Vince McMahon was present for a WWE employee meeting on Tuesday in Stamford and comments he made during said meeting made their way online this afternoon. McMahon, Nick Khan and Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel were all present for the meeting, which addressed the future of the company following the merger with the UFC into TKO Group and the widespread corporate layoffs that took place last Friday. Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp offered a recap of the meeting, noting that McMahon claimed WWE’s business had stagnated recently. Sapp quickly pointed out that this was untrue as WWE has been consistently boasting record profits over the past few years. He noted on Fightful Select that people within the room were just as skeptical of McMahon’s comments.
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“Vince McMahon said that the company had plateaued or stagnated and the merger needed to happen to take the company to the next level,” Sapp wrote. “This gained a lot of eye rolls and reactions within the company, who pointed to WWE touting record numbers. This comment led many to reaffirm their beliefs that Vince McMahon did a deal so he could return to WWE.”
Vince McMahon’s Public Statement on the WWE/UFC Merger
“This is the culmination of a decades-long partnership between Endeavor and WWE across strategic initiatives including talent representation and media rights. Given our collaborative, trusted relationship and Endeavor’s incredible track record of success growing UFC, we believe WWE is optimally positioned for future growth and success as part of TKO. Our focus remains on delivering for our fans across the globe as we take the business to the next level alongside UFC and Endeavor,” McMahon wrote in the press release confirming the merger last week.
The merger was first announced back in April. Emanuel told CNBC at the time he had no intention of letting go of McMahon, despite his numerous misconduct scandals.
“I would have bodyslammed him if he thought he thought he was going to leave,” Emanuel said at the time. “Here’s a man who has seen around the corner at every beat over the last 40 years of this business and has a vision of this business way before a lot of people see it. Him now being able to utilize what we’ve built in our flywheel, I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I have Vince McMahon, a visionary that sees around the corner, I have Dana White and what we’ve built. That’s pretty unstoppable.
