A new era is underway in WWE, and Vince McMahon spoke at the first employee meeting.
WWE and UFC merged to form TKO on September 12 after WWE’s deal with Endeavor officially closed. The company made numerous layoffs on September 15 and subsequently held an employee meeting in Stamford.
Per Mike Johnson of PWInsider, the meeting was opened by Nick Khan, Paul Levesque, Kevin Dunn, and Brad Blum. Khan spoke highly of Vince McMahon and noted that it was “unfortunate” that there were departures. He thanked everyone for their work. McMahon then came out and highlight the respect he had for Ari. He also stated that the company had plateaued, and the Endeavor deal was what had to be done to take WWE to the next level.
Emanuel then came out and noted that he has looked to McMahon for advice before. He made it clear that he is excited for the new era. Overall, the move was pushed as WWE’s next evolution.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful also tweeted about the meeting. He stated that Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel introduced his daughter and noted that she now works for WWE. Per Sapp, McMahon referred to Emanuel as his boss, and he stated that the company had stagnation. McMahon said that the Endeavor deal was made to get WWE to the next level.
Contrary to McMahon’s claim, WWE had publicly announced record-breaking success with many premium live events in the months ahead of the Endeavor deal becoming official.
