Tag: WWE Shareholder lawsuit

Daily Update: WWE shareholder suit update, lawsuit filed over UFC Freedom 250

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Among the topics covered:

  • Mexico City becomes the battleground of wrestling in September. We look at the strategies, the decisions going into a period when the city will host four major shows and seven major arena shows in eight days.
  • WWE attempts to counter program Forbidden Door with NXT Great American Bash. A look at the numbers the last time and trying to figure out why it would be tried again
  • The most publicized UFC show in history comes to the White House. Can it beat Rousey vs. Carano numbers, can it beat NFL numbers, how it got started and plans for the show.
  • AAA Noche de los Grandes, full review of the show and the make-up of the viewership and how it’s changed over the last year, as well as thoughts on the mask vs. mask match that tore down the house
  • The WWE stockholders lawsuit against the WWE key higher ups goes to trial this week. We look in depth of what is being asked, why, and give background on everything involved in the case
  • WWE Clash In Italy coverage and business numbers
  • Ben Askren wins Gaspard/Huber award and returns for one last match
  • Odds for King and Queen of the Ring
  • How much has Nielsen’s new ratings method hurt the value of pro wrestling on television? We have pretty much the figures, plus the shocking real comparisons for AEW Dynamite last week with recent years
  • Full ratings report for the pro wrestling programming, competition, comparisons, and more,.
  • Arena Mexico coverage with lots of big matches this coming week
  • NOAH tag team tournament news
  • Best of the Super Juniors coverage
  • Top young star getting shoulder surgery
  • Japanese MMA legend wins pro wrestling tournament
  • The future of Lucha Libre in 2036 on display this past week
  • Ticket sales for all the major upcoming pro wrestling shows this summer
  • A crazy indie story involving Jacques Rougeau
  • RAF booking a major event in Tbilisi
  • More on Damo & Nikki Cross buying Progress
  • Lots of Mick Foley AEW talk
  • How the Von Erichs viewed the A&E Biography
  • Another judge upset with TKO executives not saving evidence
  • McGregor return ticket prices go crazy, although not Knicks crazy
  • Robbiers in boxing or just bad judging
  • Notes on Smackdown going forward
  • Examing what Nick Khan said about 2024 WrestleMania plans
  • George Barrios claims he talked Vince McMahon into running Saudi Arabia after the Kashoggi death
  • Punk on talks to go back to WWE in 2018

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Sunday Update

UFC Freedom 250 fan fest
Logo for UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest. (Image credit: UFC)

— Bryan and I will be back tonight talking about the WWE settlement, great weekend matches, Best of the Super Juniors, Jones vs. Cormier, Hulk Hogan documentary and more. Our week in review show with Garrett Gonzales is up on the site talking about WWE booking, Nick Khan comments, and much more.

— The shareholders’ lawsuit against Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, Paul Levesque, George Barrios and Michelle Wilson, that was to start tomorrow, has been settled, although not completely formalized. Brandon Thurston reported that the parties have informed the court that they will present the settlement for approval by Judge Travis Laster. The McMahon side really had to settle for a number of reasons that include the fear that a trial would end up worse for them, while the plaintiffs removed the risk of the trial going badly for them. The judge’s recent ruling showed that he felt the defendants lost a great deal of credibility due to their erasing messages after their own lawyers told them to preserve them. It looked bad for the WWE side but it was not a lock. The other from the McMahon side is that in the story of the sale, the Janel Grant lawsuit would have come up and he, and perhaps others, would perhaps give testimony that would hurt McMahon in that case.

— A lawsuit has been filed by Paul Romano, a retired Air Force Sergeant and Vietnam veteran, and Susan Douglas, a civic activist and organizer attempting to stop this coming Sunday’s UFC show. They claim it is a violation of federal law for profit sports promotions to run on the White House lawn. They claim it is a violation of national park service agreements which prohibit sports events on federal parks lands and that the staging set up on the White House lawn has had no congressional authorization, a requirement for building on federal parklands. They also complain about the cost to taxpayers of repairing the lawn. They also in the suit note that Trump purchased TKO stock. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, DC. They are not suing Trump or TKO, but suing the National Park Service, Regional Director of the National Park Service Jen Nersesian, Acting Director Jessica Bowron, the U.S. Department of the Interior and Doug Burgum, the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

— Yoh won the Best of the Super Juniors tournament earlier today at the Ota Ward Gym in Tokyo over Kosei Fujita. It was an excellent match, very hot pro-Yoh crowd. The match was actually a much better technical version of A.J. Styles vs. John Cena from last year. Well, on the Yoh side where he did move after move of the top stars. Fujita did the usual Fujita. Yoh will face Douki for the IWGP jr. title soon, probably Dominion on 6/15. Also added to Dominion was Jake Lee vs. El Phantasmo in a no DQ match after an angle today.

— Hiroshi Tanahashi announced the fan awards for the tournament. Jun Kasai was voted Most Outstanding overall, Daiki Nagai was voted Best Fighting Spirit and Robbie X was voted Best Technical.

