WWE rises as Wolfe Research upgrades, citing increased importance of Paul 'Triple H' Levesque

WWE shares rose on Thursday as investment firm Wolfe Research upgraded the sports entertainment company, citing the increased role of Paul "Triple H" Levesque to the company's creative direction.

Analyst Peter Supino raised the firm's rating on WWE to outperform from peer perform, noting that Vince McMahon's "sudden departure" resulted in a "cloud of uncertainty," touching corporate and creative leadership and whether he would sell the company. Now, the stock does not reflect any acquisition premium, the C-suite seems "aligned" and with Levesque as the company's newly named chief content officer, WWE's creative direction "is in the hands of the best person to turn around ratings & morale," Supino wrote.

WWE shares rose 2% to $67.85 in premarket trading.

In addition, the analyst noted there is a "tangible organic growth opportunity" as WWE's TV rights deal expires in 2025. "Relative to WWE's last distribution rights renewals, we see greater demand from native streamers for sports, and more bidders," the analyst explained.

There is also the possibility that WWE is acquired, with next year seen as the most likely time frame for a deal, Supino added.

Earlier this month, WWE raised the pay for Levesque and its new C-suite leadership in the wake of former chief Vince McMahon's exit.

Analysts have been mixed on WWE. It had an average rating of HOLD from Seeking Alpha authors, while Wall Street analysts rate it a BUY. Conversely, Seeking Alpha's quant system, which consistently beats the market, rates WWE a HOLD.

source: seeking alpha

Shawn Michaels Promoted To WWE Senior Vice President Of Talent Development Creative

CBSSports.com reports that Shawn Michaels is the latest member of WWE to receive promotion, officially being given the title Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative.

In his role, it is said that Shawn Michaels "will continue to oversee creative in NXT, as well as being in charge of the development of talent in WWE's developmental brand" and he will also "oversee the expansion of the NXT brand, including the expansion of NXT UK into NXT Europe, which is planned to launch in 2023."

This new title comes after an August press release announcing the launch of NXT Europe had him listed as "vice president of talent development creative."

Paul Levesque's Updated Corporate Bio

Paul “Triple H” Levesque is the Chief Content Officer of WWE, a publicly traded (NYSE: WWE) global media company. 

As Chief Content Officer, Levesque oversees the Company’s Creative Writing, Talent Relations, Live Events, Talent Development and Creative Services departments. 

Prior to his current role, Levesque was WWE’s Executive Vice President, Talent Relations where he was responsible for WWE’s Talent Relations and Talent Development departments and served as a senior advisor on talent strategy. Throughout his tenure, Levesque has revolutionized the business with his global recruiting strategy and developmental training processes. In order to create a platform for future success, he architected the company’s NIL recruitment program and established the Company’s state-of-the-art training facility, the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. In addition to strength, conditioning, in-ring training and character development, recruits participate in development programs focusing on life skills, continuing education, health and wellness and career planning. Building off this success, Levesque remains focused on the development and implementation of WWE’s Performance Center/Global Localization strategy. 

Levesque debuted as a WWE Superstar, “Triple H,” in 1995 and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019. He has held the WWE Heavyweight Championship title 14 times, captured every major championship, headlined thousands of WWE events and entertained millions around the world. Levesque is married to Stephanie McMahon and together in 2014 they established Connor’s Cure, a fund dedicated to furthering pediatric cancer research. He was inducted into the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Alumni Hall of Fame in 2017 and is a board member for the Concussion Legacy Foundation. He has served on both WWE’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors since 2015. 

He is a father of three daughters ages 16, 14 and 12.

WWE promotes Levesque and Riddick, boosts pay for post-Vince McMahon leaders

WWE is making further tweaks to its leadership group in the wake of former chief Vince McMahon's exit.

In an SEC filing, the company notes that following McMahon's resignation of all company positions on July 22, his roles have been spread among four executives: Chairwoman/co-CEO Stephanie McMahon;  Co-CEO Nick Khan; Chief Financial Officer/Chief Administrative Officer Frank Riddick III; and Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque.

In further changes, Friday the company elevated Riddick to president of the company (though he'll retain his role as chief financial officer).

WWE also decided to enhance compensation of the four due to the additional duties. Base salaries are increasing: Stephanie McMahon to $1.35M from $730,000; Khan to $1.35M from $1.2M; Riddik to $950,000 from $850,000; and Levesque to $900,000 from $730,000.

Meanwhile, Stephanie McMahon and Levesque will continue to receive guaranteed minimums under their booking agreements, of $750,000 and $1M respectively.

The foursome also saw expectations set for annual target bonuses, future annual equity grants, and special equity grants. They also received severance protection in the event of a change in control of WWE.

Triple H Shares The Advice Vince McMahon Gave Him For Running WWE Upon His Retirement

Triple H gets to pick the flavor of ice cream now.

