Vince McMahon, WWE Sued by Ex-Writer Over ‘Racist’ Scene Scripts

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., Vince McMahon, and other executives allegedly discriminated and retaliated against a Black female writer for objecting to “offensively racist and stereotypical jargon” used in the scripts of Black wrestlers including Bianca Belair and Apollo Crews, according to a new lawsuit.

Britney Abrahams’ multiple complaints were ignored, and she was pretextually terminated for taking home a WrestleMania-branded chair, according to the complaint filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Monday.

The lawsuit includes Stephanie McMahon, Chris Lubrando (SVP, Creative Writing Operations at WWE), WWE creative team members Chris Dunn, Ryan Callahan, Jen Pepperman, and former team member Mike Heller.

Abrahams began writing for WWE SmackDown! and WWE Monday Night RAW in 2020, according to the complaint. She complained of racial and gender stereotypes in scripts, including ones instructing Belair to say “Uh-Uh! Don’t make me take off my earrings and beat your ass! " and Crews to speak with a “stereotypical and exaggerated Nigerian accent,” but was rebuffed, she said.

WWE didn’t immediately respond to Bloomberg Law’s request for comment.

‘Harmful Stereotypes’

She was allegedly subject to a number of racist pitches after complaining. On a Slack thread that McMahon and his daughter Stephanie McMahon were included on, other writers suggested a Black male wrestler should dress in drag. Only when a White writer noted that doing so could “perpetuate harmful stereotypes that would offend viewers” was the pitch scrapped, she said.

On another occasion, a writer allegedly proposed that a Muslim’s wrestler’s secret in a script be that he was “behind the 9/11 attacks.”

Abrahams and other writers complained about the comments, to which Vice President Christine Lubrano allegedly responded, “Wacky things are said in the writer’s room all the time!” and “I know but look at the waves we’re making in the company. 4 years ago, no woman worked on the writer’s team!”

Abrahams continued to opposed racist, sexist pitches, she said, and was fired in retaliation in April 2022. WWE fired her for taking with her a WrestleMania 38 branded chair, but the practice was allegedly a common practice that White male writers weren’t punished for.

She is seeking reinstatement, damages, declaratory judgment, and an injunction restraining defendants from engaging in such unlawful conduct.

Cochran Firm represents Abrahams.

The case is Abrahams v. World Wrestling Ent., Inc., E.D.N.Y., No. 23-cv-03109, complaint filed 4/24/23.

source: Bloomberg Law

Triple H introduces the World Heavyweight Championship

In a stunning announcement on Monday Night Raw, Triple H revealed the addition of the World Heavyweight Championship to the WWE title picture.

Expressing the need for two top champions, Triple H announced that the new World Heavyweight Champion will be crowned at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia. Roman Reigns will remain the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion and bring that title to his respective brand following the WWE Draft.

WWE Clash At The Castle Generated Over $27 Million For Wales Economy

WWE Clash at the Castle in 2022 brought in £21.8 million ($27,118,328) to the economy in Wales, according to BBC.

The stadium event took place at Principality Stadium in Cardiff on September 3 and had an attendance of 62,296. A report on the impact of the big event revealed 75% of fans traveled to Wales from outside the country, the majority from England.

A reported 57% of non-locals said the event made them want to explore Wales further.

Welsh Rugby Union Interim CEO Nigel Walker said: "[Cardiff] stepped up to the challenge. Clash at the Castle had a global audience of millions, and with all eyes on Principality Stadium, we showcased what a magnificent venue we have here in Cardiff."

Wales’ economy minister Vaughan Gething added: "In addition to the direct economic impact the event delivered here in Wales, it provided us with a huge boost to our profile internationally. This included opportunities to showcase Wales’ vibrant language and culture through bespoke content creation shared globally on WWE’s social media channels."

New WWE-Twitch Agreement To Allow WWE Talent To Stream With 'Almost No Restrictions'

WWE disappointed both talent and fans in the fall of 2020 when Vince McMahon issued an edict that talent had to seize operations on third party platforms such as Cameo and Twitch. There was reportedly widespread frustration among the roster, and select talent even met with McMahon in an attempt to change his mind. Additionally, Zelina Vega was released as a result of continuing to stream on Twitch following the ban.

