Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including Nick Khan talking WrestleMania, pay-per-views and sales, AEW All Access making its official debut tonight, the world famous NXT TV review and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Tag: Nick Khan
February 13, 2023 Observer Newsletter: Jerry Lawler suffers stroke, Nick Khan talks WWE sale
Jerry Lawler, one of the all-time legends of pro wrestling, suffered what was reported as a serious stroke, one that in its early hours was feared the worst, but over the next few days, his recovery seems positive.
Longtime broadcasting partner Jim Ross noted on Twitter, “I spoke very briefly with Jerry Lawler tonight” (Tuesday). He’s obviously weak, but I could understand his affected speech. Jerry’s prognosis is positive, but he needs all our thoughts and prayers.”
Lawler was out to lunch with friends when he seemed ill and was found in the parking lot of his condo in Fort Myers, FL, and rushed to the hospital.
There are conflicting versions from those close to him as to what happened but he was rushed into emergency surgery from what was reported as a major stroke that at first left him with no movement on the right side and unable to talk. There was fear among those close to him that the massive stroke could have had terrible repercussions, with fear of being unable to move on his right side.
Wrestling Observer Live: Nick Khan’s appearance on CNBC, WWE financials
Wrestling Observer Live with Mike Sempervive is back, and as always there’s a lot to get into, including the release of WWE’s 2022 quarterly and year-ending financial reports, Nick Khan’s appearance this morning on CNBC’s Squawk On The Street, and the continuing specter of a sale.
Plus, a look at tonight’s WWE Smackdown and AEW Rampage, JCW announces full J-Cup card, ratings news, and more. A fun show as always, so check it out~!
Nick Khan says WWE sale will happen ‘quick,’ possibly within three months
WWE CEO Nick Khan said on Friday that he feels a sale of the company will happen “quick” and speculated a deal may be done within three months.
Khan appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box to talk about Thursday’s earnings call and gave the above timeframe when asked about it. Dave Meltzer had previously reported the company had been hoping to sell by mid-summer.
As far as potential buyers, co-host David Faber told Khan that he has heard “probably not at this point” in regard to NBCUniversal buying WWE. The corporation has had a longtime partnership with WWE and currently pays them both for WWE Raw and WWE Network content on Peacock for domestic viewers.
Another co-host mentioned Netflix and Amazon while Faber also brought up Endeavor who owns the UFC. Khan said that “we’re still bullish on Comcast (aka NBCUniversal) being possible.”
“We certainly got a warm reception in the marketplace for those who are interested,” he said. He also explained they didn’t want to wait to sell the company until after the next TV rights negotiations as that would take prospective buyers off the table.
He again reiterated that there would be “no issue” with Vince McMahon not being involved with WWE post-sale if it’s the right deal for the company.
“I really believe he’s looking for the best value for shareholders,” Khan said, also reiterating that McMahon is not involved “at all” in creative.
In a CNBC article posted after the interview, it was posited that “McMahon’s potential future involvement in WWE has become an early sticking point in preliminary talks with various buyers, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.”
The question was first asked publicly of Khan during the Q&A portion of Thursday’s investors call to which Khan replied that McMahon would be willing to depart post-sale if that meant the best value for shareholders.
Wrestling Observer Radio: Jay Briscoe, Nick Khan, Slapfighting, Dynamite and NXT, more
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the tragic death of Jay Briscoe, Nick Khan’s interview with Bill Simmons, Adam Hopkins leaves WWE, ratings, Slapfighting notes, AEW and NXT reviews, Rampage and ROH Jay Briscoe Tribute Show spoilers and more. A packed show, so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Jay Briscoe passes away
21:05: Nick Khan interview with Bill Simmons, Slapfight thoughts
34:38: WWE PR people let go
39:22: Ratings
45:07: AEW Dynamite recap
1:04:25: NXT notes
1:14:55: Rampage/Jay Briscoe tribute show spoilers
WWE CEO Nick Khan on Vince McMahon’s return, Stephanie, Tony Khan
Nick Khan sat down with Bill Simmons for a wide-ranging interview covering everything involving Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, and Triple H in the last week.
On Simmons’ podcast, Khan spoke with Simmons for over an hour regarding the events of the last week. When asked if he thought the last week was insane, Khan didn’t think so, seeing it as someone from the inside. He also said it was his viewpoint that McMahon would always eventually return, despite announcing his retirement in July.
