UFC CEO Dana White revealed that Vince McMahon nixed a past TV deal that would have seen the UFC head to NBC and USA Network.
Speaking on the Triggered podcast, White was asked about his relationship with McMahon — a topic that has come up frequently with White in recent interviews.
White again spoke about how McMahon and the UFC had their battles in the past as McMahon saw everyone as competition and that “he was one of those guys who would f**king stick it to me for whatever reason.”
White then went into a specific detail he hadn’t delved into before, saying that the UFC was on “the one-yard line” to sign a deal with NBC to air fights on both NBC and USA Network. However, at that point, the WWE head had the final say on whether another combat sports property could come onto USA’s airwaves.
White said he and then-UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta flew out to Connecticut to meet with McMahon and get his signoff. After some small talk, they got to the point of their visit and McMahon sat back in his chair and said, “Yeah, I’m not going to do that.”
When they asked why, White said that McMahon said, “Eh, I’m not that interested in it. I don’t like the idea of you guys on USA Network.”
After the deal blew up, UFC then pivoted and eventually signed a seven-year deal with Fox in August 2011. While White didn’t specify the timeline of when the McMahon talk happened, it’s assumed to be in 2011 based on the timeline.
White said now that he and McMahon, executive chairman of TKO Holdings, are in business together, “he couldn’t be a better partner. He keeps me in the loop with everything going on, making sure I’m cool with decisions that could affect the UFC.”
Dana White talks Vince McMahon. Tells a story of how years ago McMahon was able to prevent the UFC from getting a deal with NBC. Full podcast here:https://t.co/WQJoYlFH28pic.twitter.com/OzH5BJQoOv
Vince McMahon discussed his relationship with Dana White to the media.
McMahon, along with The Undertaker, were in Saudi Arabia for Saturday’s boxing match between Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury. Speaking to MMA Junkie, McMahon denied a recent comment by White saying that McMahon used to ‘f*** him’.
“Please, I don’t do business that way,” McMahon said. “I don’t bust anybody’s chops, unless they get in the way. Dana and I get along very very well. He’s really a good guy. We’re good partners and good businessmen, when you’re a good businessmen, you get along.”
McMahon also denied another claim by White that he had put White in the cheap seats at a recent WrestleMania.
The Undertaker commented that both McMahon and White were very similar, and were “really good businessmen”.
“I’m a better businessman,” McMahon jokingly said.
Another video seen in Saudi Arabia showed McMahon walking around with a cane. Earlier this year McMahon took a sabbatical from WWE to undergo back surgery.
Dana White talked about his relationship with Vince McMahon in a Sports Illustrated article, saying that things were never good between them but now they are great.
“My history with Vince isn’t a good one. He tried to f*** me so many times for no reason whatsoever except just to f*** me. But that’s in the past. Now that Vince and I are allies, no one’s been a better partner than Vince.”
White’s quotes indicated that McMahon is now involved with helping the UFC business and is not strictly working on WWE business in his Chairman of the Board of Directors position with TKO, where he’s actually above White on the corporate depth chart. UFC has been left to run itself from the sports standpoint since the Endeavor purchase but McMahon, like Ari Emanuel, who heads the big company, is involved in big-picture deal-making.
Dana White prefers working with Vince McMahon over competing against him.
The UFC CEO spoke with Sports Illustrated recently and mentioned that his relationship with McMahon has changed considerably since their two companies merged.
“My history with Vince isn’t a good one,” said White. “He tried to f— me so many times for no reason whatsoever except just to f— me. But that’s in the past. Now that Vince and I are allies, no one’s been a better partner than Vince.”
“Since day one of the deal, it’s like I’m dealing with a different guy,” White continued. “It goes to show that when you oppose him, or he thinks you are opposing him, the guy comes after you blindly. Once you are aligned, Vince is an incredible partner.”
“We’ve probably spoken on the phone 20 times since the deal. It’s all added-value conversation–with Vince doing work and raising the bar for both companies.”
White continued to say that even though he and Vince haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, he’s always had a good relationship with Paul Levesque and Stephanie McMahon.
“Triple H and Stephanie have always been great to work with,” said White. “I’ve always had a great relationship with them, always, even when we weren’t aligned back in the day. But the most amazing story is the relationship with Vince McMahon.”
