WWE Talent Threatening To Leave If Saudi Arabia Sale Goes Through

WWE Talent Threatening To Leave If Saudi Arabia Sale Goes Through WWE

UPDATE: New reports have denied that WWE has agreed to sell to Saudi Arabia. More at this link

The huge news the past few hours has been the reports of WWE being sold to the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.

As it stands, the belief is that the deal is not fully completed yet due to the legal processes that need to be carried out, but it is “agreed in principle”.

Fightful Select’s latest report on the situation reiterates that the deal is still not confirmed, and neither WWE staff nor talent have been informed of a sale.

Obviously one of the big talking points would be the reaction among talent, and Fightful reports that so far, no talent they’ve spoken to has asked for their release.

However, “at least one” talent did say they’d be done with the company if the deal is to go through.

It was also noted that there’s an “incredible amount of concern” among talent and staff with Vince McMahon back in charge.

The news of the sale was reported by multiple outlets, notably Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam and Steven Muehlhausen of DAZN, but has yet to be officially announced.

In the latest update, Haynes tweeted:

The deal isn’t completely finalized because WWE must provide notice to shareholders & other parties.

There are legalities to go through, as the company is publicly traded.

But, again, I’m told a deal has been agreed to in principle.

Muehlhausen’s initial tweet was as follows:

Sources: #WWE has been sold to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

The company will go back to being private.

Unknown if Vince McMahon will return to head of creative but it is expected by some people.

We’ll continue to keep you posted as updates emerge.

On January 6, using his power as majority owner, Vince McMahon put himself and former WWE presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson back on the company’s Board of Directors, disposing of JoEllen Lyons Dillon, Jeffrey R Speed, and Alan M Wexler in the process.

McMahon had stated that his intention was to facilitate a sale of the company.

He changed bylaws to ensure that no sale or media rights deal could be completed without his approval.

Upon McMahon’s return, two further Board members resigned of their own volition, those being Man Jit Singh – who was the one heading up the Board’s investigation into McMahon – and Ignace Lahoud.

Stephanie McMahon then resigned from her role as co-CEO and Chairwoman and her position on the Board earlier today (January 10), as Vince McMahon was elected Executive Chairman.

There has been much speculation that Vince McMahon was looking to sell to a party that would commit to keeping him in charge of the company despite the multiple sexual assault allegations that have surfaced in the past year that led to his initial ‘retirement’ in July.

It’s important to make clear that there has not been an official announcement regarding a sale to Saudi Arabia yet, so we’ll obviously keep you updated so keep an eye on the homepage and Twitter for anything else that breaks.

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1 year ago by Liam Winnard

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