“When you’re on the inside, you see things that may be coming,” he said. “My thought was that there’s only one boss in the company, and that ain’t me,” referring to Vince McMahon. “I think it was always my point of view, Stephanie’s point of view he would come back. The way he played it to me was smart in that he went away for five, six months which people, meaning the audience, seems to like when somebody does that and he came back and took control back of his company as a company shareholder. So it is the public’s company as a publicly traded company. But with that, the controlling share gave him a lot of authority and he used it, and I applaud him for doing so.”
When asked why McMahon would return when there’s a risk of hurting the company’s image, Khan pointed out a similar situation regarding Ray Rice and the NFL in which people were asking NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to step down.
“Well, no advertiser has fled. Ratings aren’t down. The product seems to continue to build. Why would he resign? Why would he do that?” Khan said in reference to Goodell. “I think it’s just a three-mile radius of LA thing. ‘Hey, step down. And you know, you have to sort of be punished for it.’ It didn’t used to be that way. So I think for somebody like Vince, and [referring to Simmons] you and he are two different people, but you’re both founder CEOs and I think founder CEOs are different from regular CEOs. So to me, WWE is Vince, Vince is WWE, and we’re going to do the best we can to keep building the company”.
Khan noted that during McMahon’s absence, he and Stephanie were given total freedom from McMahon, as has Triple H, and since his return his focus has only been on the potential WWE sale and other Board of Directors business. Right after that, he said that he visited McMahon during his “sitting out,” though it was more for personal and social reasons.
“You know, when he stepped down, anyone who believed that was permanent didn’t know him,” Khan said. “That was never going to happen, but I’m appreciative of the fact that he gave it five, six months, let the dust settle a little bit, then came back in the way that he’s come back.”
When Simmons pointed out the perception that McMahon had brought in former co-Presidents Michelle Wilson and George Barrios back to the company to put people he likes on the Board of Directors, Khan said bringing in two people that understand how Vince McMahon is the majority shareholder and will be the one in charge of facilitating a sale was the determining factor.
“[As] the controlling shareholder, Vince is going to run that process. So to have board members who understood that with the controlling shareholder, ‘this is going to be the way it is’, and people who would embrace this, I think that was a determining factor.”
Khan pointed out the misperception always was that WWE had a Board of Directors that was puppeteered by Vince McMahon, but that has since proven to be not the case.
When Simmons brought up Stephanie McMahon’s leave of absence prior to Vince McMahon resigning, Khan said he doesn’t get involved in the family side of the family business.
“I don’t get involved in the family business. That is rule number one,” he said.
Later, when asked why Stephanie had decided to leave a second time after Vince McMahon returned, Khan opened the door to the possibility of her returning to the company in the future.
“At this moment in time, I think she felt her work was done for now. Nothing is permanent. Life is long, let’s see.”
Khan said that the rumors regarding a sale to Saudi Arabia last week were “100% fake, 100% made up.”
“So in this process, [Vince McMahon is] there to oversee it, it’s his controlling share. I’m involved in it. Triple H is involved in it. The board’s obviously involved in it with Triple H being on the board, as I have the good fortune of being in as well. And we’re going to see how it plays out. It should not be a lengthy process.”
“If you’re looking at it, connecting the dots, it made absolutely no sense,” Khan added in regard to the rumors. “In terms of what the actual process will be, we’re just starting it.”
When asked if he was worried about more revelations coming out regarding McMahon, Khan said that he was not.
“It feels like wherever happened, happened and it’s out there. And people know I’ve always found him to be a very honest broker with this stuff. So even when the process started last summer, there was nothing that he hid, there was nothing that he covered up. I think he was very honest about it and I appreciated that, and I think a lot of other folks did too.”
Simmons later brought up Rita Chatterton’s name and asked if possible suitors will wait and see how that and other possible situations play out.
“I think everyone’s just plowing ahead. Because in all of these businesses there’s never a clean, clear path. There’s always some encumbrance, something in the way, some hurdle in the way that you have to get around or get through. So I see that like I would any other item like it.”
In regards to Vince McMahon returning to television, Khan said not at the moment, but things could change.
While discussing the prospect of a sale, Khan said there was potential for McMahon to only sell a part of the company, emphasizing the “strategic alternative” phrase that was used constantly during the interview.
“When he’s using the term ‘strategic alternative,’ it’s not to be cute. It’s basically, we’re looking at everything.”
Tony Khan’s name was also brought up. When asked when he saw Tony Khan and AEW as a threat, Nick rejected the idea that he felt threatened by Tony.
