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Vince McMahon Returns to WWE


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When all is said and done, I will not be surprised if WWE is sold to the Saudis. They would be the ones to outbid everyone else, they would be the ones to definitely keep Vince in charge, and they would be the ones to probably make a sale easier than any of the other bidders like NBC or Endeavor. And while I try not to be cynical, and I said this before, but I don't think any TV network is going to care that much who owns WWE as long as it continues to be business as usual. 

If you look at the fervor from the rumors late yesterday, it was mainly or only from nerds like us. Ultimately, it won't matter if the Saudis own WWE. There will still be a TV deal, women aren't going to have to cover themselves up, and people are still going to watch like they currently do.

From a "for the greater good" standpoint, we obviously don't want WWE to be sold to them and we want Vince out of the picture. I think for everyone else, it just doesn't matter that much.

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9 minutes ago, Infinit said:

How would a Saudi sale affect Sami Zayn and the women's division?

Probably not at all, unless Zayn wouldn't want to work for WWE anymore.

See: the Saudi PIF's purchase of Newcastle United. They didn't go in and Saudi-ize the place. Hell, they got blowback for making up jerseys in KSA flag colors and stood down (for now, at least). 

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1 minute ago, Infinit said:

How would a Saudi sale affect Sami Zayn and the women's division?

Like others have said, probably not at all, at least not in the sense that the Saudis will force Islamic fundamentalism into the WWE product. Obviously putting Vince back in charge will likely produce sub-optimal outcomes for both, but same as it ever was really.

The real problem is a portion of all money spent on WWE would directly fund all of the human rights atrocities carried out by Saudi Arabia (general women's rights issues, genocide in Yemen, etc). Though one could argue this was already occurring given WWE's political affiliations, this would be cutting out the middle man completely.

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1 hour ago, Craig H said:

When all is said and done, I will not be surprised if WWE is sold to the Saudis. They would be the ones to outbid everyone else, they would be the ones to definitely keep Vince in charge, and they would be the ones to probably make a sale easier than any of the other bidders like NBC or Endeavor. And while I try not to be cynical, and I said this before, but I don't think any TV network is going to care that much who owns WWE as long as it continues to be business as usual. 

I don’t think Vince sells to the Saudis unless he’s fairly confident his corporate partners will stick with him - particularly the tv partners.  Obviously, situations like this are volatile and Vince wouldn’t be the first CEO to misread the room, but, if there is a sale, I think most of the important pieces stay in place.  That said, it’s risky.  I think Vince is already feeling out corporate partners if he’s serious about the Saudis.

investors don’t seem concerned.  WWE stock price is down two cents (so basically even and up a fair bit from a week ago).

Hoping Vince appears on tV Friday.  Meltzer doesn’t think paying crowds will boo him.  I don’t either.

Edited by Doc Townsend
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3 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

In the end, Al Isaacs will scoop CNBC and the WSJ to reveal that Yokozuna will join the Hart Foundation next week on Raw

Good lord, not sure if that pull could have been any deeper.

Well done, sir!

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Vince McMahon’s Return to WWE Helm Draws Investor Litigation
 

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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.

A shareholder sued McMahon in Delaware’s Chancery Court, accusing him of wielding his 81% voting control to oust three board members, replace them with loyalists, and push through bylaw changes that would “impose his will on the board and WWE.”

A spokesperson for McMahon and WWE didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The dispute Tuesday comes about six months after McMahon stepped down as chairman and CEO in the face of allegations that he had paid $12 million over more than 15 years to keep a lid on sexual harassment accusations by women both within and outside the company.

McMahon’s recent moves have reinserted him as the head of a WWE royal family he spent decades leading, both behind the scenes and on screen. His daughter, Stephanie McMahon, who resigned as co-CEO and chairwoman Tuesday, is married to another top executive, former WWE champion Paul “Triple H” Levesque.

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.

But the move to “take complete personal control over any major corporate decision” by “adding his cronies to the board” violates Delaware law, the suit says.

Causes of Action: Section 141 of the Delaware General Corporation Law; breach of fiduciary duty.

Relief: Invalidation of the bylaw changes; costs and fees.

Potential Class Size: Thousands of holders of 43.3 million WWE shares, according to the complaint.

Attorneys: The investor leading the case, Scott Fellows, is represented by Labaton Sucharow LLP, Friedlander & Gorris PA, Friedman Oster & Tejtel PLLC, and Kaskela Law LLC.

The case is Fellows v McMahon, Del. Ch., No. 2023-0022, complaint filed 1/10/23.