— Obviously if Steve Maclin asked for a release from his TNA contract, which he did last week and was approved, he’s likely headed to WWE or AEW.

— Arman Tsarukyan claimed today that he placed a $1 million bet on Justin Gaethje to win the UFC lightweight title from unbeaten Ilia Topuria at the White House show. Tsarukyan was on a live stream talking about betting $50,000 on the fight, but then got talked into making it $1 million. After all the issues with UFC fighters and gambling, this is not something that should be allowed.

— The best matches I’ve seen this weekend are Komander vs. Soberano Jr. from Friday night at Arena Mexico, Komander & Templario vs. Angel de Oro & Volador Jr. from last night at Arena Coliseo, Mistico & Mascara Dorada & Neon vs. Zandokan Jr. & Furia Roja & Difunto from Friday night which was Mistico’s return, and Yoh vs. Fujita.

— Challenges were issued on Friday for a Sammy Guevara & Beast Mortos ROH tag title defense against Villano III Jr. & El Hijo de Villano III. My impression is that match will take place this coming Friday night, but the lineup won’t be out until probably Monday or Tuesday.

— Komander goes for the hat trick tonight teaming with Mistico against Volador Jr. & Black Tiger in tonight’s main event. Tonight’s show also has Gran Guerrero & Stuka Jr. vs. Mortos & Guevara in a non-title match. Lady Frost from MLW has been on the CMLL major shows all weekend.

— Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows won the A block in the NOAH Neo Global Tag League with a win over Tetsuya Naito & Bushi today in Hirosaki. They will face the B block winners on 6/16 at Korakuen Hall. Right now there is a three-way tie for first in the B block with Yoshiki Inamura & Stallion Rogers, Naomichi Marufuji & Kenoh, and Yuki Iino & Manabu Soya.

— Jun & Rei Saito won All Japan’s world tag team titles from Talos & Ren Ayabe yesterday in Kakuda.

— We’re looking for reports on the NXT weekend shows in Davenport, FL and Citrus Heights, FL as well as TV tapings for TNA in Denver, results, finishes and angles to [email protected]

— Not much in the way of Google searches this weekend with no major events. Yesterday’s UFC show did 110,000 searches. Nobody in general was talking much about wrestling as regarding active wrestling, Myla Grace was the most searched item with 2,000.

— Grand Slam Mexico, CMLL Anniversary, WWE Raw, WWE Smackdown and AAA TripleMania tickets all went on sale in the next two days. For Grand Slam Mexico, the cheapest seats are almost double that of last year, at $36, while the most expensive is up from $655 U.S. to $1,312. Anniversary tickets are $22 to $260. Raw and Smackdown are $73 to $891. TripleMania is $36 to $537.

— UFC has announced a new rankings system in the works that will reward performance and reflect results inside the Octagon and based on measurable performance instead of opinion or popularity. Good luck with that.

— Last Saturday’s Collision did 351,000 viewers and 0.07 in 18-49 in Nielsen panel ratings, a rare case for wrestling of being down in total audience but still up in 18-49 from the 360,000 and 0.05 from panel + Big Data.

— WWE returns to the U.S. tomorrow in Baltimore with Raw with Penta vs. Rey Mysterio for the IC title, and previously announced qualifying matches with Seth Rollins vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Talla Tonga vs. Ricky Saints and Liv Morgan vs. Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Chelsea Green.

— Jerry Jaffe, who was also Crazy Luke Graham Jr., is 79 today. Mick Foley turned 61. Ed Farhat, the original Sheik and one of the best drawing heels in history, was born 100 years ago today. His longtime manager, Abdullah Farouk/Grand Wizard/Ernie Roth, was born on this day in 1929. Superstar Billy Graham was born on this day in 1943. Howard Finkel was born on this day in 1950. Bulldog Don Kent passed away 33 years ago today at the age of 59. Charlie Harben passed away 33 years ago today at the age of 79. Earthquake John Tenta was 42 when he passed away 20 years ago today. Rocket Monroe was 69 when he passed away 16 years ago today. Mark Starr was 50 when he passed away 13 years ago today. The Iron Sheik was 76 when he passed away three years ago today.

 

WWE shareholder lawsuit trial canceled, removed from court schedule

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Update:

Brandon Thurston of Post Wrestling is reporting that the trial has been canceled, with no further details currently avaliable.

“The WWE merger trial has been cancelled, Court Administrator for the Delaware Court of Chancery Tamara Burton confirmed to me this evening,” Thurston wrote on social media Saturday. “We haven’t confirmed whether a settlement has been agreed to or is being worked on. The trial was previously scheduled to start on Monday.”

Original story:

The trial for the WWE shareholder lawsuit seems to be in flux.

According to Bloomberg, attorney Greg Varallo, who represents the shareholders, said that the four-day trial that was planned to start this Monday was no longer on the Delaware Chancery Court’s calendar. What specifically led to the case being removed from the court’s schedule isn’t currently known.

