Vince McMahon won’t be around anymore. And WWE knows that when Mr. McMahon leaves this planet, their company may take a temporary tumble.
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In a recent 10-K SEC Filing, WWE acknowledged to shareholders that in the event of McMahon’s death or departure from the company, their shares would face a steep decline in price. While this is an obvious statement, WWE’s remarks hint at McMahon leaving to fulfill his duties at Alpha Entertainment — the LLC McMahon used to fund his XFL reboot.
“In addition to serving as Chairman of our Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. McMahon leads the creative team that develops the storylines and the characters for our programming (including our television, WWE Network and other programming) and live events. From time to time, Mr. McMahon has also been an important member of our cast of performers.
The loss of Mr. McMahon due to unexpected retirement, disability, death or other unexpected termination for any reason could have a material adverse effect on our ability to create popular characters and creative storylines or could otherwise adversely affect our operating results. Mr. McMahon has established Alpha Entertainment LLC, to explore investment opportunities across the sports entertainment landscapes, and Alpha Entertainment LLC plans to launch a professional football league in early 2020.
While he has provided the Company assurances that his focus on WWE will not be diverted by these efforts, any such diversion or perception of such diversion could adversely affect our operating results and could have a material adverse effect on our stock price.”
While WWE employs hundreds of people, everyone knows that every important decision is made by the meticulous McMahon. His exit, whenever that may be, will be a dark day for WWE, even if it’s just to devote more time to the XFL.
At 73-years-old, McMahon is still making appearances on live WWE shows. While he doesn’t have the same role as he did in 1998, his sporadic presence usually means big business for Raw or SmackDown. McMahon is fully aware that by showing up on WWE cameras people are going to watch.
However, he won’t be around forever, and all signs point to Triple H being the man who takes WWE’s reigns. While his relationship with the WWE Universe is categorically different than McMahon’s TRiple is widely regarded as the best man for the job. Married to Stephanie McMahon since 2003, Triple H is credited for the evolution of WWE, specifically the advent of NXT — WWE’s developmental organization. However, NXT is far more than a training ground and is more a living breathing wrestling promotion.
So when McMahon does make his exit, WWE’s stock will likely plummet. But WWE is simply too big of a company to vanish and that moment will be the perfect opportunity to buy the proverbial dip.