“Vince McMahon, man, he’s an absolute savage,” White continued. “Even with the stuff that went down with us in the past, I respect it. I love killers. He’s definitely a killer. He’s the Michael Jordan of the business world.”
Dana White on Vince McMahon:
“My history with Vince isn’t a good one. He tried to f— me so many times for no reason whatsoever except just to f— me. But that’s in the past. Now that Vince and I are allies, no one’s been a better partner than Vince.”https://t.co/lELeov9PWg
While McMahon remains the executive chairman of WWE, Levesque is now the person responsible for making key creative decisions for the company. A Sports Illustrated article earlier this month confirmed that Ari Emanuel was the one behind the change. Our own Dave Meltzer addressed the situation recently on Wrestling Observer Radio.
“Vincent Kennedy McMahon was the guy making all the decisions, and now, Vince was in fact overruled, even though when he merged the company he was told that this would not happen. It did happen. And it’s a really interesting thing. And that statement when Ari Emanuel was talking about the reasons the stock is down and he mentioned Vince’s name. So it is very interesting I think what is going to happen,” Meltzer said.
“Vince’s power is clearly marginalized. There’s no way around that.”
The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is up:
Match and performer of the week for both of the past two weeks
The changes in WWE, Vince out of creative, how UFC and WWE are being treated differently
Showtime drops all sports programming and their entire sports department, both how in and of itself its a major story in boxing, MMA and could be in pro wrestling, but even more the trend that it shows
Stations still in the market for sports today
The ominous aspects of NBA current TV negotiations
Why boxing was dropped after such a great PPV year
A look back at the career of Sting after his retirement announcement
A look at his AEW run
His rise to the top in WCW
How his career got started
What person saw the potential in Sting the earliest
The famous 1988 Sting vs. Ric Flair match and how it changed his career trajectory
The multiple times Sting stepped away from wrestling
The TNA run
The WWE run
Power Team USA and Flash Borden
NWA on WB, the keys to this deal
Update on Crown Jewel and who isn’t scheduled right now on the show
The classic matches of 2023 Will Ospreay
New Japan Royal Quest and Power Struggle
Notes on last week’s UFC show
A look back at one of the most traveled enhancement star of the late 60s into the early 80s, Bill Howard
The most detailed look at the ratings for all the pro wrestling shows this past week, including segment-by-segment, competition and comparisons with a year ago
CMLL wrestlers traveling around the world
Two spectacular matches at Friday’s Arena Mexico show
Stardom opens tag tournament
One of AAA’s biggest stars likely not returning
Biggest woman promotion in the world at one time has a nostalgia reunion show coming in January
Chris Hero returns
What pro wrestling star of the 70s never lost a singles match in his entire career
AEW and CMLL relationship notes
Tony Khan’s tweets
Updates on ticket sales to WWE & AEW shows
International TV ratings and streaming numbers
UFC signs huge money international deal
UFC top star taking time off
Main event result in UFC overturned
Pat Miletich returns to fight at 55
Ari Emanuel criticized for working with Dana White, Vince McMahon and Conor McGregor
More on the Vince McMahon documentary
Completely exaggerated PPV claims
What percentage of Logan Paul buyers also buy AEW or WWE shows
WWE sells network rights internationally
Dynamite TV streak ends after two weeks
Notes on all the WWE & NXT arena events this past week
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Sunday Update
Bryan and I did our weekend show last night covering UFC, the three-hours of AEW, Bound for Glory, TNA Hall of Fame and Smackdown. Garrett Gonzales and I did our week news in review show also on the site. My next show with Bryan will be Monday night after Raw.
Regarding last night’s UFC show, the main card was all first round finishes except the Kamaru Usman vs. Khamzat Chimaev fight which Chimaev won on scores of 29-27, 29-27 and 28-28. All three scores were viable. All three judges gave Chimaev a 10-8 first round. Most reporters did as well. I’ve seen far more dominant rounds scored 10-9 but Chimaev controlled the round on top and did damage. Cleary and David Lethaby gave Usman round two while Vito Paolillo gave that round to Chimaed. In round three, Lethaby and Paolillo gave that round to Usman while Cleary gave it to Chimaev. Among media scores, 75 percent went to Chimaev, most 29-27 and some 29-28. 12.5 percent had it 28-28 as a draw and 12.5 percent had 29-28 for Usman. Chimaev won round one big and rounds two and three were both close enough that you could go either way. Usman had an 11-9 edge in significant strikes and in the third round his edge was 22-13. Chimaev took him down in both rounds. Chimaev scored four takedowns on Usman, which is significant since in eight plus years in UFC and 18 fights, Usman was only taken down once. Usman said after that he wished the fight had gone five rounds.
