Following Stephanie McMahon’s resignation as Chairwoman and Co-CEO of WWE, Vince McMahon was named Executive Chairman of the Board, and Nick Khan was named CEO.
There have been rumors of a WWE sale, with WWE agreeing to sell in principle to the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. WWE has not publicly announced this and it is only rumored for the time being.
McMahon returned to the WWE Board of Directors last week, along with George Barrios and Michelle Wilson, to help negotiate new TV deals for Raw and SmackDown and to look into a possible company sale.
Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio mentioned Vince began talks with Saudi Arabia after resigning from the company. This possibility has been discussed for some time.
“The one thing we do know about this story is that ever since was ousted, he did open up talks with the Saudis. So this didn’t come in the last week and his coming back was obviously to close a deal that perhaps the people who are running the company for all the reasons we’re talking about probably felt very uneasy about the deal closing because they’re perhaps looking out for the long-term [future] of the company and their own a**es too as well. That’s another layer.”
Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp has provided some updates via Fightful Select and Twitter.
People on the writing and production teams have not been informed of the sale. Regardless of Vince’s return to power, there has been widespread concern among staff and talent about the future.
This morning, Sean Ross Sapp said, “there have been multiple wrestlers who have told me they’d leave WWE if the company ends up being Saudi Arabia-led.”
Meltzer also confirmed on Wrestling Observer Radio that there is a lot of uncertainty in the company for talent.
There have been multiple wrestlers who have told me they'd leave WWE if the company ends up being Saudi Arabia-led.
I'll have more on https://t.co/jy8u4a8usI today, as well as List & Ya Boy at 3 PM EST.
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) January 11, 2023
