https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/03/wwe-ufc-merger-endeavor.html

Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment has agreed to merge (https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/3/23667880/wwe-ufc-merger-endeavor-acquisition) with UFC to form a new publicly traded company controlled by Endeavor Group, the companies announced Monday morning.

Endeavor will own a 51% stake in the new combat sports and entertainment company, while WWE shareholders will have the remaining 49%, according to the terms of the agreement. The deal values WWE at $9.3 billion and UFC, which is owned by Endeavor, at $12.1 billion, the companies said in a press release.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2023. Shares of WWE fell more than 2% and Endeavor declined over 5% on Monday.

Ari Emanuel will act as chief executive of both Endeavor and the new company, the companies said. McMahon, likewise, will be executive chairman (https://awfulannouncing.com/wwe/vince-mcmahon-creative-role-mustache-interview.html), while Endeavor President and COO Mark Shapiro will also work in the same roles at the new company. Dana White will remain as president of UFC, and WWE CEO Nick Khan will stay on as president of the wrestling business.

“This is going to be UFC 2.0,” Emanuel said in an interview that aired Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”

The board will consist of 11 people, six appointed by Endeavor and five by WWE. The merged company’s name will be announced at a later time. The company will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol TKO.

The announcement confirmed an earlier CNBC report. It also came a day after WWE wrapped up its flagship live event, WrestleMania, in California. The company has spent the past several months looking for a buyer. McMahon returned to WWE as chairman in January to oversee the process. WWE has a market valuation of about $6.5 billion. Endeavor has a market cap of about $10 billion.

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For me, the real sport is mostly boring, especially when both guys end up on the floor wrestling around. It tends to have what boxing has except kicking is legal. But it is a real sport and there is some good competition out there.

WWE of course is as fake as three dollar bill. Many have said this but McMahon basically destroyed the good territorial system of independent promotions in the 1990 and made his promotion too outlandish for anyone to surrender any belief to it whatsoever. McMahon also worked his employees in some cases, literally to death! Doing too many shows, doing crazy stunts, the wrestling world has a lot of famous wrestlers who died young. Rick Rude is one example who had an amazing physique, or Randy Savage who in my book was one of the most athletic wrestlers ever, or Roddy Piper. I am from Memphis which was a hotbed for territorial wrestling and have a Facebook feed for them and about every month or so, another guy under 60 dies.

Now, how can people be sure that the Universal Fighting competition, the real event is really real after WWE takes it over? I don’t know if people bet on Ultimate Fighting but that would keep the sport fair ironically or there wouldn’t be a line on it. But I don’t know, gambling was never an addiction of mine.

Yes!