Tag: Nick Khan

U.S. Senator makes WrestleMania pitch during Ali Boxing Revival Act hearing

Posted on by Josh Nason

In a spirited hearing regarding the controversial Muhammad Ali Boxing Revival Act being pushed by TKO, a United States Senator decided to make a pitch for his state to host a future WrestleMania.

Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno, a Republican, asked WWE president and Zuffa Boxing promoter Nick Khan what it would take for WrestleMania to come to Ohio, mentioning their soon-to-be-built domed stadium in Cleveland right across the street from a major airport.

“2029 or 2023…what’s better for you to bring WrestleMania to Cleveland?,” Moreno said, adding they hosted a “successful” SummerSlam in 2024.

Khan, who looked surprised at the pitch, played along, joking that Logan Paul pressures him weekly to bring WrestleMania to Ohio and now he has the pressure of Moreno to go along with it.

Both WWE and AEW have benefited from Ohio tax credits in recent years for bringing events to the state.

Khan was the only TKO representative at the hearing which also featured all-time great and current promoter Oscar de la Hoya who is against the revision to the Ali Act to create a new “Unified Boxing Organization” that critics feel is too similar to the UFC model and would hurt fighters.

The bill has already cleared the U.S. House of Representatives with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a Republican, saying he would bring the bill to the Senate and is open to bi-partisan modifications.

WOL: Can WrestleMania 42 ‘over deliver’ this weekend as promised?

Posted on by Jim Valley

It’s a Friday edition of Wrestling Observer Live with Jim Valley to kick off WWE WrestleMania 42 weekend.

WWE president Nick Khan thinks WrestleMania 42 will, by his own words, “over deliver.” But what does that mean? Great matches? Big surprises? A huge main event angle? We’ll talk about what it might mean in regard to this weekend’s double dip of shows from Las Vegas.

Plus, Jim talks about Thursday’s TNA Impact following Rebellion and AEW Collision from a live perspective including Lio Rush’s new “Blackheart” character, Darby Allin’s AEW World title win, why Thekla is better than you may realize, and more.

Check it out.

Right Click Save As (sub needed) or watch on YouTube

Nick Khan not worried about criticism of WWE WrestleMania 42 build

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Nick Khan isn’t worried about the criticism WWE’s build to WrestleMania 42 has faced.

Ahead of Allegiant Stadium hosting WrestleMania 42 this weekend, the Las Vegas Review-Journal published a feature story on Khan, a Vegas native who now serves as WWE’s president. He was asked to address fan complaints about the build to WrestleMania.

“Let’s see the reaction [when] the show is done,” Khan said. “I think a lot of times with WWE storylines, they take a moment to develop. We have the good fortune when we’re on the inside of knowing where we’re going. If you look at the two main events, there is real heat there and when the storylines are blurred between reality and pre-determined outcomes in WWE, we think that always delivers. And with the (Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton) especially with the addition of Pat McAfee, we think both will overdeliver.”

“Let’s see.”

McAfee’s insertion into the Rhodes vs. Orton storyline has been one of the main criticisms of the WrestleMania build, with fans feeling like it was not necessary given the 20-year history Rhodes and Orton have together. McAfee will be in Orton’s corner when Orton challenges Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship this Saturday.

Sunday’s main event will then see CM Punk defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns.

This is the second straight year WrestleMania has been held at Allegiant Stadium. Given that and high ticket prices for the event, attendance won’t be at the same level as it was in 2025, though WWE says it will still be among the biggest gates in company history.

Khan told the Review-Journal that the economic health of Las Vegas is important to WWE and its parent company TKO, especially with the city being UFC’s home.

“There’s no city that can handle big events greater than Las Vegas can,” Khan said. “It was a no-brainer to come back again. It motivated us further when we read that Vegas was in a bit of an economic downturn because we think big events like this can help stimulate an economy and that local economy matters to me and it matters to our business at TKO, especially with UFC headquartered in Las Vegas as well as Zuffa Boxing. We’re excited to have the event and fingers crossed on people leaving the event happy. We believe that will be the case.”

