Vince McMahon and Nick Khan sanctioned by judge in WWE merger lawsuit, heightening their burden to prevail at trial

In a new ruling in the WWE merger lawsuit, in which the shareholders challenge the Endeavor deal that created TKO, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster found that Vince McMahon and WWE President Nick Khan destroyed evidence. As a consequence, the court will treat five damaging facts as presumptively true when the case goes to trial next month.

Laster, who presides over the case in the Delaware Court of Chancery, issued the 41-page opinion following an earlier hearing on May 13 about the related motion. The judge found that McMahon, Khan, as well as three others — WWE Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque and former WWE executives Stephanie McMahon and Brad Blum — all used Signal’s auto-delete function, which wiped out messages they had a legal duty to preserve. Signal is an encrypted messaging app that allows users to set messages to automatically disappear after a chosen period of time: hours, days, or not at all.

The ruling is a significant setback for the defendants, who are Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, Paul Levesque, George Barrios, and Michelle Wilson. The case will now be harder, specifically for McMahon and Khan, to prevail against the shareholder plaintiffs’ allegations.

While Laster noted that the defendants still have the opportunity to plead their case and overcome the presumptions, the five facts that will be presumed true at trial are central to the plaintiffs’ theory that McMahon steered the WWE merger deal to his longtime friend, Endeavor chief executive Ari Emanuel — now TKO’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman — not because it was the best deal for shareholders, but because Emanuel offered McMahon something no other bidder would: a continued position with WWE despite the scandal surrounding him, and help with federal investigations into his alleged sexual misconduct. The defendants have denied the central allegations of the case.

Laster listed the five presumed facts as follows:

Emanuel’s promise to provide Vince with a continued role at any post-merger company after a transaction influenced Vince’s decision-making with respect to the merger. Emanuel’s offer of indemnification and other legal support related to pending federal investigations of Vince’s alleged misconduct influenced Vince’s decision-making with respect to the merger. Vince decided to pursue a transaction with Endeavor in 2022, before the Company initiated the strategic review process. Khan communicated with Emanuel between August and December 2022 to facilitate a transaction between WWE and Endeavor. Vince and Khan worked with [advisement firm] Raine to steer the process toward a deal with Endeavor and away from other potential bidders. In addition to those five, the plaintiffs had requested two other facts to be presumed, which Laster did not grant. Those were:

McMahon received a non-ratable benefit from the Merger in the form of a continued role at TKO Group Holdings, Inc. Nick Khan knew about McMahon’s negotiations with Endeavor concerning a potential Merger in 2022. In most civil lawsuits, the party making the accusations has to prove its claims. The burden is now on the defendants to disprove these five facts. The defendants now must disprove these claims by “clear and convincing evidence,” a higher standard than by a “preponderance of the evidence,” had Laster not ordered these sanctions.

The ruling does not determine whether McMahon, Khan, or the other defendants will be found liable. Laster will ultimately make that decision at some point after the trial, scheduled to take place from June 8 to 12.

Read the full opinion:

Emanuel’s indemnification offer to Vince A voice message sent by Emanuel to McMahon has been disclosed as evidence in the case, in which Emanuel mentions indemnifying McMahon and providing him with support related to the federal investigations into his conduct. Emanuel, in his deposition testimony, has denied that McMahon was ultimately indemnified. Nonetheless, the voice memo also alludes to Emanuel’s connections with top law firm Latham & Watkins — the same firm defending the non-McMahon defendants, Khan, Levesque, George Barrios, and Michelle Wilson in this case — and how those attorneys’ connections to the U.S. Department of Justice could help relieve the legal and potential criminal pressure McMahon was under. Though he has not been charged with any crimes, ultimately, a joint order from the parties filed this week indicates McMahon was under investigation for potential violations of various financial and securities statutes as well as multiple criminal laws against sex trafficking.

Emanuel is transcribed to have said to McMahon:

“I spoke to my lawyer from Latham. Just FYI. Everybody at the DOJ is former Latham lawyers so on that side will be helpful. SEC of course is SEC, but that’s just a penalty. As it relates to everything else, yes we can indemnify you and we will. If it’s criminal of course you can’t stop criminal, but this is not criminal. Call me when you get a chance.”

This reporter has filed a notice asking for the release of the audio of the voice memo itself, among other sealed materials. WWE has moved to keep that audio and other material sealed. The issue is currently pending a decision from the judge.