Over two years later, it appears the Twitch ban has been lifted. Fightful Select reported on Tuesday that "WWE and Twitch have reached an agreement to allow WWE wrestlers back on Twitch with almost no restrictions." The small caveat is that they must get clearance first before streaming with people from other companies.

Those that spoke to Fightful were "very happy" about the deal and also revealed that the revenue will be split three ways, with Twitch and talent earning "the vast majority." This has been in the works since April 2022 when WWE informed those in a talent meeting that the ban on third party platforms was changing, although things on the Twitch end took longer than expected.

There have been plenty of conversations in the last few years regarding WWE and third party platforms seeing as though WWE talent are classified as independent contractors. In addition to Vega's controversial firing, Mandy Rose was reportedly terminated this past December for the content she was posting on her FanTime page. The attention that the news received ultimately led to Rose earning $1 million on the platform within a month following her departure.

WWE Breaks Record For Non-WrestleMania Stadium Ticket Sales With SummerSlam 2023

Tickets for this year's WWE SummerSlam went on sale this past Friday, and the numbers aren't just looking promising — they're looking historic. On Twitter, Sports Business Journal reported that WWE has already sold more than 32,000 tickets for the event. That figure breaks the company's record for day-one sales on any non-WrestleMania stadium show.

Detroit's Ford Field was announced as the home of this year's SummerSlam in February, alongside a new logo for the event to go with the location, with the press release for the announcement noting Detroit's special place in WWE history. WWE previously held WrestleMania 23 at Ford Field in 2007, but more significantly, Detroit was home to WrestleMania III — although that show took place in the larger Pontiac Silverdome.

WWE's rapid sale of tickets for their premiere summertime event is no surprise, as tickets for 2021's SummerSlam sold at a similarly speedy pace. The pace of their current sales measure well against perceivable advantages that the sale of 2021's tickets had, such as being their first full capacity stadium show in over a year and the then-rumored blockbuster main event of John Cena vs. Roman Reigns. No significant matches or plans are currently known for this year's SummerSlam, but there are reports that a dream match between Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus is planned for the show. WWE CEO Nick Khan noted in the lead-up to WrestleMania 39 that the company had WrestleMania plans in place months in advance, as well as plans for the months after, further suggesting the SummerSlam card is already well under construction.

Nick Khan Comments On Vince McMahon’s Current Creative Role In WWE

Nick Khan says that Triple H remains WWE‘s sole Chief Content Officer despite Vince McMahon‘s recent involvement.

WWE President Nick Khan recently sat down with LightShed Live to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about Vince McMahon’s current creative role in WWE based on what happened on the RAW following WrestleMania 39, Khan confirmed that Triple H is still the sole Chief Content Officer of WWE. However, he’ll also continue to communicate with Mr. McMahon.

“On Monday [April 3], when this deal was officially announced, Vince sent out a company-wide email to our thousand or so employees, including myself, and in the email, he laid out the structure of the NewCo,” Nick Khan said. “Specifically, he articulated that Paul Levesque remains the sole Chief Creative Officer. Sole. How does that work? Does that mean that technically because I’m in charge of the business side of the business that I don’t seek input from other people?

“I wouldn’t seek input from Vince McMahon; who created this entire empire? That would be a mistake on my behalf. Paul and Vince, a family relationship, a relationship that spans back to the mid-90s. Paul is in charge of creative. If he wants input from Vince or Vince has ideas that he and Paul are going to communicate, that’s always going to be the case. We’re lucky to have Vince.

“We’re lucky to have Paul in control of creative. We’re lucky that the setup that Vince created that the company could continue to exist; even when Vince stepped out for that five-month period, the company kept flowing. We think the best organizations are set up that way, and that’s the way Vince set up WWE.” [H/T: Fightful]

WWE Receives Emmy Nomination For Ric Flair Documentary

WWE has received an Emmy nomination.