Ariel Helwani sat down with Triple H for BT Sport ahead of WWE Clash At The Castle and the pair discussed Vince McMahon’s retirement signaling a changing of the guard. Helwani asked if Vince wrote a note like an outgoing President would, or if he did anything else to pass the baton, and Triple H shared some of the advice Vince gave him upon his departure.

“He did. Look, I think in some manner for both of us, it’s a tough situation for him. In some manner — it’s even hard for me to picture now that he’s not in the equation. And he’s not, in any way, shape or form, but it’s hard to think about that he’s not there. And I think in that moment, hard for him to think about somebody coming in and doing what he’s done for 50 years or whatever, successfully, better than anybody in the world. So yeah, there was definitely that moment of giving me advice, but I think also in some manner,” he explained, “most of that advice was centered around ‘this is what you’ve been sitting next to me learning how to do for 25 years’ or whatever that [time] is… ‘You got this.’ [He said] just be confident in your decision-making, listen to people, be open to ideas and collaborate with other people, things like that that were just wonderful advice.

“And the truth is he’s my father-in-law. He’s not involved in the day-to-day business, but if I had to say to him, ‘Man, I find this difficult to deal with,’ he would give me some overall advice of just ‘listen to people, work with the team, do these things.’ He’s just a wealth of knowledge and the thing is in our positions now — myself, Stephanie, Nick Khan, and there’s so many other people that are such an integral part of WWE — he built such an amazing team for all of us that you have such a support system around you,” Triple H noted, “I couldn’t imagine trying to do this if you were sort of by yourself having to do it. But having that support system, having that team around you, having it all be there, it’s such a wonderful team. It’s a lot of work, but it makes the work fun and easy.”

Helwani followed up by commenting on the speculation that Vince would still be involved in WWE business despite his retirement, and Triple H said that’s not the case. Triple H also said that in so many words, Vince told him to run things the way that he thought would be best for business.

“One of the things that he, I don’t want to say outright said, but he alluded to me, [Vince] said ‘You’re going to do things. You cannot think about how I would do things. You have to think about things you want to do and how you feel like it’s best for the product. I might not like it, but I understand why you’re going to do the things you’re going to do. You have to do what you feel is right.’ But it’s a tough thing to get to,” he explained. “No one works together for that period of time — everybody would go, ‘I would have done that slightly differently.’

“It doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong, we use the term in the business ‘chocolate and vanilla.’ I want chocolate, you want vanilla. One of us has to pick a flavor, he would always pick the flavor. Now it’s my turn to pick the flavor,” Triple H stated. “It’s all good, it’s all ice cream, but it’s my time to pick the flavor and I have to be confident in those decisions and I can’t look back and say, ‘well what would Vince want to have for a flavor?’ Because it just wouldn’t be authentic then.”

credit: WrestleZone

Update on the Vince McMahon Netflix Docuseries

This week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that while the Netflix docuseries on McMahon was originally said to be canceled, the project is still green-lit. Filmmaker Chris Smith is attached as the director and executive producer with WWE apparently cooperating with production.

It was reported last month that the docuseries had been removed from Netflix's programming spreadsheet. WWE announced the project in 2020. It was said to spotlight a different side of McMahon that had previously been unseen by fans. There is at least one other documentary on McMahon that is also in the works right now and a book is set to be released next year.

The report that Netflix had pulled the docuseries came after news broke in mid-June that McMahon was being investigated by the company's Board of Directors for hush payments to former staff.

‘Road Dogg’ Brian James Returns To WWE As SVP Of Live Events

“Road Dogg” Brian James has reportedly returned to WWE in an executive position.

Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported that James will be the company’s new Senior Vice President of Live Events. Jeff Jarrett previously held the role until he departed the position this past week.

James previously spent several years with the company, and he was on Triple H’s team throughout the black-and-gold era of WWE NXT. James, among other officials, was released in January 2022. Before that, he had been a producer, and he was the co-head writer of WWE SmackDown at one point until he left the position and shifted to NXT. He also taught classes about promos and character development at the WWE Performance Center.

WWE remains in the early stages of a substantial regime change. Vince McMahon retired on July 22, and Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan were subsequently named co-CEOs. Triple H was named as the head of creative on July 25, and James’ return marks the first member of his inner circle to be brought back to the company as part of this new era.

Kevin Nash Comments On Triple H’s Eye For Talent, WWE Dismantling The NXT He Created

Kevin Nash doesn’t mix words on his feelings regarding what WWE did to Triple H‘s NXT brand during his absence.

On the latest episode of In The Kliq: The Kevin Nash podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer spoke about the great eye that Triple H has for talent. This is something that frustrated him to watch WWE ruin his NXT Superstars when they were called up to the main roster. He also touched upon what they did to the NXT brand following his heart episode.