Chimaev talked like he may have broken his hand.
Dana White disagreed with the stoppage of the Johnny Walker-Magomed Ankalaev fight, blaming it on an inexperienced doctor. It came across like the doctor asked Walker where they were and what round it was and he couldn’t answer either question. If that’s the case, you have to presume concussion and stop it. When it was stopped, Walker didn’t register it was over either. White claimed that when Walker was asked where he was, he said “in the desert.” He also thought that even though Walker does speak English, it’s not his first language and something may have been lost in translation.
Victoria Dudakova, who fought in the prelims of the UFC show, said that she had a staph infection on her butt but since it was covered up nobody saw it.
On last night’s show based on an angle, we talked about the possibility of a Raw vs. Smackdown War Games match at Survivor Series. We are told that right now the War Games match is not planned as a Raw vs. Smackdown match.
WWE from last night in Edinburg, TX:
Santos Escobar b Bobby Lashley via DQ when the Street Profits interfered. Carlito and Joaquin Wilde made the save. You know the drill.
Escobar & Carlito & Wilde b Lashley & Street Profits when Calirto pinned Ford after a backstabber.
Shotzi b Isla Dawn. Alba Fyre was in the corner and interfered freely.
Karrion Kross b Butch clean. Scarlett interfered a lot.
Iyo Sky retained the WWE title in a three-way over Charlotte Flair and Asuka when Sky reversed an Asuka lock into a pin on Asuka. This, and the six-man tag were the only matches without a lot of outside interference, and the six-man was set up by a lot of interference
Austin Theory b Cameron Grimes when Grayson Waller interfered
Raquel Rodriguez b Bayley with the Tejana bomb. Rodriguez, who is from that part of Texas, got a giant reaction coming out. Sky interfered and was booted out. Rodriguez cut a hometown babyface promo after the match.
LA Knight b Solo Sikoa in a street fight with the BFT. Jimmy Uso interfered many times in this match.
For Google searches this week, UFC 294 was No. 2 yesterday behind Penn State with 1 million, which these days usually means a good PPV number. Nothing in pro wrestling or boxing made the top 20 on any day this past week. The death of futbol/soccer legend Sir Bobby Charlton of the U.K. was No. 11. Charlton, who was 86, was one of Britain’s all-time greats in the sport and has a statue at Old Trafford in Manchester.
Dana White also said they are in talks regarding signing Michael Venom Page, who is 21-2 and has been one of Bellator’s main pushed stars for a decade.
We’re looking for your thoughts on Impact Bound for Glory, thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst matches to [email protected]
We’re also looking for reports on tonight’s WWE house show in Laredo, TX and today’s Impact tapings in Chicago, results, finishes, angles and other highlights to [email protected]
The two weekend matches I’ve heard are the best are the Will Ospreay vs. Mike Bailey match from Bound for Glory yesterday, and the Yuma Aoyagi vs. Kento Miyahara match from All Japan for the Triple Crown.
With the highest ticket prices in history for a show, the 11/11 UFC 30th anniversary card at Madison Square Garden, headlined by Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic, still has 3,700 tickets left. Very few tickets have moved in recent weeks due to the high prices.
This is what is announced for Dynamite on Wednesday after last night’s show in Memphis: MJF vs Juice Robinson for the diamond ring, Hikaru Shida vs. Ruby Soho for the AEW womens’ title, Young Bucks & Adam Page defend the ROH trios titles against The Hardys & Brother Zay, RVD & Hook as a tag team plus Kazuchika Okada & Orange Cassidy vs. Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli. In addition, Renee Paquette interviews Chris Jericho and Tony Khan will present Sting with a special gift.
C.M. Punk introduced the Chicago Black Hawks at their home opener last night at the United Center. He also narrated the video that opened the game.
Will Ospreay wrestles Josh Alexander at today’s Impact tapings in Chicago along with Alex Shelley vs. Jonathan Greasham, Tommy Dreamer vs. Crazzy Steve for the Digital Media title, Trey Miguel & Myron Reed & Zacharty Wentz vs. Juventud Guerrera & Black Taurus & Laredo Kid and Samuray del Sol vs. Alan Angels.