The trial was to feature testimony from Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, Paul Levesque, Ari Emanuel, and Mark Shapiro among others involved in the deal.

Shareholders accuse McMahon of not seeking the best deal

In the lawsuit, shareholders allege that the process to merge WWE and UFC to form TKO under parent company Endeavor was designed by McMahon in order for himself to retain power within WWE. Because of that, shareholders felt that McMahon didn’t seek out the best potential value of a WWE sale.

Last month, defendants were dealt a blow when a judge ruled that McMahon and Khan “acted recklessly” by using the messaging app Signal to discuss information while adjusting their auto-delete settings so messages would delete after a short period of time.

Daily Update: WWE shareholder lawsuit trial removed from schedule, must-see match from Mexico

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Among the topics covered:

  • Mexico City becomes the battleground of wrestling in September. We look at the strategies, the decisions going into a period when the city will host four major shows and seven major arena shows in eight days.
  • WWE attempts to counter program Forbidden Door with NXT Great American Bash. A look at the numbers the last time and trying to figure out why it would be tried again
  • The most publicized UFC show in history comes to the White House. Can it beat Rousey vs. Carano numbers, can it beat NFL numbers, how it got started and plans for the show.
  • AAA Noche de los Grandes, full review of the show and the make-up of the viewership and how it’s changed over the last year, as well as thoughts on the mask vs. mask match that tore down the house
  • The WWE stockholders lawsuit against the WWE key higher ups goes to trial this week. We look in depth of what is being asked, why, and give background on everything involved in the case
  • WWE Clash In Italy coverage and business numbers
  • Ben Askren wins Gaspard/Huber award and returns for one last match
  • Odds for King and Queen of the Ring
  • How much has Nielsen’s new ratings method hurt the value of pro wrestling on television? We have pretty much the figures, plus the shocking real comparisons for AEW Dynamite last week with recent years
  • Full ratings report for the pro wrestling programming, competition, comparisons, and more,.
  • Arena Mexico coverage with lots of big matches this coming week
  • NOAH tag team tournament news
  • Best of the Super Juniors coverage
  • Top young star getting shoulder surgery
  • Japanese MMA legend wins pro wrestling tournament
  • The future of Lucha Libre in 2036 on display this past week
  • Ticket sales for all the major upcoming pro wrestling shows this summer
  • A crazy indie story involving Jacques Rougeau
  • RAF booking a major event in Tbilisi
  • More on Damo & Nikki Cross buying Progress
  • Lots of Mick Foley AEW talk
  • How the Von Erichs viewed the A&E Biography
  • Another judge upset with TKO executives not saving evidence
  • McGregor return ticket prices go crazy, although not Knicks crazy
  • Robbiers in boxing or just bad judging
  • Notes on Smackdown going forward
  • Examing what Nick Khan said about 2024 WrestleMania plans
  • George Barrios claims he talked Vince McMahon into running Saudi Arabia after the Kashoggi death
  • Punk on talks to go back to WWE in 2018

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Friday Update

TKO
TKO (Image credit: TKO)

— Garrett Gonzales and I will be doing our show on the news of the week and going forward later today. I’ll be back with Bryan on Sunday night covering the weekend shows.

— The WWE shareholders lawsuit that was scheduled to begin on Monday was for reasons unknown, removed from the schedule. That could mean an out of court settlement or could mean a delay, but it was just removed. Bloomberg has the story here.

— AEW Dynamite did 638,000 viewers with an 0.11 in 18-49 against the Knicks vs. Spurs game that did 16.93 million viewers and a 5.21 in 18-49, the most to watch an NBA game in eight years. In the fourth quarter, an hour after Dynamite ended, it hit 19.63 million. The get-in price for the next game in the series is now the highest in the history of ANYTHING, Super Bowl, World Cup, Shania Twain, BTS, anything. The last word to get a nosebleed seat now for the game is $9,649.

— Anyway, the AEW show was third for the night and head-to-head on cable was only behind the college softball World Series on ESPN. It beat FOX News head-to-head which is rarely the case, but did so in its second straight week. I’d consider that number to be excellent given the competition. They really did load up the show knowing the game was on.

–SmackDown is a taped show tonight from Bologna, Italy:

  • Opening segment with Cody Rhodes, Gunther and Sami Zayn
  • Raquel Rodriguez vs. Bayley vs. Kiana James vs. Jacy Jayne in a QOTR match
  • Royce Keys vs. Talla Tonga
  • Charlotte Flair & Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill & Michin
  • Carmelo Hayes vs. Ricky Saints
  • Chelsea Green vs. Lash Legend
  • Trick Williams vs. Bron Breakker vs. Dominik Mysterrio vs. Damian Priest in the KOTR qualifier

— Mistico returns tonight to Arena Mexico after a few weeks off with an injury. Mistico & Mascara Dorada & Neon face Zandokan Jr. & Furia Roja & Difunto in the main event. This is Mistico’s 27th major arena sellout in 2026. Soberano Jr. faces Komander in a very interesting semi while VIllano III Jr. & El Hijo del Villano III & Barbaro Cavernario face Sammy Guevara & Mortos & Black Tiger.

