WWE: Endeavor Expecting WWE Sale to be Completed This September, Brock Lesnar Update, More News

Endeavor Expecting WWE Sale & WWE and UFC Merger to be Finalized by Late September

Endeavor, parent company of UFC, is currently in the process of finalizing their purchase of WWE. As part of the terms of the deal, WWE and UFC will be merging into a new company called TKO Group.

Endeavor recently released their fiscal 2023 second quarter report which revealed that they currently expect their purchase of WWE and their merger of WWE and UFC into a new company to be completed by mid-to-late September.

Portion of Endeavor’s fiscal 2023 second quarter report:

Highlights
* $1.436 billion in Q2 2023 revenue, reflecting year-over-year growth across all four reporting segments
* Transaction to combine UFC and WWE within TKO Group Holdings, Inc. expected to close in mid- to late September 2023
* Completed sale of IMG Academy at an enterprise value of $1.25 billion, allowing the Company to commence share repurchases of up to $300 million of Class A common stock in the third quarter
* Expect to begin making quarterly cash dividend payments at the end of Q3

Q2 2023 Consolidated Financial Results
* Revenue: $1.436 billion
* Net income: $666.5 million
* Adjusted EBITDA: $304.9 million

“We delivered solid results this quarter at Endeavor and are closing in on the launch of TKO Group Holdings,” said Ariel Emanuel, CEO, Endeavor. “Our share repurchase plan and dividend payment initiatives will begin in the third quarter, and we remain focused on maintaining prudent capital allocation and delivering long term sustainable growth for the company.”

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Brock Lesnar WWE Status Update

Brock Lesnar reportedly is currently expected to take a lengthy break from WWE, according to the Wrestling Observer Radio.

Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that Lesnar is currently expected to be “gone for a while” from WWE following this past Saturday’s SummerSlam 2023 event. Lesnar reportedly had originally been scheduled to work at one of WWE’s upcoming Premium Live Events but WWE officials recently dropped that plan.

WWE officials reportedly currently do not have a definite timetable for Lesnar’s return but Meltzer speculated that Lesnar’s current break could be around four months in length and he likely will return for next year’s WrestleMania 40 season.

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WWE News & Notes

WrestleVotes reported that their sources stated that at least one creative force within WWE is currently pushing for the company to hold off on doing the first “Brother vs. Brother” Uso match between Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso until next year’s WrestleMania 40 event. It was reported that those spoken to stated that this is unlikely to happen due to the feeling that 35 weeks is too long of a stretch to hold off for this high profile match.

This past Saturday’s WWE SummerSlam 2023 event reportedly generated around 200,000 searches and a #6 ranking on Google for that day, according to the Wrestling Observer.

NXT talents Sol Ruca and Dani Palmer recently launched their new YouTube channel.

As noted before, Logan Paul will be taking a break from his wrestling career with WWE to train for an upcoming boxing match this October. Paul recently announced on Twitter that he will be facing off against Dillon Danis for his boxing match on October 14th in Manchester, England.

Fightful Select reported that those spoken to within WWE stated that while the company’s hiring freeze this year has not been an official one, it is no accident that no main roster talent have been signed by the company since this past December “when the likes of Jay White, Nick Aldis, Mercedes Mone, Trinity and Tama Tonga had been on the market.”

As noted before, WWE had been rumored to do a new batch of roster cuts during this past July. Fightful Select reported that WWE staff and talent spoken to stated that they have not heard of anything about a potential roster cut taking place any time soon. Those same people spoken to also stated that even after the rumors of a potential roster cut first emerged, this was something that was not discussed much backstage.

IYO SKY recently stated on Twitter that her WWE Women’s Championship victory at this past Saturday’s SummerSlam 2023 event made the cover of a sports newspaper in Japan the following day. SKY stated “My becoming WWE Women’s Champion is on the cover of yesterday’s sports news paper!! Thank you Japan!!✨✨ @tospo_prores @tospo_battle #IYOSKY #SummerSlam“

In a recent interview with People, Carmella gave her thoughts about her current plans to return to WWE after her pregnancy but also will not rush it in order to do so. Carmella stated “I for sure plan to come back. I think it’s important to show you can have a baby and still have a career, especially a very physical one at that, but I’m not going to rush.“

During a recent interview with The Angle Podcast, Baron Corbin gave his thoughts about him pushing to stay in NXT longer than what WWE has planned for his current time on the brand. Corbin stated “I’m still on all three shows. But I am fighting to stay in NXT a little bit because I really just wanna give our audience a good break from me, you know? Give them a few months without me driving them nuts. So I would like to personally stay in NXT for a couple more months and just really fine-tune the details of what I’m trying to bring to the people and I mean, NXT’s great but I’m also enjoying working the superstars down there. They’re hungry, they got a lot of energy, a lot of excitement, they love this. It elevates your passion… So it’s a fun place to be. They could call me for SmackDown tonight. I don’t know. I don’t know what’s happening but, I’m loving it down there.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)