The longest-tenured employee at WWE, who was also a past Warrior Award winner, is reportedly no longer with the company.
According to PWInsider, WWE senior director of talent relations Sue Aitchinson was let go on Friday, ending a 38-year run with the company.
No reason was given as to why she was let go, but it’s the third-such talent relations change this week in the ever-changing TKO-owned WWE.
Aitchinson, also a past director of community relations, was honored with the Warrior Award as part of the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony with Stephanie McMahon as the one who gave her introduction speech.
She started with the company in 1986 and, as PWInsider’s Mike Johnson noted, she was directly responsible for building WWE’s relationship with Make-A-Wish. She was honored with the Make-A-Wish Chris Greicius Celebrity Award in both 2006 and 2016.
As expected, WWE WrestleMania 40 was a massive financial success for TKO in their first such one under the new ownership regime.
The company sent out a release Tuesday pointing to several key highlights in what they are saying is the “most successful and highest-grossing event in company history.”
In the release, TKO stated this year’s WrestleMania broke last year’s gate record by 78% but did not provide the actual gate revenue. The company reported last year’s two-night event brought in more than $21.6 million in gate revenue which would mean this year’s two-night event generated nearly $38.5 million in gate revenue.
They did not provide a per-night breakdown of the gate number, but Paul “Triple” Levesque said Saturday that night one broke the company’s single-night gate record in WWE history which was previously held by WrestleMania 32’s $17.3 million.
They announced 145,298 in total attendance at Lincoln Financial Field which has yet to be independently corroborated.
Other reported highlights:
Viewership was up 41%. A breakout of Peacock vs. international WWE Network viewers was not provided, nor a definition of what “viewership” means to TKO.
Merchandise sales hit a new record, up more than 20% over last year’s WrestleMania 39. No financial specifics were provided.
In its first year, the company’s WWE World fan event, in partnership with Fanatics Events, was the highest-grossing and most-attended fan event in company history.
They reiterated the strength of the go-home SmackDown (largest gate in SD history), Raw after WrestleMania (largest gate in Raw history) and Saturday’s NXT Stand & Deliver which was the most attended NXT ever with an announced 16,545. However, they did not announce that the NXT gate was the largest ever.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including the death of Virgil, AEW Dynamite tonight and what Hangman is likely to say, NXT notes, WWE and UFC business recap, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including Mark Shapiro talking WWE and UFC business, Andrade and his contract status, All Japan and New Japan tournament updates, Stardom PPV notes, ratings, Dynamite and NXT TV reports, plus Collision and Rampage spoilers. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Mark Shapiro of TKO talks WWE business
7:15: Andrade el Idolo heading back to CMLL, Bryan Danielson on the AEW Disciplinary Committee
Survivor Series 2023 was a record-breaking success for WWE.
The event took place from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois on Saturday night and featured two WarGames matches. The show ended with CM Punk making his surprise return to WWE after nearly a decade away.
On Tuesday, WWE issued a press release announcing that this was the highest viewership, largest gate, and best merchandise sales in the history of Survivor Series.
“Viewership for Survivor Series was up 44 percent versus the previous record set in 2022. With 17,138 in attendance, the event broke the previous Survivor Series gate record set in Brooklyn in 2021,” WWE wrote.
“In partnership with Fanatics, Survivor Series broke the premium live event’s all-time merchandise record. Sponsorship revenue was up 24 percent versus 2022.”
WWE also stated that Punk’s return was the most social post in company history, generating more than 71 million views across all of WWE’s social media platforms.
This was the second straight year that WarGames was the theme of Survivor Series. The men’s WarGames match saw Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn & the returning Randy Orton defeat Damian Priest, Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh & Drew McIntyre.
In the women’s WarGames match, Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Shotzi & Becky Lynch defeated Bayley, IYO SKY, Kairi Sane & Asuka.
The show, which took place in Indianapolis on Saturday, was the “most-watched and highest-grossing Fastlane” in company history. It was also the highest-grossing WWE event to ever take place in the city of Indianapolis.
