WWE Thread

[Symphony Steve]

Looks like the Saudis. Yikes!

Hasn't happened yet. Although--Dave Meltzer said that Vince indeed had been negotiating w/the Saudis even while he was in exile.

While that sale would be a slamdunk for the McMahon family and Board, it raises a whole host of questions about WWE going forward. Would networks and advertisers be comfortable dealing with the Saudis? I mean, the LIV is paying for TV time. Would it mean that Vince's scandals would just 'go away' with the company being taken private again? Would Vince once again control creative (the answer to that one appears to be 'yes'.) Would telecasts include Saudi propoganda like the Peacock shows from Saudi Arabia?

I almost hope the sale goes through, just to see the turmoil that ensues.

 

[jncuse]

This is the big leverage play by the WWE... reports leak, not yet official, denied by WWE. Leveraging off Saudi works good for the WWE since they actually already do business with the Saudi's.

Certainly Saudi can still very much happen - probably the favourites as its the best for shareholder wise (not necessarily stakeholders though) But this is certainly a way to very quickly ramp up the discussion with US Based parties interested in the WWE.

 

[jncuse]

Hasn't happened yet. Although--Dave Meltzer said that Vince indeed had been negotiating w/the Saudis even while he was in exile.

While that sale would be a slamdunk for the McMahon family and Board, it raises a whole host of questions about WWE going forward. Would networks and advertisers be comfortable dealing with the Saudis? I mean, the LIV is paying for TV time. Would it mean that Vince's scandals would just 'go away' with the company being taken private again? Would Vince once again control creative (the answer to that one appears to be 'yes'.) Would telecasts include Saudi propoganda like the Peacock shows from Saudi Arabia?

I almost hope the sale goes through, just to see the turmoil that ensues.

WWE is going to be much harder for the networks to pass on then LIV. They are going to have some tough considerations. My prediction is they end up on less dominant networks but that are all still accessible to US viewers.

LIV was pretty easy to pass on -- no brand history, none of the more attractive events in golf (majors), poor ratings for regular PGA events for non major golf (much less LIV events) and lack of buy in from equipment manufacturers and corporate sponsors who drive advertising for regular PGA events.

WWE RAW, Smackdown, Network, PPV's are all attractive branded financial properties even if they take some morality hit. And even if RAW is really, really bad stuff even with some improvement under HHH.

WWE has a wider range of potential advertisers I think. They will not get a grand contract like before, because some parties and advertisers will certainly drop out, I just can't see every party moving away from WWE. So I think they will still get their 4 or 5 hours, may not be on network TV.

Taking morality out of the equation perhaps the Saudi's will finally stop the 3 hour RAW - which we know was financially driven -- and Saudi's do not appear to be as driven by return in their sports ventures. In wrestling sometimes less is more.

 

[Symphony Steve]

Ladeez And Gentlemen, Let The Lawsuits Commence!:

Vince McMahon's Return to WWE Helm Draws Investor Litigation (1)

WWE Inc. chief Vince McMahon—who returned to the company in early January after resigning amid a wave of sexual harassment allegations—is facing investor litigation over claims that he pushed aside the board to illegally install himself as chairman.

news.bloomberglaw.com

 

[jncuse]

Ladeez And Gentlemen, Let The Lawsuits Commence!:

Vince McMahon's Return to WWE Helm Draws Investor Litigation (1)

WWE Inc. chief Vince McMahon—who returned to the company in early January after resigning amid a wave of sexual harassment allegations—is facing investor litigation over claims that he pushed aside the board to illegally install himself as chairman.

news.bloomberglaw.com

I would love to see some new harassment lawsuits (that he is unable to settle out of court) come forward make it into the public eye before WWE goes private. Vince has been very careful, and lucky, that he has been able to settle these outside of the company.

That being said, I'm not a lawyer, but this lawsuit above seems bound to be tossed pretty quickly. Vince being involved at the board level for a potential sale is arguably in best interests of the company for shareholders as discussed in 3) below.

1) As a preparer of corporate 10-K documents in the past, my first thought was this is a basic risk factor that has to be accepted by a shareholder of WWE, or any company with a preferred share structure which gives dominant voting rights to prior owners before the go-public transaction.

If you own shares in the WWE, you have to know that Vince has the power to push his way to get many things done himself if he wants. And when he does you can't really whine about i.

2) Article states the following "According to the proposed class action, McMahon timed his return to seize control of upcoming negotiations over the company’s expiring media rights, the “lifeblood” of the business, and forced his way back by leveraging a threat to withhold support for any deal reached without his participation"

It is true that a media deal would typically only be approved by a board vote (and hence a shareholder who is not a board member would have no say). However, in this case the WWE was careful to disclose that Vince's return was to evaluate content agreements that are tied into analyzing potential share transactions (which shareholders do vote on). And given the prevalence of media / entertainment platform corporations outright buying companies that provided content, and the fact that some content deals are such a huge % of WWE revenue, I can't see any judge saying this was not a reasonable move by the WWE.