Wooooo! Becoming Ric Flair, a Peacock documentary, has been nominated in the Outstanding Long Documentary category. The winners will be announced that Lincoln Center in New York City on May 22

The documentary highlights the life and legacy of two-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair and includes interviews from a range of WWE stars and legends, including Flair himself

Analysis Shows WWE's Fan-Driven Business Metrics Improved Under Paul Levesque

However you feel about the state of WWE programming and the specifics of how shows have or haven't differed when spearheaded by Paul "Triple H" Levesque as compared to Vince McMahon, there absolutely have been differences. Levesque brought back various wrestlers who had been cut by the previous regime, and under his guidance, the last-minute changes that were constant under McMahon had subsided. Past that, it becomes a matter of personal preference and business metrics. On Thursday, Wrestlenomics offered the latter, comparing TV ratings and live attendance for Levesque's eight months running creative to how McMahon's WWE was doing a year earlier. And the answers are favorable to Levesque.

On the TV side, "WWE Raw" averaged 1.80 million viewers each week under Levesque, up 4% from McMahon a year prior, which is doubly impressive considering USA's reach among cable customers has dropped. "WWE SmackDown," meanwhile, saw a bigger increase, going up 6%, from an average of 2.14 million viewers under McMahon to 2.28 million viewers under Levesque. Since "SmackDown" is on FOX, a free broadcast network, the caveat about its potential viewership does not apply, though.

As for ticket sales, that data is from WrestleTix, which is able to count tickets distributed, but without being able to distinguish between paid admissions and comps. With that out of the way, for every month of the Levesque era, "Raw" averaged a higher number of tickets out than the McMahon regime did a year prior, and "SmackDown" did the same for all but one month, even with the latter including the initial surge in interest when WWE resumed touring after COVID-19 precautions eased. Across the full eight-month periods being compared, "SmackDown" averaged 8,555 tickets distributed for Levesque vs. 7,532 for McMahon, a 14% increase, while "Raw" averaged 8,463 tickets distributed for Levesque vs. McMahon's 6,787, a 25% increase. And though the McMahon period had a 2% lead on Levesque's for domestic house shows, that gain was carried by August through November 2021, the early months of post-pandemic touring.

Vince McMahon tells WWE staff that Paul Levesque will remain in charge of creative process

Vince McMahon has sent an internal email to WWE employees stating that Paul Levesque will retain his position as head of creative.

On the heels of the Endeavor/WWE deal, sources have told POST Wrestling’s John Pollock that the email contains the line: “Paul Levesque will remain WWE’s chief content executive.”

Earlier, during an interview on CNBC, McMahon was asked by Scott Wapner whether he planned to be “as involved in the creative side as he has in the past.”

McMahon replied:

Yes and no. On a higher level, yes. In the weeds — which I always loved to get into the weeds in the past — no; can’t do that.

Back in 2019, after McMahon appointed Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff as Executive Directors of Raw and SmackDown respectively, McMahon used similar language, saying that those two hires freed him up:

“to look at longer range story arcs and work on character development, versus being in the weeds”

An all-employee Zoom meeting for WWE staff has been arranged for 4.00 pm ET.

Triple H and Nick Khan To Receive Huge Bonus Following WWE Sale

WWE's Nick Khan and Triple H will receive a huge bonus following the news that WWE has been sold to Endeavour.

On Monday, WWE announced a transaction agreement with Endeavor that would see WWE sell to Endeavor and merge with UFC to form a new publicly traded company worth $21.5 billion. Khan will be President of WWE when the two promotions merge, while Triple H is expected to remain Chief Content Executive of WWE.

Triple H and Nick Khan will both receive large bonuses with Triple H taking in $5 million and Khan receiving $15 million.

From the SEC filing:

"In light of their significant contributions to the Company prior to and in connection with the Transactions and to promote retention, the Company, following the approval of the WWE Compensation Committee, entered into bonus letter agreements (each a “Bonus Agreement”), dated as of April 1, 2023 and effective as of April 2, 2023, with certain executive officers including Nick Khan, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Frank A. Riddick III, the Company’s President & Chief Financial Officer, and Paul Levesque, the Company’s Chief Content Officer. The Bonus Agreements each provide for a cash payment (the “Bonus”) in the event a Sale Transaction (as defined in the Bonus Agreements) is consummated on or before February 28, 2024 (unless such date is extended by the Company’s Board of Directors, in its discretion) (a “Qualifying Sale Transaction”).