Executives set auto-delete settings coinciding with key events in the case Laster’s written opinion detailed a timeline supporting his determination that McMahon and Khan acted recklessly. WWE’s legal department had issued formal hold notices instructing key executives to preserve their communications in anticipation of litigation over the misconduct allegations and the sale process. McMahon and Khan, however, allowed their Signal messages to be deleted anyway.

While records of the text of the chats themselves are lost, records remain showing when and how key people changed their auto-delete settings in Signal.

The judge pointed out the conspicuous timing of when these settings were adjusted by Khan and Blum, including right after federal prosecutors sent WWE a request for information about McMahon’s alleged misconduct on August 5, 2022.

“That same day, Khan manually changed the auto-delete setting for a Signal chat with Vince to delete messages after one hour,” Laster wrote in the opinion, emphasizing it in italics. “The preceding day, Blum had manually changed the auto-delete setting for a Signal chat with Vince to delete messages after one hour.”

Laster also highlighted the August 10, 2022, lunch McMahon had with Emanuel. That was just weeks after McMahon announced his retirement from WWE following the revelation of the allegations against him. Khan and Stephanie McMahon joined them for the occasion, at which they discussed a potential WWE-Endeavor deal, the judge wrote.

“That same day, Stephanie manually changed the auto-delete setting for a Signal chat with Vince to delete messages after one hour,” Laster wrote, again using italics. Messages were set to be lost despite the legal hold notice executives received on June 21, 2022.

Laster’s narrative continued, pointing out that Blum, a longtime WWE executive and aide to McMahon, adjusted his Signal auto-delete settings as well:

“Eleven days later, on August 21, 2022, [Raine Group banker Jeff] Sine met with Vince and reviewed a version of the Project Stunner presentation. On August 22, Emanuel texted Vince to say, ‘I know you met with Jeff Sine yesterday.’ That same day, Blum manually changed the auto-delete setting for a Signal chat with Vince to delete messages after eight hours.”

Blum changed his auto-delete settings again on December 31, 2022, the same day that McMahon insisted to the WWE board of directors that he would return to the company, undoing his earlier resignation. McMahon told the board that its position — which had rejected his proposal to return as Executive Chairman — was unacceptable, and that he would not support any strategic transaction without direct involvement from the outset.

The opinion also summarized specific actions taken by Khan.

On November 21, 2022, McMahon called Jeff Sine — a banker who had facilitated many Endeavor deals previously but who sided with McMahon in the TKO deal. On that day, McMahon also agreed to reimburse WWE for the costs of the board’s internal investigation into his conduct. Also on that date, Khan changed his auto-delete settings multiple times for his Signal messages with McMahon before settling on an auto-delete timing of one hour.

“On January 3, 2023, the Board reiterated that it would not be in the Company’s best interests for Vince to return to the Company because of pending government investigations. Vince called Emanuel three times that day,” Laster wrote, adding with emphasis: “That same day, Khan manually changed the auto-delete setting for a Signal chat with Vince to delete any messages after three hours.”

Khan changed more auto-delete settings two days later, on January 5, 2023, the day that McMahon executed his return to the WWE board, by way of his majority voting power in the company.

With McMahon back as Executive Chairman, the board held a special meeting on January 12, 2023, to discuss selling WWE. The next day, McMahon signed a settlement agreement regarding sexual misconduct claims. On that day, January 13, Laster noted, McMahon himself changed auto-delete settings for Signal chats with each of Khan and Levesque.

Part of McMahon’s own deposition testimony did not help him on this issue.

“I was always told about the Signal, and it’s good for business because no one can trace you and so forth,” McMahon testified in the deposition late last year. “It’s kind of like [the email platform] Proton. You can’t find out much about the call or the text.”

At one point in February 2023, as we’ve reported earlier, McMahon raised an issue about WWE’s creative plans for WrestleMania that year, communicating with Khan over conventional text message. Khan sent McMahon a reply that simply stated, “Langis.”

McMahon replied, “What in the blue hell is ‘Langis’ lol.”

Khan instructed him, “Read it backwards!”

Langis backwards is “Signal,” but Khan claimed in his deposition that he had “no idea” why he had written that to McMahon.