Trinity Fatu vs. Deonna Purrazzo for the Knockouts title has been announced for the 10/27 show in Newcastle, England, which is the Turning Point show. If Purrazzo doesn’t win, she can not challenge again for the title as long as Trinity is champion
Dillon Danis, who was under contract to Bellator, has been released.
RevPro British J Cup results from yesterday: Leon Slater b Will Kaven, Wild Boar b Alex Zayne, Harrison Bennett b Senza Volto, Mascara Dorada b Robbie X, Alex Windsor b Kanji to retain the British women’s title, Luke Jacobs b Ricky Knight Jr., Michael Oku b Gabe Kidd to keep the British title, Slater won the British J Cup in a four-way over Bennett, Boar and Dorada. (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
Zak Zodiac (Zak Knight, the brother of Saraya who was a character in the “Fighting with my Family” movie announced yesterday that his did his farewell match for the WAW (Knight family) promotion and that he was headed to the U.S. His parents congratulated him. Ricky talked about how hard it is when the kids move noting they’ve only seen Saraya ten times in the last decade. I know Zak was hoping to work for AEW but don’t know that is for sure where he’s going.
Sami Callihan, who is a free agent, was backstage at the AEW tapings last night.
Mike Tenay, during his Hall of Fame speech (we covered this on last night’s show) mentioned that Konnan was backstage. Tenay gave a great speech, talking heavily about Don West, Bobby Heenan and Dick Beyer. Scott D’Amore gave a speech introducing Tenay and talking heavily about West. Gail Kim also did the introduction for Traci Brooks. Frankie Kazarian in taped footage heavily put over what a nice person and great wife she was.
Jim Ross, in Memphis for Collision, visited yesterday morning with Jerry Lawler.
KENTA vs. Joey Janela for the Defy title was announced for 11/18 at Washington Hall in Seattle.
Mission Pro Wrestling from last night in San Antonio: Shay Kaarmichael DCOR Queen Uju, Gypsy Mac b Morgan Mercy, Mia Friday b Angel Blue, Lady Bird Monroe b Amira (not the Amira from the U.K., but the one from the Northwest), Jazmin Allure b Britnie Brooks, Zoe DuBois b JP Harlow in a casket match, Maya World b Izzy Moreno, MPW campion Tiffany Nieves b Christina Marie in a no DQ match. In the casket match, Harlow came out dressed like Vince McMahon while Joey Hyder came out of the casket dressed like Shane McMahon (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
At the show, Walker Stewart, who starts soon with New Japan, was announcing with Veda Scott and called her “The lovely Miss Veda Scott” and she came back and said, “Veda Scott will do just fine thank you!”
John LaRocca and I are back with a brand new Fight Game Podcast.
Our first topic was about the possible synergy between UFC and WWE that everyone is talking about. Will it work or are the audiences too different these days?
Some of the other things we talked about included:
The rumors that Ronda Rousey might be returning to fight at UFC 300 were shot down over the weekend.
Asked by Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso after Saturday’s UFC 292 about the possibility of the former women’s bantamweight star returning for another fight, UFC president Dana White said, “There’s no shot. She’s accomplished everything she set out to do.”
Rousey, who is currently on a hiatus from WWE following her loss to Shayna Baszler at SummerSlam, hasn’t fought since a 48-second loss to Amanda Nunes at December 2016’s UFC 207.
After racking up a 12-0 record and becoming a pop culture phenomenon in the process, Rousey ended her career with KO/TKO losses to Holly Holm (November 2015) and then Nunes.
The UFC Hall of Famer eventually transitioned to WWE full-time, winning both the Raw Women’s title, the SmackDown Women’s title, and the Women’s Tag Team titles with Baszler in her run there.
“Her dream was to win a UFC championship, then win a WWE championship, and she’s done it,” says White. “Now she’s starting a family. Ronda has made so much money, and she’s still making a lot of money in sponsorships.”