Nick Khan: It would be crazy to run political angle with ICE arresting WWE talent

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Don’t expect to see WWE try to mirror real-life political issues on Raw or SmackDown any time soon.

Company president Nick Khan told The Bill Simmons Podcast that, with the political environment being what it is, it would be “too tough” to run politically charged angles like having ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) referenced on WWE programming. Khan mentioned that NXT tried to do a politically correct angle with Joe Gacy a few years ago, but it did not work.

  • Simmons: Would you ever consider doing the 80s thing, using WWE to mirror things that are going on in real life, like some of the political stuff? That seems like that ship sailed 20 years ago?
  • Khan: Too tough. It’s too tough with the political environment now. Like to have ICE officers arresting like Dragon Lee…
  • Simmons: You could never do any of that stuff. That would be crazy. Yeah, that would be awful.
  • Khan: You couldn’t do it, yeah.
  • Simmons: But could you do like, I don’t know, somebody like a super left liberal wrestler as a heel, who’s just like constantly correcting everybody? Or do like a super MAGA? Like, you just would stay away completely from all that stuff?
  • Khan: We did it for a moment in time in NXT when we were coming out of COVID. The guy who’s in the Wyatt Sicks now, Joe Gacy, before he would, let’s say, body slam you, he would apologize that he had to.
  • Simmons: That didn’t work? [laughs]
  • Khan: No, it didn’t work. But he was like, ‘I’m very sorry that I have to wrestle you.’
  • Simmons: So like a politically correct angle?
  • Khan: Right. For everything, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’

The Gacy angle took place when he was the leader of The Schism in NXT. He’s now part of the SmackDown roster, with tonight’s pre-WrestleMania episode of the show set to feature an eight-man street fight between The Wyatt Sicks and MFTs.

When asked about himself potentially becoming a character on WWE television, Khan said it will “never, ever, ever” happen. Khan is solely a behind-the-scenes person.

WWE President Nick Khan praises Rhea Ripley

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Nick Khan believes Rhea Ripley will be one of the faces of WWE for years to come.

While being interviewed on The Bill Simmons Podcast before WrestleMania 42, Khan was asked who he thinks WWE’s biggest star will be in 2033. The first name the WWE President pointed to was Ripley, who is only 29 years old right now as she enters her seventh WrestleMania.

“I think there’s a shot for a couple people, I think. Keep in mind Rhea is in her late 20s, Rhea Ripley,” Khan said. “She’s amazing. She has a chance. She’s already up there.”

Ripley will be in one of the top matches at WrestleMania 42 night two this Sunday, where she is challenging Jade Cargill for the WWE Women’s Championship. The match has a high standard to live up to after Ripley helped steal the show at WrestleMania 41 in a triple threat with IYO SKY and Bianca Belair.

Khan also listed Logan Paul, Bron Breakker, Oba Femi, and Trick Williams as options for WWE’s top star in 2033.

“I’m high on Logan Paul. He’s good, dude. And by the way, he puts in the work,” Khan said. “I’m high on Bron. We cannot rush it, though. Gotta sort of let him develop at his own pace. And he’s an excellent athlete who obviously grew up in the wrestling business, but let it develop at its own pace, which we’re all on the same page about.

“I think all three of those. Oba is an obvious one. I’m high on Trick. I like the fact that he’s an SEC athlete. I like the fact that he sort of inherently understands media. I like the fact — I always look for people whose inner voice matches their outer voice. I look for that in wrestlers. I look for it in political people. You know, if your inner voice matches your outer voice, you have a shot. Trick Williams is Trick Williams. So I like that.”

Nick Khan addresses WWE house show schedule

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Nick Khan doesn’t sound too interested in running a more expansive WWE house show schedule.

Holding more main roster live events is something Cody Rhodes has called for, even making a pitch for the company to test out bringing back one house show loop per month. Rhodes believes it would help keep the wrestlers in rhythm and create a team-like atmosphere in the WWE locker room.

