While thought of as a longshot when first brought up, the 2023 dream of John Cena to bring WWE WrestleMania to London may be closer to becoming a reality after all.
Several news outlets reported Thursday that London mayor Sadiq Khan had a surprise meeting Thursday afternoon at City Hall with WWE CEO Nick Khan and chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque about the possibility of bringing the annual two-night event to London for the first time ever.
The mayor has been public in his desire to bring major international sports events to London of which WrestleMania was included. He posted on X about that desire in April to which Levesque replied, “Let’s talk.”
He told the Daily Star that “it’s exciting to be working with the WWE team. The meeting was really productive, and talks will continue about how we could turn our ambition into a reality.”
The next WrestleMania is scheduled for Las Vegas with Indianapolis, Indiana, set to host the big event at an undetermined date.
“Sadiq Khan and his team are working hard on positioning London as a sport and entertainment capital of Europe and it has been great to hear more on his vision for how WWE can support them on that journey, ” Nick Khan said, adding “There is a lot that needs to be discussed further but we share the ambition of Mayor Khan in trying to bring a stand-out WWE premium live event to London.”
One of those items that needs to be “discussed further” is likely a site fee which has been a publicly-stated goal of TKO management on both investors calls and speaking events. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has also publicly stated their desire to host WrestleMania as their annual commit to WWE for two PLEs a year puts them in the driver’s seat.
Though Vince McMahon is no longer involved, WWE’s business relationship with Saudi Arabia remains strong.
As part of a deal with the Saudi government, WWE has held PPVs/PLEs in the country since 2018. The long-term deal calls for WWE to hold two events in Saudi Arabia per year, receiving an estimated $50 million for each show. The next of those events will be King & Queen of the Ring on May 25.
Saudi official Turki Alsheikh recently told ESPN that an “enhancement” to WWE’s deal with Saudi Arabia will be announced later this month. Alsheikh said Saudi Arabia is hoping to host a future Royal Rumble or WrestleMania.
During TKO Group’s first quarter earnings call, TKO executive Mark Shapiro was asked about WWE potentially expanding its Saudi relationship. Shapiro said WWE could potentially look to increase the amount of shows it holds in the country, but nothing is planned right now beyond the two annual events.
Shapiro noted that, while there was speculation the WWE-Saudi partnership could be negatively impacted by McMahon being gone, WWE President Nick Khan has maintained a “very, very strong relationship” with Saudi Arabia.
What I would say there is, let’s remember, we have a strong and healthy relationship with the Kingdom through WWE and doing two annual events a year. And I’ll just remind folks… those deals were primarily and highly tied to Vince McMahon. And there was a lot of speculation with Vince being gone, ‘Would that impact the relationship in a negative way? Would they be looking to get out of it?’ And I would say proudly that Nick Khan, in particular, has developed and sustained, cultivated, nurtured a very, very strong relationship in a handoff from Vince.
They [Nick Khan and Saudi Arabia] have a lot of trust in each other. They have a lot of faith. We’ve been delivering on those events. Potentially we could look to do more events, but nothing is planned beyond those two events at this time. And we will continue to look at eventizing or festivalizing those WWE events more than we already do.
The UFC, which is also owned by TKO, announced an extension to its partnership with Saudi Arabia this week.
The internet rumor mill surrounding the possible sale of Vince McMahon and WWE president Nick Khan’s remaining TKO shares continued this week with talk show host and Raw commentator Pat McAfee even adding some “breaking news” as he called it.
While talking to Drew McIntyre on Wednesday, McAfee said any rumors about Khan selling his stock were “not true.”
“(He) has never sold a single share of any stock since getting to the WWE. Hasn’t even put them up for sale which is an entire process to do that, so that was a bunch of bullsh*t as well,” he said.
However, that isn’t entirely accurate.
While Khan has yet to sell any shares, he did go through that entire process in posting his current allotment of 234,424 shares back in September 2023 when the WWE/UFC merger happened. (McMahon did the same in posting his allotment of shares at the same time.)
In another SEC filing that came out last Friday, those allotments were again the same amounts with no changes from September or in April when another filing was released.
Some took the listing as a sign Khan was leaving WWE, but in a March 2024 SEC filing, it stated he had signed an employment contract amendment that extended his deal through December 2026. As part of that amendment, Khan was awarded 153,676 shares that vest in thirds every December through the end of the deal.