This was the first Fastlane event since 2021. Viewership for the show was up 71 percent from that previous record. Fastlane 2021 was the first WWE pay-per-view to ever stream on Peacock.
“The sold-out show marked the largest gate ever for any Fastlane, up more than 31 percent versus the previous record set in Cleveland in 2016,” WWE wrote. “In addition, Fastlane sponsorship revenue was up 60 percent versus the previous record set in 2021.”
The main event of Saturday’s show saw Seth Rollins defeat Shinsuke Nakamura in a Last Man Standing match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. There was also a tag team match with John Cena & LA Knight defeating The Bloodline’s Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa.
WWE’s next premium live event is Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, November 4.
An April 2023 press release inadvertently revealed how much WWE received in Welsh government subsidies for last September’s Clash at the Castle pay-per-view in Cardiff.
First reported by Wrestlenomics, the release stated that the 2022 event “delivered a massive 10:1 return on investment by channelling £21.8 million back into the Welsh economy.” That is just under $28 million USD.
That implies the cost paid by the government to bring WWE to Cardiff was one-tenth of that which would be roughly $2.8 million USD.
In the past, WWE CEO Nick Khan has said WWE will look to gain subsidies for their PPV/PLEs.
One example, as Wrestlenomics pointed out, was the city of San Antonio, Texas, who won the rights to bring in this past January’s Royal Rumble in what was called a “competitive bidding process.” They declined to answer Freedom of Information Act requests about their financial commitment due to their desire to bid for WWE events in the future and that by divulging the information, it would make it more difficult for them to win.
A former WWE writer who alleged both racial discrimination and wrongful termination in a lawsuit against the company and several individuals voluntarily dismissed the suit without prejudice on Thursday against all defendants with the exception of WWE.
Because the case was dismissed without prejudice, that is a temporary move where she could either refile/alter the lawsuit or bring it to another court against any or all of the defendants.
This past April, Britney Abrahams filed suit in US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, accusing WWE of releasing her after she objected to multiple instances of “offensively racist and stereotypical jargon” used in WWE scene scripts, specifically citing examples with Bianca Belair and Apollo Crews.
Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, vice presidents Ryan Callahan and Christine Lubrano, former writers Chris Dunn & Mike Heller, and writer Jen Pepperman were listed as individual defendants. The dismissal applies to all of them.
It is possible this development means Abrahams and her legal team are working on a settlement with WWE. When Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reached out to The Cochran Group to inquire about that, their representative declined to comment.
SummerSlam 2023 set records for WWE in multiple areas of business.
WWE issued a press release on Monday announcing that this was the most-watched and highest-grossing SummerSlam of all time. It set new SummerSlam records in viewership, live gate, sponsorship revenue, and merchandise revenue.
The gate was $8.5 million, which is the best number for any non-WrestleMania event in WWE history. WWE stated that this was the most-watched SummerSlam of all time, and it was among the three-highest viewerships for any WWE event that’s ever aired on Peacock.
WWE generated $7 million in sponsorship revenue for SummerSlam, also the highest number for any non-WrestleMania event ever. The pay-per-view included a battle royal that was sponsored by Slim Jim. LA Knight was the winner of the battle royal.
SummerSlam generated the most sponsorship revenue for any non-WrestleMania event ever with $7 million, up 23 percent versus 2022. Slim Jim, C4 and Rocket Mortgage were among WWE’s sponsors for the premium live event.
In partnership with special event retail partner Fanatics, merchandise sales were up 60 percent versus the record set in 2021, marking the best performance in company history for any premium live event outside of WrestleMania. On Location packages set a new SummerSlam record, up 47 percent versus 2022.
In addition, SummerSlam became the most-viewed social SummerSlam of all time with over 230 million views and four million hours of video consumed, a 26 percent increase over last year.