Appearing on The Bill Simmons Podcast ahead of WrestleMania 42, Khan agreed when Simmons said there are “real reasons” WWE wrestlers aren’t on the road as much as they used to be.

“Think about every wrestling documentary you’ve ever seen,” the WWE President said. “Usually about wrestlers in the 80s started off with, ‘I was on the road 300 days a year.’ It’s no way — and then you saw the results of that. Forget family life, but you saw what people would do to make sure that their bodies could perform at that level.”

WWE still runs some main roster house shows, but they usually happen on international tours or domestically on the Christmas-season holiday tour. The company has a trip to Europe scheduled for this summer and will be holding house shows in South America in September.

Nick Khan says WWE put focus on future after WrestleMania 41

Posted on by Joseph Currier

After WrestleMania 41 last year, WWE made a conscious decision to focus on the future.

A new episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast debuted on Friday with WWE President Nick Khan making his annual pre-WrestleMania appearance. During the interview, Khan was asked if he’s concerned about WWE ratings and attendance having fallen some from their peak. Khan noted that, when WrestleMania wrapped up in 2025, he and Paul “Triple H” Levesque got together and questioned why so much of WWE’s top male talent is 40 years or older. They decided to put more focus on preparing for the future, which Khan thinks is already paying dividends.

“So here’s the good thing — a year ago, so right after WrestleMania last year, Triple H and I got together and we said, ‘Okay, let’s take a look at the future.’ Let’s look at our top male superstars. [John] Cena was obviously his retirement year,” Khan said. “We have, and you tell me if you categorize these as our top men in some order, Roman [Reigns], Cody [Rhodes], [CM] Punk, Seth [Rollins], Brock [Lesnar]. Put Drew [McIntyre] in there, yeah. And he adds to the narrative. They’re all 40 years or older.

“So we said, ‘All right, we got to make sure we’re preparing for the future here.’ We went down to our Performance Center to see Shawn Michaels and Matt Bloom who run that on a day-to-day basis and run NXT with us. And we said, ‘Okay, let’s take a look at the talent here.’ How come D-X, for example, when it was first starting to pop, Triple H I think was like 26. Why is it taking longer?”

One of the things Michaels told them was that NXT needed to tour outside of Florida more often so that the wrestlers could get experience in front of different crowds. WWE now holds regular NXT house show tours on the road along with PLEs and occasional TV episodes.

Khan pointed to Oba Femi, Trick Williams, and Je’Von Evans as names who are already making a difference on the main roster. In particular, he pointed to Femi vs. Brock Lesnar opening the WrestleMania 42 night two card this Sunday and said both performers have done phenomenal work to build the match.

While mentioning Femi, Williams, and Evans, Khan noted that there are “soon to be others” called up from NXT as well.

Nick Khan says he has never read Twitter as it relates to WWE: ‘That is a vocal minority’

Posted on by Josh Nason

WWE president Nick Khan has remained consistent when it comes his views on social media when it comes to WWE and TKO at large as he claims he still doesn’t read it.

Speaking at Wednesday’s CAA World Congress of Sports ahead of this weekend’s WrestleMania 42, Khan was asked about any concerns about WWE bringing WrestleMania to Saudi Arabia next year — which he said is still happening.

“I have never read X or Twitter as it relates to our business and I’ve certainly never read it regarding me. That is a vocal minority,” he said (quotes from SportsBusinessJournal).

That is consistent with what Khan said just over a year ago ahead of last year’s WrestleMania:

“As much as we listen to our audience, we won’t listen to social media and respond. We think it’s a small percentage of voices who have a big microphone or megaphone in front of them. It’s a mistake to respond to your business based off of that. You’ve got to base it off your gut and the results.”

On Wednesday, Khan told moderator Abe Madkour that he is copied on every complaint that comes into “WWE’s personalized fan service” but his decisions are based on his three Rs: ratings, revenue and relevance which is something he has also said in previous talks.