3) Finally there has to be damages. Hard to assert what damages have been caused by this as the potential sale has surged the stock price.

Also as noted above, worst thing for the company would have been making a large media content deal that is tied into a sale, and then having Vince turn down the sale agreement as the majority shareholder which he is fully entitled to do. Its in the best interests of shareholders for Vince to be part of this final transaction at the board level. (Just stay the hell away from creative and active operations please)

 

[Symphony Steve]

I would love to see some new harassment lawsuits (that he is unable to settle out of court) come forward make it into the public eye before WWE goes private. Vince has been very careful, and lucky, that he has been able to settle these outside of the company.

That being said, I'm not a lawyer, but this lawsuit above seems bound to be tossed pretty quickly. Vince being involved at the board level for a potential sale is arguably in best interests of the company for shareholders as discussed in 3) below.

1) As a preparer of corporate 10-K documents in the past, my first thought was this is a basic risk factor that has to be accepted by a shareholder of WWE, or any company with a preferred share structure which gives dominant voting rights to prior owners before the go-public transaction.

If you own shares in the WWE, you have to know that Vince has the power to push his way to get many things done himself if he wants. And when he does you can't really whine about i.

View attachment 224082


2) Article states the following "According to the proposed class action, McMahon timed his return to seize control of upcoming negotiations over the company’s expiring media rights, the “lifeblood” of the business, and forced his way back by leveraging a threat to withhold support for any deal reached without his participation"

It is true that a media deal would typically only be approved by a board vote (and hence a shareholder who is not a board member would have no say). However, in this case the WWE was careful to disclose that Vince's return was to evaluate content agreements that are tied into analyzing potential share transactions (which shareholders do vote on). And given the prevalence of media / entertainment platform corporations outright buying companies that provided content, and the fact that some content deals are such a huge % of WWE revenue, I can't see any judge saying this was not a reasonable move by the WWE.

3) Finally there has to be damages. Hard to assert what damages have been caused by this as the potential sale has surged the stock price.

Also as noted above, worst thing for the company would have been making a large media content deal that is tied into a sale, and then having Vince turn down the sale agreement as the majority shareholder which he is fully entitled to do. Its in the best interests of shareholders for Vince to be part of this final transaction at the board level. (Just stay the hell away from creative and active operations please)

Well, the Delaware Court Of Chancery is where Elon Musk met his Waterloo. It's pretty much considered the Gold Standard when it comes to corporate governance, and tends to look askance at the type of hijinx that Vince engages in. In other words, the WWE's not in Connecticut any more.

 

[jncuse]

One area where AEW is killing WWE is in entrance songs.

Interesting that they paid up for Carry On My Wayward Son and Wild Thing. And obviously Judas is major for them. Having recognizable songs that fans sing along to is always a plus. Recall that WAY back in the 80s, WWF would use Eye of The Tiger, The Bird, whatever Steamboat’s song was called, etc…

After they stopped doing that, they still did a great job making memorable themes that got the people going, for years.

Butd now? It’s really pretty horrible and has been for awhile. Last good one was probably Nakamura? Maybe they should consider paying for popular songs again? Because what they’re coming up with is awful.

After watching AEW tonight, got me back to thinking about this post.

I don't think it is the music per se. I think the crowd is just hotter and more connected to the wrestlers. Even if its smaller, and AEW has screwed things up, their connection to their niche audience is so strong.

Guys like MJF, Starks, Danielson music is nothing great. Or in the case MJF, he has made his song great through his character. But the crowd just pops for their song out of anticipation.

The WWE makes it worse because the entrances at times take so damn long for somebody that doesn't really get any pop.

As an aside Wild Thing does nothing for me. I don't think its the song that makes Jon Moxley - he could pretty much go with anything up tempo and fans will like it.

Obviously Judas is a difference makes for Jericho - but I see that as more of an isolated thing.

 

[jncuse]

Well, the Delaware Court Of Chancery is where Elon Musk met his Waterloo. It's pretty much considered the Gold Standard when it comes to corporate governance, and tends to look askance at the type of hijinx that Vince engages in. In other words, the WWE's not in Connecticut any more.

I think he will be fine on this one. While more often than not the modern day Vince seems to do the wrong thing rather than the right thing (be it in creative or in the office), I honestly don't think he did anything wrong here. He's the majority vote holder and that entitles him to many corporate powers and ability to control the board.