— The Wednesday and Thursday night shows at Arena Mexico will not be streaming on the CMLL YouTube page.

— Tomorrow night at Arena Coliseo has Komander & Templario vs. Angel de Oro & Villano III Jr. and Mortos vs. Ultimo Guerrero. Sunday has Mistico & Komander vs. Black Tiger & Volador Jr. and Sammy Guevara & Mortos vs. Gran Guerrero & Stuka Jr.

— As part of the Mexico City wrestling war, tickets for WWE shows (Smackdwon on 9/11, TripleMania on 9/13 and Raw on 9/14 all went on sale today. To combat that, CMLL rushed their own Anniversary show tickets for 9/18 and put them on sale today. AEW’s tickets for Grand Slam Mexico on 8/5 go on sale tomorrow. Pricing for every show is FAR more expensive than is usual. Raw & Smackdown are the highest priced shows.

— AAA TV tomorrow has:

  • Lola Vice & Bayley & Catalina vs. Maravilla & Flammer & La Hiedra
  • Lince Dorado vs. Joaquin Wilde vs. Cruz Del Tor vs. Octagon Jr. vs. Mini Vikingo. This is the match where Octagon Jr. gets hurt badly.

— Kosei Fujita vs. Yoh is the finals of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. It will take place Sunday at the Ota Ward Gym in Tokyo. The show starts at 4 a.m. Eastern early Sunday morning. The semifinals were today in Gunma with Fujita beating Robbie Eagles and Yoh over Master Wato.

— If you are voting on the match of the year, this one you have to watch. It’s also a glimpse into where the Lucha style and aspects of the US style will be in 2036. This match reminds me so much of what PWG used to be on the American scene. It is from last Friday in Monterrey, irnhaly the day before the Grande vs. Grande match in the same city. The match was Bandido & Noisy Boy & Spider Fly & Zonik (remember the name Zonik) vs. Gringo Loco & Vengador &M Iron Kid & Turbo. Zonik is a very short teenager and still in school. He is better than Rey Misterio Jr. at the same age:

— In what would be the biggest attempt at a giant women’s boxing live event, Katie Taylor will be doing her retirement fight on 9/5 at Croke Park in Dublin, defending her super lightweight title against Flora Pili. Croke Park is an 80,000 seat stadium and that could break the Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm record of 57,000 for the largest crowd ever drawn for a women’s fight main event.

— We’re looking for reports on these weekend shows:

  • NXT tonight in Davenport, FL
  • TNA tomorrow night in Denver
  • NXT tomorrow night in Citrus Heights, FL
  • TNA Sunday in Denver

We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]

— Daniel Cormier, at 47, cut a promo noting that he and Jon Jones have been offered more than $1 million each for a ten minute wrestling match. Cormier claims that he knows he’ll beat Jones 10-0 and Jones knows he’ll beat him 10-0. He said Jones wants to change it to a shorter time limit and make it a submission match. He claimed Jones is the one who would not accept a wrestling rules match. If you go prime vs. prime as a wrestler, and Cormeir’s prime as a wrestler was 2003 to 2008, yes, he beats Jones. Today, at his age and injuries, I don’t know about this. Plus, Cormier is not near his best shape while Jones has never allowed himself to get far out of shape. Wrestling is a bitch when you get older.

–UFC is at the Apex tomorrow night at 5 p.m. Eastern on Paramount +

  • Ketlen Souza (116) vs. Ariane Carnelssi (116)
  • Jeisla Chaves (124) vs. Yuneisy Duben (125)
  • Jordan Leavitt (145.5) vs. Joanderson Brito (145.5)
  • Priscila Cach9eira (135.5) vs. Chelsea Chandler (135)
  • Bruno Silva (126) vs. Edgar Chairez (126)
  • Marcus McGhee (136) vs. John Yanhnis (135)
  • Matt Schnell (129.5) vs. Alessandro Costa (129.5)
  • Iwa Baraniewski (206) vs. Junior Tafa (206)
  • Bryce Mitchel (135.5) vs. Santiago Luna (136)
  • Fares Ziam (156) vs. Tom Nolan (155)
  • Brendan Allen (185.5) vs. Edmen Shahbazyan (186)
  • Belal Muhammad (170.5) vs. Gabriel Bonfim (170.5)

— Eddie Hearn, the manager of Tom Aspinall, said that he won’t let Aspinall fight the winner of Cyril Gane vs. Pereira for the money UFC is offering him, claiming its one-fiftieth of the revenue the show would generate.

— Everything on the Menu with Braun Strowman starts its new season at 11 p.m. tonight after SmackDown. It’s a lock it’ll do a lot better in the ratings than the WWE documentary did last week.

— Due to an injury to PFL middleweight champion Costello van Steenis, he’s off the 7/18 show in Austin, TX. Johnny Eblen (17-1) faces Impa Kasanganay (20-6) for the interim title.