“He’s got an eye for talent, that’s for sure. Look at the people that he’s kind of hand-picked and pushed up on the WWE product on RAW,” Kevin Nash said. “And every time one of them went up there, it was just like, how quick can we dismantle what got him over and f*ck this dude up? It was just like when he got sick. He had the heart episode. They couldn’t f*cking get down there and dismantle what he had built in NXT quick enough. That was f*cked up, man.”

When Nash was asked what the impetus for that was, he didn’t have a good answer. He tried to talk to Shawn Michaels about it, but he seemingly didn’t get the answers he was looking for.

“I don’t fucking know,” Kevin Nash said. “I asked Shawn about it, you know, Shawn Michaels, and he was just like, you know… [long, awkward pause] Shawn has changed. He’s just not a shit disturber anymore. He just does his job. He does it well, and he does the best he can, and he goes home to his family.”

WWE to launch NXT Europe in 2023, NXT UK to make impact at upcoming event

WWE has its sights set on a larger international market in the coming year.

The NXT brand is set to grow even more come 2023 with the creation of NXT Europe. According to the company on Thursday, NXT Europe will "reimagine the brand and talent pipeline" with a renewed focus on Europe.

NXT UK, the company’s initial foray into Europe which launched in December 2016, will go on hiatus for a few months. WWE will run the premium live event Worlds Collide featuring the current crop of NXT and NXT UK superstars. Tyler Bate, the NXT UK champion, confronted NXT champion Bron Breakker at NXT Heatwave earlier this week while Gallus came out and ambushed Diamond Mine.

Shawn Michaels, the vice president of talent development creative for WWE who oversees some creative aspects of the NXT brand, told Fox News Digital he was "pretty excited" about NXT Europe.

"Given the success of NXT UK, we felt like it was time to expand beyond that," Michaels said.

The planned launch of NXT Europe means NXT UK will go on a "brief hiatus," Michaels said, adding the final NXT UK event will be at Worlds Collide. Michaels said the company will work with the staff and talent to launch NXT Europe "bigger and better."

There are currently 22 male wrestlers, 12 female wrestlers and at least two on-air personalities on the NXT UK roster. Michaels divulged what will happen to the crop of talent.

"So some of it, like everything with the WWE and NXT, that pipeline is always fluid. It’s going to be one of those situations where we’re going to have a lot of representation going into Worlds Collide," Michaels told Fox News Digital. "It’s what NXT has always been and that is to be a pipeline for the WWE in support of RAW and SmackDown. That process is going to continue. We’re going to use the UK talent that we can to go into Worlds Collide and keep that representation out there for as long as we can. And as we move things over here in the process, we’ll make all those decisions in 2023 about who’s a part of NXT Europe and who continues to stay here in NXT in hopes of getting a main roster call up."

NXT has been known for some incredible Takeover events across the North American brand and the UK brand. The UK brand hasn’t seen a Takeover event since January 2020 when WALTER, now known as GUNTHER, faced off against Joe Coffey for the NXT UK Championship.

More than ever, NXT Europe could get creative with where it holds future major events. Fox News Digital asked Michaels whether dream matches at the Colosseum in Rome or outside the Louvre in Paris has been thought about.

source: fox news

WWE discovered Vince McMahon paid $5 million to Donald Trump’s foundation

Former World Wrestling Entertainment boss Vince McMahon paid $5 million of around $20 million previously unrecorded expenses to Donald Trump's foundation in 2007 and 2009, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal.

The report comes weeks after McMahon retired as CEO of the company amid investigations into hush payments he made related to alleged sexual misconduct. WWE has since said its board's independent probe into the matter is "substantially complete."

While the majority of the $20 million in payments went to women who accused McMahon and another WWE executive of sexual misconduct, another $5 million was used for unrelated purposes, according to a recent securities filing.

The $5 million represented charitable donations to the now-dissolved Donald J. Trump Foundation, the Journal reported, citing sources. The donations were given during two years that Trump made appearances on televised WWE events.

The WWE didn't immediately return a request for comment.

Trump dissolved this foundation as part of a settlement with the New York state attorney general's office in 2018, when a lawsuit alleged Trump had misused the charity's funds for his 2016 presidential campaign, to pay legal settlements and promote his business.

This news comes less than a month after the Securities and Exchange Commission and federal prosecutors launched probes into the $14.6 million in payments made by McMahon to settle allegations of sexual misconduct.

The $5 million in contribution payments should have been cataloged as business expenses, because McMahon was a principal shareholder and the payments benefited the company, an attorney for WWE told WSJ.

The first of the two appearances resulted in a $1 million fee for Trump and a personal contribution from the McMahons of $4 million to his foundation. For his second appearance, Trump was paid $100,000 and McMahon and his wife, Linda, donated $1 million to the foundation.

