WWE President & Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan recently spoke with Alfred Konuwa of Forbes and confirmed that the company has interest in working with rapper Cardi B.
As noted before, Cardi B recently made several WWE tweets and got into it with Lacey Evans after being name-dropped during a RAW Legend Night segment. WWE is currently finding success with rapper Bad Bunny and Khan confirmed that they also have eyes for Cardi B. He also confirmed that we will be seeing a lot more of Bad Bunny, who is rumored to team with Damian Priest to face The Miz and John Morrison at WrestleMania 37.
“Yes, and specifically the two that you just mentioned,” Khan said of Bad Bunny and Cardi B, in response to a question on WWE partnering with popular musical acts. “Obviously, there is no touring right now, so the ability to get Bad Bunny for however long this run is going to be—and you’re going to see a lot of him—I don’t believe that would have existed in a world where Bad Bunny was on tour. That’s going to be a continual effort, so we’re always going to watch Bad Bunny, Cardi B to get involved.”
Khan added, “It made it a touch easier to get a deal done this time because they weren’t—over the course of however long the deal is—is not in 25 different cities during that time. The bulk of concert money is made in the summertime. It doesn’t appear as if there are going to be big tours during the summer, even we’re all hopeful, so we’ll see what other folks we’re talking to and who you’ll see in the mix.”
Khan had praise for WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and WWE Hall of Famer Edge when talking about what is working for WWE right now. He noted that Reigns’ heel turn and Edge’s recent Royal Rumble appearance are positives that are taking WWE in the right direction.
“I think the Drew McIntyre thing is working as a potential next breakthrough star,” Khan said. “He certainly has the look, he has the dedication, he has the right attitude, and I think he’s being put onto the right platform.”
Khan disagreed with at least one concern fans have these days. It was noted that there is a concern among fans that too much money might manifest itself in complacency for the company, especially given the fact that WWE has made more money than ever from content deals, rather than current storylines or pay-per-view main events. Khan disagreed with the prevailing notion that WWE now has on incentive to put on a good product, given all the guaranteed money they can make from content providers. He commented on how WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon remains hungry after all these years, and revealed that their recent celebration for the WWE Network – Peacock deal went for about an hour.
“I think once you’ve been really, really hungry in life and in business, it’s tough to be really, really full,” Khan said. “So I’ve found with Vince, who I’ve had the good fortune of knowing for a number of years as an agent when I was with CAA and now working with him directly, that hunger is still there, and I think that hunger is pervasive throughout the company. It’s sort of the culture of the company that we always have to work harder than we worked before. Our celebration on [the Peacock deal] was maybe one hour long.”
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