“I don’t feel threatened by anyone on anything,” Khan said. “It’s just not how I do business. I don’t care what anyone else is doing. I care what we’re doing. And as long as we can have the best product on with the best talent and the best writers, I think we’re going to be in good shape.”
With the recent shakeups, Nick Khan remains as sole CEO of WWE, while Triple H remains Chief Content Officer. Vince McMahon was named Chairman of the Board after Stephanie McMahon resigned from the company on January 10.
WWE CEO Nick Khan was ‘buffer’ between McMahon family members
Through the McMahon family corporate tumult that has dominated headlines, WWE CEO Nick Khan has been the buffer between the various parties trying to smooth things over.
Dave Meltzer reported as such in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
In reviewing the circumstances in which Stephanie McMahon suddenly resigned as co-CEO and left the company completely this week, Meltzer wrote, “It was also conceded that she and Vince (McMahon) did have issues in working together as family members and how Khan was a buffer who kept things smooth between them as well as between Vince and (Paul) Levesque.“
In a whirlwind of moves, Vince McMahon returned to the company from his July resignation last Friday after six months away and was officially reinstated as Executive Chairman of the Board on Tuesday. Hours earlier, Stephanie had resigned as co-CEO and Khan was granted the full role. She had also served the role as Chairwoman since her father resigned.
At the time Stephanie McMahon had taken a leave of absence to spend more time with family prior to her father’s scandal, a Business Insider piece painted her in a negative light and reported that her father had replaced her. Meltzer reported afterward that wasn’t the case and that she had left on her own accord.
Khan remains as CEO as the company is pursuing a sale this year while Levesque, Stephanie’s husband, is also still in his role of heading up creative as chief content officer.
Wrestling Observer Radio: WWE financials, Colt Cabana, WON HOF
Dave Meltzer and I are back on Wrestling Observer Radio going over the news in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Topics include:
- NFL’s younger demos watching on Amazon Prime
- Network TV audience dropping faster than cable
- WWE trying to do more things like the White Rabbit campaign
- Crown Jewel preview
- NXT cuts
- Why Colt Cabana wrestled on AEW Dynamite
- AEW Dynamite ratings
- New Japan in Osaka
- WON HOF
The video version of this show is available for video subscribers at video.f4wonline.com.
Click on the link below.
Speak Now: Vince McMahon retires, SmackDown and Rampage recaps
This is a loaded episode of Speak Now Pro Wrestling hosted by Denise Salcedo!
This podcast features all of the breaking Vince McMahon news, a WWE SmackDown recap, and AEW Rampage recap. This is a can’t miss episode.
This podcast is sponsored by Wrestle Rumble.
WWE’s Nick Khan: Everyone has same opportunity to earn their way to the top
During a podcast appearance, WWE president Nick Khan was asked about and addressed complaints from wrestlers that have left the company, citing negative experiences and preferential treatment.
Speaking on Matthew Belloni’s The Town podcast, Khan said, “Everyone is treated humanely and deserves to be treated that way. I do think there are analogies with our company and other companies.”
He compared their situation to when the NBA’s L.A. Lakers had superstars Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal at the same time, nothing they weren’t treated the same as some of their teammates.
“Was Shaq treated better than any other player other than Kobe? Yeah. That’s the way it is,” he answered, then bringing up that Will Smith wasn’t removed from the Oscars following his slap of Chris Rock partially because he was a major star.
“It’s the same way with us. It’s a meritocracy. If you’re at the top of the card, maybe you have a bigger dressing room than someone at the bottom of the card. Everyone has same opportunity to earn their way there,” he said.
Khan also talked about their partnership with Peacock and how both sides are extremely happy about the deal they made. He again said the company is “open for business” when asked about a potential sale the next time TV rights are up, later saying that Peacock doesn’t have the IP that other entities like Disney does.
“The way I like to think they look at us is as an entity that has a treasure trove of IP and a lot of it that hasn’t been exploited yet,” he said, adding that he sees a lot of similarities with WWE to Saturday Night Live head Lorne Michaels’ world and Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland production company.
“Now it’s up to us to monetize it properly and show the community what we have to offer,” he said.
Khan also said when it came to negotiating with NBCUniversal on their details, he felt they should get a “hometown discount” and be considered a home team because of their longtime relationship with WWE.
Here are some other notes from the podcast which is embedded below:
- Khan said the Vince McMahon Netflix docuseries is set to debut in 2023.