— TNA is doing TV in Denver Saturday and Sunday at the National Western Center:

  • Mike Santana vs. Eric Young
  • Mustafa Ali vs. KC Navarro

— Jerry Lawler and Jimmy Hart will be appearing at the Memphis Wrestling show on 8/21 in Tupelo, MS at the Furniture Market as a fundraiser for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

— Maple Leaf Wrestling has announced these matches for its 6/12 and 6/13 tapings in Windsor, ONT at St. Clair College for TSN Canada

  • Stu Grayson vs. Jonathan Gresham for the MLP title
  • Gisele Shaw vs. Dani Luna for the women’s title
  • Rohan Raja vs. Evl Uno

Don Callis & Mauro Ranallo will announce the show.

— Glenn Osbourne turned 55 today. Madison Eagles turned 42 today. Kona Reeves turned 35 today. Priscilla Kelly turned 29 today. George Bothern was born on this day in 1867. Hall of Famer Bill Miller was born on this day in 1927. His brother Dan Miller was born on this day in 1932. Ivan Putski was born on this day in 1944. (thanks to Tony Richards)

Daily Update: WWE shareholder lawsuit update, UFC Freedom 250, Arena Mexico notes

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • The most detailed look at the sale of New Japan, what happened, the glory days that Bushiroad built and why it came down and what led to the sale.
  • Business realities of Japanese wrestling today.
  • The reason for the surprising low sale price.
  • The shareholders lawsuit against Vince McMahon and the WWE Board of Directors is getting near. Judge Travis Laster orders sanctions against Nick Khan and Vince McMahon for destruction of evidence. Laster makes a ruling, and we look at it in detail, on how this changes the trial and the exact details of the destruction of evidence including when McMahon and company knew not to do it and ignored their own lawyers. Also we look at problems with the case.
  • AEW Double of Nothing coverage. Business notes, historical biggest gates in U.S. pro wrestling, three-time world champions by 30, how the PPV did, poll results, Mick Foley and more.
  • Did Ronda Rousey set a viewing audience record for MMA, plus coverage of Rousey vs. Carano, how everything goes forward, can things be sustained, can she fight, will she fight, her thoughts on AEW.
  • Scott Coker returns to MMA with a new promotion.
  • Marcel Barthel (Ludwig Kaiser) arrested.
  • A look at the career of Jerry Grey.
  • The most detailed look at the ratings for all the TV shows over the past two weeks.
  • Mistico injury update.
  • How CMLL is doing this year compared to last year.
  • Natalia Jiminez and J Balvin appear and are part of CMLL shows.
  • Wrestlers vs. media soccer game.
  • Grande vs. Grande match looked at.
  • Major return to Stardom.
  • Champion Carnival finals.
  • NOAH tag team tournament.
  • New Japan Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
  • Hana Kimura tribute show.
  • Phil Hickerson passes away.
  • WCW announcer is the final anchor as CBS News Radio closes its doors after 99 years.
  • Death of the Laguna version of Piloto Suicida.
  • Junior Hodge Trophy winner.
  • Advance ticket sales for all major events in AEW, WWE, TNA and other indies.
  • Pro wrestler/fighter on the Rousey-Carano undercard.
  • WWE stars purchase promotion.
  • Tony Khan media appearances.
  • More thoughts on how Paramount/Skydance can affect AEW.
  • What can affect the time slot of Collision in 2027.
  • What’s next for AEW.
  • AEW star to return in the fall.
  • Latest Zuffa myths regarding Trump and UFC.
  • UFC fighter pay comes up again

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Friday Update

CMLL logo
CMLL logo (Image credit: CMLL)

— Garrett Gonzales and I have our week in review talking about the current issue of the Observer and latest news show being taped today. My weekend show with Bryan will be Sunday after Clash in Italy.

— Judge Travis Laster, who is in charge of the shareholders lawsuit against WWE, ruled in favor of reporter Brandon Thurston’s challenge regarding documents WWE was attempting to keep sealed. Thurston challenged WWE’s attempt to keep evidence confidential and not to be reported on, including a voicemail message from Ari Emanuel to Vince McMahon. There were key deposition questions regarding discussion of the Wall Street Journal’s sources regarding sexual misconduct claims.

WWE lawyers argued according to Post Wrestling, which Thurston writes for, that the information could have unfavorable or reputational consequences such as weakened negotiating position or public embarrassment. They also argued it could create damages to professional relationships within and outside WWE, harm to an individual identified and would erode confidence among stakeholders. Laster ruled those arguments were not sufficient and the information must be revealed stating that the defendants’ harm was outweighed by the public interest in the information. The conversation Thurston was trying to get access to was part of the one where Emanuel had claimed he could go to lawyers he knows and help get the criminal investigation against McMahon regarding sex trafficking to go away.

— Tonight on USA will have the SmackDown taped this afternoon from 8-11 p.m., WWE: Made in America, a documentary at 11 p.m. and the first episode of Braun Strowman’s Everything on the Menu at midnight.

