WWE’s Latest SEC Filing Includes Legally Foreboding Language

It may be a new day for the WWE, with Vince McMahon now retired in the wake of numerous scandals and Triple H now assuming the dual role of EVP of Talent Relations and head of WWE creative. But don’t think the dust is anywhere near settled, as new information suggests not only more potential payouts from McMahon regarding other allegations, but perhaps legal ramifications for him and WWE.

On Monday morning, WWE released their latest SEC filing, which revealed that the company had made “a preliminary determination” that payments McMahon made from 2006 to 2022 were not recorded as expenses in the quarters they occurred in, thus making them “Unrecorded Expenses.” As such, WWE announced they are revising previous financial statements to record these “Expenses” for the end of 2019, 2020, 2021 and Q1 of 2022, with the goal of issuing new statements by August 9.

WWE also revealed that the total of “Unrecorded Expenses” was around $14.6 million, and that McMahon had paid or would pay the amount personally. The $14.6 million, which WWE claims “was not material to any individual time period in which the Unrecorded Expenses arose,” has been determined to be an aggregate amount, and WWE is continuing to evaluate “the impact on previously reported on previously reported financial statements.”

It had been previously reported that McMahon had paid $12.5 million to keep quiet numerous potential scandals, with the individual payouts ranging from $7.5 million to $3 million to two $1 million payouts. If those payments are part of the $14.6 million, that would leave approximately $2.1 million unaccounted for. It’s unknown if this will lead to more payouts related to McMahon being revealed going forward.

The WWE closed out this section of their filing with a brief statement that suggested that the actions of McMahon may lead to more controversy for the promotion in the days to come:

“The Company has also received, and may receive in the future, regulatory, investigative and enforcement inquiries, subpoenas or demands arising from, related to, or in connection with these matters.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Announces Triple H As New Head Of Creative

There’s a new head of WWE creative in town and the game could have just changed for pro wrestling. WWE revealed today that Paul Levesque (fka Triple H) will be in charge of all responsibilities when it comes to WWE’s creative process. With Vince McMahon announcing his retirement from all of his WWE duties, Triple H was named the replacement for John Laurinaitis as the head of talent relations, and according to WWE, he’s now in charge of creative, as well. The full announcement, which also reveals that Stephanie McMahon is the new Chairwoman of the Board, can be read below:

STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WWE® (NYSE: WWE) and its Board of Directors today announced the appointment of Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan as co-Chief Executive Officers. Ms. McMahon has also been appointed Chairwoman of the Board, and Mr. Khan will continue to serve as a member of the Board. These appointments follow Vince McMahon’s retirement announcement on Friday, July 22.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to lead WWE together with our unmatched management team,” said Ms. McMahon and Mr. Khan. “We recognize this is a tremendous opportunity and responsibility, and we look forward to serving the WWE Universe.”

Additionally, WWE executive Paul Levesque will assume all responsibilities related to WWE’s creative, in addition to his regular duties.

Vince McMahon suddenly announced his retirement Friday evening before “WWE SmackDown” took place, and Stephanie McMahon kicked off the show to send a “thank you” to her father.  Vince’s retirement amidst a storm of allegations that he haded out more than $12 million in hush money to female employees regarding sexual misconduct over the course of the last 16 years, allegations that led to an internal investigation by the WWE board and numerous external investigations regarding WWE’s handling of the situation. Laurinaitis, who was allegedly also involved in the sexual misconduct allegations, was put on administrative leave last month and is not expected to return to the company.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Raw Preview 7/25/22

WWE enters a new era on tonight’s “Raw”. It will be the first WWE broadcast with Paul “Triple H” Levesque officially in charge of the company’s creative direction. Rey Mysterio celebrates his WWE 20th Anniversary.

The company announced Monday morning that Levesque “will assume all responsibilities related to WWE’s creative”. This follows Vince McMahon’s resignation/retirement as the company’s CEO, Chairman, and Head of Creative amid an ongoing company investigation into hush money allegations.

Update On Tully Blanchard’s AEW/ROH Status

There is an update on Tully Blanchard’s AEW/ROH status following ROH Death Before Dishonor.

According to Fightful Select, it looks like Blanchard will not be moving forward with AEW or ROH.

