Tony Khan comments on WWE's deal with Endeavor.
Throughout the first few months of 2023, the wrestling world and beyond buzzed about a potential WWE sale, as various buyers and/or partners were rumored as possibilities. In January, AEW CEO Tony Khan noted that his team was capable of big purchases, and he was interested in the process. Khan later repeated that he was interested in the process, and Barron's reported that he and Shad Khan were in the pool of potential buyers. WWE ultimately reached a transaction agreement with Endeavor, UFC's parent company; the deal was announced on April 3. As part of the transaction, WWE will merge with UFC and form a publicly traded company.
During an appearance on Maggie and Perloff, Khan was asked how far his interest in a potential deal with WWE got and whether he made a former offer. He stated that he couldn't speak to that before he noted that he was interested. Khan also emphasized that the sale is a positive for the wrestling business as a whole.
"I can’t speak to that except to say that I was interested. It will also be very interesting to see what happens with that sale. Certainly, in many ways, it’s a big positive to the pro wrestling business and I think the huge attendance numbers and TV and streaming numbers for pro wrestling and the great sales for AEW on pay-per-view and all the big merchandising numbers show that pro wrestling is really back as an industry in many major ways in 2023 and AEW is a big part of the conversation. That’s all been really positive for us," Khan said.
In the same interview, Khan gave a "no comment" when asked about CM Punk's potential return to AEW. Click here to see what he had to say.
Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel recently commented on the company's acquisition of WWE. More information is available here.
Check out the card for the May 17 episode of AEW Dynamite here. Fightful will have live coverage of the show as it airs.
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