WWE: Ari Emanuel on Vince McMahon Being a Reason for TKO Stock Decline, Velveteen Dream Rumor Killer, The Dyad Update

Oct 12, 2023

Endeavor & TKO CEO Ari Emanuel on Vince McMahon Being One Reason Why TKO Stock Are Down

A recent Bloomberg’s Screentime conference featured Endeavor and TKO CEO Ari Emanuel as one of the guests. One of the topics discussed included Emanuel’s thoughts about WWE’s recent new television deal with NBC Universal for their SmackDown brand and the status of a new television deal for their RAW brand.

“We got a 40 percent increase for SmackDown. We have Raw which is the number one package available. There’s three rights coming available to market. Three big rights: WWE Raw, UFC, NBA. We are involved in two of them. There’s six buyers, plus I would say WWE Network which is up in ‘26. I think I’m saying that — maybe ‘25, ‘26. So, you cannot undervalue the WWE and UFC for the following reasons: One, we do not have a season. One of the biggest issues that will happen with s-mods and networks is churn. We’re 52 weeks a year, right? And we’re flexible. You want us Thursday night? You want us Tuesday night? I don’t have any of those scheduling issues and that churn issue because we’re the full year. It’s so much different than any other sport because then people churn out. That’s one of the issues with sports. Not in a bad way… and then the package is over and then you leave. We do not have that. Our fans are loyal, they stick around and they move.”

Emanuel also stated that he currently believes that Executive Chairman Vince McMahon is one of the reasons why TKO’s stocks have been down since the announcement of WWE’s new television deal for SmackDown.

“I would say to you there’s plenty of interest in Raw, right now. I know people are like, ‘NBC is out of the mix’ and that’s why it went down. I think there’s three things that happened. One, the reason the stock is down is they thought Raw was the best package. I saw 40 percent increase which was in line with expectations… Two, the P.F.L. situation and three, probably Vince (McMahon) in our deal, wanted to be able to put, at any point in time, his stock. He’s 78 years old. He’s been working at this for decades and decades so, I think those three back-to-back issues…”

Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com

Velveteen Dream Denies Rumors of Potential WWE Return

Former WWE NXT talent Velveteen Dream, real name Patrick Clark, recently denied rumors of him recently being seen at WWE’s Performance Center nor being in talks for a potential return to the company.

Dream stated on Instagram:

“I AM NOT IN A REHABILITATION FACILITY NOR HAVE I VISITED ORLANDO FLORIDA
-THE WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER
-OR ANY WWE EVENTS OR FACILITIES
I encourage all wrestling media and platforms to highlight the women and men who put together awesome weekly television! And not waste time publishing and pushing false narratives and fake news about me! I haven’t contributed anything to your line of entertainment in YEARS!
Please do better and use your platforms to showcase the bright and prominent future that is PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING.”

Fightful Select reported that their sources within WWE also denied the rumors of Dream visiting the Performance Center this past week. One high level WWE official reportedly stated that the company has no interest in bringing back Dream while several talents who work at the Performance Center stated that they had not seen Dream at the venue.

This rumor originated from a WWE leaker named BWE on Twitter who has been mostly reliable in the past when it came to leaking WWE-related news. BWE had reported that Dream has been going thorough therapy and had recently visited the Performance Center.

The Dyad’s WWE Contracts Status Update

As noted before, The Dyad’s Jagger Reid and Rip Fowler are expected to leave WWE once their current contracts expire this October.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that The Dyad, former Grizzled Young Veterans, are still under contract with WWE through October 14th but they are still expected to be leaving the company.

Johnson reported that those spoken to stated that multiple companies in both the United States and Europe are currently interested in the team once their contracts expire.

Johnson also reported that the current belief is that the team will remain based out of the United States going forward.

Johnson also reported that The Dyad are still listed on WWE’s internal roster list but this is expected to change after this weekend baring a sudden change of heart by the team.