Where All In 2023 stands on the biggest crowds and gates in wrestling history
Tony Khan talks Bill Goldberg
Bryan Danielson talks AEW creative
Matt Jackson on coming back so quickly from a muscle tear, the stunts in the match, how preparation was less than last year and why
The latest Bloodline saga
Business notes on Night of Champions and how AEW/WWE crossover viewership changed this past weekend from the past
How comparisons of big event interest changed greatly
Best of the Super Juniors finals, Dominion and All Together Now, a look at the big events in Japan
NXT Battleground coverage
One of the longest lasting wrestling promoters who ever lived, Brian Dixon, passes away at 74
Stardom has World & Wonder of Stardom champions face off on PPV show and where this leads
Two future stars leave two different promotions this past week
Will Ospreay talks future
New Japan President Takami Ohbari talks the state of the business, how close the company was to being in real trouble, and how they’ve had to change the business
Billy Graham funeral notes
Bobo Brazil day and a look at the iconic figure
Advance ticket sales for all upcoming WWE and AEW shows
Streaming and international TV numbers
Records at stake in UFC fights this week
International promotion looking at crowd of 50,000 for a show tomorrow
WWE’s arguments to get MLW lawsuit dismissed
Injury updates
WWE market value
Two people under WWE deals are one week away from competing for a sports world championship shot
We are currently looking for two people to moderate our message board. Those interested please contact [email protected].
Ordering Info:
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Sunday Update
Bryan and I will be back with the weekend news and notes with Wrestling Observer Radio late tonight. You can send questions for tonight’s show to [email protected]
I usually don’t worry about overnight numbers since the final numbers will be coming in tomorrow, but Smackdown on Friday did 2.46 million viewers with an 0.68 in 18-49 and 0.48 in 18-34 which are enormous and the final numbers almost always end up higher. Basically out of every 11 homes watching TV between 8-10 p.m. Friday night, one was watching Smackdown and the numbers for men would be far higher. Obviously the draw was the Roman Reigns celebration for 1,000 days as champion because from a match standpoint there was nothing that was going to pull a number that large.
Just a note regarding today’s ROH tapings. They did a storyline where Stokely Hathaway and Jerry Lynn are the new authority figures in ROH and members of the Board of Directors. Some have seen that as thinking they are booking ROH in real life, which is as it will be presented on the shows. But they are just storyline characters, Hathaway as a heel and Lynn to balance him out as a face. Tony Khan just wanted to utilize Hathaway in a new role on television where he’s doing all kinds of heel things like making it unfair to faces and wanting to ban all Luchadores. Khan is still the head booker for all AEW and ROH shows. Khan was also a character on the tapings.
Dana White last night after the UFC show was asked about Tyson Fury vs. Jon Jones. It’s the same old story. Fury was mad that Joe Rogan said that in a real fight that Jones would beat Fury. Fury wanted a fight with Jones. Jones accepted and then Fury said only under boxing rules. White said that if Fury wants a real fight, they’d put it together and said that Jones was the baddest man on the planet. But we already know Fury won’t be fighting Jones under MMA rules. White pushed again the idea of finding out who the baddest man on the planet is.
We’re looking for reports from tonight’s WWE show in Manchester, NH with results, finishes and highlights to [email protected] Not including walk-up ticket sales for tonight’s show were up 43 percent from the last time in the same building in August, which again shows how hot WWE has become over the past year,.
Thanks to Shannon Walsh, Mike Omansky, Geoff Blough, Peter Bard, Dave Molesevich, Brad Burnaford, Matthew Hardaway, Mike Consani, Jon Ezell and others for the reports from the WWE and AEW weekend shows.
Our only weekend poll is on today’s NJPW Dominion, which was loaded with news including Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay both likely at Forbidden Door on 6/25. Plus Eddie Kingston and Kaito Kiyomiya are in G-1 this year. For today’s show you can leave a thumbs up, down or middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Another story that has been heavily talked about is that paternity tests have shown that Stan Lane, the former Fabulous Ones and Midnight Express star, is not the father of Congresswoman Lauren Boebert. Boebert’s mother had claimed Lane as the father dating back to the 80s. Lane and Boebert both agreed to take new DNA tests. Boebert said, “I can confirm that Stan Lane is not my biological father. I personally have never publicly claimed he was my father, but certainly that allegation is out there.” It was claimed that the test that cleared Lane years ago was fraudulent because a lab worker who took Lane’s sample years ago was convicted of taking a bribe to switch vials. The Daily Beast reviewed the test results and confirmed what Boebert and Lane had claimed.