SummerSlam took place at Ford Field in Detroit this past Saturday. It was headlined by Roman Reigns defeating Jey Uso in Tribal Combat. Jimmy Uso interfered and betrayed his twin brother during the match.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including the Feds looking into Vince McMahon again, WWE business absolutely sky high year-over-year — hence this dude is unneeded — The Elite have re-signed with AEW, Dynamite 200 preview and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
For decades, the name Jerry McDevitt was synonymous with lawsuits and legal issues regarding WWE and Vince McMahon.
Soon, that will not be the case as the longtime WWE defense attorney told Wrestlenomics Wednesday that he is “working towards retirement.”
The impetus for his comment to the media outlet was in response to the latest development in the ongoing MLW/WWE lawsuit which recently saw a U.S. District judge deny WWE’s latest effort to dismiss the case. PWInsider had reported earlier this week that WWE asked for an extension due to seeking new legal counsel for the case.
When asked about the development, McDevitt told Wrestlenomics that he had been working toward retirement since earlier this year and that following the judge’s recent ruling, “it became obvious that the case would run into at least 2025 in all probability, I advised my client that I would be wrapping things up by year-end and that it would make sense for them to secure counsel who can go the distance on the case now that discovery will be starting. There is also the chance that I might be a witness given the allegations. I will be 74 this January and it just seems like the right time to make necessary transitions.”
McDevitt and the K&L Gates law firm are being replaced on the case by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Warton & Garrison LLP. The latter has worked with WWE before, advising them during their decision to merge with Endeavor’s UFC to form their new publicly-traded TKO company that is still awaiting regulatory approval.
McDevitt has worked with WWE and McMahon for nearly 40 years.
“It has been a great 36-year run with a great Company and Vince [McMahon], and I am very proud of all that we accomplished during that time, and I will continue to help them any way I can,” he told Wrestlenomics.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including Collision ratings and how Saturday competition is always going to affect them, Money in the Bank and WWE monster business, how it compares to other periods historically, Dynamite line-up for tonight, NXT and RAW highlights and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including how to meet Bryan and Dave in London at All In weekend, BJ Whitmer fired by AEW, Collision and what this “brand split” is likely to entail, another NXT star doing Booker T’s show, ratings, the RAW report and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
WWE has filed an updated response in their effort to dismiss the MLW lawsuit, now in its second version.
In the 20-page document filed Monday, WWE stated that “MLW’s opposition to WWE’s motion to dismiss…is without foundation in truth and is contradicted by its own allegations.”
WWE initially filed a motion to dismiss MLW’s amended lawsuit in April to which MLW responded.
As part of their rationale for asking for the suit to be dismissed, WWE stated that reports emerged that AEW had “expanded the sale of its media rights to WarnerBros.-Discovery (“WBD”) for a reported $240 million per year.”
Citing that, the Women of Wrestling syndicated show expanding and selling media rights for “millions of dollars” and MLW’s own new deal with FITE for their live events, “it is no surprise that MLW’s antitrust claims are inherently doomed.”
From the motion:
“MLW has not and cannot plausibly allege relevant product or geographic markets around media rights for professional wrestling. MLW has not and can never plausible allege direct or circumstantial evidence of WWE possessing monopoly power over television networks and streaming services.
And MLW has not and can never plausibly allege antitrust injury or standing when it and other alleged competitors are, by public admissions, thriving. As for MLW’s tacked-on state law claims, the Court should dismiss them for lack of diversity and/or supplemental jurisdiction and because they remain as facially implausible as they were in MLW’s original complaint.”
This post will continue to be updated as the investor call begins at 8:30 AM Eastern. Please check back and refresh for updates.
WWE announced $297.6 of revenue and operating income of $53.1 million on Tuesday for the first quarter of 2023 — their first such report since the news of their hopeful merger with Endeavor to spin off into a new combat sports company with the UFC.
The previously announced details of the merger were listed in the release and discussed on Tuesday morning’s investors call. It is still expected to close in the second half of the year.
