It was reported earlier here on eWn that WWE is in advanced talks to be sold to Endeavor Group, the parent company of UFC, and the two companies are expected to merge into one new publicly traded company with Endeavor owning 51% percent and WWE shareholders retaining 49%. The deal is expected to be announced as early as Monday.
Fightful Select reports that nobody in WWE has been briefed on the matter thus far, though many people did have the knowledge of the sale process moving along well. Earlier this week, there was some gossip among employees that a deal was being finalized with a non-Saudi Arabian buyer.
While WWE had previously said that they would be hosting potential buyers in Los Angeles, CA over WrestleMania 39 weekend, it is being reported that the deal had been in motion for a long time and had been in development ever since Vince McMahon was handed a two-year employment contract at WWE.
Keeping in mind that Endeavor kept Dana White in a head role at the time of the purchase of UFC in 2016, sources suggest that McMahon would have had either protections to keep himself around in some capacity or a giant severance package if he were to be let go quickly.
Currently, there’s no word in regard to the plan for creative if the WWE-Endeavor deal goes through and how Triple H would stay involved. Sources in Endeavor have indicated that they had trust in the work Triple H has done in recent months, as well as a level of “general respect” for what Stephanie McMahon accomplished before her resignation.
Endeavor recently bought the non-scripted production company Asylum Entertainment Group, which happens to operate in a field WWE has a fair amount of experience in. An Endeavor source noted that if the WWE sale indeed takes place, it will provide more opportunities, both mainstream and otherwise, for WWE talent without the worry of losing them to outside projects since Endeavor is already in a good position to offer those types of opportunities to the WWE roster. It is to be noted that UFC athletes are also allowed to have exclusive content pages with platforms such as Onlyfans and Brand Army.
The WWE sale has been a big talking point backstage at WrestleMania 39 (Night Two), but the wrestlers are not certain about what’s going on no matter their spot on the card. Several talents were said to be “ecstatic” that WWE didn’t end up in the hands of the Saudi Arabia group. The WWE and Saudi Arabia relationship will continue as usual following the sale.
