WWE sold to Endeavor

On the heels of one of the most successful Wrestlemanias in company history, WWE continued to dominate headlines when they announced the sale of the company! The buyer is nonother than Endeavor, the same company that owns the UFC Endeavor. CEO Ari Emanuel wasted no time announcing a 21 billion-dollar merger between the UFC and WWE! They also confirmed company president Mark Shapiro would be COO and president of BOTH Endeavor and the UFC & WWE. Nick Khan will maintain his job as CEO of WWE, and Executive Paul Levesque (Triple H) will retain his job as Chief Content Officer. The most controversial announcement was Vince McMahon would stay as WWE's executive chairman; many felt with the success of Wrestlemania 39 and the reception these last few months of the content, the WWE proved they no longer needed Vince, but Vince and Ari Emanuel felt differently. We also discovered that Endeavor owns 51% of the company, and WWE shareholders own 49%. The question now is what direction the company will go; personally, this isn't a sale I'm upset over. I'm in shock because we are no longer in an era with a McMahon-owning WWE, and I certainly did not expect Endeavor to buy WWE. Companies like NBC, Disney, Saudi-owned companies, Warner Brothers, and many others were all in talks with WWE over purchasing the company, and I thought of all the options NBC or Disney would win the bidding battle. It's a safe deal with a strong company; frankly, there were worse options than this one; I have my concerns, but I'll get to that in a minute; I want to start with the good!

This was a great deal because Endeavor is a wildly successful company, and WWE will continue to flourish with the giant backing it. When Endeavor bought the UFC, they didn't change a thing; it was business as usual for the UFC. They knew it was successful and wanted to keep it, so with that in mind, they have ZERO intention to change up leadership and fire people. They will be hands-off with WWE and let the promotion do what it thinks is right. This merger also offers many opportunities to see cross-brand promotions between the UFC and WWE; I think some stars of the UFC would flourish in the WWE fighters like Daniel Cormier, Jessica Rose Clark, Colby Covington, Sean O'Malley, and many others would do well in WWE. Even when the two companies collaborate, it will be big news and get a lot of eyes on both products. For WWE getting one of their main stars or relevant superstar to appear in the corner of a UFC champion would do wonders for that talent's credibility.

Just as much good as there may be, I have some concerns about the pay-per-view conversation! If you pay attention to the UFC, it's no secret how priced their events are and how it gets worse every time. MY worry is Endeavor will switch the WWE to their old format of paying 60-70 dollars for every event? or will they allow the WWE to stick to their peacock/WWE Network streaming deal? For 9.99 a month, you get access to all WWE Premium Live Events for a phenomenal price; it can't be beaten. Hopefully, Endeavor doesn't mess with their current setup because I think the backlash to switching back to an old, outdated, dying format. My other concern is the UFC and Endeavor lost A LOT of talent over their cheap pockets and inability to make deals; the UFC lost a lot of talent to smaller promotions like PFL, One, Bare Knuckle, and Bellator; they even lost a few fighters to pro wrestling companies. My worry is this trend going to happen in WWE? Will the cheap pockets cost them special talent? We will see very soon, considering Drew McIntyre's contract expiring, and how that is handled will be an excellent example of how future negotiations will go.

This sale of WWE is the end of an era and the beginning of a new one, there is a lot of excitement and worry surrounding the merger, and this can be an excellent situation for WWE, and it will flourish under it. I'm excited to see what this new era brings and how this merger with the UFC can help both companies. Vince has fallen out of touch with the audience, and his past legal issues leave a dark cloud over him and the company; my hope is he is encouraged to strictly run the financial side and let Triple H run all creative aspects and dealing with talent, Since Triple H took over talent relations and creative control lockerroom moral has never been higher. My final plea is for WWE to rehire Stephanie McMahon. She is an essential member of the company and always brings a positive aura behind her for the talent to lean on; she is loved by everyone she works with, and adding her back would be a massive asset to the new era of WWE! Vince is only getting older, and when his time finally comes to step down permanently, there isn't anyone more qualified to step into his role than his daughter Stephanie.