- He said WWE is for the masses and that the company can never lose sight of that. He said the average WWE viewer is someone that grew up in the 1980s or 1990s and went to public school because of the availability, or lack thereof, of cable in many parts of the country.
- Khan talked about how he came to WWE which stemmed from negotiating their U.S. media rights while with CAA. He was in Hawaii with his family when he got the call from McMahon, flew nonstop to New York the next day and shook hands on a deal.
- He said the decision to license out WWE Network content was a refocused effort on being a content company and not a tech company.
- Similar to SVP James Kimball’s comments Tuesday, Khan talked extensively about how they want to recruit Division I and Division I-AA men and women, making it easier for them to transition to a possible career if the NFL or pro sports are just out of their reach.
WWE’s Vince McMahon gets raise, Nick Khan gets $7.5 million equity increase
A Friday SEC filing revealed that both WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and WWE president and Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan will be getting more money this year.
In the Form 8-K (a “current report” required by the SEC for announcing major events company shareholders should be made aware of), it said that WWE’s Compensation and Human Capital Committee approved the following changes:
McMahon’s salary was increased to $2 million per year, up from $1.4 million the year prior. For the calendar year of 2022, McMahon’s “target management incentive plan bonus was set at 250% of his salary ($5 million) and his grant of performance stock units has a target value of $11 million.”
While Khan’s salary remained at $1.2 million, the second portion of his sign-on equity grant was increased by $7.5 million. He initially got a signing bonus of $15 million of value in stock with 40% vesting in this September and the rest vesting in 2025.
Additionally, Khan’s “target management incentive plan bonus was set at 158% of his salary ($1.9 million) and his grant of performance stock units has a target value of $3.575 million.”
According to WWE’s bylaws, “management incentive plan bonuses and performance stock units are governed by the terms of our 2016 Omnibus Incentive Plan.”
Additionally, Kevin Dunn was given 181,192 shares of class A stock currently worth around $10 million that will vest in five years.
We’re Live, Pal: More forbidden door, AEW & WWE true or false, viewer questions
It’s a brand new episode of We’re Live, Pal.
Andrew Zarian and I are back for our first show without Denise to talk about who Tony Khan may have up his sleeve for his surprise on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.
We play a game of true or false with WWE and AEW storylines.
We then take questions from viewers about AEW’s next TV deal, Jeff Hardy, and more.
Enjoy the latest We’re Live, Pal in podcast form or on YouTube.
WWE announces company-best $1+ billion in revenue for 2021
WWE announced Thursday that 2021 company revenue increased by 12% to a company record $1.095 billion, the highest in their history.
The news came on the same day as their Q4 earnings call, the notes of which can be found below. Among other highlights mentioned in their release was a 24% increase in operating income to $259 million.
Year over year, fourth quarter revenue increased by 30% to $310.3 million while operating income increased 131% to $83.6 million. Part of that driver was live event attendance, including their return to Saudi Arabia, which wasn’t the case in the fourth quarter of 2020 as they held no live events.
Consumer product revenue increased by 21% to $32.6 million.
Live event attendance in the fourth quarter averaged 5200 which was down from the third quarter but in line with the fourth quarter of 2019.
As usual, the call was positive about the current day and the future, especially as relates to the next round of TV rights.
During the Q&A portion, WWE president Nick Khan indicated there are going to be more players bidding on rights than there were for the last round of deals as players like Netflix, Apple and others join the fight for sports streaming rights.
He later said they feel as good about a new deal for WWE Raw second day streaming rights as they did for their last Raw/SmackDown deals and Peacock/WWE Network deal. The rights are currently with Hulu and are up this year.
Peacock News
Khan provided numbers from Peacock that showed sharp increases in viewership from 2019 when they were on WWE Network:
- July 2021 MITB: 25% higher
- August 2021 SummerSlam: over 30% higher
- September 2021 Extreme Rules 20% higher
- October 2021 Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia: 75% higher
- November 2021 Survivor Series: almost 25% higher
He later noted that the first-ever Day 1 attracted 60% higher viewership than any December “premium live event” in company history and was a big success as it sold out.
He later put over the success of the Royal Rumble with “more than 44,000 in attendance” and the second largest gate in event history. There was 45% higher viewership on Peacock vs. the 2020 Rumble.
He said 3.5 million fully paid Peacock subscribers have watched WWE programming since moving over to the streaming service.
Khan said they are looking at more international partnerships with WWE Network in other countries and are going region by region, country by country to figure out the right partners like what they did with Disney+ in Indonesia recently.
