Vince McMahon says it’s just time for the next step in the evolution of WWE.
CNBC interviewed Vince McMahon and Endeavor’s Ari Emmanuel about the sale of WWE. McMahon was asked why he was selling a company that had been a family business for 70 years, and he said it was just time to do so.
“It’s the right time. It’s the right time to do the right thing, and it’s the next evolution of WWE,” McMahon said. “I could probably do what Ari is doing right now with UFC but it would take me ten years. By the I grab those ten years, he’d be ten years ahead of me [laughs] It makes all the sense in the world for all of these synergies that we have to extract all of the value we can out of the marketplace.”
McMahon was then asked if his sexual assault scandal had not happened, would he still be sitting there today discussing a sale?
“Absolutely. Because it makes sense. Nothing’s ever happened like this before. And again, I’m always looking for what’s best for our stockholders, what’s best for the company,” McMahon explained. “This is the best thing that’s happened in a long, long time. All of the WrestleManias combined, there have been 39 including tomorrow, does it really equal to the magnitude of what we will do together?”
McMahon said that those events did not push him towards selling any faster, then addressed his role in a creative capacity.
“Yes and no. On a higher level, yeah [I will be involved]. In the weeds, which I always loved to get in the weeds in the past,” McMahon said, “no I can’t do that.”
McMahon was then asked about his legacy in the wrestling business. He said he’s made his share of mistakes, but he wants to be remembered as someone who had fun and a great passion for his business.
“Let me just say I’ve made mistakes, obviously, both personally and professionally through my 50-year career. I’ve owned up to every single one of them and then I moved on. I’m not sure about the legacy stuff. I’m not going to write it, so I don’t know. I want to say somebody who had an extraordinary amount of fun, great passion for what they did and wound up doing the biggest deal he’s ever done in his life.”
If you use this transcript, credit WrestleZone and link back to this post.