“Some of the complaints are, ‘I didn’t like the match — you guys are pieces of shi*.’ And I go, ‘OK, I got it.’ Some are, ‘Hey, we had an obstructed view.’ OK — we’ll have you come to our next show. People are allowed to complain, but we don’t adjust our business based on complaints. We adjust based on ratings, revenue, relevancy,” he said.

Nick Khan says WrestleMania 43 still planned for Saudi Arabia, addresses this year’s ticket sales

Posted on by Josh Nason

Despite the current war in the Middle East, WWE president Nick Khan is still planning on next year’s WrestleMania being held in Saudi Arabia.

Khan appeared at the SBJ CAA World Congress of Sports in Los Angeles on Wednesday where he brought up next year’s show, saying “We’re doing WrestleMania next year in Saudi. First time ever, WrestleMania will be outside the United States or Canada. We’ve had a big, fruitful partnership with them.”

He did not mention, nor was asked, about the next imminent WWE premium live event set for Saudi Arabia which was reported as being planned for June. It has yet to officially be announced but is one of three WWE PLEs set to take place there in 2026.

According to The Sporting Tribune who attended the event and provided the quotes found here, Khan “downplayed criticism surrounding WWE’s Saudi Arabia events, describing negative feedback as a ‘vocal minority’ and reiterating that company decisions are driven by ratings, revenue and relevancy” — a line he has used before.

***********

Khan alluded to this year’s WrestleMania 42 ticket sales at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium being slower than last year.

When asked about the sales, Khan said they are “feeling good” and said they think that after setting records the last two years, “we think it’s going to get close to that record, but fingers crossed.” He remained steadfast that all is well and that demand is strong, even on the secondary market.

From the Tribune:

“The marketplace dictates the ticket price,” Khan said, noting that even lower-priced tickets can quickly be resold at higher rates, underscoring continued consumer demand.

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith says Nick Khan once pitched WWE role

Posted on by Joseph Currier

ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith says he was once approached about a WWE role but ultimately decided not to go through with it.

As the media push to WrestleMania 42 intensifies, WWE commentator Joe Tessitore appeared across ESPN’s platforms on Monday to promote the event. That included a guest spot on First Take, where Smith praised co-worker Pat McAfee for his WWE work. Smith — without giving any timeframe for when this happened — said Nick Khan once talked to him about getting involved, but Smith did not want to risk getting hit by any wrestlers.

“Listen, I love it. And I want to applaud Pat McAfee for that,” Smith said. “I go back to the old days, the Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenans and people like that. I love cats that are heels. I actually wanted to do that, your man Nick Khan talked to me about that. The difference is, I’m not as courageous as Pat McAfee. I ain’t trying to get hit by one of them big boys — at all. I don’t want no parts of it. But I love that stuff, because I think the sport needs it.”

Smith started out as an NBA reporter before becoming one of the faces of ESPN through his role on sports commentary shows. He’s broken into pop culture and has even teased political aspirations.

This is the first year WrestleMania will air live on the ESPN app in the United States. On Saturday, the first night will be simulcast on ESPN2. The second night’s first hour will be simulcast on ESPN’s main channel, with Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi expected to open the action.

2023 text messages reveal Triple H’s concern about Vince McMahon’s WWE involvement

Posted on by Josh Nason

More unredacted documents from the ongoing WWE shareholders lawsuit revealed some concerns from Paul “Triple H” Levesque over his WWE creative role as relates to Vince McMahon’s return back in 2023 in addition to Levesque’s belief that Nick Khan saved his job.

First reported by Brandon Thurston for Post Wrestling on Tuesday, more text messages sent via WhatsApp were disclosed last week as exhibits for the ongoing lawsuit in which shareholders are disputing the process in which WWE was merged with UFC by Endeavor to create TKO, saying it was unfairly steered toward Endeavor despite other bids.