— The Huffington Post reported that Donald Trump has purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 stock in TKO Holdings. He made the purchase on 3/26. This leads to major conflict of interest claims given his having the show at the White House.

— The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon is recruiting hundreds of troops to appear as spectators at the UFC show at the White House on 6/14. However, those who attend are required to pay their own way and have to meet height and weight requirements to attend. Those attending must meet acceptable waist-height ratios and be physically fit, and are required to wear short-sleeve dress uniforms. Neither UFC nor the defense department will cover arrangements or accommodations. In fact, this event is the U.S. equivalent to Collision in Korea, except it won’t draw as much, and has far less star power.

— We’re looking for your thoughts on Sunday’s Clash in Italy. You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

— Arena Mexico tonight has changed its main event. The Copa Juniors finals is now Villano III Jr. vs. Zandokan Jr., who finished third in last week’s elimination match. Atlantis Jr., who was to face Villano III Jr. in the finals, blew out his knee on Sunday. At first he was advertised for the show but he was later in the week pulled from the show. They still sold out yesterday. The rest of the show has Mascara Dorada & Volador Jr. vs. Esfinge & Averno, Los Calaveras Jr. I & II & Soberano Jr. vs. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja & Cobarde, El Hijo de Blue Panther vs. El Hijo del Villano III, Tessa Blanchard & Skadi vs. Olympia & Sanely and Oro Jr. & Pantera Jr. & Pendulo (who is like a second cousin of Eddy Guerrero) vs. Estudiante Jr. & Robin & Sangre Infernal.

— Villano III Jr. said that if he wins the Copa tonight, he would like to put it at stake against Atlantis Jr., when he’s healthy.

— Salvador Lutteroth was at Double or Nothing on Sunday.

— The first CMLL Wednesday night show at Arena Mexico (they’ll be running almost every Wednesday in June and July) starts this week. No word on if it will be streamed live, nor do we have a lineup.

— Mistico has said that he hopes to be back by next Friday’s show. He had a huge knee brace on when talking on Informa Wednesday night. He said he has not been cleared. It was also noted on the show that he has dates scheduled for AEW & New Japan. We knew he’d be in AEW soon and I suspect something big for August, if not June. He’s part of the junior tag champions in New Japan so he’d have to be back there soon. He had been advertised to appear signing autographs last night in Pachuca, and he had been making his dates and doing signings. However, the promotion announced just before show time that every effort was made with them and CMLL, but due to the severity of the injury, he would not be appearing. He said he would appear in Pachuca as soon as he can to make up for this.

— On AEW Spanish language commentary, Carlos Cabrera said Grand Slam Mexico would be in August, which confirms that we had been told it would be after the end of July but before school starts. AEW has tapings already announced 8/12 and 8/26, leaving 8/5 and 8/19 open. I suspect the announcement will come relatively soon.

— AAA Noche de los Grandes on YouTube from Arena Monterrey tomorrow night at 10 p.m. Eastern:

  • Grande Americano vs. Grande Americano mask vs. mask
  • Pagano & Psycho Clown vs. War Raiders for AAA tag titles
  • El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. El Hijo del Vikingo for the Latin American title
  • Laredo Kid vs. Rey Fenix for the cruiserweight title
  • Lola Vice & Catalina & Bayley vs. Flammer & Maravilla & La Hiedra (this will be taped for 6/6)

The show is scheduled for 90 minutes.

— Two corrections from the current issue. Regarding the advance for the 6/11 MLW show at the Melrose Ballroom in New York, we listed it as sold out. It is not sold out. They can get 912 in the building. Also, we said Fabian Aichner told Jon Alba that he had a TNA contract into the summer. Alba, who did talk with Aichner, said he got the contract info from another source.

— The Best of the Super Juniors continues later tonight at 2 a.m. Eastern time from Takaoka. The tournament matches are Jakob Austin Young vs. Hyo, Yoh vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Robbie Eagles vs. Daisuke Sasaki, Kushida vs. El Desperado and Sho vs. Taiji Ishimori.

— Today’s results from Tsubame for B block matches:

  • Hyo (6) b Yoshinobu Kanemaru (6)
  • Master Wato (10) b Daiki Nagai (0)
  • Robbie X (8) b Ryusuke Taguchi
  • Nick Wayne (8) b Titan (10)
  • Kosei Fujita (8) b Valiente Jr. (4)

— UFC is in Macau for a show that starts late tonight at 4 a.m. Eastern:

  • Loma Lookboonmee (115) vs. Jacqueline Amorim (115.5)
  • Zhu Kangjie (145) vs. Rodrigo Vera (145)
  • Angela Hill (115) vs. Xiong Jing Nan (115.5)
  • Rei Tsuruya (135) vs. Luis Gurule (135)
  • Aoriqileng (135) vs. Cody Haddon (135)
  • Ding Meng (170.5) vs. Jose Souza (170.5)
  • Yi Zha (185) vs. Luis Felipe Dias (184.5)
  • Alex Perez (125.5) vs. Sumudaerji (126)
  • Jake Matthews (170) vs. Carlston Harris (170.5)
  • Kai Asakura (135.5) vs. Cameron Smotherman (135.5)
  • Sergei Pavlovich (257) vs. Tallison Teixeira (250)
  • Zhang Mingyang (205) vs. Alonzo Menifield (206)
  • Song Yadong (136) vs. Deiveson Figueiredo (135.5)

— Eddie Hearn has asked Dana White to release Tom Aspinall from his contract, saying that he will pay Aspinall a minimum of three times what he’s getting in UFC, and that White should be happy for a working class man to be able to earn so much more money.