Technically he was never forced out of his position by the law or the SEC. He chose to resign his chairman powers as they thought it would be best for the company back in July -- we all hoped that meant he left in shame and would never come back. One big problem we have found out though in the past wek - Vince has no shame. So he is allowed to come back relatively easily due to his 81% voting power.

 

[Symphony Steve]

I think he will be fine on this one. While more often than not the modern day Vince seems to do the wrong thing rather than the right thing (be it in creative or in the office), I honestly don't think he did anything wrong here. He's the majority vote holder and that entitles him to many corporate powers.

Hey, man. I LIVE in Delaware. And I'm retired. Just want to mosey on down to the Courthouse should Vince show up in Wilmington. You know, to score some 'roids...

 

[jncuse]

I listened to a lot of year end podcasts recently. One of them mentioned a big story that literally everybody forgot about.

I had totally forgotten that Shane McMahon had come back to the WWE for about a week in early 2022 (to totally butcher the Men's Royal Rumble) and subsequently got fired shortly thereafter by his dad.

Hopefully the WWE can do better with the Rumble this year - it was terrible last year.

 

[jncuse]

Hey, man. I LIVE in Delaware. And I'm retired. Just want to mosey on down to the Courthouse should Vince show up in Wilmington. You know, to score some 'roids...

If your lucky maybe Vince will be meeting up with his good bud Donnie and they will both have trials that week.

 

[OrangeDW]

After watching AEW tonight, got me back to thinking about this post.

I don't think it is the music per se. I think the crowd is just hotter and more connected to the wrestlers. Even if its smaller, and AEW has screwed things up, their connection to their niche audience is so strong.

Guys like MJF, Starks, Danielson music is nothing great. Or in the case MJF, he has made his song great through his character. But the crowd just pops for their song out of anticipation.

The WWE makes it worse because the entrances at times take so damn long for somebody that doesn't really get any pop.

As an aside Wild Thing does nothing for me. I don't think its the song that makes Jon Moxley - he could pretty much go with anything up tempo and fans will like it.

Obviously Judas is a difference makes for Jericho - but I see that as more of an isolated thing.

I don’t care about Wild Thing as a song - but it’s recognizable and I think it works for Moxley’s entrance big time.

 

[jncuse]

Wrestling Media needs to stay in their lane. If they want to comment on Vince's terrible creative content, fine. His immoral behaviour in the past and recently, fine. They are better equipped than most to comment on that. And well Vince is bad in both those regards.

When it comes to corporate and financial reporting matters their overdramatics (which they use for wrestling matters as well) and interpretations have been an embarrassment throughout this process. I probably get upset about it because reporting was an area I was a professional in.

Take this recent tweet for example that has sent many in an uproar for no good reason. Wrestling Media dramatics at its finest. The WWE released an SEC 8-K filing this morning that announced they amended their bylaws so that as long as Vince holds the majority of voting shares he could vote solely on major shareholder matters (which would be acquisitions, mergers, sale of the company). Its purely procedural, they are entitled, and it sense since his vote accounts for 81% anyway. Why go through all the time and expense of processing a full shareholder vote ... which can take up to a month procedurally, when de facto whatever Vince thinks on shareholder votes is all that matters.

This really changes nothing. Vince had full control over major shareholder decisions since the company went public around 2000.

It may suggest though that once WWE has made a decision on a sale they want it to close as promptly as possible. Vince might like that as well though because less time for any new personal mishaps to come to the front.

 

[jncuse]

I don’t care about Wild Thing as a song - but it’s recognizable and I think it works for Moxley’s entrance big time.

I think Moxley as a character is so over (in the ring, promo's, generally strong creative) that basically any non-terrible song would get the crowd riled up when he comes in.

I think the other big issue in AEW vs WWE music, is guys in the mid-card that may not be fully over. Whether the songs are great or decent, for midcarders AEW will keep the entrances fairly short and sweet. The WWE will make the entrances long and take up a lot of time which serves no purpose other than filling content. Probably makes the song seem worse, when its really the time allocated to it that is the problem.

 

[orangenauburn]

Wrestling Media needs to stay in their lane. If they want to comment on Vince's terrible creative content, fine. His immoral behaviour in the past and recently, fine. They are better equipped than most to comment on that. And well Vince is bad in both those regards.

When it comes to corporate and financial reporting matters their overdramatics (which they use for wrestling matters as well) and interpretations have been an embarrassment throughout this process. I probably get upset about it because reporting was an area I was a professional in.