When McMahon was asked about “Langis” in his deposition, he said he didn’t know what the word meant and that he would need to “take my pencil out” to figure it out.

Laster characterized their testimony on the matter as “notably strained.”

WWE and McMahon did not respond to separate requests to provide comments for this report.

The presumed facts are tied to McMahon and Khan The sanctions Laster ordered are particular to the WWE founder and current WWE President. The judge was careful to note that the presumed facts are tied to those two individuals’ conduct and motivations and not to those of the remaining defendants, Levesque, Barrios, and Wilson.

Laster was sure to point out that McMahon and Khan are still free to build their defense in an effort to meet their new, heightened burden. source: postwrestling.com

Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, Paul Levesque To Testify In WWE Shareholders Lawsuit

Vince McMahon, Ari Emanuel, Nick Khan, and Triple H are set to testify in the upcoming trial for the lawsuit related to WWE’s merger. As previously reported, WWE shareholders filed a lawsuit against WWE in November 2023 over the TKO merger. The lawsuit alleges that WWE’s investigation into former Chairman McMahon was a “sham,” and that McMahon manipulated the sale process to Endeavor for his benefit.

According to POST Wrestling’s Brandon Thurston, the four executives are among those set to testify as witnesses in the trial.

Mark Shapiro is also among the list of witnesses, which includes many other names as revealed in a pre-trial order. Stephanie McMahon is listed among the names the plaintiffs may call, either live or by deposition.

The trial is set to kick off on on June 8th in the Delaware Court of Chancery and claims that McMahon set up the deal with Endeavor for them to acquire WWE and merge into TKO in order to ensure that he would remain with WWE. This was after he was accused of sexual misconduct in summer of 2022. McMahon retired from the company in the wake of the allegations, but forced his way back onto the Board of Directors in order to facilitate the sale of WWE.

McMahon of course eventually exited WWE and TKO just after he was sued by Janel Grant over allegations by Grant that he sexually abused, assaulted, and trafficked her. That lawsuit is ongoing.

The report by Thurston notes that plaintiffs and defendants plan to call McMahon and Emanuel as live witnesses in the courtroom. McMahon has separate legal representation from the rest of the defendants which include Khan, Triple H, George Barrios, and Michelle Wilson. WWE and TKO are not direct parties to the lawsuit, through they are believed likely to be funding the legal bills for the defendants beyond McMahon.

The full list of names who are intended to be called to testify are:

Plaintiffs Intend To Call Live:
* Vince McMahon
* Ari Emanuel
* Mark Shapiro
* Jeffrey Sine, Raine banker
* Frank Riddick, then-WWE Chief Financial Officer and board member
* Andrew Schleimer, TKO CFO and then-UFC CFO
* Brendan Houlihan, expert witness
* James Canessa, expert witness


Plaintiffs May Call Live Or By Deposition:
* Jeffrey Speed, then-WWE board member
* Stephanie McMahon
* Marty Patterson, Liberty Media President & CEO
* Steve Pamon, then-WWE board member


Defendants Intend To Call Live (Several Also Pppear Plaintiffs’ List):
* George Barrios, then-WWE board member and former WWE executive
* Brad Blum, former WWE executive
* Ari Emanuel
* Daniel Lee, Moelis Managing Director (an advisor in the process)
* Paul Finger, JP Morgan Managing Director (advisor)
* Nick Khan
* Steve Koonin, TKO board member, then-WWE board member
* Triple H
* Vince McMahon
* Frank Riddick
* Andrew Schleimer
* Mark Shapiro
* Jeffrey Sine
* Michelle Wilson, then-WWE board member and former WWE executive
* Mark Zhu, TKO Chief Strategy Officer and then-Endeavor executive
* Doug Perlman, expert witness
* Professor Steven Salaga, expert witness
* Professor David C. Smith, expert witness
* Matthew Archer, shareholder plaintiff
* Dennis Palkon, shareholder plaintiff

John Cena reveals historic WWE event with fan voting

During Saturday night's WWE Backlash event in Tampa, pro wrestling legend John Cena made a historic announcement about a brand-new event he's sponsoring.

The John Cena Classic will pit the best WWE wrestlers against the best NXT wrestlers, per Cena, in a battle of present and future. Cena said he'll be heavily involved in the new event and added that the new event will have a unique twist. WWE fans will get to vote on who gets crowned champion of the John Cena Classic.