Khan, and McMahon for that case, are under no obligation to sell all or any of their listed shares. It’s seen as making the process easier in case there are those interested in them.
Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston recapped some of the details within Khan’s amended deal:
Comparing this to his Mar 2023 amendment:
His base annual salary is now $2.0M – up from $1.5M.
Incentive bonus is now 150% of his salary (150% of $2.0M=$3.0M) – up from 175% of his prior salary (175% of $1.5M=$2.6M)
At the end of each year, 2024, 2025, and 2026, he gets a…
Starting next year, WWE will be switching up some of the scheduling for WrestleMania.
Company president Nick Khan said at the World Congress of Sports convention that, going forward, he doesn’t expect WrestleMania will go up against the Final Four of NCAA March Madness. Night one of this year’s event faced competition from that round of the men’s basketball tournament.
Khan also said he doesn’t think WrestleMania will be held in early April at an outdoor stadium on the East Coast again. Earlier this month, Khan suggested that future WrestleManias could take place a little later in April.
“Going in early April at an outdoor stadium (on the East Coast) … assume you’re not going to see that again,” Khan said. “Going up against the Final Four Saturday night games, assume you’re not going to see that again.”
WrestleMania 40 was held at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. There were cold temperatures in Philly for the fans who attended night one.
The location for WrestleMania 41 has not been announced yet, though Sports Business Journal writes that a formal announcement is expected next month.
Khan and WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque appeared together at World Congress of Sports. While speaking about Raw’s new deal with Netflix, Levesque said he doesn’t believe WWE viewers will have any difficulty following the show to streaming.
“That’s where the world’s going,” Levesque said. “It’s easy for our fan base. We have a long history of changing locations and a massive amount of our people, like 95 percent of our audience just completely comes with us. I think this will be no different.”
While speaking at the World Congress of Sports convention on Wednesday, WWE President Nick Khan gave an update on the company’s plans for future premium live event locations.
Khan said WWE’s big five PLEs (WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Money in the Bank) will be held in either the United States or Canada. The goal is for other PLEs to be held in international locations.
“We sat down together a few years ago and decided, so the big five premium live events … should be in the United States or Canada,” Khan said. “All of the other events, the goal is to have them from international locations.”
In the coming months, WWE has Backlash (May 4 in France), King & Queen of the Ring (May 25 in Saudi Arabia), Clash at the Castle (June 15 in Scotland), and Bash in Berlin (August 31 in Germany) being held overseas.
Toronto is hosting Money in the Bank on July 6. SummerSlam will take place from Cleveland on August 3.
Khan discussed the importance of the international PLEs: “There’s a halo effect on those big deals. Merchandise sales, relevancy goes up, and who knows — is the next Yao Ming of that country watching [WWE] and wanting to do it in 10 years.”
Also at the convention, Khan noted that WWE isn’t ready to announce the location for WrestleMania 41 yet.
WWE president Nick Khan wasn’t ready to announce the location of WrestleMania in 2025 just yet but he said you can assume it won’t be in an outdoor East coast stadium again and it won’t go head-to-head with the Final Four again. Las Vegas is one of the cities under consideration.
During his post-WrestleMania 40 press session Sunday, WWE chief creative officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque mentioned wanting to take the company to new heights and do things no one had ever seen before, putting over the leadership of company CEO Nick Khan along the way — both for what WWE has been able to accomplish now and in the future.
A new report out Monday gave some indications as to what fans might be able to expect in the coming year(s) ahead.
In an interview with former ESPN president & Meadlowlark Media co-founder John Skipper about working with Khan, SI’s Justin Barrasso provided two threads of sourced intel about some of Khan’s intended projects.
One, according to “numerous contacts surrounding” Khan, is to potentially “engineer a collaboration with other professional wrestling promotions. That is an area WWE rarely explored during (Vince) McMahon’s four-plus decades of leadership, so it represents a new realm for Khan to make a lasting impact.”
Barrasso reported that Khan gave Levesque the green light to work with TNA on bringing in Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace for this past January’s women’s Royal Rumble match. Also, exiled Stardom founder Rossy Ogawa was visible throughout WrestleMania weekend as he prepares to launch a new women’s promotion in Japan.
Also, Khan was spotted in attendance at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport on Thursday, even taking a picture with GCW founder Brett Lauderdale.
No specific targeted promotions were called out in Barrasso’s report.