The messages began on September 11, 2023 — the night before the merger became official. These are all from Levesque to WWE president Nick Khan, a person who Levesque confides in frequently as a friend and power player inside the Endeavor/TKO structure.

Levesque wrote to Khan, “How’s it going so far ? Man, I’m wound tight today …. DDay tomorrow, expecting the worst” to which Khan replied twice but later deleted the messages, a trend throughout the disclosed exchanges. Khan said in legal filings that he doesn’t remember what he said.

Later that same day in which post-merger layoffs were being planned, Levesque texted Khan, relaying a message about McMahon reaching out wanting to discuss talent releases:

“Vkm. Btw I need to meet with all of U tomorrow re talent releases which coincides with all corporate releases Thx” with Levesque asking Khan to speak if he had time.

At the time of the merger, McMahon was the executive chairman of the TKO Board.

Two hours later, Levesque texted Khan again, “While I’m SURE you like to be done with this shit for today ….. Please let me know if you speak to AE” in which AE is assumed to be Endeavor head Ari Emanuel. Khan replied three hours later saying that he would. Levesque asked Khan if he was ok to which Khan replied “Yes sir! How you ?”

Levesque then said “Good anxious for tomorrow and beyond ……”

It’s unclear if Levesque and Khan spoke separately outside these texts.

**********

On the day the merger was made official (September 12, 2023), Levesque messaged Khan again at 6:58 AM:

“Nick , just wanted to take a moment before all the craziness today to say THANK YOU !!!!! Thank you for getting us here … if it wasn’t for you , I would have been gone a long time ago. I appreciate you and all you have done and gone thru …. And I appreciate our friendship… It means the world to me
Thank you and Congratulations”

Khan then replied, “You are my guy. You got me here. I want us to do this for 20 years and call it a day. I appreciate and admire you.”

Levesque then appeared to relay a message from McMahon:

“Just fyi

Morning! VKM looking to set an in person meeting for today at 4pm with you, Bruce and Ed regarding Talent Policies”

Khan replied something, but later deleted it. Whatever it was, Levesque replied, “Done.”

**********

Fast forward to Saturday, December 9, 2023, when Levesque texted Khan the following at 8:17 PM: “Was just told by security that VKM is coming to Cleveland TV Monday. What’s that about ??????”

Khan replied three times, later deleting all of them. Levesque replied “Is he in nyc yet …… When is their meeting?” Khan then replied again, but deleted it.

Some sort of talk between Levesque, Emanuel and possibly Khan appeared to take place — one Levesque was “disappointed” with.

From Sunday: ” the more I think about it the more I’m kinda disappointed in that Ari convo…… Seems like we are in the same place , “I’m gonna tell him to stay out of it or else” that’s way different than “I’m telling him he’s done ….. it’s over” Kicking the can down the road”

That appears to imply Emanuel was going to speak with McMahon about staying out of WWE creative due to concerns Levesque had. After another deleted Khan reply, Levesque asked, “What do u think about me hitting Shapiro to get his take and let him push or better direct to Ari?” followed by more deleted Khan replies. Shapiro is Mark Shapiro, the head of TKO.

The conversation kept going an hour later.

From Levesque: “Between you and I, It feels like they are both backtracking on the “he’s out” narrative. It’s back to the “well if he wants to go to the show now and then” and “if he gives notes and wants to have a 30min meeting now and then, ok”

That was followed by “He just sent an email re script for Ari” to which Khan said “Seems off. Lemme call him.” and later “They know already. No need to send.”

Later that night, Levesque intimated to Khan that McMahon and CM Punk were going to be on the same plane and questioned if that was going to be an issue:

“So he’s on the AM plane ….. I just remembered punk is scheduled to be on it as well. You think that’s an issue ?”

McMahon resigned from his post on January 26, 2024, amid sexual misconduct allegations from Janel Grant in a still ongoing civil lawsuit.

Triple H says Nick Khan is ‘the most incredible businessman’ he’s worked with

Posted on by Ian Carey

WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque says that Nick Khan is the most incredible businessman he’s ever worked with on a day-to-day basis.