There were conflicting reasons behind Blanchard not appearing on Death Before Dishonor. Fightful was told that his prison ministry group was cited as the reason why he wasn’t there.

Talent and staff that inquired about Blanchard’s whereabouts were told that he was “effectively gone” from ROH and isn’t figured into plans moving forward.

During Saturday’s ROH Death Before Dishonor, it was revealed that Prince Nana had purchased Tully Blanchard Enterprises and was renamed The Embassy. The Embassy was Prince Nana’s original group in 2004. The current Embassy includes Gates of Agony (Toa Liona & Kaun), Brian Cage, & Jonathan Gresham.

Tully Blanchard Enterprises was first formed at the ROH Supercard of Honor with Gates of Agony and Cage. Gresham joined the group on the July 8 edition of AEW Rampage after he left Lee Moriarty in the ring with Gates of Agony. Before the group, Blanchard was the manager of the current ROH World Tag Team Champions FTR.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage News On Jonathan Gresham Requesting ROH/AEW Release

The former Ring of Honor World Champion Jonathan Gresham is seeking to be immediately released from his AEW/ROH contract, according to a new report from “Fightful.” It’s explained that Gresham asked for his release Saturday ahead of the ROH Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view and his ROH World Title defense against Claudio Castagnoli — a bout he ultimately lost.

The report cites “a lack of communication between the company and Gresham leading up to the weekend,” inspiring the technical wrestling specialist to feel “disrespected.” The lack of time given to the World Title match during last night’s show was also a noted “tipping point.”

Gresham reportedly met with Tony before the show began and got heated enough to the point that he was “cussing out” the AEW/ROH President. “Fightful” notes that several people backstage have corroborated this story after what occurred between the two. Gresham has since responded to inquiries about the ordeal and claimed he is “done with wrestling for the foreseeable future after this month.” Part of the reason Gresham came out in his regular entrance attire last night was that he was unsure if that would be his final match before hanging up the boots. Tony Khan has yet to comment, and it remains unclear if Gresham has been granted his requested release from ROH and AEW.

After a successful career in the former ROH, Gresham made his AEW in-ring debut when he competed at their Battle of the Belts II against the flamboyant Dalton Castle. Gresham managed to hold on to his ROH World Title on that occasion when he defeated Castle by submission. His first time working with Tony Khan was at the ROH SuperCard of Honor XV this past April, the first ROH show following Tony Khan’s acquisition of the company.

UPDATE

According to Fightful, Gresham met with Khan before the pay-per-view and was already more heated than usual regarding the direction of his booking and character, but while their dialogue had been expected to stay private, details couldn’t help but spill into the locker room as the conversation increased in volume, with even the building’s security being able to hear it. Fightful’s previous report had stated that Gresham ‘cussed out’ Khan.

Gresham reportedly had contacts within AEW in the form of QT Marshall and Sonjay Dutt had also been a contact for him from within the company. Despite that, Gresham was frustrated with the creative direction of his character — specifically, he had been against the idea of turning heel, and more broadly, he “a vision for his creative direction” that Khan did not share. Gresham had apparently been told that creative changes had to go through Khan, but he was unable to meet with Khan until just a few hours before the event on Saturday. The finish of Gresham’s match with Claudio Castagnoli, which saw him lose the ROH World Championship, is believed to have been hinted to him, but it’s unclear whether he knew before the day of the show itself. Fightful claims that the typical creative process involves talent speaking to AEW coaches, as well as Marshall, Christopher Daniels, Marshall, and Pat Buck, who then act as intermediaries between the talent and Khan. The report also notes that while Khan does try to speak directly to talent, that practice has declined “due to the changing of the world and travel in general.”

The general lack of communication within AEW is not a new complaint, as former talent like Joey Janela, Marko Stunt, and Chavo Guerrero have discussed similar issues in the past. It remains to be seen whether Gresham will have his release granted, as neither Khan nor the company have made an official comment.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Bryan Danielson’s Return To In-Ring Action This Week On AEW Dynamite

One of AEW’s top stars is making his way back to competition after being sidelined due to reported concussion issues. “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson announced during AEW’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con that he is officially cleared to return to the ring and will be facing Daniel Garcia of The Jericho Appreciation Society on this Wednesday’s Fight for the Fallen edition of “Dynamite.”