The other project relates directly to a Khan talking point for several years and as recently as this past week: leveraging WWE’s intellectual property.
Barrasso noted that Khan, according to multiple contacts close to him, would like to use WWE IP on slot machines in both Las Vegas airports and across the strip. Barrasso noted that happening is more likely than a possible Las Vegas residency instead.
Of note, NXT is reportedly holding May’s Battleground PLE at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and WWE has previously held events in the city like 1993’s WrestleMania, 2021’s SummerSlam, and Money in the Bank in both 2016 and 2022.
Rhodes revealed at the post-WrestleMania night two press conference that Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Nick Khan, and Bruce Prichard gifted him a gold Rolex following Sunday’s event. Cody said it’s the “same watch” that his late father Dusty Rhodes once pawned so Cody could attend acting school.
Cody said:
Something that I wanted to share – I came to the back, and Bruce Prichard and Triple H and Nick Khan handed me this, which is the same watch that my dad had that he pawned so that I could go to acting school. So the level of investment and responsibility that the company just put in my hands, I hope I can pay it back, pay it forward a hundred times over.
Levesque said at the press conference that it was Khan’s idea to get Cody the watch. Prichard went and tracked down the right watch.
“We just wanted to give him, I don’t know, something that in some way commemorated his dad being here when this happened, because he was,” Levesque said.
In a eulogy following Dusty’s death in 2015, Cody said his father told him that he could have the watch if he ever won the World title. Cody didn’t find out about the watch being sold until 2015.
Cody won the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship by defeating Roman Reigns in Sunday’s main event. It put an end to Reigns’ 1,316-day run as champion.
While speaking to the crowd after defeating Reigns, Cody said he would not have gotten here without Levesque and Prichard.
For the first time, WWE CEO Nick Khan addressed the recent lawsuit and allegations against Vince McMahon in addition to dropping several interesting quotes about the future of WrestleMania and WWE business in general.
On The Town podcast, Khan said this year’s WrestleMania in Philadelphia is the last one that he inherited from the previous regime and process, and a deal that was in place for four years.
In talking about the timing of WWE’s Peacock deal coming up in March 2026 a month before WrestleMania, Khan said they “like the timing of that” and intimated future WrestleManias may be “a little later in April which we’re talking about now.”
Here are some other threads from the conversation:
Vince McMahon & Netflix
Khan said Netflix did not tell TKO leadership to get Vince McMahon to resign before they announced their mega-deal for both Raw domestically and the entire package of content internationally.
Asked if the allegations from the Janel Grant lawsuit would have killed off the Netflix deal, Khan said, “I don’t know about killed, but it certainly wouldn’t have helped the deal.”
Khan also addressed the allegations publicly for the first time, saying they are “obviously horrific and serious and we take them and interpret them the same way any other reasonable person or organization would interpret them. You saw the quick resignation.”
Khan reiterated what others have answered when asked about McMahon’s daily involvement in TKO/WWE business: “zero, zero, zero.”
Khan said the initial feedback from Netflix before they met was that they weren’t interested in getting involved in production (trucks, etc) for live sports which interested WWE because they have what Khan called a turnkey operation.
He said once they began talking, it was a “quick process” and that the reported internal disagreement on bringing WWE on within the Netflix co-CEOs never made it down to them.
Khan credited a Netflix executive he and others had met with years ago with some sage advice: get your international rights lined up first in order to negotiate a big, big deal.
He said having Netflix as their international partner will make it easier for them to get into countries worldwide without having to negotiate individual deals.
The Rock returning
Asked about The Rock/Dwayne Johnson’s return to WWE and his TKO Board seat, Khan said the conversation began within TKO leadership after they officially went public, saying having his input on TKO business was “something we were desirous of.”
They had wanted to bring Johnson back into the fold but Johnson was hesitant as he “needed to figure out the why.” Khan said the TKO board is very growth-minded and the time was finally right.
Khan said Johnson is going to film his A24 movie on former MMA fighter Mark Kerr a week or two after WrestleMania and then is moving into work on the live action Moana film for Disney.
The future
Asked about future growth opportunities, Khan said, as he has in the past, international events are a priority as well as maximizing their “treasure trove of IP” using horror movies on the backgrounds of The Undertaker and Bray Wyatt as possible examples.
He said they want to continue to maximize revenue for live events without pricing a family out of coming and looking at creating “new product” they could also go out and sell which he said they are in the middle of doing.