For Messrs. Khan and Levesque, the amount of their Bonuses is equal to $15,000,000 and $5,000,000, respectively, with 100% of such amount payable as soon as practicable following the closing date of a Qualifying Sale Transaction, subject to their continuous employment through the closing date (except as otherwise noted below). For Mr. Riddick, the amount of his Bonus is equal to $5,000,000, with 60% of such amount payable as soon as practicable following the closing date of a Qualifying Sale Transaction and 40% of such amount payable as soon as practicable following the six-month anniversary of the closing date of a Qualifying Sale Transaction, subject to his continuous employment through each such date (except as otherwise noted below). In the event any of Messrs. Khan, Riddick and Levesque is terminated by the Company without Cause or resigns for Good Reason (each as defined in the applicable Bonus Agreement) prior to the payment date(s) described above, the unpaid portion of his respective Bonus shall vest and become payable as of the date of termination.

The foregoing description of the Bonus Agreements does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Bonus Agreements for Messrs. Khan, Riddick and Levesque, copies of which will be filed as exhibits to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2023 and which will be incorporated by reference herein."

Most Successful WrestleMania Of All Time

WWE today announced that WrestleMania 39 became the most-successful and highest-grossing event in company history. The two-night, sold-out event at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles set new records for viewership, gate, sponsorship, merchandise and social media. WrestleMania 39 became the most social WrestleMania of all-time, with over 500 million views and 11 million hours of video consumed over the two days, a 42 percent increase over last year. Night 2 of WrestleMania 39 surpassed the existing global viewership record by 33 percent, just one day after Night 1 of WrestleMania 39 surpassed the existing global viewership record by 28 percent. WrestleMania 39 generated a gate of more than $21.6 million, breaking the previous record by 27 percent, with 161,892 in attendance at SoFi Stadium over the two nights. In addition, WrestleMania 39 broke all-time sponsorship and merchandise records. Sponsorship revenue eclipsed $20 million, more than doubling the previous record. Merchandise sales were up 20 percent versus the record set in 2022.

ENDEAVOR ANNOUNCES UFC® AND WWE® TO FORM A $21+ BILLION GLOBAL LIVE SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. & STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EDR) (“Endeavor”) and World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) (“WWE”) today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement to form a new, publicly listed company consisting of two iconic, complementary, global sports and entertainment brands: UFC and WWE. Upon close, Endeavor will hold a 51% controlling interest in the new company and existing WWE shareholders will hold a 49% interest in the new company.

Together, UFC and WWE will have global reach, impressive scale and omnichannel distribution. On a combined 2022 fiscal year-end basis, UFC and WWE achieved revenue of $2.4 billion and a 10% annual revenue growth rate since 2019.

“This is a rare opportunity to create a global live sports and entertainment pureplay built for where the industry is headed,” said Ariel Emanuel, CEO of Endeavor. “For decades, Vince and his team have demonstrated an incredible track record of innovation and shareholder value creation, and we are confident that Endeavor can deliver significant additional value for shareholders by bringing UFC and WWE together.”

“Given the incredible work that Ari and Endeavor have done to grow the UFC brand – nearly doubling its revenue over the past seven years – and the immense success we’ve already had in partnering with their team on a number of ventures, I believe that this is without a doubt the best outcome for our shareholders and other stakeholders,” said Vincent K. McMahon, Executive Chairman of WWE.

McMahon continued, “Together, we will be a $21+ billion live sports and entertainment powerhouse with a collective fanbase of more than a billion people and an exciting growth opportunity. The new company will be well positioned to maximize the value of our combined media rights, enhance sponsorship monetization, develop new forms of content and pursue other strategic mergers and acquisitions to further bolster our strong stable of brands. I, along with the current WWE management team, look forward to working closely with Ari and the Endeavor and UFC teams to take the businesses to the next level.”

The new company will be led by Emanuel (Chief Executive Officer), who will also continue in his role as Chief Executive Officer of Endeavor, McMahon (Executive Chairman of the Board) and Mark Shapiro, who will be President and Chief Operating Officer of both Endeavor and the new company. Dana White will continue in his role as President of UFC and Nick Khan will serve as President of WWE. The Board of Directors will consist of 11 members who will be appointed at a later date, six of whom will be appointed by Endeavor and five of whom by WWE.