Just when news with the WWE was starting to slow down, their chief rival AEW entered into the sales talks as Tony and Shahid Kahn are reportedly interested in merging AEW and WWE.
Reported by Barron’s, a sister site to the Wall Street Journal, the Kahns and considered a long shot and a potential non starter as far as Vince McMahon is concerned, but there’s always a chance.
Tony Kahn and Shahid Kahn Reportedly Interested in Merging AEW and WWE, Tony Says Vince Will Have Role in the Company
The Kahns own the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars and the Premier League’s Fulham F.C. as well as AEW, and Shahid is worth nearly $8 billion and could put together a solid investment team if these rumors are true.
If nothing else, they could join the pool of potential buyers that reportedly include Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Comcast, Endeavor, Netflix and Disney according to rumors.
History repeats
In a interesting twist that could be seen more as an insult than not given the size and history of the WWE compared to AEW, the Kahns are reportedly open to Vince McMahon having a role in the company.
This is reminiscent of when WWE purchased WCW from Ted Turner Broadcasting in 2001 to officially end the Monday Night Wars.
Though the WWE isn’t floundering like 2001’s WCW since Triple H took over creative, this is still a far cry from that situation as WCW was a broken company that was failing badly.
Since McMahon’s return, the company announced on Thursday that they hired Raine Group as its lead financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis as their legal advisor as they continue to explore selling the company.
This isn’t a guarantee as many things can happen to cause a deal not to be finalized, but it does appear McMahon is intent in selling the company before renewing their media rights that expire in 2024 if possible.
Those media rights are reportedly how McMahon became chairman of the board again as he reportedly threatened to veto any new media deals if he wasn’t put back in power.
Had he followed through on that threat, it would’ve most likely crippled the WWE financially since most of their revenue comes from their media rights.
The news of McMahon’s return wasn’t welcomed by many, and a class action lawsuit was filed against him by a minority shareholder in Delaware for his aggressive actions.
Even better, many expect him to take back full control of WWE Creative if a sale doesn’t go through and possibly more.
What do you think about the possibility of AEW and WWE merging on AEW’s terms? Let us know in the comments below.
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