Vince McMahon Returns to WWE

[Craig H]

BTW, the cynical side of me says that enough years have gone by since MBS had Jamal Khashoggi turned into a jigsaw puzzle that no one but us will give a shit that Vince sold the company to the Saudis. I understand with something like LIV being a flop that you could argue against that, but as casual golf fan, LIV seemed poorly organized and run. You can't say the same about WWE. They won't have any more trouble than they would have had securing a new TV rights deal. I wish I could say otherwise, but unless the Saudi government butchers someone else in the next week, this won't matter.

Hell, look at people on this board who joked about calling those Saudi shows Blood Money and still fucking watch WWE anyway. It's all a joke and meaningless words on a screen.

I think the biggest concern comes from the very real prospect that this is a way for Vince to solidify his power and ensure that no one can boot him from creative or running WWE until he's dead. He got the deal Dixie was looking for where she wouldn't sell to so and so because they wouldn't keep her in charge. I feel bad for the workers, fans, writers, and people on the production crew who got to enjoy what felt like months of stability for the first time in years. I don't feel bad for anyone else who went back to WWE thinking Vince would stay gone. I just don't see how people could be that naive to think he wouldn't worm his way back at some point.

The other sad part to this is something plenty of us have talked about for a long while and that's how you could very well have a 3rd national touring company based on the amount of talent not locked down to WWE or AEW and they'd be a decent enough draw, but the perfect storm that willed AEW into existence probably won't happen again for a long, long, long time. You see people, not on here but elsewhere, talk about how Hunter with $100 million could start his own company. You need that $100 million just to get it off the ground. You'd need another 1/2 a billion to prove to a network that you're viable and aren't going anywhere, not to mention you'd need that in backup money to keep the lights on until you can run a profit. But the one thing that the recent shows in Seattle and Portland reminded me of is that those areas are as hot as a wrestling town as Chicago. Whenever WWE wouild run out there those crowds would be lit. You could have WWE based out of Stamford, while AEW's run out of Jacksonville you could argue that their home base is in Chicago, and a third company could claim the Pacific Northwest as their home. Three different companies, each offering their own unique take on wrestling, touring around the company, broadcasting on separate nights. It would be fucking rad. I just don't see that ever happening, especially now.

[The Great ML]

44 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

If I'm a wrestler exploring free agency, I would at least wait about six months before I sign a long-term WWE contract. Especially Jay White until Vince’s wake.

FTFY.

[Cobra Commander]

9 minutes ago, Eivion said:

He works the shows, but gives the money to charities. 

which is a pretty solid approach considering that charity is an obligation in their religion

[Dolphman 3000]

So besides the women either disappearing from TV entirely or being forced into bodysuits, does WWE going private again mean they drop TV-PG in favor of more mature content?

[Casey]

Saudi Arabia won't remove the women's division. That goes against everything they're trying to accomplish with their propaganda of being more progressive.

They also won't force them to wear bodysuits while they're competing in non-Arabic countries.

I don't like this any more than anyone else, but come on.

Edited January 11, 2023 by Casey

[piranesi]

Meltzer better not go to any 3rd sites with anyone in the company now.

[hammerva]

Yeah I seriously doubt they are going to enforce clothing standards or wrestling policies for women when a show is in Chicago for example.    

Edited January 11, 2023 by hammerva

[matt925]

Where did this report originate? “Saudi Arabia” is #4 trend on Twitter with a tag for wrestling, but it looks like it’s mainly showing newz sites. I’d imagine this would be massive news. 

[Cobra Commander]

would be weirdly brilliant if the Saudi rumors was a diversion to make virtually any alternate owner seem acceptable

[Dog]

19 minutes ago, matt925 said:

Where did this report originate? “Saudi Arabia” is #4 trend on Twitter with a tag for wrestling, but it looks like it’s mainly showing newz sites. I’d imagine this would be massive news. 

A couple of the lesser newz sites say they have "sources" that something's been agreed to in principle. That's all so far.

[Elsalvajeloco]

42 minutes ago, Dog said:

A couple of the lesser newz sites say they have "sources" that something's been agreed to in principle. That's all so far.

Gonna call into the Observer hotline tomorrow.

[TheVileOne]

1 hour ago, matt925 said:

Where did this report originate? “Saudi Arabia” is #4 trend on Twitter with a tag for wrestling, but it looks like it’s mainly showing newz sites. I’d imagine this would be massive news. 

Bodyslam.net and I think Steve Muelhausen with DAZN.

[Elsalvajeloco]

2 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

Bodyslam.net and I think Steve Muelhausen with DAZN.

[piranesi]

Then.

Now.

fuck it.

