WWE has officially merged with the UFC. This past April on the day after WWE WrestleMania 39, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced that he was selling his family’s sports-entertainment company to Endeavor. Alongside the sale announcement, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel noted that WWE would be merging with Endeavor’s other sporting titan, UFC, as one publicly-traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. The two would be utilizing the stock ticker “TKO” moving forward. After five months of processing, the deal was made official on Tuesday morning, beginning the first time in WWE’s history that a McMahon did not have majority ownership of the company.
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WWE and UFC Unveil “TKO” Logo
It’s a new era for World Wrestling Entertainment.
With WWE and UFC officially merging as one publicly-traded company Tuesday morning, Endeavor’s two sporting giants unveiled their co-branded “TKO” logo. The lime green emblem features the “TKO” letters in a similar font to UFC and utilizes an underline that mirrors WWE’s.
Alongside the logos, large versions of WWE and UFC’s world championship titles were placed outside the New York Stock Exchange.
What’s Next For WWE?
As evident by the on-screen happenings on Monday Night Raw earlier this week, WWE avoids referencing the corporate changes in its televised product. The only time that the big change was alluded to came on the Monday Night Raw after WWE WrestleMania 39 when WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque emphasized that the WWE product that fans are familiar with was not going anywhere.
That said, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon’s backstage power has resurfaced as a result of this deal. This past January, McMahon re-elected himself to the company’s board of directors, ending his six-month retirement. McMahon initially left WWE due to an ongoing internal investigation that revealed that he had used company dollars as hush money payments for various sexual affairs over the years. McMahon’s return to the board was stated to be in an effort to help sell the company, and once that happened, his creative powers seemingly returned.
McMahon had drastically changed aspects of Monday Night Raw episodes since April, including this past Monday’s edition. It’s unclear as to if McMahon will continue to have his fingerprints on the product as a result of the sale becoming official or if he will keep his promise of no longer being “in the weeds.”