In a lengthy interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour that got social media buzzing due to his comments about AEW, CM Punk also talked about the lead-up to his WWE return at Survivor Series, when he could return from a triceps injury he suffered in January, Vince McMahon, and more.
Punk said the ruptured right triceps tendon injury he sustained early in the men’s Royal Rumble match in January is healing better than the left triceps injury he suffered while in AEW as the process is “night and day” due to the company having more structure and more protocols in place.
He said WWE is protecting him against himself from potentially returning too early which he considers “a welcome change.”
“I’m the one that’s trying to push everything based on protocols for a ruptured triceps tendon but they’re telling me to pump the brakes. I’m just sitting back listening to them as best I can,” he said.
Punk said his eventual return is a “business decision” but that it could be in half the time as compared to his other triceps injury.
He verified there was no audible called during the men’s Rumble match in terms of who was supposed to win. He said it was “real bad” on him after the injury and that while there was an idea for what he should do afterward, he pitched the promo he did instead.
Asked about the plan for himself for WrestleMania, Punk said it changed a lot but he thinks it was going to be himself vs. Seth Rollins on night one in the main event spot which he was 100% fine with.
The return
Punk said talks with WWE started on the Monday of Survivor Series week after Nick Khan gave him a call. They were initially interested in bringing him in for the Royal Rumble, but thought he had a non-compete. The ball really got rolling after he met with Paul Levesque on FaceTime that week to hash out any past issues and then to talk business.
Punk said very few people knew about his return (his wife, Levesque, Nick Khan, and his lawyers) and that he told his family on his way to the Allstate Arena. He said he had no idea about any of the “clues” people thought they saw on TV in weeks leading up (people using a GTS and saying ‘best in the world’) and was curious himself about why that was happening.
He also said he was “real close” to returning before, even before his tenure on WWE Backstage, and that Nick Khan was a driving force behind it.
He said WWE doesn’t feel the same as it did 10 years ago, and that someone told him they were glad he was back to experience what he helped start when he was first there. He said it’s “friendlier” now and a more laid back, relaxed atmosphere.
On “the visit”
Punk said his invite to come visit WWE Raw while under AEW contract came from Bayley who DM’d him after Liv Morgan helped him find his earbuds on a plane from Florida. He said AEW personnel weren’t happy about the visit and used the word “betrayed” to him.
“I think the word betrayed was used and I was just like, ‘Alright, man.’ As a company, you are allowing guys to go on their television to do things. I went backstage to say hi to friends: two totally different things. If you’re going to be mad about it, okay,” he said.
The Vince McMahon allegations
He has interacted with McMahon just once since he returned, seeing the former WWE/TKO executive chairman by chance at the gym at the new WWE offices in Stamford, Connecticut, shortly after Punk returned. He said McMahon hugged him, welcomed him “home” and that they should connect at some point. They never did.
On the allegations against McMahon, Punk said they are indefensible and “horrific” and was surprised McMahon left such a paper trial. He hasn’t read through the lawsuit, getting his information via various text messages. His biggest concern is for the victims. He had no idea any of this was happening during his time there and equates coming to terms with the situation as similar to when he had to come to terms with the Chris Benoit double murder/suicide.
He said he feels the business is better now without McMahon in it.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the four unnamed Corporate Officers in the Grant lawsuit are no longer unnamed, what it means, the apparent eventual return of Brock Lesnar, line-ups for this week, ratings, your RAW report with new WrestleMania matches, and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: WWE executives named in Janel Grant lawsuit, Brock Lesnar/WWE roster
13:35: Mya Lesnar update, new WWE Hall of Fame inductees
The identities of several “WWE Corporate Officers” listed in Janel Grant’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and WWE have been revealed.
WWE President Nick Khan has been identified as Corporate Officer No. 1 in the suit, according to a report published by Front Office Sports. Company COO Brad Blum is the employee referred to as Corporate Officer No. 2.
Corporate Officer No. 3 listed in the suit has been identified as Stephanie McMahon. WWE Corporate Officer No. 4 listed in the suit has been revealed to be former head of the WWE legal department, Brian Nurse.
Khan & Blum, are not accused of sexual assault, but the suit does allege they contributed to covering up Grant’s exploitation in a way that makes WWE liable. Stephanie & Nurse appear in the lawsuit only in passing and are also not accused of crimes.