Edited by Dolphman 3000
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Here's what I don't understand about all of this is - if Vince sells to the Saudi's, I think we would all be in agreement it's for money. I'll get into the Trump -> McMahons -> Saudi political stuff in a second, but if this is all for money then why the hell didn't Vince just stay home and collect his money? He has to be sitting on an absolute load of cash and this is a guy who is closer to his end than his beginning. This company since his fathers days has been a family ran and operated business, and now of all times you want to basically fuck your daughter and son in law out of their future? I'm by no means saying Triple H and Stephanie are hurting in life, but they (especially Stephanie) poured so much time and effort into this family venture only for their old man to say "sorry kids, fuck you - I'm selling to (insert whoever here)".

Someone earlier mentioned NBC Universal or Disney and how Vince selling to them would be seen as a "win" by having a major corporation want his company. That I can totally buy. But some of you might say "well yeah, but wouldn't he feel the same selling to an entire country" and to that I say, no, I wouldn't think so. I would think Vince cares more about the optics of WWE and how it'll look when he dies, and to that I can't imagine even him thinking selling to the Saudi's would be a good idea. 

As for the political implications potentially; again Vince is 77 years old. If he's selling to the Saudi's, we can basically assume he is saying screw you to every other branch of his family sans Linda - which in and of itself is weird seeing as how he had no problem running around with other women for the longest time but is willing to sell to a country like SA just for her to gain political leverage? Does Vince himself see this as a possibility to get into politics himself if Trump were to make another run (lol)? 

I have more questions than answers, but I just can't seem to understand Vince's endgame here. Is it about money or is it about legacy. At this point it seems to be about money, but why when you're (probably) not going to give any to your kids and could've just given them the family business? I am so intrigued to see what happens next, but whatever it is I hope it's not Saudi Arabia owning WWE. That would be arguably the darkest day in the history of our great sport.

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A side point is Vinces Mom just passed last year at 101. We've seen him recently looking kind of rough and assuming he's on the verge of hanging it up. I'm sure in his mind he isn't going anywhere for 25 years and wants to die at his desk. 

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9 minutes ago, Krone Meltzer said:

I have more questions than answers, but I just can't seem to understand Vince's endgame here. Is it about money or is it about legacy.

Money is his legacy. If WWE does end up going to the Saudis, it's because they wanted it and offered a lot more than a business or investor group could, because they can. Vince wants nothing more in life to say, "I took this stupid thing from the smokey barrooms to a 20 billion dollar sale." That's his endgame. Do that and die knowing you bent the world to your will. I guess that's the sort of thing that's important to him.

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3 minutes ago, JohnnyJ said:

A side point is Vinces Mom just passed last year at 101. We've seen him recently looking kind of rough and assuming he's on the verge of hanging it up. I'm sure in his mind he isn't going anywhere for 25 years and wants to die at his desk. 

I'd love to see a promotion run by an actually senile Vince. People talk about how he's already losing it, but what comes out of that is so boring on air. I want legit crazy-ass Vince's idea of pro wrestling television, not Austin Theory or whatever.

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15 minutes ago, Krone Meltzer said:

Here's what I don't understand about all of this is - if Vince sells to the Saudi's, I think we would all be in agreement it's for money. I'll get into the Trump -> McMahons -> Saudi political stuff in a second, but if this is all for money then why the hell didn't Vince just stay home and collect his money? He has to be sitting on an absolute load of cash and this is a guy who is closer to his end than his beginning.

Vince is at the level of wealth where money is not a thing you accumulate for security or to acquire stuff with. Money is now a high score like you're playing a game of Space Invaders. The more money he sells WWE for = the more successful he has been, and you can measure that success against other people who have cashed out. IMO, of course. 

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More Backstage Details on Rumors of WWE Sale to Saudi Arabia PIF, Talents’ Reactions to Rumors

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Numerous wrestlers, those who have recently returned to WWE since McMahon retired last July, and even top stars, who told Fightful that they would walk out of the company if they announced a sale to the Saudi PIF. Some also believe there would be significant pushback from the roster if McMahon returned to a creative role. Talents have also been checking in with Fightful daily regarding updates on if McMahon is pushing to return to a creative role behind the scenes.

Previously, while WWE was officially adamant that Triple H would remain as Chief Creative Officer, Fightful notes that there were rumors last night that he was moved to work in International Live Events. However, there has been no further verification since those rumors surfaced.

 

Edited by Dolphman 3000
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You're talking about Kerrmit, and his track record is pretty damn good. He's been leaking creative stuff hours to minutes before it happens for something like 5 years now I believe. But it's usually tiny stuff, like when the Cody videos started, he posted saying Cody would be on RAW that night.

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1 minute ago, Casey said:

You're talking about Kerrmit, and his track record is pretty damn good. He's been leaking creative stuff hours to minutes before it happens for something like 5 years now I believe. But it's usually tiny stuff, like when the Cody videos started, he posted saying Cody would be on RAW that night.

Right...How do people get from "he's leaked creative"  to believing he's plugged in at corporate?  They are different people. He's probably a writer or producer and they won't know shit about a sale. 

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