That last bit drew roars from the crowd, who will now get to play a huge role in determining a WWE champion. Cena even revealed that the John Cena Classic champion doesn't even need to win their match to be crowned champion; he said the audience would determine which wrestler they deemed most worthy for their effort in the ring.

WWE stars are being asked to take up to 50% pay cuts amidst ludicrous corporate greed

The weeks following WrestleMania are traditionally a time that WWE retools its roster for the upcoming year and beyond. Despite there not being a true “offseason” in professional wrestling, like any sport the time between WrestleMania and SummerSlam is when new talent is pushed up the card, old faces are scaled back, and unfortunately some wrestlers are released all together.

That indeed happened, with WWE releasing upwards of 20 wrestlers in last week, but on the tail of that news something entirely different has emerged: Corporate greed.

Reports emerged this week that there were superstars inside the company who weren’t subject to the yearly releases, but instead given ultimatums to either re-work their contracts and accept pay cuts of up to 50% or be let go. This occurred with both Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, both of whom decided to leave the company, rather than reduce their rate. Veteran wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer is also reporting that there are some inside WWE who accepted the ultimatum and signed new, reduced contracts as a result of the strong-arm tactics.

It’s certainly not usual to see pay scales change over time in professional wrestling, moving both up and down as a result of a wrestler’s position inside the company, but it is unheard of that talent has been asked to take massive pay reductions while under contract in an effort to push them into lower-paying roles. Especially when pay at the TKO executive level (WWE’s parent company) has exploded to double, and even triple their multi-million dollar salaries.

Amid reports some WWE talent were asked to take pay cuts by as much as 50%, how are some top TKO & WWE executives compensated YOY (determined by TKO Board comp committee)? 2025 vs. 2024: Ari Emanuel: +272%, $18M➡️$67M Mark Shapiro: +33%, $32M➡️$43M Nick Khan: +304%, $6M➡️$24M

This is not a case of cutting pay because the business is changing, or that wrestling revenue is down, but rather the end-game of making payroll as cheap as possible, following the UFC model of grossly underpaying talent. The core difference is that MMA fighters are allowed to pursue and sign their own independent sponsorship deals to bolster their earnings, which WWE wrestlers cannot.

On the contrary, TKO is in a great place financially right now thanks to long-term media rights deals being cemented in the last two years, providing unprecedented wealth and stability.

In this model the only people who gain are predictably at the executive level. It’s also yet another example of the need to address the biggest taboo inside professional wrestling locker rooms: Unionization. The current structure, most notably in WWE, but used by other companies too, is to file talent as “independent contractors,” which is a phony designation designed for focused contract work on a project, not to replace being a full-time employee, as wrestlers often are. This model has allowed WWE to skirt around providing benefits, and adhering to federal employee protections. The fear of unionization has traditionally been the immense power wielded by both Vince and Linda McMahon through their political and judicial relationships, but those no longer exist in a TKO world.

Corporations will always try to get as much out of workers for as little as possible in order to keep stock prices high and executives wealthy — that’s a feature of capitalism, not a bug. However, when wrestlers are given ultimatums to take massive pay cuts or lose their jobs for no discernible reason, then something has to give. Unionization is the path forward, and hopefully, these discussions are happening amongst talent.

source: sports.yahoo.com

The Miz: Triple H Has To Think Five Steps Ahead. No One Gives Him Credit For That

The Miz praises Triple H.

WWE Unreal has taken fans behind the scenes of the WWE production as fans can see what goes into putting every event and story together. While some have criticized the series for going too far behind the scenes, The Miz loves it.

“A lot of the old timers don’t like Unreal. I love it. I love it because it allows people to appreciate exactly how hard we work to make sure it looks seamless and easy, but you guys don’t understand exactly what’s going on behind the scenes. Unreal can only give you so much. You really don’t know too much about it, but I feel like the fans now have an appreciation for the job of a WWE superstar and what that entials. Not just the job of a WWE superstar, but our production as a whole. As Triple H, the person behind everything. Triple H has to think five steps ahead of everyone, and no one gives him credit for that. They don’t understand how hard that seat is. They just throw stuff at him. ‘Why didn’t this happen? Why couldn’t they do this?’ There are domino effects that you guys don’t understand. Even me, when I’m doing my stuff and I’m involved and going, ‘Why can’t we do this?’ I will get the answer of, ‘If we do this, XYZ will fall apart. Do you have something else?'” Miz said on Not Sam with Sam Roberts.