Grant sued former WWE CEO & TKO Executive Chairman Vince McMahon, former WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis, and WWE as an entity in January accusing McMahon of sex trafficking her, and accusing McMahon & Laurinaitis of sexual assault, and physical and emotional abuse, with some of the alleged crimes taking place on WWE property at the company’s headquarters.
A WWE spokesperson released the following statement to FOS regarding Khan & Blum:
WWE takes Ms. Grant’s allegations very seriously and has no tolerance for any physical abuse or unwanted physical contact.
Neither Nick Khan nor Brad Blum, prior to the lawsuit being filed on January 25, 2024, were aware of any allegation by Ms. Grant that she was the victim of abuse or unwanted physical contact; nor does the complaint allege that either had knowledge of such.
Ann Callis, the lawyer representing Grant, confirmed Khan and Blum’s identities as the two mentioned in the lawsuit. “I can confirm that these names are correct,” she said.
The suit does not accuse Blum or Khan of knowing about the alleged sexual assaults or degrading acts. It does contend they had some knowledge regarding the nature of her employment with the company, however.
Grant’s suit states that Khan said to her “I know exactly who you are” after she introduced herself. Her suit alleges that Khan knowing her was unusual unless he was aware of the ongoing exploitation.
Blum was responsible for setting Grant up with a job at WWE and later transferred her to the Talent Relations department to work under John Laurinaitis. He also gave her a salary increase of $200,000 in 2021.
The suit also alleges both Blum and Khan were involved in negotiating Grant’s NDA.
Stephanie doesn’t appear much in the suit, but it was implied she may have known of other instances of her father engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct. It was noted that Stephanie motioned for Grant to sit next to her in a board meeting once.
Grant’s suit alleges that McMahon told her he ordered Nurse to give her a job. It also states that while Nurse was friendly with other colleagues, he always seemed cold to her.
Brandon Thurston, John Pollock, and Tim Marchman all contributed to today’s report published by Front Office Sports. It is available here. A link to the full 67-page filing of Janel Grant’s lawsuit is here.
Nick Khan has commented on if WWE Raw will remain on Monday nights in the long-term.
Khan appeared on The Pat McAfee show on Tuesday to talk about WWE’s new deal with Netflix. During the discussion, Khan mentioned that the current idea is for Raw to remain on Mondays but they are open to the idea of it moving nights.
Khan said:
At this moment in time, it remains Monday Night Raw but keep in mind, we’ve got 10 and a half months until this deal’s up and running so we’re looking at what you’re looking at and what everyone else is looking at. You have a proliferation of gambling with Monday Night Football. You have an enhanced Disney package, better games, all credit to Jimmy Pitaro (ESPN President), the Bobfather as Pat you and I call him, you coined that term, Bob Iger (Disney CEO) and all the other good folks at Disney.
You’ve got the Manningcast. This year, it was on ABC and ESPN Monday Night Football. You got last season the playoff game that they got I believe was Tom Brady at the Cowboys, the season before, whatever that was. You also have the college national championship, football and hoops on Mondays. So, you’ve got a lot of Mondays where there is stiff competition.
With that said, even against Alabama/Michigan and the Washington/Texas game a few weeks ago, Monday Night Raw did a 0.6 in the 18 to 49 demo, which is a massive rating against big competition. If we stay on Monday’s, it’ll work, if we move to a different day, we think it’ll work too.
Our own Dave Meltzer has an article up on the site analysing the WWE to Netflix deal. The special preview of this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter is here.
The Rock has also been doing media interviews in the wake of WWE’s deal with Netflix. He told ESPN’s First Take that a match between him and Roman Reigns could possible produce the biggest WrestleMania of all time.
After 40+ years of helping to build WWE and, hands down, the best production and media unit in the entire sports and entertainment business, Kevin Dunn, will be leaving our company as of today.
Before WrestleMania 1, Kevin joined Vince at WWF. Many of us remember a pre-WrestleMania WWF – a regional wrestling company that looked like a regional wrestling company. Then we experienced WrestleMania 1, whether live, on closed circuit or years later elsewhere. It was magic. A regional wrestling company had become a global sports entertainment juggernaut. Vince led the way, side by side with Kevin Dunn. When many of us were kids standing in line waiting to play Pac-Man, Kevin was already on the road breaking his back to help build our company.
