As we’ve noted, Tuesday was a historic day for WWE as Endeavor’s WWE – UFC merger to form TKO Group Holdings was officially completed. You can find several related stories at the bottom of this post.
Now that the merger has been finalized, there is a lot of speculation on the future. WWE President Nick Khan and UFC Senior EVP & COO Lawrence Epstein confirmed to ESPN’s Marc Raimondi that there are no plans for “massive changes” to both products.
There had been talk of Shane McMahon wanting to buy or at least work with UFC for years, but the interest was not one-sided. For the last 15 years or so, UFC executives have envisioned a combat sports world where WWE and UFC could partner up, according to Epstein.
“We’ve always thought there was just incredible opportunity to sort of roll up these two great brands and great organizations in the combat sports space,” Epstein said. “We were a little bit early in our thinking on this thing. And of course, it’s really exciting and really a dream come true to have this come together.”
Epstein also revealed one of the longterm goals for TKO.
“Where we want to get is where every UFC fan is a WWE fan and every WWE fan is a UFC fan,” he said.
There was also talk of potential talent crossover. Former UFC Champion Brock Lesnar and UFC Hall of Famer Ronda Rousey are former UFC stars still on the WWE roster, while UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier has done some work with WWE. Khan believes the crossover can be a major boost to the “life” or career of veteran UFC fighters.
“UFC fighters are going to stay focused on the UFC and WWE Superstars obviously do something different in our ring,” Khan said. “… But you also see in the UFC people with big personalities who, once their UFC run is done, once the UFC and the fighter says, ‘Hey, maybe now’s the time to call it a day,’ could those people have a longer life at WWE, an extended life with TKO? We think so.”
Epstein looked ahead to one potential scenario where WWE and UFC would both hold a major event on the same weekend in one city. TKO could then go to local tourism authorities and sell them on paying for WWE and UFC as a package deal coming to their area.
FULL COVERAGE OF ENDEAVOR MERGING WWE AND UFC TO CREATE TKO GROUP HOLDINGS:
– TKO’s Longterm Plans for WWE and UFC, Products to Change?, UFC’s Interest In WWE, More
– Triple H and Others Receive Significant Bonus Pay Following WWE – UFC Merger
– Nick Khan on CM Punk Possibly Returning to WWE
– Dana White on Partnering with WWE, If His Daily Work Will Change with Merger
– Mood at WWE HQ Today, TKO Stock Update, Video of TKO Officials at the NYSE, New TKO Website, More
– Nick Khan’s Internal Memo to WWE Employees on TKO Launch Revealed
– Nick Khan Talks WWE TV Deals, UFC Executive on Endeavor’s Role In the Negotiations
– Big WWE – UFC Display at the New York Stock Exchange, Final WWE Stock Price
– Official Announcement on WWE and UFC Becoming TKO Under Endeavor, Vince McMahon Comments
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more.
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