement, NXT Tag Team Request Their Release
It is official, WWE has been sold to Ari Emanuel's Endeavor Group.
WWE Sells To Endeavor, Announces Merger With UFC
After being initially reported by CNBC on Sunday, it has now been made official: WWE has been purchased by Ari Emanuel's Endeavor Group and will join with UFC to form a new publicly-traded company, holding a supposed collective value of more than $21 billion. Former WWE CEO Vince McMahon, who re-joined the company's Board of Directors as executive chairman in January, reportedly to help facilitate a sale, called the move "the best outcome for our shareholders and other stakeholders."
"Together, we will be a $21+ billion live sports and entertainment powerhouse with a collective fanbase of more than a billion people and an exciting growth opportunity," McMahon said. "I, along with the current WWE management team, look forward to working closely with Ari and the Endeavor and UFC teams to take the businesses to the next level."
Under the terms of the acquisition, McMahon will continue to serve as executive chairman of the board, while Emanuel will lead the company as CEO and Mark Shapiro will be President and COO "of both Endeavor and the new company." Dana White and Nick Khan are set to maintain their respective roles as President of UFC and President of WWE.
WINC Podcast (4/2): WrestleMania 39 Night Two Review
More News
The collective unit of Jagger Reid and Rip Fowler who are known as “The Dyad” in NXT, have requested their release from WWE. According to Fightful Select, Schism members Jagger Reid and Rip Fowler have requested their release from the company. Formerly known as James Drake and Zack Gibson respectively, the duo that operated as the Grizzled Young Vets were eventually repackaged in "NXT" as The Dyad, becoming allies of Joe Gacy last July. While no reasoning was given for their desire to leave at this point, the duo had been in "NXT" for the last three years.
Now that WWE has sold, one of the questions many people have had is what will happen with Vince McMahon. It was stated by Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, that he would not let McMahon retire. Now it seems McMahon is echoing these sentiments. McMahon revealed to CNBC that he would "yes and no" be involved in the company's creative process. He explained that he would participate at a higher level but would not be "in the weeds" like in the past. Also, during the interview alongside Ari Emanuel, McMahon was asked whether his Mr. McMahon character would ever make a return to WWE programming. He expressed that the persona was "dead" and that he would not get back in the ring.
WrestleMania 39 is in the books, but it has left behind the distinct honor of being the highest-grossing event in company history! Following last night's post-show press conference, Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque shared the success from the weekend. "This is the most successful WrestleMania of all time," Levesque said. "As Roman Reigns would say, WrestleMania 39 smashed the records for viewership, for gate, for sponsorship, for merchandise, for social media." Levesque revealed that the company brought in "well over $21 million" in ticket sales across both nights, stating that it was the highest-paid attendance and highest-grossing weekend in the company's history.
Many fans were worried that when Matt Jackson of the Young Bucks got injured, he would be out for an extended period of time. Luckily, it sounds like the injury will only sideline him for weeks instead of months. "It's a partially torn bicep," he explained. "After consulting with multiple doctors and wrestlers ... who have suffered the exact same injury, I've decided not to do the surgery. Instead, as I said, we are on our way to [Los Angeles] to start other forms of therapy. These other forms of therapy shall turn what would've been months out on the shelf to only just weeks.”