Vince McMahon Retires as Chairman and CEO of WWE

[TMC]

https://corporate.wwe.com/news/compa...22/07-22-2022a

STAMFORD, Conn., July 22, 2022 – Vince McMahon today released the following statement:

“As I approach 77 years old, I feel it’s time for me to retire as Chairman and CEO of WWE. Throughout the years, it’s been a privilege to help WWE bring you joy, inspire you, thrill you, surprise you, and always entertain you. I would like to thank my family for mightily contributing to our success, and I would also like to thank all of our past and present Superstars and employees for their dedication and passion for our brand. Most importantly, I would like to thank our fans for allowing us into your homes every week and being your choice of entertainment. I hold the deepest appreciation and admiration for our generations of fans all over the world who have liked, currently like, and sometimes even love our form of Sports Entertainment.

“Our global audience can take comfort in knowing WWE will continue to entertain you with the same fervor, dedication, and passion as always. I am extremely confident in the continued success of WWE, and I leave our company in the capable hands of an extraordinary group of Superstars, employees, and executives – in particular, both Chairwoman and Co-CEO Stephanie McMahon and Co-CEO Nick Khan. As the majority shareholder, I will continue to support WWE in any way I can. My personal thanks to our community and business partners, shareholders, and Board of Directors for their guidance and support through the years. Then. Now. Forever. Together.”

[Hawkee]

In sports when you have a huge investment that brings you millions and millions of dollars even billions of dollars whether it's a baseball team basketball team hockey team or even a soccer team you can bet from the more money you put into the sport it can make a huge impact on the world. With WWE it's the same because when Vince McMahon founded the WWE as WWF he knew what exactly how big and popular wrestling would become and by creating so many spin-offs of WWE such as WCW New World Order and creating a line of shows such as Monday Night Raw WWE Smackdown WWE Raw and others Vince McMahon knew how to make wrestling a successful sport. And big as WWE has become it has become not just a popular sport but a franchise to sell merchandise because there is merchandise such as clothing bedding food kids toys such as action figures for boys and dolls for girls and if you went to Kmart they had a whole aisle devoted to WWE and I can say this really helped them. But I think the real reason why Vince McMahon is retiring from his duties as CEO is because he really wants someone with more experience to take over his job as CEO and already his son Shane is planning to replace Vince as WWE CEO. And I can tell that this has affected the WWE Superstars a lot because first Stephanie McMahon stepped down from WWE to focus on her family and now that Vince has retired I think WWE wrestling viewership will go downhill in ratings but I think it will still survive
Bestie

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by LaBestia

and by creating so many spin-offs of WWE such as WCW New World Order

WCW was a rival wrestling company founded by Ted Turner. Nothing to do with WWF/E.

Originally Posted by LaBestia

But I think the real reason why Vince McMahon is retiring from his duties as CEO is because he really wants someone with more experience to take over his job as CEO and already his son Shane is planning to replace Vince as WWE CEO.

Did you see what's been going on with Vince McMahon in the news?

[Mikey Osmond]

Never thought I'd see the day.

[TMC]

Five potential WWE buyers now that Vince McMahon is ready to sell

Just when people started accepting that Vince McMahon was no longer involved in an official capacity at WWE, he’s now back.

First reported by the Wall Street Journal and confirmed by WWE, McMahon is back on WWE’s board of directors. As the majority shareholder, he removed three board members and replaced them with longtime WWE execs George Barrios and Michelle Wilson.

McMahon retired last July due to reports of him paying millions over the years to multiple women to keep allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity from being made public, which resulted in an investigation.

According to the Wall Street Journal, McMahon is back to take part in negotiating WWE’s next media rights deal and a potential sale of the company. Because McMahon has the majority of voting power via Class-B stock, even when he was away from WWE, he has to approve a deal or sale. McMahon reportedly told the board he wouldn’t support or approve any media rights deal or sale unless he was directly involved in the negotiation.

A potential sale of WWE has always been speculated in recent years, but bringing McMahon back marks the first time that a sale is a real possibility. Naturally, there will be speculation on who would buy the company, which has a market value of more than $5 billion.

These are five potential buyers for WWE. Some companies are likely to get involved, some aren’t, and in no way is this a complete list. But these five entities have their own reasons to buy WWE and it’s entirely possible one of these five will take over when it’s all said and done.

[Hawkee]

I heard about this and why Vince McMahon decided to come back to WWE is simply because he knew that WWE couldn't survive without him and so Vince thought this was his last chance. I never hope WWE gets sold because it has very popular and the shows WWE Raw and WWE Smackdown Live are still hits with fans everywhere. And it has made stars out of WWE favorites like John Cena Kofi Kingston Roman Reigns and female wrestlers such as Bayley Sasha Banks Alexa Bliss and Alicia Fox. But I can bet that if and when WWE gets sold in the near future it will be possible that Fox will buy it because they have WWE Smackdown Live already
Bestie

[stevea]

I don't follow wrestling like I used to, but I heard that the storylines improved when he was gone and Triple H was running things--true?

[Frank Gannucci]

Originally Posted by stevea

I don't follow wrestling like I used to, but I heard that the storylines improved when he was gone and Triple H was running things--true?

Yes, that is true.

All things considered, Vince should have NEVER unretired.

[Yong Fang]

I personally think McMahon and the WWE ruined professional wrestling. Wrestling used to consist of territories and there were about five or six indeoendent companies. I grew up watching "Memphis Wrestling", which although based in Memphis, also had shows in Louisville Kentucky and Evansville, Indiana. This is where Andy Kaufman decided to wrestle.