Danielson hasn’t wrestled since the Anarchy in the Arena match that took place at the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view this past May. The reported concussion issues that caused him to take time away from competition have been an ongoing battle throughout his career and were the main reason he announced his retirement in 2016 after multiple concussions led to seizures and a brain lesion. Danielson would later reveal that not only were the health scares responsible for his retirement announcement, but he also had lied to WWE about part of the findings from his doctor visits. The multi-time WWE Champion would make a triumphant return in 2018 and gives us several new memorable characters like the “New” Daniel Bryan, that emphasized environmental issues while deeming the WWE Universe “fickle,” and his more rough, rugged persona since arriving in All Elite Wrestling.

Said injuries would cause Danielson to miss out on the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view, where he was initially scheduled to face Zack Sabre Jr. one-on-one. He would subsequentially miss the big Blood & Guts match in the same week, forcing Tony Khan to bring the substitute, Claudio Castagnoli, to AEW television earlier than he originally anticipated. Tony noted he didn’t want Danielson back in action until he was “feeling 100% at 100% of the time”, which was the cause for several missed shows.

Bryan was previously entangled in budding feuds with Eddie Kingston and Chris Jericho. It will be interesting to see if that is the same path Tony Khan puts him on upon returning, which one could assume is the case, as his first match back is against a member of the JAS.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

ROH Death Before Dishonor Results 7/23/2022

“ZERO HOUR” PRE-SHOW
Colt Cabana defeated Anthony Henry

“ZERO HOUR” PRE-SHOW
Trustbusters (Ari Daivari & Slim J) defeated Shinobi Shadow Squad (Cheeseburger & Eli Isom)

– Backstage, Prince Nana reveals that he has purchased Tully Blanchard Enterprises

“ZERO HOUR” PRE-SHOW
Brian Cage & Gates of Agony (Toa Liona & Kaun) w/ Prince Nana defeated Tony Deppen, Alex Zayne & Blake Christian

“ZERO HOUR” PRE-SHOW
Willow Nightingale defeated Allysin Kay

ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Claudio Castagnoli defeated Jonathan Gresham (c) w/ Prince Nana (**TITLE CHANGE**)

ROH SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Dalton Castle & The Boys (Brandon Tate & Brent Tate) defeated The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman & Dutch) (c) (**TITLE CHANGE**)

ROH PURE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Wheeler Yuta (c) defeated Daniel Garcia

Rush  w/ Jose the Assistant defeated Dragon Lee

ROH WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Mercedes Martinez (c) defeated Serena Deeb

ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Samoa Joe (c) defeated Jay Lethal w/ Satnam Singh

– A rundown of this week’s “AEW Dynamite” is shown, including Bryan Danielson’s return to in-ring action.

2 OUT OF 3 FALLS – ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (c) defeated The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe)

– After the match, FTR invited the Briscoes into the ring to allow them to receive the appreciation from the fans. FTR and the Briscoes shook hands. Harwood got on the microphone and said that he loves professional wrestling and that we’ll see FTR on “AEW Dynamite” on Wednesday. Regal, Castagnoli and Yuta came out to the stage, seemingly stating their intentions to challenge FTR.

Precautions Were Put In Place In Case Brock Lesnar Didn’t Return To WWE SmackDown

After bombshell news of Vince McMahon’s retirement hours before WWE “SmackDown” went on air, several questions were left unanswered. How would the hierarchy of the company change with his exit? How would it affect the WWE superstars, if at all? Reports indicated that one top WWE talent that has been with the company on and off for two decades was heavily impacted by Vince’s announcement: Brock Lesnar.

Shortly after Vince revealed the big news on social media, it was reported that Lesnar walked out of “SmackDown” and was “pissed off,” stating something to the effect of, “If he’s gone, I’m gone.”

Due to the events, “Fightful Select” notes in a new report that a behind-the-scenes source reacted to the situation by calling it “overblown” but admitted they were unsure if he’d end up actually appearing on the blue brand. Creative even produced another script for the show that didn’t feature “The Beast Incarnate” whatsoever, which was reflected in the rundown released before they went live. They decided to leave the last segment of the night open in a way that Lesnar could make his return and be involved if that’s what he chose to do.

The night’s main event saw The Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos and Theory team up to face The Street Profits and Madcap Moss. The Profits and Moss were awarded a disqualification victory after Theory used his Money in the Bank briefcase to strike Moss in the head. Theory then continued to attack Moss after the match, but Brock Lesnar would make the save, planting Theory with an F-5 to end the episode.