Nick Khan Backs Paul Levesque, Addresses Criticism During TKO Town Hall

From a financial standpoint, WWE appears to be as strong as ever, continuing to break gate records, draw strong ratings, high revenues, and record profits. But over the last year, fan reception towards WWE has become more and more critical, with many taking issue with storylines such as John Cena's 2025 heel turn, Cena's subsequent retirement tour, and the inclusion of Pat McAfee into Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton feud in the lead up to WrestleMania 42.

But despite the hardships, one WWE executive is doing his best to give a vote of confidence for the increasingly embattled WWE chief content officer, Paul Levesque. POST Wrestling reports that a WWE/TKO town hall with staff was called on Monday, with WWE President Nick Khan giving Levesque his seal of approval. Those who attended the town hall say that Khan declared Levesque would continue in his role as head of creative, though it wasn't clarified whether this was just Khan voicing his support, or a sign that Levesque had agreed to a new WWE/TKO contract.

Levesque wasn't the only aspect of WWE that Khan was defending, as TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro asked Khan about the online criticism WWE had been receiving. Khan proceeded to characterize the criticism WWE was receiving as coming from a "vocal minority," specifically when it came to citing the contrast in reactions between WrestleMania 42's two nights, with Night Two being received more positively than Night One.

To further hammer his point home, Khan read out multiple messages criticizing WWE back in 2015, when Vince McMahon was still in charge of the company. While unconfirmed, it's believed that Khan used those past messages in an attempt to paint past criticisms of the WWE product as historically unreliable. No word was provided on how TKO executives reacted to Khan's defense.

New Details on WWE Talent Releases, Including Who Made the Call

How and why the decision was made to cut two dozen wrestlers from WWE main roster and NXT this past Friday night.

Friday, April 24 was an extremely difficult night for WWE employees and fans alike as the company executed a number of post-WrestleMania talent cuts.

This has unfortunately become an annual occurrence, to the point that many in the locker room were speculating that the releases would take place all week long, according to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select.

Former WWE Women's Champion Nikki Cross was the first to announce her departure, doing so on her X account at 5:21 p.m. ET. She made her announcement roughly 20 minutes after the company began informing two dozen wrestlers that they were being released or that their contracts were not going to be renewed.

Not long after Cross hit publish on her post, it was public knowledge that all of the Wyatt Sicks would be leaving the company, along with Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, Kairi Sane, Motor City Machine Guns and a bevy of others.

When diving into the how and why these cuts were made, Sean Ross Sapp noted that while there has been a great deal of chatter about TKO making the calls for them, the final decisions were made at the WWE level.

WWE President, Chief Content Officer and talent relations department made the tough calls of cutting talent "Triple H, Nick Khan and WWE talent relations were ultimately the primary decision makers," Ross Sapp said in his report Sunday night. "WWE sources indicated that majority of releases were to make way for new talent, and the possibility of SmackDown reducing to two hours in the near future."

The insiders at BodySlam did report earlier in the day on Sunday that SmackDown would be moving back to two hours within the next few weeks, a call that was apparently made by the USA Network.

A disproportionate number of SmackDown stars were released when compared to those in the Raw locker room who will soon be hitting free agency. Both brands, however, were hit with an infusion of NXT talent this week, including Ethan Page, Sol Ruca, Joe Hendry, Fatal Influence, Blake Monroe and Ricky Saints.

A number of releases at the NXT level were reportedly made with a new recruit class expected at the Performance Center in Orlando in the very near future.

Some of the releases were a bit more surprising than the others. Santos Escobar, for example. WWE re-signed him to a big-money deal just this past year and then never used him on the main roster. He made several appearances for AAA before suffering an injury that required surgery, and Escobar is expected to be sidelined for several more months.

"This used to be against the company's policy, but has happened a number of times in recent years," Ross Sapp said of injured talent being released. "Karl Anderson, BJ Ray and Ridge Holland were all released or not extended while they were awaiting clearance."

Zoey Stark is another talent who has been out injured. She tore her ACL and MCL in a Money in the Bank Qualifying Match last May, but sources told Fightful Select that she was recently cleared to return to the ring. She'll be good to go wherever she chooses once her right of termination and requisite notice is up in 90 days.

