The Rock: “I Have Never Imagined That Vince McMahon Would Sell WWE”
In WWE’s long history, something significant has happened: The McMahon family no longer owns most of the company. In April, Vince McMahon sold WWE to Endeavor and, together with Endeavor’s CEO Ari Emanuel, announced plans to merge WWE with another sports entertainment giant, UFC. This merger became official recently, creating a new publicly traded company called “TKO.”
Right now, there aren’t many immediate changes because WWE and UFC are continuing with their usual operations. However, in the long run, we might see joint events featuring WWE premium live shows and UFC pay-per-views happening in the same cities.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently talked about the WWE-UFC merger and Vince McMahon’s sale of WWE on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
The Rock admitted that he never expected WWE to be owned by someone outside the McMahon family. He also mentioned that while it was somewhat surprising, it wasn’t completely unexpected considering McMahon’s big vision and perspective. The Rock and McMahon have a long history together.
The Rock said, “No, I never thought he would sell the company but I’m not surprised because he’s always about the big picture, he’s always about growth. You think about where he’s come from, from his first WrestleMania to now what the company is valued at, and this merger is incredible.”
This isn’t the first time The Rock has shared his thoughts on the WWE sale. Earlier this year, the former WWE Champion mentioned that WWE and UFC working together directly had been a long time coming. He believes it will go smoothly and that the people involved have known each other for a very long time. The Rock sees this merger as a way to create an amazing entertainment conglomerate that will entertain a broad audience.
