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The WWE entered this week with the intention of hyping up The Royal Rumble premium live event but as the week has come to an end the sports entertainment company is feverishly working to distance itself from its CEO Vince McMahon. Here’s a look back at WWE’s insane week:
RAW Goes To Netflix
The week began with Netflix & WWE announcing a deal sending the company’s flagship RAW show to Netflix beginning in January 2025. The partnership is a 10-year, $5 billion deal that will see Netflix be the home of RAW in the US, UK, Canada and Latin America. The deal also calls for Netflix to be the home of all WWE shows, specials and PLEs outside of the US. That’s right – NXT & SmackDown will be on Netflix outside of the US.
It will mark the first time RAW will not be on linear TV since its inception 31 years ago. It will also be a first for Netflix as RAW will be live on the streaming service. With competitors like Apple TV and Amazon Prime getting into the live sports game it only makes sense for Netflix to throw its hat in the ring to offer live sporting events. Should it be successful, Netflix can build a case to host other sporting events.
Dwayne Johnson Joins TKO, Gains Ownership of ‘The Rock’
On Tuesday, TKO Group Holdings went to Wall Street to bask in the glow of the new WWE/Netflix deal and also announce that Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson would be appointed to the TKO Group Board of Directors. Part of the deal will be to pay Johnson $30 million in stock rewards to promote the TKO brand. Also a part of the deal is that Johnson will gain full ownership of the nickname ‘The Rock’.
With The Rock joining the Board of Directors, TKO will now have 13 members on the board. H
Here is The Rock on CNBC talking about the deal:
Vince McMahon Is A Monster
WWE spent the first half of this week with all of the momentum in the world heading into Royal Rumble… and then the bottom fell out. On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal dropped another bombshell article alleging sexual misconduct against WWE CEO & TKO Chairman Vince McMahon.
In the article, Janel Grant, who is a former WWE employee, filed a lawsuit against McMahon, WWE official John Laurinitis and the WWE alleging McMahon and Laurinitis sexually abused her. The lawsuit states that Grant “was the victim of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault and trafficking at WWE” and that Grant “is filing this lawsuit not just to address her own suffering, but also to act for those who are afraid to speak out.”
The 67 page lawsuit contains explicit, horrific details of sexual abuse and trafficking during Grant’s tenure with the company between 2019 and 2021. The full lawsuit can be found here.
This latest lawsuit is on the heels of another bombshell article from the WSJ in 2022 that led to McMahon ‘retiring’ in July 2022. He muscled his way back into the company a few months later and was named TKO Chairman when Endeavor Group Holdings bought WWE in April 2023 and merged it with UFC to form TKO Group Holdings.
As a result of the lawsuit, WWE sponsor Slim Jim paused its relationship with WWE amid the sickening, disturbing allegations against Vince McMahon.
Vince McMahon is a monster and people have to separate what he was able to build with the WWE and who he is as a person and how he used his power and influence for his own sick, twisted purposes. There have been plenty of horrific details about Vince McMahon that I detailed back in 2022 but this latest accusation just may be the knockout punch that keeps McMahon out of WWE for good.
A little over 24 hours after the WSJ article broke the internet, Vince McMahon resigned from TKO Group Holdings as its Chairman and member of the Board of Directors:
As WWE heads into Royal Rumble weekend they will be sure to completely distance themselves from McMahon and keep its focus on the talented men & women who are heading to St. Petersburg, FL. to compete in the PLE that will officially start the road to WrestleMania.
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