There is an excellent series called Tales of the Territories which was made by Vice, which told stories from the people themselves from Memphis, Portland Oregon, Florida, Texas/Louisiana and the Pacific Islands. They have a group of people, sitting at a table telling stories. I watched the Memphis episode because this is where I am from and one story was of Jimmy Hart getting shot in the ass by a blowgun from someone in the audience, another idiot who threw a brick at Jerry Lawler's car and Lawler not being able to run him down because the idiot slashed all the tires, from Jerry Jarrett having a real fight with another wrestling promoter who jumped him in the ring, and Jarrett tearing his eye out. It is fascinating viewing.

[TMC]

Multiple Outlets Report WWE has been sold to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

Still unconfirmed rumors as of 12am EDT.

[stevea]

Originally Posted by Yong Fang

I personally think McMahon and the WWE ruined professional wrestling. Wrestling used to consist of territories and there were about five or six indeoendent companies. I grew up watching "Memphis Wrestling", which although based in Memphis, also had shows in Louisville Kentucky and Evansville, Indiana. This is where Andy Kaufman decided to wrestle.

There is an excellent series called Tales of the Territories which was made by Vice, which told stories from the people themselves from Memphis, Portland Oregon, Florida, Texas/Louisiana and the Pacific Islands. They have a group of people, sitting at a table telling stories. I watched the Memphis episode because this is where I am from and one story was of Jimmy Hart getting shot in the ass by a blowgun from someone in the audience, another idiot who threw a brick at Jerry Lawler's car and Lawler not being able to run him down because the idiot slashed all the tires, from Jerry Jarrett having a real fight with another wrestling promoter who jumped him in the ring, and Jarrett tearing his eye out. It is fascinating viewing.

Yes, it was much better with the territories. In the Philadelphia area it was the World Wide Wrestling Federation (the forerunner of WWF/WWE). In Indianapolis it was Dick the Bruiser's territory, called the WWA or something like that.

Actually the WWF days back in the 80s weren't too bad either.

[TMC]

WWE near deal to be sold to UFC parent Endeavor, sources say

WWE is selling to Endeavor, CNBC has reported. This would have WWE and UFC under the same umbrella.

The report states that Endeavor would own 51 percent of the company, giving them a majority share, while WWE shareholders would get 49 percent as they start a new publicly traded company.

Fightful has reached out to WWE officially, and haven't heard back, but we've spoken with tons of talent and staff. Thus far, they haven't been briefed, but many were told that the sales process was ongoing and moving along well. There was buzz this week among several in WWE that a deal was being finalized with a Non-Saudi buyer.

WWE had told Fightful that they'd be hosting likely suitors in Los Angeles for WrestleMania, but we've learned the deal was in motion well ahead of that. It was also in motion when Vince McMahon nailed down a two-year employment contract at WWE. When Endeavor acquired UFC in 2016, they looked to retain Dana White in a head role, although he had many more years leading the charge ahead of him than Vince McMahon does. Those close to McMahon claim he was adamant to them that he was returning to oversee either a sale, rights fees negotiations, or possibly even both. WWE creative claims they have not interacted with Vince McMahon since his departure last Summer, or since he forced his way back into the company in December. However, several talent have had concerns he's getting more involved. McMahon was backstage at both Smackdown and WrestleMania this week, giving input. Those we spoke to with knowledge of the situation say that Vince McMahon would have had protections to either keep him around in some capacity, or have a healthy severance clause in the event he were quickly canned.

Fightful spoke to employees from several potential suitors who said that Vince McMahon wanting to remain involved would be a major sticking point and hurdle for a variety of reasons. Among those included the new post-McMahon regime showing that from a creative and business standpoint, they were more than competent in leading the charge.
[6:13 PM]
As of Sunday, plans called for Vince McMahon to remain with WWE as executive chairman, Nick Khan to remain as president of the wrestling side of things, and Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro to get involved. Thus far, we haven't heard an update regarding the creative aspects and how Triple H would remain involved. However, we did speak with Endeavor sources who indicated a trust in what they've seen out of him, and a general respect for the work Stephanie McMahon did before leaving.

Endeavor recently acquired Asylum Entertainment Group, a non-scripted production company. WWE has also had numerous talent-driven non-scripted shows. In addition, Endeavor owns the UFC, which has featured the likes of Brock Lesnar, Shayna Baszler, Ronda Rousey, Matt Riddle and others on the WWE roster. One source within Endeavor that we immediately spoke to believe that if an acquisition were to take place, it would provide more mainstream opportunities, and opportunities in general for WWE talent, without fear of losing them to outside projects, as Endeavor is in a healthy position to help provide those opportunities and projects.

Another source in Endeavor was confident that a sale would lead to additional opportunities for talent, with the source pointing out that UFC fighters are allowed to have exclusive content pages such as Onlyfans and Brand Army for additional income. However, an agent that has worked with both UFC and WWE talent was quick to point out that UFC has let top fighters walk over paying them, passing on dream fights, in addition to repeatedly taking steps to eliminate outside advertisements in-cage for fighters. It should be noted that UFC arranges their own outfitting sponsors, though the money varies based on what a fighter could command themselves.

The sale in general has been a major talking point backstage at WrestleMania night two, but talent truly aren't sure what's going on. Nobody from the bottom of the card to the top of the card was given any true indication who a potential buyer would be. Several talent contacted us to say they were ecstatic that it didn't end up sold to a Saudi Arabia led group. We were told that the relationship between WWE and Saudi Arabia was set to continue.

We've been told that we could see some Endeavor-related guests in attendance as soon as tonight's WrestleMania night 2.