April 22, 2024 Observer Newsletter: Vince McMahon’s future, Marigold & WWE, AEW Dynasty preview

The end of any connection with Vince McMahon, the most powerful and influential figure in the history of pro wrestling, is now imminent.

McMahon has been completely out of power since resigning under pressure just prior to the Royal Rumble after the Janel Grant lawsuit and the threat of sponsor pullouts. But his last connection to the business, being the largest individual shareholder in TKO, is about to become a thing of the past.

McMahon has registered to sell his remaining 8,021,405 shares in TKO.

In something unrelated, WWE President Nick Khan has registered to sell 234,424 shares. The remaining shares McMahon is looking to sell would be worth about $781 million, while the shares Khan is looking to sell are worth about $23 million.

While my belief is that McMahon is done in wrestling, given he’s 78 years old, from a legal standpoint he does have a one-year non-compete. This would end in late January 2025. He can, at that point, start up a new promotion.

Other stories this week include:

  • An inside look at Rossy Ogawa’s Marigold and its WWE relationship
  • Why this weekend’s AEW Dynasty is so important
  • A criminal complaint against Dos Caras
  • A recap of all the week’s TV shows, events, and UFC 300

Subscribers can click here to read this week’s issue.

Daily Update: WWE Raw fallout, Dos Caras, Abdullah the Butcher

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

One of the biggest issues of the Observer is out this week. Tons of interesting information on current news and lots of historical figures. It’s full coverage of a weekend of major events.

  • Poll results on all the major shows
  • Historical nature of WrestleMania 40 including business notes in depth, gate, PPV, attendance, merch, it’s all there.
  • Ticket demand
  • Historical nature of Rhodes’ win
  • How WWE has changed due to Dwayne Johnson
  • A look at the booking of both nights
  • Internal talk on Rock vs. Rhodes
  • More changes from WWE to TKO
  • How many WWE PPV buyers watched Revolution and Hard to Kill
  • How the WWE/AEW dynamic has changed
  • Future WWE direction
  • A look at Dynamite with the Jack Perry/CM Punk footage and Will Ospreay interview
  • Whose ideas these were and what the background was
  • Different lines and why they were said
  • Full Stand & Deliver coverage
  • The life and times of Akebono, a Japanese cultural figure
  • The early 90s heyday of sumo
  • The Bob Sapp fight and doing kickboxing and MMA
  • The long pro wrestling career and his various roles
  • His brief WWE run
  • UFC 300 looked at
  • AEW 2024 PPV plans
  • New Japan Sakura Genesis coverage and next major shows
  • Bryan Danielson vs. Blue Panther singles match looked at
  • ROH Supercard of Honor coverage
  • Gary Shaw, a controversial figure in MMA and his role in promoting Kimbo Slice and putting women’s MMA on the map against major opposition
  • Jon Jones’ latest incident
  • A look back at Al Zinck and the heyday of pro wrestling in the Maritimes
  • The most detailed look at the ratings of the past week, weekly standings, placings for the night and time slot, major competition for each show, segment-by-segment numbers and more.
  • Rey de Parejas tournament from Dragon Gate
  • One of the greatest U.S. amateur wrestlers in history may retire in a few weeks, or this summer
  • A look at the Olympic trials
  • Wrestling TV show headed to Netflix
  • Indie Hall of Fame
  • The Boys answer back at charges they were fired for no-showing
  • International TV ratings
  • Ticket sales for all the upcoming WWE & AEW shows
  • Update on lawsuit filed by former MMA superstar against Disney, backed by Elon Musk
  • Vince McMahon’s stock sales, how much cash he’s made, value of current shares and how much does he still own
  • How much Dwayne Johnson has made for his being on the TKO Board thus far
  • Changes in WWE management
  • Why so many wrestlers today as compared to the past get busted mouths
  • Slammy Awards

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

Tuesday Update

WWE

  • The full Intercontinental title match between Chad Gable and Sami Zayn from last night’s Raw is now up on YouTube.
  • The crowd in Montreal chanted expletives at Gable after the show went off the air. Sami Zayn cut a short promo after the assault had ended.
  • Gable on X: “Don’t kid yourselves. You would have done the same thing.”
  • Sheamus thanked Venum for making his new ring gear following his return to Raw on Monday: “Thank you @venum for the 1st ever custom WWE branded ring gear… i wear the WWE brand with pride, many more should too..”
  • Julian Baldi, who was featured on the Roku series ‘WWE Next Gen’, announced on X that he has signed with the company.
  • WWE put up a video showing Jimmy & Jey Uso’s dueling WrestleMania experiences.
  • SmackDown Tag Team Champions Grayson Waller & Austin Theory and Big E will be guests on The Bump this week.
  • On Monday, the company added Batista vs. Triple H from Backlash 2005 to their YouTube channel.

AEW & Other Wrestling