While the $5 million was listed on the foundation tax returns as coming directly from WWE, the company said in its security filings this month that the payments came directly from McMahon personally.

Vince McMahon is still the top shareholder in WWE despite having left the company. His daughter, Stephanie McMahon, is now working as co-CEO, along with executive Nick Khan.

Linda McMahon served as Small Business Administration chief in Trump's Cabinet. Trump, who hosted two Wrestlemania events in Atlantic City in the 1980s, is enshrined in the WWE's Hall of Fame.

source: cnbc.com

Vince McMahon Misconduct Investigation ‘Substantially Complete,’ WWE Says

WWE said its board’s investigation into alleged misconduct by ex-CEO and chairman Vince McMahon is “substantially complete.” The company restated earnings going back to 2019 to account for personal payments McMahon made during his tenure, including $14.6 million allegedly to women in return for their silence about affairs and other misconduct.

However, the McMahon investigation may continue to have a financial impact, WWE said in regulatory filings.

“While we currently anticipate spending approximately $10 million during the remainder of the year related to this investigation, the related costs could exceed this estimate,” the wrestling entertainment company said in its 10-Q filing for the second quarter of 2022. As previously disclosed, WWE also has “received, and may receive in the future, regulatory, investigative and enforcement inquiries, subpoenas or demands arising from, related to, or in connection with these matters,” the company said

In addition, WWE said, “Although we believe that no significant business has been lost to date, it is possible that a change in the perceptions of our business partners could occur as a result of the investigation.”

WWE also noted that until McMahon resigned from the company on July 22, he had led the creative team that develops the storylines and the characters for its programming. Taking over as co-CEOs were Stephanie McMahon, previously chief brand officer, and Nick Khan, previously president and chief revenue officer. WWE’s creative is now led by Paul “Triple H” Levesque, EVP of talent relations and creative and Ms. McMahon’s husband.

“Although Mr. Levesque has extensive practical experience with many of our revenue streams and, with Ms. McMahon, has been critically involved in our business transformation over the past several years as well as our continuing brand development, these collective changes at the top of our organization are extensive and recent, and it is therefore possible that the loss of services of Mr. McMahon could have a material adverse effect on our ability to create popular characters and creative storylines or could otherwise adversely affect our operations and/or financial performance,” WWE said in its amended 10-K filing for 2021.

The company on Tuesday announced Q2 earnings. Revenue for the period was $328.2 million, up 24%, and net income was $49.0 million, an increase of 68% year over year. Adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA), which excludes stock-based compensation, increased 34% to $91.5 million.

Based on “outperformance” in the first half of 2022, as well as WWE’s current expectations for the second half of the year, the company raised its guidance for full-year 2022 adjusted OIBDA to $370 million-$385 million (up from $360 million-$375 million previously).

On the earnings call, Levesque said WWE set a record for first-day ticket sales for WrestleMania 39, to be held at L.A.’s SoFi Stadium in April 2023, with more than 90,000 tickets purchased in the first 24 hours after they went on sale Aug. 12 — more than any event in WWE history and a 42% increase over first-day sales for WrestleMania 38.

source: variety.com

Shawn Michaels On Taking Over NXT After Triple H Stepped Back, His Position Evolving

Shawn Michaels recently talked about taking control of NXT after Triple H stepped back due to his health issues. The WWE Hall of Famer spoke with Bleacher Report for a new interview and you can check out the highlights below:

On being able to help talent in NXT: “I pride myself on being one of the guys who’s been around for a long time but also understanding and appreciating the business evolving and changing and being a supporter of that. Like with everything else, the athletes get so much better, whether it’s in our industry or others, and continue to be innovative and push the envelope. WWE never shies away from making those different innovations and merging them with what it is we do.”

On being in charge of NXT after Triple H stepped back: “When Hunter first left, it became all me, and certainly from a television standpoint. Matt Bloom is the head coach and takes care of everything from the PC training standpoint, but when it came to NXT 2.0 television, that’s something myself and my team took over creatively. I know a lot of people thought Vince and Bruce were doing that. I can promise you, they did not have the time to do NXT television. If it’s good or if it’s bad, that’s on me. It’s been a huge joy to run that show and work with these talents. Again, everyone was put in a real tough position, we all were, but that’s where you learn to do things in WWE. That, to me, is a form of talent development, which is understanding that things can always change … around here and you have to adjust to that. The show always goes on. It was trial by fire for a lot of us, but it’s been an absolutely fantastic experience.”

On his position in NXT evolving: “As everyone knows, I came in just as a coach and then slowly moved into assisting in creative and things of that nature. I was always the second guy right behind Hunter [Triple H]. I obviously never envisioned being the guy who had the final say on the show and what we do and don’t do and the overall vision for what it is we’re going to do and how we move forward.”