When you see our product now, there is nothing that comes close to its look or feel – 52 weeks a year, three to four times a week. It is singular and truly special. No other company can or will do that, and that is because of Kevin and our media team’s hard work, smarts and determination.
We are forever grateful to Kevin. He will always be a part of the WWE family.
Our own Dave Meltzer posted to X that meetings are planned in San Diego ahead of tonight’s Raw that could be related to Dunn’s departure.
Nick Khan and Paul Levesque have a meeting Noon in San Diego with the media team and at 12:30 p.m Pacific with the talent. This may be related to Kevin Dunn leaving, who was gone as of midnight last night.
Meltzer addressed possible replacements for Dunn in yesterday’s Daily Update. He noted that Paul Levesque would want Mike Mansury to replace Dunn. However, Mansury is likely under a long-term contract with AEW. Other names mentioned for the Executive Producer role in WWE include Marty Miller and Chris Kaiser.
Meltzer also noted that Dunn’s WWE departure is related to Vince McMahon losing power in the company.
Meltzer wrote:
I was told that this was known internally by a few, but not most as people I heard from last night were surprised, and they knew maybe a few weeks at most although the process goes back a couple of months and really has to do with Vince McMahon being out of power. Dunn has been in charge of production for decades and has 40 years with the company. He answered to nobody but Vince. So this is part of the change with Endeavor in control.
Paul “Triple H” Levesque and Nick Khan were in Los Angeles this week trying to finalize a deal for the show and were not at Monday’s Raw in Nashville. During most of the negotiation period, FX has been seen as the favorite to land the show. However, Netflix, USA, Warner Bros. Discover (WBD), and Amazon Prime have all been talked about as well.
In today’s newsletter, Meltzer wrote that Khan met with WBD in October about Raw possibly going to TNT or TBS, the current homes of AEW programming.
Meltzer wrote:
Regarding WBD which would be the game changer in many ways if it happened, the WBD version told to many this past week is that Nick Khan last went to WBD in October with a pitch and was turned down. There’s always the caveat that because of the AEW relationship that a surprise could happen, but it’s one of those things where those in WBD have privately said there’s nothing to the idea TBS or TNT it is the destination for the show to a number of people in recent days.
Those in WWE constantly had WBD has a longshot for the reason they believed WBD owned a percentage of AEW.
WWE is hoping to receive $400 million per year for the rights to air Raw but analysts believe the number will be closer to $387 million. In a deal announced in September, WWE will receive $287 million per year for the USA Network to air SmackDown beginning in October 2024.
In a discussion with Bill Simmons taped prior to the official launch of TKO, WWE president Nick Khan gave some hints into how the new company could bolster both WWE and UFC in the near-future.
One of the more interesting hints is the potential of both brands running at different times on the same day (one running internationally earlier in the day with the other running later at night, for example) to create a full-day experience for viewers.
He expects both groups to discuss future dates so they two don’t work against each other for major events. He also said they are having “hyper-focused” conversations about something like a schedule release day or an event like the NFL Draft that could work in a similar way for both companies in terms of fan buzz.
Khan said that both UFC executive VP Craig Borsari and WWE executive VP Kevin Dunn have had “a number of conversations” with each other about “efficiencies” about production and ones that might lead to some news in several months.
He said both WWE wrestlers and UFC fighters will stay separated while acknowledging there are cases like Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey as examples of who have done both but that’s a “once in a decade” situation.
Some other notes from the Simmons podcast:
Khan said Vince McMahon is progressing quite well and to assume he is rehabbing from his major back surgery “faster than he should be.” McMahon was present Tuesday at launch of TKO at the New York Stock Exchange.
He put over how similar the backgrounds of both McMahon and UFC head Dana White are, and how they had to fight to get to the inside from the outside. While he doesn’t see other questioning the other’s respective booking, he does see them working together on event production and promotion and how to make a joint production “the biggest in the world.”
Asked again about Stephanie McMahon leaving the company, Khan reiterated his previous statements about how he would have loved to have her still with WWE, but that it was her decision to leave when Vince McMahon returned.
“I respect the decision. I wish she hadn’t done that and she knows that from me, personally. She’s a terrific executive and a terrific person. That’s her decision. Her relationship with Vince is theirs and once she made it, I have total respect for the decision,” he said.
Simmons then jokingly suggested she come back in an affair storyline with Test which Khan had to correct him on by reminding Simmons that he had passed away years ago.