If there is a game six of the Stanley Cup finals on 6/16, the Rampage show is tentatively scheduled to air before the game at 6 p.m. Eastern If there is no game six, it will air in its usual 10 p.m. time slot. (thanks to David Wolf)
The WWE house show last night in White Plains, NY was a legit sellout:
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn b Viking Raiders to keep the tag titles when Zayn pinned Erik with the Helluva kick
Rhea Ripley b Natalya with the prism lock to keep the Smackdown women’s title
Austin Theory b Sheamus using the ropes to keep the U.S. title
Gunther won four-way to keep the IC title over Shinsuke Nakamura, Matt Riddle and Damien Priest in a great match over Nakamura
Cody Rhodes b Finn Balor in a street fight with a Cross Rhodes through a table.
Bianca Belair & Becky Lynch b Bayley & Io Sky
Usos b Ridge Holland & Butch by pinning Butch. Usos worked as heels since the crowd totally cheered them.
Seth Rollins b Miz to keep world title (thanks to Mike Omansky and Mike Consani)
As far as things that trended on Google this past week, the only pro wrestling, boxing or MMA item that trended was yesterday’s UFC which was of a few hours ago was the No. 1 most searched for item of the last two days with 200,000 searches. I think that may have to do with the main event decision with Amir Albazi winning a split decision over Kai Kara-France in the main event. People were very upset about that one, and it was on ESPN live rather than just streaming.
In last night’s Albazi vs. Kara-France main event, judge Mike Bell gave Albazi rounds two and three and France rounds one, four and five. Sal D’Amato gave Albazi the first three rounds and France four and five. Chris Lee gave Albazi rounds two, three and four and France one and five. Media scores were 90 percent for France according to MMA Decisions.
The other split decision, where Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos beat Abubakar Nurmagomedov, saw Zaleski win on two of the three cards and 82 percent of media scores.
Announced for Raw tomorrow includes adding Cody Rhodes on Miz TV and Seth Rollins in an open challenge for the world heavyweight title. The NBA playoffs aren’t on tomorrow as game three is Wednesday against Dynamite, which probably means a lower rating than usual for that show. There is the Florida Panthers vs. Las Vegas Golden Knights game two of the NHL Stanley Cup finals head-to-head with Raw.
Best wishes to The Cubs Fan. We miss your stuff and hope all is well.
Nothing new on A&E tonight from WWE as instead they are airing A&E Biographies from the Iron Sheik at 8 p.m. and Steve Austin at 10 p.m.
For All In weekend in London, Choco Pro Wrestling, a Japanese women’s promotion that several of the AEW talent had worked for, has added a 2 p.m. Saturday show at the Yard Theater in Hackney Wick, about a ten minute walk from the Copper Box Arena which has Shingo Takagi vs Will Ospreay for the 6:30 p.m. RevPro show. Pro Wrestling Eve and Choco Pro have a joint show at 9 p.m. at The Dome at Tuffnell Park, which is near the Electric Ballroom where Progress is wrestling.
FITE TV is airing night two of the Crockett Cup from Winston-Salem, NC tonight. The quarterfinals are Mecha Wolf 450 & Bestia 666 vs. Blunt Force Trauma, Mike Knox & Trevor Murdoch vs. Ricky & Kerry Morton, Tyrus & Chris Masters vs. JR Kratos & Odinson and Yabo the Clown & Ruffo the Clown vs. Myzteziz Jr. & Octagon Jr. Kamille defends the NWA women’s title against Natalia Markova, plus Kenzie Paige defends the women’s TV title and there will be a six-way scramble to determine who faces Kerry Morton soon for the NWA jr. heavyweight title.
Defy from last night in Seattle at Washington Hall: Christopher Daniels b Artemis Spencer, Ricky Gibson & Eddie Pearl b Jacky Li & Shareef Morrow, Vert Vixen b Shazza McKenzie to keep the women’s title, Rocky Romero & Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas b Judas Icarus & Travis Williams & Evan Rivers, Nicole Matthews b Allie Katch, KENTA b Nick Wayne after a low blow to win the Defy title.
Defy also did a show yesterday afternoon in White Center, WA at the Pride Street Fair: Gibson & Pearl b Franky Duv & Steven Bradley, Rosas b Alan Extreme, Morrow b Casey Ferreria, Danika Diehard retained the Pride medal over Derrick Shaw and Jacky Li, Ashton Sours b Luis Alejandro, Morrow b Frankie Duv, Chhun b Miles Deville, Ferreira b Bradley, Deville b Li, Chhun & Rosas & Diehard b Gibson & Pearl & Derrick Shaw
CWE this week has four shows across Manitoba headlined by Chris Maters.
