Recent news out of wrestling juggernaut WWE seems indistinguishable from HBO’s Succession. Amid allegations of misconduct, Vince McMahon — the company’s chairman, CEO, and occasional onscreen villain — retired last July, after which his daughter, former chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon, returned from a two-month leave of absence and was subsequently appointed chairwoman and co-CEO. On Tuesday, less than six months after this reshuffling, Stephanie resigned, making room for her father to be re-elected as executive chairman (a unanimous decision by the company’s board). By the end of the day, there were persistent rumors from those usually in the know that WWE had been sold to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
All of this begs the question: What the hell is going on?
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At press time, WWE doesn’t appear to have been sold — the process would be much lengthier than a mere couple of hours, since it would involve taking the company private — but it’s by no means out of the question. According to CNBC, WWE has hired banking giant JP Morgan to help advise on a potential sale. The company has a lucrative pre-existing deal with the Saudi Arabian government (two major Saudi-based shows each year, for ten years, through 2027) and some industry reporters also believe a deal has been agreed to in principle, with some fans speculating that the recent firing of wrestler Mandy Rose, owing to racy photos she posted on FanTime, may have been an indication of things to come. Others, however, report that WWE is still exploring its options.
Vulture reached out to WWE for comment on the potential Saudi deal and McMahon’s return but did not hear back.
A potential sale would undoubtedly impact American entertainment, with major studios having been in states of flux of late. The recently formed Time Warner Discovery, which has its own wrestling broadcasting deal with rival company AEW, has been at the center of several streaming controversies (mostly involving shuttered productions and properties being removed from HBO Max). Meanwhile Disney, which has a deal in place with Mexican wrestling promotion AAA (involving the creation of several Marvel-themed wrestlers, and even a Disney+ series), has nabbed an increased market share of global film and television in recent years. WWE would be a valuable live-broadcast addition to any portfolio, including the companies with which it has existing relationships. In 2021, WWE signed a contract to stream exclusively on NBCUniversal’s Peacock platform in the United States, and its flagship show, Monday Night Raw, airs on the NBC-owned USA Network. Meanwhile, its Friday night series SmackDown began airing live on Fox in 2019, but it was also revealed by Freddie Prinze Jr. — yes, the actor, though he has ties to WWE as a former member of its creative team — that Fox had even considered buying the company outright. If the Saudi sale turns out to be bogus (or if it’s real, but falls through), the company will likely have no dearth of major options.
WWE’s existing Saudi deal has been accused of helping the country whitewash its track record of human-rights abuses, between on-air commentary that reads like propaganda (“Welcome to the beautiful and progressive city of Jeddah!â€) and putting on a show just weeks after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A potential Saudi sale, should it unfold, would be the latest in the kingdom’s attempts to sportswash its image, after deals involving everything from Formula One, to horse racing, to golf, as part of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s “Vision 2030†plan to reduce the nation’s economic dependency on oil. It would also likely make one of America’s most-watched entertainment companies a more explicit propaganda arm, though regardless of national origin, any buyer could potentially upset WWE’s new creative balance of late.
After McMahon’s retirement in July, his son-in-law, Paul Levesque — formerly the wrestler Triple H — was promoted to chief content officer and filled in for McMahon on day-to-day creative decisions. Several stars had been upset with storylines of late (some to the point of walking out during live TV), but Levesque’s installment brought with it several renewed stories, an increased focus on viral marketing, the re-hiring of numerous wrestlers who’d been let go in recent months, and a general morale boost among talent. In Succession terms: Levesque may be a McMahon-in-law, by virtue of his marriage to the boss’s daughter, but he’s no Tom Wambsgans. He and wife Stephanie are believed to be well-liked backstage, and the latter’s departure already appears to have caused unhappiness behind the scenes. So, any threats to Levesque’s new creative control would also likely be looked upon unkindly by talent. No decision seems too ruthless for McMahon, who — in a particularly Logan Roy move — ousted his own son from the company last year over creative disagreements.
One prominent example that has fans worried, in light of recent rumors, is Canadian wrestler Sami Zayn, whose recent storyline antics as the goofy, adopted brother of Samoan family the Bloodline (led by current WWE Champion Roman Reigns) have seen his popularity skyrocket. However, Zayn was reportedly barred from performing at all of WWE’s eight Saudi events thus far because of his Syrian ethnicity. Some have similarly speculated that WWE’s women’s division — which has increased in onscreen prominence as well, to the point of headlining the company’s flagship event WrestleMania in 2019 — might also take a back seat, considering Saudi’s track record against women’s rights, and its barring of female performers at WWE’s initial Saudi shows (women were slowly introduced on the programs starting in 2019).
Creatively speaking, a Saudi sale would be a darkest-timeline scenario, and while there’s currently little to suggest that a deal is anywhere near final, when there’s this much smoke, there’s usually at least a little bit of fire. Or, in the words of Succession’s Cousin Greg: “If it is to be said, so it is.â€