Take this recent tweet for example that has sent many in an uproar for no good reason. Wrestling Media dramatics at its finest. The WWE released an SEC 8-K filing this morning that announced they amended their bylaws so that as long as Vince holds the majority of voting shares he could vote solely on major shareholder matters (which would be acquisitions, mergers, sale of the company). Its purely procedural, they are entitled, and it sense since his vote accounts for 81% anyway. Why go through all the time and expense of processing a full shareholder vote ... which can take up to a month procedurally, when de facto whatever Vince thinks on shareholder votes is all that matters.

This really changes nothing. Vince had full control over major shareholder decisions since the company went public around 2000.

It may suggest though that once WWE has made a decision on a sale they want it to close as promptly as possible. Vince might like that as well though because less time for any new personal mishaps to come to the front.

Cornette and Last have been pretty on the money with regards to Vince and WWE stuff lately.

 

[jncuse]

Cornette and Last have been pretty on the money with regards to Vince and WWE stuff lately.

In terms of economics Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics is pretty reliable. Good at gathering business data and interpreting it.

In terms of reporting on WWE financial information he does a pretty good job as well even when he is not a professional in that area. Makes a few small errors at times perhaps but nothing major. Its clear he takes lots of times reading the WWE financials and other information WWE releases -- for example he was talking about Nick Khan's contract the other day (which is public info), but most wrestling media don't take time to read it and interpret it.

He has put in tons of homework to learn SEC financial data and documents and what they mean, so he can become a leader at the economics side of wrestling media.

I also listened to him the other day and he even admitted that its possible his business views on Vince could be biased a bit by the fact that he hates Vince's creative efforts. Fair on all fronts.

 

[jncuse]

The WWE spilled the beans on Cody coming back to the Royal Rumble last night, 2 weeks before the event RAW. I wonder if it would have been better having him come back as a surprise, even if everybody expected it.

Since they got Cody out of the way early, I wonder if they plan on having another big surprise entrant at the Rumble instead.

 

[jordville]

The WWE spilled the beans on Cody coming back to the Royal Rumble last night, 2 weeks before the event RAW. I wonder if it would have been better having him come back as a surprise, even if everybody expected it.

Since they got Cody out of the way early, I wonder if they plan on having another big surprise entrant at the Rumble instead.

Yeah.. I was a little surprised they announced it last night despite everyone expecting it. Big news drop ahead of the 30th Raw Anniversary. I'd guess they'll have another big surprise entrant for the Rumble.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Tuned in about 15 min late to watch the 30th anniversary RAW. How did it open? I saw the bloodline stuff

 

[jordville]

Tuned in about 15 min late to watch the 30th anniversary RAW. How did it open? I saw the bloodline stuff

Hulk Hogan (w/ a bad mic) and the Mouth of South came out on the stage first and opened the show. Then they did a highlight video package of Raws from the last 30 years. This was the video...

And then Bloodline.

 

[OrangeDW]

Hulk Hogan (w/ a bad mic) and the Mouth of South came out on the stage first and opened the show. Then they did a highlight video package of Raws from the last 30 years. This was the video...

And then Bloodline.

That “trial” and then the tag match were compelling. Had me sucked in.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Great DX segment with Angle. Always good to see those guys regardless how corny it gets.

 

[jncuse]

Their milking the bloodline story for all its worth, and it keeps delivering.

Watching the Street Profits and their usage seems like a waste. I was listening to a podcast last week and they proposed MVP setting up a new Hurt Business with Lashley and the Street Profits. I think it would be a good way to elevate Montez Ford as in a year or so he could turn on Lashley.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Their milking the bloodline story for all its worth, and it keeps delivering.

Watching the Street Profits and their usage seems like a waste. I was listening to a podcast last week and they proposed MVP setting up a new Hurt Business with Lashley and the Street Profits. I think it would be a good way to elevate Montez Ford as in a year or so he could turn on Lashley.

I wonder if those guys can dunk

 

[jncuse]

Another eventful week in business of WWE.

1. Another corporate shareholder lawsuit - like the other one I don't think it has much merit, but it certainly signals things could get messy if the sale process drags out for long.
2. Vince makes the news by settling another harassment based lawsuit, and WSJ reports that there are more to come
3, Employees released as the WWE starts to cut costs.

I find #2 and #3 interesting because it messages that the WWE is serious about selling. It also signals that PubCo's are still real players here as potential acquirees, which is good because Vince probably doesn't survive if WWE is bought and controlled by a new public company overlord. They wouldn't want his stink and he would not have any control.

When you put yourself for sale to another public company you want to settle as many liabilities (lawsuits and severances) pre-acquisition so they do not go on the balance sheet of the acquiree - so the new company does not need to take the expense hit after they buy you.

There is no need to settle liabilities like this for a private entity acquisition like the Saudi's where Vince probably could weasel his way into more day to day power.

So I guess I am trying to find a positive spin where Vince is potentially out. Of course all the options are still possibility.