The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) — the world’s largest pro-wrestling promotion — witnessed the end of an era yesterday with Vince McMahon losing a majority stake in the company.
Endeavor completed its majority-stake acquisition of WWE on Tuesday, uniting WWE and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) — the world’s largest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion — to form TKO Group Holdings.
Endeavor now owns 51% of the new company while McMahon owns 16.4% of TKO. Since 1982, McMahon has controlled WWE after buying it from his father. The 78-year-old made the regional business into a national business after taking over. Over time, WWE became an international phenomenon.
Regarding this massive development, Endeavor CEO Ariel Emanuel stated:
The creation of TKO marks an exciting new chapter for UFC and WWE as leaders in global sports and entertainment. Given their continued connectivity to the Endeavor network, we are confident in our ability to accelerate their respective growth and unlock long-term sustainable value for shareholders. With UFC and WWE under one roof, we will provide unrivaled experiences for more than a billion passionate fans worldwide.
WWE is a highly storyline-driven company that consists of numerous characters. The acquisition has opened up the discussion regarding the creative direction and possible crossovers between WWE and UFC. For now, there are no reported changes in WWE’s creative and talent management teams.