Levesque was featured in a video posted by TKO Group Holdings on Wednesday. In the video, he reflected on the more than 30 years he has spent with WWE after signing with the company in early 1995.

Triple H said:

“I am Paul Levesque, sometimes known as Triple H, sometimes known as the Cerebral Assassin, sometimes known as the King of Kings. I have a lot of names.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have been here in WWE for 30 years. To see changes of the guard, I’ve seen talent come and go. I’ve seen ebbs and flows of the business. But I think having been through all of those, having been a key component in the Attitude Era, which many people see as one of the all-time great eras in our business, I’m fortunate that I experienced all of it.

Early in my career, I sort of fell in love with the behind-the-scenes of the business. I was very interested in the creative process of putting the shows together.”

Triple H also spoke about Khan and what he has brought to the company, saying:

“Nick is the most incredible businessman I’ve ever worked with on a day-to-day basis. His business sense and acumen and all of that and his experience are second to none. But he’s also a huge fan of WWE. He sees the things that work and don’t.”

Also in the video, Triple H spoke about the difference between being a wrestler and being an executive with a wrestling company.

“When you’re a WWE superstar, you’re focused singularly on you. When you switch to being an executive, it’s about everybody else. Your job goes from being singularly focused to just this wide net of everything that you have in front of you, and it’s dealing with people. But it’s a lot easier to deal with them when you get to slam them than it is when you can’t slam them and just have to talk to them.”

The full video is available below:

Matt Cardona details how Nick Khan paved way for WWE return

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A conversation with Nick Khan is what got the ball rolling on Matt Cardona’s WWE return.

The former Zack Ryder officially returned to WWE at the start of 2026 and is now a member of the SmackDown roster. Before re-signing with the company, he competed in the Last Time is Now Tournament in 2025 and crossed over into NXT as part of the TNA invasion storyline.

On a new episode of Cody Rhodes’ “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast, Cardona noted that he was not under contract with TNA when he worked that NXT match in October 2025. His wife Chelsea Green was in Saudi Arabia doing media shortly after and asked WWE President Nick Khan if he saw the match. That conversation resulted in Khan telling Green to have Cardona reach out to him.

“So I’m working for TNA but not technically like under contract. And TNA does the invasion of NXT, and they asked to have me. And I know I’m not under contract, but I’m like, I’m going to sneak in. Sure, I’ll do it,” Cardona said.

“I do that, leads to a match. And Chelsea was doing, I guess, media for [Royal] Rumble in Saudi. And Nick Khan was there. She said to Nick something like, ‘Did you see my husband wrestle on NXT?’ Nick said something like, ‘I’ve always wanted to meet your husband, talk to your husband, give him my number.’ She gave me Nick Khan’s number, you know I’m texting immediately. And then Nick called me right there, said, ‘What do you want?’ I said, ‘I want to come back.’ And the ball kind of got rolling from there.”

Cardona said there were some ups and downs in the process after that, but the conversation with Khan is what paved the way for his return.

After being released by WWE in 2020, Cardona rebuilt himself during an indie run where he starred for promotions like Game Changer Wrestling. Now that he’s back in WWE, Cardona still hopes to accomplish his childhood dream of winning the WWE World Championship.

“I mean, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to be the WWE champ. That’s the title. I think you and I are alike,” he told Rhodes. “We didn’t just want to be wrestlers, we didn’t just want to be WWE Superstars — we wanted to be the WWE Champion. So, why not swing for it? That’s the goal ever since I was a little kid.”

Brie Bella ‘kept hearing no’ about her WWE returns, credits Nick Khan for comeback

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

At WWE Royal Rumble 2026, Brie Bella made her much-awaited in-ring return, shortly after which she revealed the story behind her comeback and CEO Nick Khan’s role in it.

