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

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

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.

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."

Shareholder Plaintiffs In Merger Lawsuit Accuse Vince McMahon, Paul Levesque, And Nick Khan Of Destroying Evidence

The latest update in the WWE shareholder lawsuit.

According to Brandon Thurston of POST Wrestling, the plaintiffs are accusing Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, and Brad Blum of destruction of relevant evidence, including Signal messages and McMahon’s handwritten notes, regarding the WWE merger that led to the formation of TKO.

They are asking the Delaware Chancery Court to sanction the defendants: Vince, Khan, and Triple H. Stephanie and Blum are not defendants in the lawsuit.

According to the filing, all five, “failed to preserve communications despite multiple notices from WWE’s legal team to do so.”

The filing alleges that Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, and Khan met with Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel and President Mark Shapiro on December 13, 2022, just weeks before McMahon exercised his controlling interest in WWE and returned to the company. Upon returning, Vince immediately pushed to explore a sale or merger.

Khan is characterized as “spearheading” communications on Signal, which allows users to auto-delete messages on a timer. It is also alleged that Khan deleted conventional text messages, which plaintiffs say, based on context, included merger discussions and the investigation of alleged misconduct by McMahon.

The lawsuit, which was filed in 2023, alleges that 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.

Unsealed documents show that Vince and Emanuel were in communication throughout the summer of 2022

The lawsuit is currently scheduled to go to trial in June 2026.

source: fightful.com

Endeavor Executives Anticipated Vince McMahon’s 2023 WWE Return

The executives were plotting for McMahon’s return.

There’s an exclusive story up on POST Wrestling via Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics. It has to do with Vince McMahon’s return to WWE in January 2023 being anticipated by executives at Endeavor, which is the company that went on to acquire WWE in 2023. McMahon was a part of that transaction process.

When Vince McMahon announced his resignation/retirement from WWE in 2022 after sexual misconduct allegations emerged, a top executive at Endeavor had been relaying to colleagues on the same day that McMahon would only be gone temporarily.

After McMahon’s resignation, Endeavor President and TKO Chief Operating Officer, Mark Shapiro, sent the following message to Endeavor and TKO CEO Ari Emanuel and fellow Endeavor execs (POST Wrestling included photographic evidence of the text messages):

Nick and Stephanie are going to take over the WWE for the next nine months. Vince [will] be back with a new board or he will take the company private or he will sell it/coming to us. The race is on. The courtship is on.

Vince McMahon was back in the fold of WWE less than six months later. He was back on the Board of Directors after reinstating himself by using his superior voting power as the controlling shareholder.

The text message from Shapiro was disclosed in the WWE shareholder lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court. The plaintiffs in that case allege that McMahon violated his legal and ethical obligation to act in the best interests of the shareholders, but instead of doing that, he helped move along the sale process to keep his own power.

There was communication between McMahon and Ari Emanuel throughout the backend of 2022.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are presenting the stance that McMahon and Emanuel had a friendship that would make sure McMahon stayed with WWE after the sale to Endeavor. On the other side of the spectrum, other potential suitors would have required Vince to leave WWE immediately. Vince denied that.

WWE President Nick Khan, Chief Content Officer Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque, and former executives/Board members George Barrios and Michelle Wilson are being represented by TKO’s outside counsel. They’re being accused of being on board with McMahon’s plan to preserve his power. McMahon has separate counsel.

POST/Thurston reached out to WWE, TKO, and Vince McMahon’s reps for a comment on this story, but the requests were not responded to.

As mentioned, while McMahon was publicly retired, he had been in communication with Ari Emanuel. While they were exchanging messages, Emanuel told McMahon, “I will be your greatest partner.”

It was also revealed that several days after that August 2022 exchange, Emanuel texted McMahon and said he knew that McMahon met with Jeff Sine the day prior. Sine is a senior banker at Raine Group, who served as WWE’s financial advisor in the sale to Endeavor. Included on Sine’s extensive advisory résumé is that he advised Vince McMahon on his XFL revival.

Sine chatted with McMahon and said if things were to move forward, he would like to work for McMahon and McMahon only — not Ari Emanuel or Endeavor. He told McMahon that Morgan Stanley was not prepared to represent him.

The iteration of the deal that left Endeavor with less equity was the one that would lock in McMahon’s future with the company. The shareholders are positioning the situation as other bidders would have insisted that McMahon leave WWE, but WWE’s stance is that they did not have to give up anything to assure McMahon’s future. Endeavor gave WWE more equity to keep McMahon, which asserted his importance.

The article write-up has a section about Vince McMahon texting Nick Khan about WWE creative, per the court filings. Below is a text exchange from McMahon that he copied and pasted and sent to Khan. In the copy and pasted texts was a conversation McMahon was having with Paul Levesque and Bruce Prichard about the creative for Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes’ Undisputed WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 39:

Text from me to Paul and Bruce: “Hey guys just double checking. Does Roman [Reigns] and Cody [Rhodes] know the new creative re [WrestleMania] and next year ?”

Bruce : “Not to my knowledge. I don’t know if Paul has had a conversation with either. Roman’s first appearance since we spoke is Friday in DC. Both will be there in person.”

Me to Paul: “ Paul have U “?

The shareholders in the lawsuit are not concerned with McMahon’s involvement in WWE creative, but are focused on these discussions amongst executives being relegated to the Signal chat app, which has an auto-delete function. The shareholders argue that key communications were not preserved on Signal, which would be a loophole of sorts to get around special preservation measures during mergers and acquisitions. If the messages weren’t properly maintained, it could factor into the outcome of the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs asked the court to order Nick Khan, Ari Emanuel, Paul Levesque, and Brad Blum (former WWE exec/McMahon aide) to sit down with attorneys and take screenshots of any relevant messages they have on the devices on which Signal was downloaded. The decision on that order is still pending.