When the plan for the merger between Vince McMahon’s WWE and Ari Emanuel’s Endeavor was first announced, it was known at that point that the eventual new public merged company would trade under the TKO ticker. McMahon and Emanuel told CNBC that the name would be announced soon.
The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2023 assuming it clears all regulatory hurdles. When it was first announced, the valuation was at $20 billion for the merged company but that will be determined by the public when shares begin trading.
McMahon will be Executive Chairman of the new company while Emanuel will be CEO. Nick Khan will remain as WWE president while Dana White will remain as UFC president.
Dana White says Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel helped UFC get to another level and he can do the same for WWE.
Endeavor purchased UFC in 2016 for $4.02 billion. According to a CNBC report earlier this month, the company now has enterprise value of $12 billion.
White, who owned 9% of the company at the time of sale, remained on as UFC president and says he only has “positive, incredible things” to say about working with Endeavor.
White appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday and was asked about the WWE and UFC merger.
White said:
That’s one of the great things about Ari [Emanuel] and why he’s such a great partner and why he’s so good to work with. He came in and he bought the UFC, they asked me to stay and Ari’s one of those guys that lets you run your business, he lets you do what you do.
He also revealed that he met with the McMahons and told them what working with Emanuel is like.
White continued:
I actually met with the McMahons the last time I was in New York. They wanted to know what it was like to be in business with him and everything else and, obviously, I couldn’t say anything but incredible, positive things about it.
Emanuel will serve as the chief executive of the new company created through the WWE and UFC merger. White doesn’t believe the merger will impact the UFC at all but will be very beneficial for WWE.
White said:
How this is going to affect our company, it won’t at all, we’re going to keep doing what we do. How it affects WWE is I think there is a lot of value that Ari can add on the business side whether it’s licensing, sponsorship, and the list goes on and on, he’ll help grow those different areas of their business. They’re valued at $9 billion, watch and see what they are in five years.
We always knew there was room for growth and what we wanted to do, and the Fertittas were really good about this, just like Bob Meyrowitz who sold it to us, Bob Meyrowitz felt like we were guys that could take it to another level and the same thing happened when we sold to Ari. You want to sell to a guy who can help grow the business and take it to another level and that’s exactly what Vince has done too.
Dana White has commented on the merger of WWE and UFC.
As part of the agreement, White will remain president of UFC, while Nick Khan will act in the same role for the wrestling side of the business. Vince McMahon will serve as Executive Chairman of the Board for the new company.
White’s comment reads:
This company has been on fire for the last seven years and now that we will be adding WWE to the portfolio, I am excited to take this to another level. Vince is a savage in the wrestling space, Ari is a beast at what he does, and then add what we at UFC bring to the table and there is no limit to what this company can accomplish in the next five years.
Zuffa LLC sold a controlling share of UFC to Endeavor for $4 billion in 2016. Endeavor then purchased the remainder of the company in 2021.
Vince McMahon stated that he was excited to work with Ari Emanuel, Endeavor, and the UFC teams in a press release on Monday.
McMahon said:
I, along with the current WWE management team, look forward to working closely with Ari and the Endeavor and UFC teams to take the businesses to the next level.”
The upstart and controversial new league, co-founded by UFC president Dana White, will instead head to video streaming service Rumble for its second and third seasons of Road to the Title.
The deal is for two years, but terms were not disclosed. It’s unknown if TBS or Warner Bros. Discovery made the decision to not renew it or if White and his partners made the decision themselves.
Rumble aired the company’s first live event this past weekend, originally scheduled to be a traditional pay-per-view.
In an announcement, White said that in addition to the next two seasons of Road to the Title, Power Slap will air eight more live events over the next two years on the conservative-leaning YouTube alternative.
White also told Pat McAfee that he is attempting to have the second season filmed in Abu Dhabi.
The reality show, built using the same playbook as the groundbreaking The Ultimate Fighter, debuted on TBS in February following AEW Dynamite.
The debut was delayed by a week following the public controversy surrounding White and his wife exchanging slaps on New Year’s Eve in a domestic dispute at a nightclub.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the latest on Vince McMahon getting his hand back into the WWE pot, the talent meeting on Friday and what HHH said, notes from the Impact PPV including the women headlining, Jon Jones, Rampage, Smackdown, tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