It appears that Lesnar challenging Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns in a Last Man Standing title match at SummerSlam on Saturday, July 30 is still scheduled to occur. The show will take place from the Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennesse.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Brock Lesnar Makes Shocking Appearance On WWE SmackDown After Reportedly Walking Out

A night of speculation over the whereabouts and future of Brock Lesnar in WWE ended in spectacular fashion when he made a shocking, surprise appearance to close out Friday night’s episode of “SmackDown”.

The main event of Friday’s “SmackDown” saw the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos and Theory team up to face The Street Profits and Madcap Moss. The Profits and Moss were awarded a disqualification victory after Theory used his Money in the Bank briefcase to strike Moss in the head.

Theory continued to attack Moss after the match. That’s when Brock Lesnar’s music played and “The Beast” made his way to the ring, where he planted Theory with an F-5.

Seeing Lesnar live on Friday’s “SmackDown” was a shock, considering the reports from backstage that surfaced starting earlier in the evening.

News broke shortly before 5 PM ET that Lesnar had walked out of “SmackDown” and was “pissed off”. Details later emerged that Lesnar’s walkout was in response to Vince McMahon’s retirement announcement. Lesnar reportedly said something to the effect of, “If he’s gone, I’m gone.” Promotion for Lesnar’s appearance on “SmackDown” was pulled from WWE’s website, although an email to WWE fans sent out around 5:30 pm ET still mentioned Lesnar would be on the show.

All appears to be back on track for Lesnar to challenge Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns in a Last Man Standing title match at SummerSlam on Saturday, July 30.

McMahon is retiring from his roles as WWE Chairman, CEO, and Head of Creative amid an investigation into a series of hush money payments. McMahon allegedly paid former female employees to silence potential accusations of harassment, misconduct, and abuse against both McMahon and former Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis.

Laurinaitis has now been removed from his position, with Paul “Triple H” Levesque officially taking over his duties on Friday. Creative duties are now being overseen by Bruce Pritchard.

https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX/status/1550661702278156288
https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX/status/1550663937871564802

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Vince McMahon Announces His Retirement, Thanks WWE Universe, Stephanie McMahon Opened Up SmackDown (video)

WWE founder Vince McMahon has announced his retirement.

Vince McMahon has officially announced his retirement at the age of 77. The founder of WWE took to social media on Friday, July 22 to break the news and thank the WWE Universe.

“At 77, time for me to retire. Thank you, WWE Universe,” McMahon tweeted. “Then. Now. Forever. Together.”

https://twitter.com/VinceMcMahon/status/1550572700959121408

“As I approach 77 years old, I feel it’s time for me to retire as Chairman and CEO of WWE,” McMahon later elaborated in a statement released by WWE. “Throughout the years, it’s been a privilege to help WWE bring you joy, inspire you, thrill you, surprise you, and always entertain you. I would like to thank my family for mightily contributing to our success, and I would also like to thank all of our past and present Superstars and employees for their dedication and passion for our brand. Most importantly, I would like to thank our fans for allowing us into your homes every week and being your choice of entertainment. I hold the deepest appreciation and admiration for our generations of fans all over the world who have liked, currently like, and sometimes even love our form of Sports Entertainment.“

WWE also confirmed that Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan would be assuming the roles of co-CEOs of WWE, effective immediately.

According to journalist Brandon Thurston, Vince will be retiring from all of his WWE duties, including the creative ones.

https://twitter.com/BrandonThurston/status/1550582194657165313

On Friday, July 8 The Wall Street Journal published a report which claimed McMahon paid off as many as four women going back 16 years. Those payments apparently total $12 million, with one of the four unnamed women included in the report being paid $7.5 million by McMahon. Last month, reports surfaced that McMahon paid a former WWE paralegal $3 million in hush money after the two had an affair.

Source: TheSportster

New Co-CEO of WWE, Stephanie McMahon opened up Friday night’s “Smackdown”, live from TD Garden in Boston, MA. She opened the show just hours after her father, Vince McMahon announced he is retiring. WWE broke the news of Stephanie opening up “Smackdown” just shy of an hour before the blue brand went live on FOX.

https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX/status/1550633156625289219