Vince McMahon addresses WWE creative role amid sale and UFC merger announcement

Vince McMahon has addressed his status (Picture: WWE)

Vince McMahon will be involved with WWE creative ‘at a higher level’ while avoiding the finer details.

The company’s executive chairman has addressed his status when it comes to the companies creative output on television after the sensational news WWE has been bought by UFC owner Endeavor and will merge with the mixed martial arts promotion.

Asked on CNBC if he would be as involved with the creative process as he has in the past, McMahon paused and said: ‘Yes and no.

‘On a higher level, yes. In the weeds, which I always loved to get in the weeds in the past, no.’

Since the 77-year-old businessman stepped down from the company last summer – before returning to the board in January to look into facilitating a sale and renewing television rights – his son-in-law Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque has been working as chief content officer.

Under that role, he has been leading WWE’s creative output and received a lot of praise from fans for the improvements he appeared to be making when it comes to the on air product.

The new firm will be worth a sensational $21.4billion (£17.30bn) will combine to create a $21.4 billion sports entertainment company.

In a statement, McMahon said: ‘Given the incredible work that Ari [Ariel Emanuel, CEO of Endeavor] 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.’

He 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 businessman said that 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’.

He added that he was looking forward to ‘working closely’ with Emanuel, as well as the teams at Endeavor and UFC, so that they can all take their businesses ‘to the next level’.

With McMahon remaining executive chairman, Emanuel will stay on as CEO of Endeavor, while Mark Shapiro will be president and chief operating officer of both Endeavor and the new firm, and Dana White will remain president of UFC as Nick Khan serves as president of WWE.

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In January 2023, McMahon officially returned to the board of directors at WWE after a hiatus.

He had stepped down from his roles as chairman and CEO as an investigation was conducted examining misconduct allegations.

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