— TNA has announced for 6/28 Slammiversary in Boston (this will be an afternoon show to avoid AEW) that Mike Santana defends the TNA title against Eddie Edwards, Cedric Alexander, Leon Slater and others in an Ultimate X match, Lei Ying Lee defends the Knockouts title against Xia Brookside and there will be a ladder match on the show.

— Thursday’s TNA TV has The Hardys vs. The Righteous in a Wicked Garden match, Santino Marella & Indi Hartwell vs. Stacks Lorenzo & Arianna Grace and Edwards vs. BDE.

— Ricky Sosa vs. Amazing Red takes place for House of Glory Wrestling on 6/19 at the Logan Square Auditorium in Chicago.

— Zuffa Boxing announced a 7/26 show at the Infosys Theater in Madison Square Garden.

— A two-hour episode of MLW Fusion will air tomorrow at 6:05 p.m. on YouTube, 9 p.m. on Veeps and 10 p.m. on beIN Sports. This was the show taped in Orlando with Trevor Lee vs. Austin Aries, Alex Hammerstone vs. Bishop Dyer, Shotzi Blackheart vs. Priscilla Kelly, Scarlett Bordeaux vs. Aleah James and more.

— Among today’s birthdays are Samu Anoa’i turning 63, Pete Gas turning 56, Steve Corino turning 53, Brian Kendrick turning 47, Nia Jax turning 42, Hornswoggle turning 40, Josh Alexander turning 39 and Konosuke Takeshita turning 31. Man Mountain Dean, a major drawing card in the 1930s, died 73 years ago today at 61. Tarzan Goto died four years ago today at 58. (thanks to Tony Richards)

— Metro in the U.K. had an interview with TNA announcer Tom Hannifan today. He said that when he announced the Kofi Kingston WWE title win over Bryan Danielson, he did not know Kingston was going to win the title. He also said that Michael Cole and Lance Storm have been huge helps to his career. (thanks to Matt Barker)

June 1, 2026 Observer Newsletter: AEW Double or Nothing review & ratings, NJPW ownership shakeup, big WWE shareholder lawsuit developments

Posted on by F4W Staff

After two weeks, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has returned.

Dave Meltzer is back from vacation with lots to talk about including:

  • A full recap of last weekend’s AEW Double or Nothing with ratings
  • A review of WWE Saturday Night’s Main event and preview of Clash in Italy
  • A breakdown of the unexpected ownership change for NJPW
  • The latest in the WWE shareholder lawsuit including a list of witnesses for next month’s trial
  • A look back at all the news, results and even more news from around the wrestling & MMA world the last two weeks

Click here to read (sub needed)

Vince McMahon, Nick Khan sanctioned in WWE shareholder lawsuit

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Vince McMahon and his fellow defendants have been dealt a blow in the ongoing shareholder lawsuit related to Endeavor’s acquisition of WWE.

A group of shareholders is suing McMahon and then-WWE board members Nick Khan, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Michelle Wilson, and George Barrios, alleging that McMahon steered the company’s 2023 sale/merger process to Endeavor so that he would end up in a favorable position under the new regime. The claim is that McMahon, with promises from Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, was influenced to go in this direction instead of considering other bids that would have been more financially beneficial to the company and its shareholders.

The trial is scheduled to begin on June 8. Ahead of that, the judge has ruled that McMahon and Khan “acted recklessly” by using the messaging app Signal and changing their settings so that messages would automatically delete after a short period of time. Because of that spoliation (destruction) of evidence, the judge has sanctioned the defendants. The sanctions mean the burden of proof has shifted and the defense is tasked with showing the following is not true:

  • Emanuel’s promise to provide Vince with a continued role at any post-merger company after a transaction influenced Vince’s decision-making with respect to the merger.
  • Emanuel’s offer of indemnification and other legal support related to pending federal investigations of Vince’s alleged misconduct influenced Vince’s decision-making with respect to the merger.
  • Vince decided to pursue a transaction with Endeavor in 2022, before the Company initiated the strategic review process.
  • Khan communicated with Emanuel between August and December 2022 to facilitate a transaction between WWE and Endeavor.
  • Vince and Khan worked with Raine [banking company] to steer the process toward a deal with Endeavor and away from other potential bidders.

