Thursday, March 21, 2024

The Ressurection,Near-Death,and Revival of WWE!

The Following is a conclusion of My Rise and Fall of The WWE Timeline post.

Found Here: https://retro-rebellion.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-rise-and-fall-of-wwe-timeline.html?m=0 and here https://retro-rebellion.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-death-of-wwe-complete-timeline.html

Due to recent events,I thought I'd do this. Anyway,here we go.

2022 - The Post-Doomsday Era Continues, WWE is an undead company at this point. But...there will be some hope for a Resurrection in the coming months.

In June, amidst an investigation by WWE's Board of Directors into reported hush money paid to a former employee by Vince McMahon following an affair, Mr. McMahon stepped down as chairman and CEO of WWE, but he was Still in charge of creative. Stephanie McMahon,would become the interim chairwoman of WWE. 

A short time later, Vince McMaon officially retired, Following Vince's retirement, Stephanie McMahon was officially named chairwoman while she and Nick Khan were named co-CEOs of WWE. Triple H would take over as head of creative, while resuming his position as Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and later being promoted to Chief Content Officer. 

With Vince retired,and with Triple H fully in charge of the creative,WWE's would experience a revival. This was the beginning of a New Era - The Ressurection Era!!

SummerSlam was the first WWE pay-per-view event to be held under the leadership of Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. In August ,Shawn Michaels was promoted to WWE Vice President of Talent Development Creative And eventually Boss of NXT. In September,,WWE made Triple H,Chief Content Officer. 

Sometime in the year,NXT 2.0 would be gone forever and turn back into the NXT that we all knew and loved.
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2023 - In January,Vince McMahon stated his intention to return to the company ahead of media rights negotiations. WWE's previous media rights deals with Fox and USA Network expire in 2024. On Later that month,Stephanie McMahon resigned as Chairwoman and co-CEO, also on the same day Vince McMahon re-assumed the role of executive Chairman of WWE,while Nick Khan became the sole CEO. That same month.

JPMorgan were hired to handle a possible sale of the company, with rumored suitors being various media companies

With McMahon back,the WWE would begin to suffer once more.  

In April, WWE and Endeavor reached a deal for the WWE to merge with UFC parent company, Zuffa ,to form a new company, TKO Group Holdings. 

Shane McMahon had attempted to purchase the UFC multiple times during the 2000s, but Vince talked him out of doing so. Endeavor would receive a 51% stake in "TKO", while WWE's shareholders would get a 49% stake.  This would mark the first time that WWE would not be majority-controlled by the McMahon family.

Vince McMahon would serve as executive chairman,with Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel becoming CEO, and Mark Shapiro as president and chief operating officer.

Triple H would remain in his role as Head of Creative, And Nick Khan would become president of WWE post-merger, similar to Dana White's role as president of UFC.

The deal additionally granted McMahon life tenure as executive chairman, the right to nominate five WWE representatives on the 11 member board, as well as veto rights over certain actions by the new company; eventually, the TKO board of directors would increase from 11 members to 13 members.

In addition, McMahon will own 34% of the new company, with a 16% voting interest. Despite the merger, the two promotions, WWE and the UFC, would continue to run as separate divisions of the newly merged company

With Vince McMahon back in control, a New Dark Era was forming, and WWE,despite a recent revival,looked like it was going to die once again. The WWE's Ressurection was becoming short lived.

The merger was finalized in September. The first television show produced under the TKO banner was WWE NXT.  Emanuel has also held influence over the company, including with the company's broadcast deals which occurred since the TKO Holdings merger. 

Things were slowly turning into a Landfill and it seemed like Vince McMahon's Twisted Reign would continue until the day he was sent to Hell.

But then...a miracle happened the following year

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2024 - In January 2024, a lawsuit was filed by a woman named Janel Grant,who accused Vince McMahon,along with John Laurinaitis and a WWE wrestler who was also a former UFC fighter of sexually trafficking her and repeatedly sexually assaulted her during 2020–2021. Grant alleged that she was subjected to "extreme cruelty and degradation" by McMahon, including being defecated upon during a sexual encounter.

One day after the report of the claims, Vince McMahon resigned from TKO. In a statement, McMahon said the decision was made "out of respect for the WWE Universe, the extraordinary TKO business and its board members and shareholders, partners and constituents, and all of the employees"

With Vince (hopefully) Gone from WWE forever,the Ball is Entirely in Triple H's court. With Triple H in charge,WWE was slowly reviving. The Revival Era had Begun. Though just a transitional era,The Revival Era will prove to be an important one.

In February,WWE and Netflix made a multi-year deal to air WWE RAW. The week after,the USA Network would secure the rights to Smackdown. NXT would gain a new home on The CW.

RAW's move to Netflix and Smackdown's move back to the USA Network would begin in January of 2025 and the Fall of 2024 respectively. NXT's move to The CW would also take place in the Fall of 2024.

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And thus ends the WWE Timeline (for now). I don't intend on continuing this, so don't bother looking for a continuation. Cut-Off Point!!   

Speaking of Cut-Off Points,When RAW moves to Netflix next year,I'm gonna stop watching, not just WWE,but Modern Wrestling in General. I'm gonna stick with either the Old School Stuff or Playthroughs of the Video Games.

And, That's all I have to say about this. So until next time,Space Cowboys,Stay Gold and Resist Modern Attitudes! 

The Retro King Has Spoken!

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