WWE: WWE being sold to Endeavor Group Holdings, forming media company $21B merger with UFC

[Blitzkrug]

i don't usually let shit like this bother me. Even some of the shit the Saudis have done you could argue has been good for parties involved. the LIV being a legitimate challenger to the PGA just because the latter has been screwing golfers around for years and no one else had the pull/capital to challenge them.

But this? This makes my stomach crawl. Essentially the cradle of pro wrestling's history and legacy in the hands of those slimy f***s? No thanks.

 

[yahhockey]

I was thinking of the LIV golf tour and it struggles to be broadcast in the USA. No word yet if they have a broadcast partner for 2023 however they did add more tournaments in the USA so they're not entirely dead money. It may be one of those things that some advertisers withdraw funds however others may be content to remain. Too much is unknown at present time. Even if they don't own 100% of WWE would Vince having an active role in the company on top of maintaining his stake in WWE be a deal breaker for some advertisers?

The Saudi's may have maximized the value of WWE being taken private, which the Board of Directors has a fiduciary duty towards shareholders to do, however it may also be the worst suitor for long term sustainability of the product. I will circle back to the too many unknows and guess we will see what the future holds. In the near term the ownership amount for the Saudi's will be interesting, what role, if any, will VKM have in the company and will other executives or talent resign/quit due to the new owners.

 

[Emperoreddy]

They just signed new deals though, and you can't put it past this new ownership group to freeze their contracts if they walked out.

Outside of Sami I honestly doubt most of the talent cares who writes the checks. Other hand if HHH gets booted out for Vince that I think could cause a talent revolt

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Well, this makes my stomach churn. But, if true, we could be seeing a lot of people walking out soon.

 

[The Burdened]

watch Vince buy it back in a year for pennies on the dollar

 

[Emperoreddy]

I was thinking of the LIV golf tour and it struggles to be broadcast in the USA. No word yet if they have a broadcast partner for 2023 however they did add more tournaments in the USA so they're not entirely dead money. It may be one of those things that some advertisers withdraw funds however others may be content to remain. Too much is unknown at present time. Even if they don't own 100% of WWE would Vince having an active role in the company on top of maintaining his stake in WWE be a deal breaker for some advertisers?

The Saudi's may have maximized the value of WWE being taken private, which the Board of Directors has a fiduciary duty towards shareholders to do, however it may also be the worst suitor for long term sustainability of the product. I will circle back to the too many unknows and guess we will see what the future holds. In the near term the ownership amount for the Saudi's will be interesting, what role, if any, will VKM have in the company and will other executives or talent resign/quit due to the new owners.

I absolutely don't think this helps them when it comes time to secure new media deals, but WWE is a different beast to a start up golf league.

I wouldn't count on media companies taking any moral high roads here but it does give them leverage to drive the costs down because of the PR nightmare

 

[GKJ]

Hogan's gonna get that last title run.

 

[CDJ]

watch Vince buy it back in a year for pennies on the dollar

Might be the play

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Interested to see what the fall out of this is. Genuinely seemed like there were quite a few wrestlers that were quite happy Vince was gone. Now he's back and he's made things significantly worse with the sale.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Might be the play

Don't see why the Saudis would do that

 

[Blitzkrug]

Double whammy of a terrible group buying your promotion AND re-installing the head dipshit who drove a bunch of people away with his inane booking.

This might be the start of a new dark age.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

WWE isn't going to die if they sold to the Saudis. It'll be fine.

I hate it and they'll make changes I'll hate, but WWE will still make tons of money and AEW won't catch them.

 

[Blitzkrug]

Don't see why the Saudis would do that

An interesting variable: the Saudis try and force networks to bend over, packaging WWE and LIV rights together.

Someone made that point in reddit thread and i thought it was kinda interesting.

 

[GKJ]

MJF might need to walk back that bidding war gimmick

 

[CDJ]

Don't see why the Saudis would do that

Yeah it doesn’t really make sense unless everybody walks out/stops watching and the company plummets

MJF might need to walk back that bidding war gimmick

Don’t think a proud Jewish man would want to work for the Saudi’s but a lot of money could probably change his mind

 

[Emperoreddy]

WWE isn't going to die if they sold to the Saudis. It'll be fine.

I hate it and they'll make changes I'll hate, but WWE will still make tons of money and AEW won't catch them.

They pumped a ton of money into Newcastle so I think short term the only major change will depend on who has the book. If HHH is still booking then honestly I doubt much changes at all.

Its long term where things get dicey. What happens when they get bored of this? Or if there is a down turn in business?

 

[GKJ]

 

[Blitzkrug]

Makes you wonder about that squabble at the '22 Rumble and how "Shane was trying to make it all about him"

Making it all about him? Or trying to reign his dipshit father in?

He basically pulled out of WWE again, his own daughter allegedly tried to get him ousted, failed, threw her hands up and was like "f*** this" leaving as well.

Vince basically alienated his entire family because he was pissy things were going okay without him.

 

[Megahab]

i don't usually let shit like this bother me. Even some of the shit the Saudis have done you could argue has been good for parties involved. the LIV being a legitimate challenger to the PGA just because the latter has been screwing golfers around for years and no one else had the pull/capital to challenge them.

But this? This makes my stomach crawl. Essentially the cradle of pro wrestling's history and legacy in the hands of those slimy f***s? No thanks.

I'm out of the loop. How are they slimy f***s? These aren't the same people that put on the Crown Jewel shows, are they?

 

[Emperoreddy]

Makes you wonder about that squabble at the '22 Rumble and how "Shane was trying to make it all about him"

Making it all about him? Or trying to reign his dipshit father in?

He basically pulled out of WWE again, his own daughter allegedly tried to get him ousted, failed, threw her hands up and was like "f*** this" leaving as well.

Vince basically alienated his entire family because he was pissy things were going okay without him.

Meh, Vince being a petty piece of shit doesn't suddenly make their kids pargons of virtue either.

I don't think this has anything to do with Shane going into business for himself last year.

 

[Sheppy]

 

[GKJ]

I think if there is a talent exodus, it will be around what happens with Triple H. Not around where they're getting checks from. If the latter were the case, more people would've opted out of the Saudi shows. I'm not sure or don't remember how many off-hand have other than Kevin Owens after the first one. Sami wouldn't have gone I'm sure, but he was basically told he wasn't going. Same thing happened to Malakai/Aleister Black. I think Danielson opted out after the first one too. And Cena stopped showing up.

 

[Blitzkrug]

I'm out of the loop. How are they slimy f***s? These aren't the same people that put on the Crown Jewel shows, are they?

Are you seriously asking how the Saudi fund (in essence: the Saudi royal family) are scum? really?

 

[Megahab]

He wanted to do that in life as well.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I'm out of the loop. How are they slimy f***s? These aren't the same people that put on the Crown Jewel shows, are they?

It's an investment group funded by the Saudi government. They own large stakes in a lot of big American companies across a lot of industries, and outright own Newcastle and that PGA competitor.

Part of the reason is to white wash their country to foreign investors and tourists (Gulf states have pumped a ton of money into PR to try and attract wealthy western tourists to visit. Saudis are a bit late to the party compare from the UAE, but they are trying)

Other reason is it's pure vanity purchases. They want to flash the absurd money they all have to the world