Is WWE Currently Involved In Talks To Sell? - July 26, 2022

Perhaps one of the most shocking aspects, at least initially, in the aftermath of Vince McMahon’s retirement and the appointment of Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and Nick Khan into top WWE management positions, is the rise of WWE’s stock. The price rose several percentage points for WWE on Monday, which was largely seen by analysts as a sign that shareholders expected WWE to soon be sold.

This begs the question; is WWE being sold and if so, who will they be sold to? In regards to the first question, the answer appears to be no, at least for now. In a story by CNBC that was published earlier on Tuesday, sources told the outlet that WWE wasn’t engaged in sale talks at this time.

In the same report, however, CNBC noted that McMahon’s retirement could perhaps lead to offers coming in, including one that may ultimately be too good for current WWE management to resist. Potential conglomerates/corporations that were listed by CNBC as potential buyers were Disney, Warner Brothers Discovery (which currently airs WWE’s rival company, AEW, on TNT and TBS), Paramount Global, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and CNBC’s parent company, Comcast.

Even before McMahon retired last Friday, speculation of WWE being sold has emerged here and there, with rumors beginning following mass releases of talent from the promotion in June 2021. In January, Khan revealed WWE had taken calls about a potential sale but also stated they were not looking to sell at the time. No WWE higher-up has commented on a potential sale since McMahon’s retirement.

In the meantime, WWE looks to continue with business as mostly usual, with Triple H as the new head of creative and EVP of Talent Relations, while Stephanie and Khan will serve as co-CEOs of the company. The first show under the new regime occurred last night when “WWE Monday Night Raw” aired from Madison Square Garden in New York, while the first Premium Live Event, SummerSlam, will occur this Sunday.

(WrestlingINC)

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AEW Dynamite tops one million viewers for TBS debut

The show featured Page vs. Danielson II, the TBS tournament finals, and more.

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BY PAUL FONTAINE

AEW Dynamite's TBS debut averaged 1,010,000 viewers on Wednesday night, up 3.6 percent from the final episode on TNT. It’s just the second time since October 6 that the show has topped one million viewers.

In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite drew a 0.43 rating, up 16.2 percent from last week. That’s the show's best number in the demo since September 29.

This is also the first week that Dynamite aired live on the West Coast since October 6.

Dynamite finished second on the cable charts in 18-49, trailing only an NBA game on ESPN that averaged 1.7 million viewers and drew a 0.53 in 18-49.

The show was up in every age group with the exception of people over 50. In that category, Dynamite was down 2.8 percent from the previous week.

The biggest increase, by far, was in the 18-34 age group, where the week-to-week jump was 79 percent.

The show also increased more with women than with men. In the 18-49 age group, women were up 20 percent and men were up 10 percent. In 12-34, the difference was even more dramatic. Females in that demo doubled last week's number, while males were up 45 percent.

As compared to this week last year, when Dynamite aired head-to-head with NXT New Year's Evil and also against news coverage of the United States Capitol insurrection, Dynamite was up 52.6 percent in overall viewers and up 72 percent in the demo.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo numbers for Dynamite. The debut show on TBS was up 8.7 percent in viewers and up 22.9 percent in 18-49 from the 10-week averages prior to this week.

*click here for full article

(Wrestling Observer / Fgure Four Online)

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As noted, the controversy surrounding Tony Khan and Big Swole was a hot topic this weekend. It began with an episode of Big Swole’s “Swole World” show that aired on Call-In. During the episode, the former AEW star pointed to a lack of diversity in the top spots of the company as one of the leading factors in her departure in 2021.

Tony Khan responded in a single tweet, pointed to how other people of color have succeeded in AEW, and then said he let Swole’s contract expire because her wrestling wasn’t good enough.

“The top 2 @AEW execs are brown (me & Megha)!! Jade, Bowens, Caster, Dante, Nyla, Isiah & Marq Quen all won on tv this month. The TBS Title Tournament has been very diverse. I let Swole’s contract expire as I felt her wrestling wasn’t good enough. #AEWRampage Street Fight TONIGHT!,” he wrote.

Swole continued to retweet posts throughout the day yesterday, but it wasn’t until this morning that she finally posted a tweet of her own. In it, she implored the wrestling community to listen intently to her podcast because she believes her words are being misunderstood.

“It’s Sunday, take time to actually listen to the podcast instead of reading headlines and excerpts. Understand diversity isn’t just a statistic, counting us/POC isn’t the mindset,” she writes. “Not one time did I ever mention anyone as racist. Comprehension is key.”

One AEW star that quickly reacted to the situation in frustration was Lio Rush, who demanded that Tony Khan apologize for his statement to Big Swole. But since that transpired, it looks as though Rush had a heart-to-heart with Tony Khan and has more optimism toward their process.

“I want this to be clear… I do not consider this to be a diversity issue, and I at no point have thought or said that AEW or Tony is racist,” Lio Rush writes. “We can all clearly see that wrestling as a whole and the AEW roster is perpetually diverse. The issue at hand was a racial insensitivity issue.

“Having spoken to Tony and Megah, we have discussed the endeavors to further understand the struggles of the black community. I am grateful to be able to understand more about Tony and Megah’s own ethnic backgrounds and glad that they are actively seeking input from an African American perspective. I am proud to work for a boss and company that try to make these strides in social equality,” Rush continues. “I look forward to working with Tony to keep making steps towards positive change. I pray that 2022 is a year of positive change in all aspects. Happy New Year and GOD BLESS. #BeTheChange”

Other AEW stars like Powerhouse Hobbs, Jade Cargill, & Shawn Dean also made statements concerning this ordeal. You can see their various statements at this link.

You can see the full tweets below:

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(WrestlingINC)