One talent who is expected to garner heavy interest on the free agent market is Kairi Sane. The multi-time Women's Tag Team Champion was among the more shocking company departures, considering she's been a key figure in the ongoing rivalry between IYO SKY and Asuka on Monday Night Raw.

"There was heavy frustration to her being cut before any real payoff to the story was made," Ross Sapp said in his report.

Kairi Sane has received a significant amount of support on social media from both her friends and the WWE Universe. The hashtag "WeWantKairi" has been trending on X for much of the weekend.

source: si.com

23 WWE Wrestlers Cut in Massive Shakeup

Inside WWE’s latest mass releases: why 23 superstars were let go, how it impacts Raw, SmackDown, and NXT, and what’s next for the fired wrestlers.

In the days following WrestleMania 42, WWE made a sweeping round of roster cuts, releasing more than 20 superstars across its main roster and NXT brands in a move that has quickly reshaped the company’s landscape.

According to CBS News, among the most notable names are Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, and Kairi Sane—all of whom had active roles on television heading into WrestleMania season. Vega confirmed her departure during a Twitch stream, while additional releases were reported shortly after.

Black’s exit stands out in particular. The former upper-midcard fixture had built momentum in recent months, picking up wins over high-profile opponents, including Sami Zayn and Randy Orton.

His return to WWE just one year ago, following a run outside the company, had positioned him as a potential breakout name—but that trajectory appears to have ended abruptly.

Vega, his real-life partner, was also a consistent presence on SmackDown.

Elsewhere, Sane’s departure halts her involvement in a long-running storyline tied to Damage CTRL, alongside Asuka, Iyo Sky, and Bayley. The group had also been featured prominently on WWE programming.

Several members tied to the Wyatt Sicks faction—including Bo Dallas, Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy, Dexter Lumis, and Erick Rowan—were also let go. The group, introduced in 2024 as a tribute to the late Bray Wyatt, had recently wrapped a feud after losing a multi-man street fight.

Cross addressed her departure publicly, writing, “Goodbye and thank you, WWE… I’m really excited for whatever my next chapter will hold,” while also acknowledging the coaches and performers who shaped her career.

The cuts extend beyond those names, with additional talent including Apollo Crews, Santos Escobar, and Zoey Stark others reportedly parting ways with the company.

The scale of the releases reflects a familiar pattern for WWE, which often reevaluates its roster following WrestleMania, its biggest annual event.

Testimony From Mark Shapiro Contradicts Public Comments And SEC Filing Regarding Vince McMahon And TKO

Mark Shapiro was deposed in December as part of the ongoing shareholders’ lawsuit against WWE, which claims that Vince McMahon predetermined the transaction with Endeavor to secure his continued role at the company in light of the sexual misconduct scandal surrounding him, rather than shopping WWE to maximize shareholder value.

In his deposition, Shapiro was asked if he viewed McMahon remaining in the Executive Chair role as a necessary condition for the success of the combined company.

The following exchange took place (via Brandon Thurston of POST Wrestling):

“You personally didn’t view Vince being in the executive chair role as a necessary condition for the future success of the combined company; right?” an attorney for the plaintiffs asked Shapiro.

“Correct, especially with all the baggage,” Shapiro said.

“But at the end of the day, Vince is [sic] remaining with the company was a Vince goal, not an Endeavor goal; right?” the examining attorney followed up.

“Wasn’t a goal of ours, no, no, it was not,” Shapiro responded.

This testimony contradicts public comments made by Ari Emanuel, Shapiro’s partner at TKO.

Speaking to CNBC on April 3, 2023, when the WWE merger to form TKO was first announced, Emanuel said about keeping Vince, “I would have body-slammed him if he [Vince McMahon] thought he was going to leave, because as I said to you before, here’s a man who has seen around the corners at every beat over the last 40 years of this business and has a vision for where this business, way before a lot of people see it. Him now being able to utilize what we have built in our flywheel, I’m the luckiest guy in the world, because I got Vince McMahon, a visionary, that sees around corners.”

He reiterated his desire to keep Vince on when asked outright if he wanted Vince to stay.

“Oh my god yes,” replied Emanuel. Vince then confirmed that he wanted to stay. Emanuel also said that he wouldn’t let Vince walk away.