The revenue number was down by 11% year-over-year (YOY) due to “to a shift in the timing of the staging of a large-scale international event, which occurred in the first quarter of 2022 but is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2023.”
That event is their bi-annual show in Saudi Arabia. Believed to be recognized in the Other category in their Media revenue section, that number was $4.8 million this past quarter compared to $60.8 million in Q1 last year.
During the Q&A portion of the investors call, WWE CEO Nick Khan revealed that the exclusive media rights negotiating window for both Fox and NBCU for SmackDown & Raw was “about a month each.”
As that window opened on April 1st, that would indicate more news could be coming soon as related to outside parties being able to bid. Khan said while talks have been productive, there’s no timetable for when new deals could be done while remaining positive on the prospects for both.
When it comes to interest from outside parties, Khan reiterated “exclusive means exclusive” regarding the negotiating window.
Ticket revenue & attendance increases
The company touted Q1 North American ticket sales revenue as increasing by 52% year YOY thanks to a 37% increase in average attendance. Overall revenue was $32.6 million, up from $23.1 million in Q1 last year. $30.2 million of that revenue was attributed to North America, up from $19.9 million in Q1 last year.
There were 50 ticketed events in North America last quarter with attendance of 7850. Last year, they held 53 total events (52 domestic and one international) in the same quarter with North American attendance at 5710 average.
That revenue, plus contractually escalated media rights fees for Raw and SmackDown, helped offset the decrease. Those fees accounted for $153.9 million, up from $139.1 in Q1 of last year.
Vince McMahon
WWE incurred $1.7 million in expenses for Vince McMahon-related legal fees in connection with a dropped shareholder lawsuit.
McMahon made a payment of $17.4 million to reimburse WWE for costs related to the Board’s Special Committee investigation into his scandal from last summer.
The success of WrestleMania
Per the norm, WrestleMania was a major focus even though it happened in Q2. As previously announced, 161,892 fans generated a gate of $21.6 million and the weekend was both their highest-grossing and most attended in company history. More than $20 million in sponsorship money was generated which doubled last year’s record.
Domestic unique viewership on Peacock increased 31% YOY while global unique viewership increased by 29%.
Merchandise sales were also up 20% YOY, beating last year’s record. On the call, Khan said sales were $7 million, breaking last year’s record of $5.2 million.
WrestleMania sponsorship revenue exceeded $20 million, more than double the previous record set in the prior year.
Other quarterly highlights & release notes:
Seven percent viewership increases for both Raw and SmackDown, “significantly outperforming overall cable and broadcast television, which declined 15% and 6%, respectively”
The previously announced expansion of their Fanatics deal which gives them on-site event merchandise management starting this month.
Consumer product revenue increased to $39.3 million, up from last year’s $32.2 million in Q1.
Q&A session:
Khan, CFO Frank Riddick and Paul Levesque were guiding the call. Khan and Riddick gave presentations while Levesque did not.
Riddick said they expect to save between $50-$100 million post-merger.
Khan said the success of Elimination Chamber in Montreal was strategic as they are negotiating with Rogers on a renewal of TV rights in Canada that was first signed in 2014.
Khan said the renewal on WWE media rights with Sony in India will be worked on following Sony’s merger with Zee.
Levesque attributed the higher viewership to assembling “the right team across the board” and how they are focused on character development. He specifically mentioned looking a year out and planning backward from where they want to be.
Khan said WWE will be unaffected by the Writers Guild strike and that includes any A&E programming.
When asked about potential international acquisitions, Khan said the three current focuses are closing the Endeavor deal, US media rights and building the existing business.
Khan said he expects sales and sponsorship to grow post-merger, but there has been no reach-outs to UFC sponsors as of now.
Khan said more sections are being opened up for SummerSlam at Detroit’s Ford Field for ticket sales.
Khan confirmed WWE received “a seven figure subsidy” for bringing Backlash to Puerto Rico this weekend. That was previously reported as $1.5 million by Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics.