Other Notes:
Vince McMahon provided brief remarks at the onset, saying WWE re-imagines their business every month and every week, citing a very flexible staff.
During the Q&A portion, there were no questions related to AEW, Shane McMahon, or talent cuts.
Khan said the company has more than a dozen signed content deals in the works utilizing existing IP that will be announced soon.
They are planning on two large-scale international events next year with Khan throwing in, “Why just limit it to two?,” indicating they are looking at more of them in 2023.
In talking about some of their various partnerships they signed over the last year, Khan said they have signed a deal for WWE-branded lottery tickets to debut in several states this year.
Khan mentioned how they are executive producers for the new Ronda Rousey show on ESPN+ called Ronda’s Places which is designed to be like the Peyton Manning show on that streaming service.
Bad Bunny and Johnny Knoxville’s appearances in the Royal Rumble were mentioned several times during the call with Khan saying that top stars are seeking out WWE for appearances and exposure.
There was lots of talk of gaming and how they feel it’s going to be even bigger. They talked about WWE2K and other offerings, noting that 85% of WWE fans identify themselves as gamers.
They talked about their NIL program several times and that they are hoping to attract talents that don’t quite make it to the NFL, citing Goldberg, Big E and others as examples of standout college athletes.
Stephanie McMahon said that there’s no reason WWE shouldn’t be in the hundreds of millions in the years ahead for both advertising and sponsorship revenue. They generated nearly $72 million in 2021.
She later said they are looking into how to be part of the Metaverse as they see a huge opportunity to be involved. They are doing their due diligence to go about things the right way.
Nick Khan: WWE not actively looking to sell despite interested parties
Despite speculation from last year’s rounds of cuts in both talent and front office staff, WWE president Nick Khan said they are not in active conversations to sell the company.
In a profile piece for Sports Business Journal, Khan said that while they have taken some calls from interested parties, they are not actively looking to sell.
Khan went into details as to why some of the major changes inside WWE were made, centering around his feeling that some lacked knowledge of media intricacies and didn’t have the attitude that WWE is a global content company.
“Vince (McMahon) believed that WWE was at a place where it had earned a seat at the adult table, but others in the company didn’t see it that way,” Khan told John Ourand.
He went on to say, “For the company to be treated the way that Vince, Stephanie (McMahon), Kevin Dunn and myself and others believed it should be treated in the community, you needed executives who reflected that, who had range, who could get people on the phone and who could be taken seriously by their peers.”
Khan didn’t address any of the talent layoffs, nor did he name specific executives or departments for who he was referring to.
The article focused on WWE’s deals with external partners like A&E, Netflix and Blumhouse Media for various documentaries and series, in addition to the strategy of putting out their major live event schedule in advance. The move of some of those big shows to Saturdays, like this week’s Royal Rumble, was also cited.
Ric Flair will ‘never go back to WWE,’ couldn’t work for Nick Khan
Image: WWE
On the latest edition of his podcast, Ric Flair said that he will never go back to WWE and is not a fan of company president Nick Khan in particular.
Airing frustrations that the company is trying to erase his legacy, Flair specifically took issue with being replaced in the opening video montage by the Ultimate Warrior and his trademark “Wooo!” being taken out.
“I could never work for Nick Khan in my entire life. Vince McMahon, I could work for. Nick Khan, who is the guy who orchestrated taking me off the show….he orchestrated taking the ‘Wooo’ off… never in a million years,” Flair said, adding that he still talks to McMahon now and has no issues with him.
Flair requested and was granted his release from WWE in August. He was removed from the opening video package and had his merchandise pulled from WWE Shop following the infamous Dark Side of the Ring episode focusing on the “plane ride from hell” where he was accused of sexual misconduct on the flight. He denied the allegations, but still lost a national sponsorship over the fallout.
Flair also addressed rumors regarding talks between himself and AEW.
“No, there are no discussions (with AEW) at all. I mean, I told Vince McMahon, and my word is pretty much my bond, unless they do something really stupid to me, that I would never ever go to work for the competition. Now, they’ve done some really stupid stuff. So that door is open. But, I have not talked to Tony (Khan). I haven’t heard a word from them.”
Flair said he is not looking for any jobs in wrestling, saying he made more money last week when the podcast launched than in his rookie year of 1973. He said he signed a three-year deal with appearances that pays him more than he was making in WWE. Money wasn’t an issue with why he asked for his release.