 

 

[Dolphman 3000]

If you look at Bodyslam.net's past exclusives, they have heavy ties to Colby Corino - so I'm guessing they're getting confirmation from Steve Corino via Colby

[piranesi]

All that talk all those years about lineage and family and history and the uniqueness of it and the generations that would carry it on.

And in the end the fucker just sold it to a rich Saudi. 

[piranesi]

Bought out by a richer man too  

real B+ player in the end. 

[The Natural]

42 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

Fucking hell. To sell to the Saudis.

As Gordon Gekko would say:

Absence of morality.

[Kang]

https://www.esquireme.com/sports/saudi-arabia-has-bought-wwe-report

Reminds me of when 96 percent of SNK was sold to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment fund.

[LoneWolf&Subs]

I’m stunned it wasn’t any of the networks, or Disney. Can’t wait for the return of Andre The Giant & Yokozuna.

But in all seriousness… I'm guessing why Stephanie, and probably an undisclosed person turned on Vince like that to reveal his infidelities was to initially prevent something like this from happening a year ago. And the fact this was done in a week of his return tells me Vince had this deal in the pipeline for a long time it was just delayed by his ousting.

Edited January 11, 2023 by LoneWolf&Subs

[The Natural]

Vince and Stephanie McMahon trending 12th on Twitter.

[Thunder Down Under]

1 hour ago, Red King said:

https://www.esquireme.com/sports/saudi-arabia-has-bought-wwe-report

Reminds me of when 96 percent of SNK was sold to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment fund.

Still seems very light on details and confirmation. The blatant SEO tags added also don’t lend much credibility to the report. Also extremely questionable that wrestling journos who were scooped on the initial Vince news (both departure and return), would now be plugged in enough to be able to break news on a company sale. Outside of a very select few (and even then somewhat unlikely), it’s highly unlikely any of the boys would have any working knowledge of the deal and possibly the last to know.

[zendragon]

5 hours ago, Craig H said:

BTW, the cynical side of me says that enough years have gone by since MBS had Jamal Khashoggi turned into a jigsaw puzzle that no one but us will give a shit that Vince sold the company to the Saudis. I understand with something like LIV being a flop that you could argue against that, but as casual golf fan, LIV seemed poorly organized and run. You can't say the same about WWE. They won't have any more trouble than they would have had securing a new TV rights deal. I wish I could say otherwise, but unless the Saudi government butchers someone else in the next week, this won't matter.

Hell, look at people on this board who joked about calling those Saudi shows Blood Money and still fucking watch WWE anyway. It's all a joke and meaningless words on a screen.

I think the biggest concern comes from the very real prospect that this is a way for Vince to solidify his power and ensure that no one can boot him from creative or running WWE until he's dead. He got the deal Dixie was looking for where she wouldn't sell to so and so because they wouldn't keep her in charge. I feel bad for the workers, fans, writers, and people on the production crew who got to enjoy what felt like months of stability for the first time in years. I don't feel bad for anyone else who went back to WWE thinking Vince would stay gone. I just don't see how people could be that naive to think he wouldn't worm his way back at some point.

The other sad part to this is something plenty of us have talked about for a long while and that's how you could very well have a 3rd national touring company based on the amount of talent not locked down to WWE or AEW and they'd be a decent enough draw, but the perfect storm that willed AEW into existence probably won't happen again for a long, long, long time. You see people, not on here but elsewhere, talk about how Hunter with $100 million could start his own company. You need that $100 million just to get it off the ground. You'd need another 1/2 a billion to prove to a network that you're viable and aren't going anywhere, not to mention you'd need that in backup money to keep the lights on until you can run a profit. But the one thing that the recent shows in Seattle and Portland reminded me of is that those areas are as hot as a wrestling town as Chicago. Whenever WWE wouild run out there those crowds would be lit. You could have WWE based out of Stamford, while AEW's run out of Jacksonville you could argue that their home base is in Chicago, and a third company could claim the Pacific Northwest as their home. Three different companies, each offering their own unique take on wrestling, touring around the company, broadcasting on separate nights. It would be fucking rad. I just don't see that ever happening, especially now.

It's too bad Impact could never get out of its own way, that early SpikeTV run where Christian et al came in seems like a lost opportunity 

[LoneWolf&Subs]

Wait, wasn’t Shane booked like a star on one of those Saudi shows? Oh shit, here comes the money.

[hammerva]

35 minutes ago, LoneWolf&Subs said:

Wait, wasn’t Shane booked like a star on one of those Saudi shows? Oh shit, here comes the money.

I mean when has Shane not been booked like a star.  Hell the last time we saw him he was booked to be one of the final four in the Royal Rumble and almost needed Brock Lesnar to shoot clothesline him to get him out of the ring he was so full of himself.

I wonder if the betting odds on Theory (he will probably lose his first name again soon) being in the WM main event picture has dramatically improved.