McMahon, Khan, Levesque, Stephanie McMahon, and former WWE executive Brad Blum are listed as the group of people who used Signal and its auto-delete function. Though Wilson and Barrios were not Signal users, the judge says this ruling is not unfair to them because it is only related to McMahon and Khan’s conduct and does not assume others knew about it or were involved.

Neither WWE nor TKO are defendants in the suit. Though McMahon did hold a high-ranking executive position in TKO after the sale, he is no longer employed by the company after resigning in January 2024 in the wake of the sexual abuse allegations made in Janel Grant’s lawsuit.

This shareholder suit will include testimony from McMahon, Khan, Levesque, Emanuel, TKO’s Mark Shapiro, and others.

January 5, 2026 Observer Newsletter: AEW Worlds End review, key text exchanges revealed in WWE shareholder lawsuit

Posted on by F4W Staff

Image: AEW

It’s the first Friday of 2026 and a new Wrestling Observer Newsletter has arrived.

Dave Meltzer looks at last weekend’s AEW Worlds End which saw a new World Champion crowned, a new Continental Classic winner, and the usual discussion after the show.

Dave also looks at some of the very interesting text exchanges between now-TKO executives and Vince McMahon prior to the merger of WWE & UFC which were released this past week as part of the WWE shareholder lawsuit.

There’s all that, plus a preview of this weekend’s Wrestle Kingdom 20 lineup, the final match of Hiroshi Tanahashi, and a lot more.

Click here to read (sub needed)

New documents show Endeavor execs anticipated Vince McMahon’s 2023 return & selling to them

Posted on by Josh Nason

Newly revealed documents and text messages revealed that a key executive that now heads up TKO was confident about Vince McMahon’s return to WWE in 2023 and that he would sell the company to Endeavor — a prediction that turned out to be accurate.

The report comes courtesy of Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston in association with Post Wrestling who obtained the documents and revealed the information Monday, including images of text messages from newly disclosed records as part of the current WWE shareholder lawsuit.

The suit claims that McMahon was in violation of his fiduciary duties by arranging for WWE to merge with UFC to create TKO, a move done to keep him in power rather than get the best deal for WWE shareholders.

One of the key messages is from Mark Shapiro, who heads up TKO and was also a higher-up at Endeavor, sent to current TKO chief financial officer Andrew Schleimer and then-Endeavor CFO Jason Lublin.

“Nick and Stephanie are going to take over the WWE for the next nine months. Vince [will] be back with a new board or he will take the company private or he will sell it/coming to us. The race is on. The courtship is on,” Shapiro wrote.

“Nick” is Nick Khan and “Stephanie” is Stephanie McMahon. The text was sent on July 22, 2002 — the same day Vince McMahon announced his “retirement.” It’s unclear why Shapiro was so confident, or accurate, with his assessment.

Vince McMahon returned less than six months later in January 2023, placing himself back on the WWE Board with the intent to sell the company. The deal with Endeavor then came together three months later.

**********

Thurston noted that the documents reveal that Vince McMahon and Endeavor head/agent Ari Emanuel were communicating during the timeframe in which he stepped down and then returned, arranging for an August 2022 dinner with Emanuel, Stephanie McMahon and Khan. It was noted there is nothing illegal about such a meeting given McMahon’s stature as that time as WWE’s primary shareholder.

There was also an exchange that same month with Emanuel offering backstage passes to a Bill Burr comedy show at Boston’s Fenway Park. While some of the exchange, in addition to an unknown download link and attachments, is redacted, one line from Emanuel is not: “I will be your greatest partner.”

It’s unclear if Emanuel was alluding to the impending deal.

There was also an August 2022 exchange where Emanuel offered to fly from Paris to Italy to meet McMahon after the now-former TKO chairman McMahon met with a senior banker who served as WWE’s financial advisor during the sale process. That same banker had worked with Endeavor previously as well as McMahon as part of his 2020 XFL re-launch.

Executives from Liberty Media, a group who was also interested in WWE, sent internal emails after the April 2023 merger announcement, saying they felt the deal was “pre-wired” and already arranged before the formal bid process kicked off.

**********

One of the exchanges from the extensive article showed McMahon texted with Khan about creative in February 2023, asking if Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes were aware of “new creative” for WrestleMania that year and the year after, noting he had asked both Paul Levesque and Bruce Prichard.

Khan replied “Langis” to which McMahon didn’t have any idea what he meant. Khan told him to read the word backward which is assumed to be Signal, the encrypted messaging app.

From Thurston:

“That interaction, regarding “new creative,” runs counter to Khan’s statement a month later on CNBC that McMahon wasn’t involved in the creative process. The public record doesn’t show more about what “new creative” McMahon was referring to or whether he had any influence in Roman Reigns’ win over Cody Rhodes in the main event of that year’s WrestleMania, an outcome that surprised many fans.”

The shareholder lawsuit is set to go to trial in June 2026 with the discovery phase nearing an end with financial restitution possible if the plaintiffs win the case.