The lawsuit is nearing the end of discovery.

After the TKO deal was finalized in September 2023, it secured multimillion-dollar bonuses for Nick Khan and Paul Levesque. The shareholders allege that those bonuses are what encouraged executives to go through with McMahon’s plan to keep his power.

The WWE and UFC merger under TKO guaranteed McMahon a lifetime role with TKO unless he resigned. He resigned in January 2024 after former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a sex trafficking lawsuit against McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis. The former WWE exec, Laurinaitis, has since been dropped from the ongoing suit after agreeing to provide evidence for Grant’s case.

If the plaintiffs in the shareholders’ suit emerge victorious, they could recover financial damages on behalf of stockholders and financial institutions that held WWE shares during the specified period of time.

The merger lawsuit is going to trial in June 2026.

source: fightful.com

TKO President Mark Shapiro: A Lot Of Our WWE PLEs Were Created By Vince McMahon, We Need To Get In The Business Of Taking That Torch & Moving Past That

TKO head is enjoying the progression.

The latest episode of The Main Event with Andrew Marchand featured a sit-down chat with TKO President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Shapiro.

While the conversational focus was on WWE, Shapiro spoke about how the company’s Chief Content Officer, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque, and President Nick Khan are moving things forward.

He added that a lot of WWE Premium Live Event titles were created by former Chairman Vince McMahon. Shapiro said they needed to take the torch and move past that, so Levesque and Khan introduced the Wrestlepalooza PLE. Shapiro said securing the I.P. to Wrestlepalooza to sell event merchandise was a success.

“And yet, they’re open to new ideas. They never seem exhausted. They’re ready to take on a new shot, a new risk, a new opportunity. ‘Hey, Nick, let’s talk about launching a new event.’ Right now, a lot of our PLEs were created by Vince McMahon. We need to get in the business of taking that torch and moving past that, and Nick (Khan) and Triple H created Wrestlepalooza, which is the launch event for our new ESPN deal, which did incredibly well and may turn into a superfranchise. Not to mention from a merch standpoint, I don’t need to tell you, securing the I.P. rights and then selling merch at Wrestlepalooza, let’s just say it was a real winner…”

The first-ever Wrestlepalooza event was produced under the ECW banner in 1995.

The next Premium Live Event on the docket for WWE is Survivor Series: WarGames on November 29th from Petco Park in San Diego, California.

credit The Main Event with Andrew Marchand with an H/T to Fightful for the transcription

TKO COO Mark Shapiro: Triple H Is Amazing On Creative Storylines

Triple H has been running WWE creative for the better part of three years as the company sets a new gate record seemingly every month.

In January, WWE Raw premiered on Netflix, marking a new era for the company as the flagship program was off cable TV for the first time ever.

Speaking at the JP Morgan Annual Global Technology, Media, and Communications Conference, TKO COO Mark Shapiro highlighted Triple H and Netflix are growth factors for WWE.

"There are two x-factors when you look at WWE. Netflix, this is the greatest marketing platform you could ever ask for. Their pre-roll is one of the strongest tools. If you're clicking on that icon, you're getting a trailer. The (other) x-factor is the creative power we have behind the brand. Paul Levesque [Triple H] lives and breathes; his whole life has been spent in WWE. He's amazing on the creative storylines. Just when you think you know where he's going, he turns left, like the heel John Cena became and then the champion," said Shapiro. Cena turned heel at WWE Elimination Chamber and won the Undisputed WWE Title from Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41.

Elsewhere during the conference, Shapiro commented on WWE: Unreal. You can find his full comments by clicking here.

credit JP Morgan Annual Global Technology, Media, and Communications Conference Fightful for the transcription.

Mark Shapiro Praises Triple H, Nick Khan As ‘Experts In Storytelling’

TKO President Mark Shapiro praised WWE executives Triple H, Nick Khan as among those in the company who are “experts in storytelling” and creating rivalries. Shapiro spoke on the TKO Q3 financial results call and was asked why there haven’t been a lot of challenges with talent leaving the WWE and UFC. He answered by praising the executives in both companies at creating stars and memorable rivalries, noting talent wants to be there.

“The reason why you don’t hear about it a lot, and we say this in all modesty, you don’t hear about it because of the work of Paul Levesque, Dana White, Nick Khan, and Lawrence Epstein,” Shapiro said (per Fightful). “That’s just the fact of the matter. They are experts in storytelling. Period. They are experts in creating rivalries, period. They are experts, like David Stern was, in building and marketing stars. When your platforms, your businesses, your leagues become known for that, talent aspires to be with those leagues. We haven’t had those challenges as of late because, frankly, the talent wants to get to the UFC and WWE level.”

He continued, “We don’t take that for granted. We’re not arrogant about it, and we want to incentivize all of our fighters at UFC and all of our superstars at WWE to put out their best every day and aim for the top of the mountain. We’re prudent about it and we want to keep those costs under control. As long as we do our job of continuing with that storytelling, continuing to build our fanbase, continuing to surround ourselves with the right partners, then talent will gravitate towards the UFC and WWE.”

TKO announced their financial results on Wednesday with revenue of $681.2 million, a net income of $57.7 million, and adjusted EBITDA 1 of $310.0 million.