Recently appearing on Notsam Wrestling Live! (h/t Fightful) Bella opened up in detail about her return story while also addressing Khan’s contribution to it. Bella revealed that she kept hearing “no” about her chance to come back until Khan reached out to her regarding it.

“I’ve been wanting to come back. I would joke about it a lot, but yeah, I kept hearing no, and so when it came Thanksgiving time, I was like, ‘Alright, I’m not going back,’ and so, I kind of just started to look at 2026 differently,” she claimed. “I had a couple other opportunities that were put on the table, so I started to engage in those, and then Nick Khan all of a sudden called me, and I wasn’t expecting it, and just really wanted me back. I was very shocked, and I was like, ‘Alright….’ And I’m grateful to Nick for bringing me back because I definitely thought the door was closed, and I’m happy that it reopened.”

Nikki Bella also joined in and added, “I remember when I got my call from Nick. It’s so unexpected, and then you’re like, whoa, that’s life-changing.”

The twins have now announced their intentions of going after Rhea Ripley and IYO Sky’s Women’s Tag Team titles. However, while Bella returned at the 2026 Royal Rumble, interestingly, her last match before that was at the 2022 Royal Rumble. The sisters were also inducted into the 2020 WWE Hall of Fame.

‘WWE: Unreal’ delves into R-Truth re-signing, return & creative disagreements

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: WWE

The second episode of the second season of WWE: Unreal on Netflix delved deep into the R-Truth saga from 2025 and a bit further than the preview clip released on Monday.

The episode went into the longtime friendship between Truth and Brian “Road Dogg” James who is a lead member of the WWE creative team. One point, a creative meeting was shown leading into Truth’s match with John Cena at Saturday Night’s Main Event where James relayed that Truth wanted to shave his head for the match.

Paul “HHH” Levesque was shown questioning the rationale in the meeting, saying that it didn’t make any sense. James got upset and said, “This is why I am scared to pitch anything. Everything is just horrible and the sh*ts,” adding that he couldn’t wait for Cena to beat Truth so they could move past it.

“It hurts my heart. Let’s move on.”

“Sometimes, his personal feelings can skew his creative feelings over what is right for business,” Levesque told the camera later.

Two days after Truth’s surprise return at Money in the Bank, Truth is shown asking Levesque if he could “become his brother” and asked if he could shave it, Levesque said he was fine with it. Truth later joked he was going bald.

**********

The episode went into the Truth contract situation where he said he learned he wasn’t being renewed as he was taking his daughter to dance class which led to his tweet. He then let James know who put out his own tweet, later admitting the move did make perfect business sense due to his age but didn’t agree with it.

Levesque then gave the quote released in the preview clip Monday where he said Truth was never fired and was always under contract.

“He immediately went out on social and said he was fired — which, he was never fired, contrary to prior belief. He was never not under contract with us,” Levesque claimed.

They addressed the crowd chats and blowback for the decision with Levesque saying, “If there is a desire from the audience to see a performer, I would love to have the performer. It would be silly not to. Then, it becomes if we can get to a place where we can do business together. That’s the business side. No one ever wanted Ron to leave, we just wanted to get to an amicable place.”

Truth said he and Nick Khan “talked for about an hour a day” and that he “patted the wound.” The two made a deal that Bruce Prichard claimed was signed on the day of Money in the Bank when Truth made his surprise return at the end.

The episode detailed who was told what and when which included Khan, Levesque, Prichard, Ed Koskey, Cody Rhodes and Cena. Bobby Roode was told shortly before the match was starting while Pat McAfee was informed but Michael Cole wasn’t in order to get a better surprise reaction. Logan Paul and Jey Uso weren’t told of the run-in, learning about it as it happened.

Levesque was shown talking with Cena and came up with how Truth would dress before he came out which Cena completely agreed with.

James also didn’t know, relaying mixed emotions of happiness that his friend was back but also disappointment that he wasn’t told as a creative team member.

The second season of WWE: Unreal is now available on Netflix with coverage coming on this website throughout Tuesday and Wednesday.