Shapiro’s testimony also contradicts an SEC filing regarding the merger, which stated that the proposal was increased on the condition that McMahon would serve as the Executive Chairman of TKO.

“Endeavor had conditioned the proposed increase in valuation upon Mr. McMahon serving as Executive Chair of the newly formed public company until his death, resignation or incapacity, having the right to nominate the five WWE representatives to serve among the 11 total directors on the newly formed public company board of directors and having a veto right over certain transactions, in each case until he sold down a to-be-agreed percentage of his equity or he no longer served as Executive Chair. The WWE advisors discussed with the WWE Board that Endeavor had stated that these governance changes were fundamental to Endeavor’s thesis for pursuing the potential transaction in light of, among other things, Endeavor’s belief that Mr. McMahon’s continued leadership as contemplated by the March 23 Endeavor Proposal would be critical to the value creation driving Endeavor’s desire to engage in the Potential Transaction.”

The merger lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in June.

Ric Flair Explains Ban From WrestleMania, Tried To Fight Ludwig Kaiser

Ric Flair has gone off on Ludwig Kaiser, alleging that his altercation with the WWE star led to him being banned from attending WrestleMania.

In his appearance on "The Ariel Helwani Show," Flair revealed that he argued with Kaiser, following the drama that unfolded during the storyline between Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair last year.

"I didn't get invited to WrestleMania this year. I threatened to beat up Tiffany Stratton's husband last year. I wasn't allowed to go. A 24-year-old kid [Kaiser's 35] being threatened by a 76-year-old man, and I can't go to WrestleMania. Are you kidding me? That English kid [Kaiser's German], he's going to go as far in wrestling as a net. He'll be a fly in the wall in a year," Flair began angrily. "Well, they had that thing, you know, where Tiffany's made a smart remark about Ashley's [Charlotte] divorces, which we both know she's not smart enough to have written. Somebody gave her a script and then he implied that — you know I'm just going based on social media once again, which there's a lot [of misinformation] — that he was implying that he wouldn't bum one off Ashley, and I went, 'Okay, I need your number.' I got it — which I can get anybody's number I want any minute of any day — and I called him. I said, 'When I see you, I'm going to beat the sh*t out of you.' So, he went like a little bi*ch [and] told Hunter, and I wasn't allowed to go."

Flair angrily stated that Kaiser will not go far in the pro wrestling business, and seemingly didn't know his whereabouts — despite him currently portraying the El Grande Americano character with great success in AAA — even questioning whether he is part of the WWE roster.

"Is he even on the roster?" asked Flair, with Helwani responding that he's currently in Mexico. "I'm sure he is. I hope he stays [in Mexico]."

"The Nature Boy" stated that he doesn't get the respect he deserves, asserting that WWE should roll out the red carpet for him for his impact on the pro wrestling business.

Mark Shapiro Claims TKO Has Full Creative Control Over WWE

Mark Shapiro clarified TKO had total control over WWE creative while answering criticism of celebrity involvement on the road to WrestleMania 42. 

Shapiro, TKO's Chief Operating Officer, visited the University of Alabama ahead of the "Show of Shows" last weekend. 

During which, he was asked by one student about the reception to TKO's perceived involvement in creative, with the likes of Pat McAfee, Jelly Roll, IShowSpeed, and influencer turned WWE Superstar, Logan Paul, so involved with the build to and then eventually the event. 

"First of all, [TKO] has complete control. So we're responsible," Shapiro clarified, continuing to defend the product that has been distributed thus far. "What I will tell you is WWE is growing every way," he said. "It's really exploded... As far as the stars part of it, I don't think that's true."

Shapiro pointed to the trajectory of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson from WWE into Hollywood, and justified that stars moving the other way is not new to the industry, it's just being done at a grander scale. 

"Having Hollywood tie-ins and celebs and stars; Logan Paul, and Pat McAfee, and Mark Wahlberg shows up and does his thing, or Tyrese Haliburton... That's not new, it's just on a larger stage. We're spending a lot more money to market the brand, market the content. And when you do that you're gonna win some folks over, but you're also going to chase some folks away."

Wahlberg was conspicuous considering the fact that he is a name to have been involved in anything recent with WWE. His last significant role saw him open WrestleMania 38 as "The Most Stupendous Two-Night WrestleMania in History."

Stephanie McMahon at the WWE HOF