WWE: Dana White on Vince McMahon, More on WWE Holding More PLEs Outside the US, More on NXT Oct. 24, 2023 Viewership

Oct 28, 2023

Dana White Comments on Vince McMahon Being the “Michael Jordan of the Business World”, McMahon Responds

Sports Illustrated held a recent interview with UFC President Dana White. One of the topics discussed included White’s thoughts about his business relationship with Vince McMahon.

“My history with Vince isn’t a good one. He tried to f— me so many times for no reason whatsoever except just to f— me. But that’s in the past. Now that Vince and I are allies, no one’s been a better partner than Vince.
Since day one of the deal, it’s like I’m dealing with a different guy. It goes to show that when you oppose him, or he thinks you are opposing him, the guy comes after you blindly. Once you are aligned, Vince is an incredible partner. We’ve probably spoken on the phone 20 times since the deal. It’s all added-value conversation–with Vince doing work and raising the bar for both companies.”

White also praised McMahon’s work ethic and drive going as far as to call him the “Michael Jordan of the business world.”

“Vince McMahon, man, he’s an absolute savage. Even with the stuff that went down with us in the past, I respect it. I love killers. He’s definitely a killer. He’s the Michael Jordan of the business world.”

In a recent interview with MMAJunkie, McMahon responded to White’s comments.

McMahon – “Bust his chops?”
Reporter – “He said you used to ‘fuck him'”
McMahon – “Please, I don’t do business that way. I don’t bust anybody’s chops, unless they get in the way. Dana and I get along very very well. He’s really a good guy.”
Reporter – “Was is just the case of two alpha males in the same spot and they have to try and take each other out and eventually realize they can coincide and build it even bigger?”
McMahon – “We’re good partners and good businessmen. You’re good businessmen, you get along.”
Reporter – “Is it true you stuck him in the cheap seats at WrestleMania?”
McMahon – “[laughs] No, no, no. Not at all.”
Reporter – “What are your thoughts on the dynamic between Vince and Dana working together?”
The Undertaker – “I think it’s hilarious. They’re so similar, the both of them. All do respect.”
McMahon – “He’s a tough guy.”
The Undertaker – “They’re very similar. They say what’s on their minds. Their both really good businessmen, and they definitely want the best for each of their brands.”
McMahon – “I’m a better businessman.”
The Undertaker – “By far. No doubt.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

More on WWE Holding More PLE Events Outside of the United States

As noted before, WWE recently announced that they will be holding a new event called Bash in Berlin for August 2024 in Berlin, Germany. WWE is also currently rumored to be holding next year’s Backlash event in Paris, France.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that the reason why WWE is planning to hold more PLEs outside of the United States is due to their current plans to get significant money for their international events going forward. Meltzer reported that WWE is currently in negotiations with a lot of different city governments around the world to secure big subsidiaries to hold their events overseas.

Meltzer reported that should Paris be officially chosen as the host city for Backlash 2024, that would mean a minimum of five PLE events next year will be taking place outside of the United States. Meltzer also reported that this would also make a minimum of eight events with more expected where local municipalities will be paying WWE to host their events.

More on NXT Viewership for October 24, 2023

The October 24th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT suffer a small decline in key demographic rankings and a slight decline in overall viewership and key demographic ratings. This week’s show was notable for being the Halloween Havoc 2023 Night 1 special.

NXT drew 787,000 viewers and a 0.21 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 8th place.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reasons for NXT’s declines this week was due to stiff sports competition that night and the large declines from their older male key demographic viewership and older female key demographic viewership groups, which were down 13.1% and 47.1% respectively compared to last week’s show. Another reason reportedly was due to the decline from their younger female key demographic viewership group, which was down 11.8% compared to last week’s show. This reportedly offset the large gain from their younger male key demographic viewership group, which was up 37.1% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of notable head-to-head competition, the 2023 MLB Playoffs NLCS Game 7 of Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Philadelphia Phillies drew 8,899,000 viewers on TBS, the NBA game of Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets drew 2,844,000 viewers on TNT, the NHL game of Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Washington Capitals drew 475,000 viewers on ESPN, the NHL game of Boston Bruins vs. Chicago Blackhawks drew 526,000 viewers on ESPN, My Big Fat Fabulous Lie drew 675,000 viewers on TLC, and Catfish drew 338,000 viewers on MTV.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 276,000 viewers. NXT’s Males 18-34 was 85,000 viewers (up 37.1%), Females 18-34 was 45,000 viewers (down 11.8%), Males 35-49 was 119,000 viewers (down 13.1%), and Females 35-49 was 27,000 viewers (down 47.1%). Meltzer reported that NXT’s male/female viewership split was 204,000 male viewers and 72,000 female viewers for a split of 73.9% in favor of males.

NXT’s peak overall viewership reportedly was at 813,000 viewers for the quarter hour featuring the Kelani Jordan vs. Arianna Grace match while the peak key demographic viewership was at 295,000 viewers for the quarter hour featuring the Lights Out match of Blair Davenport vs. Gigi Dolin. Meltzer reported that NXT’s overrun drew 851,000 overall viewers and 308,000 key demographic viewers for the bulk of the NXT Women’s Championship match of Lyra Valkryia vs. Becky Lynch (c).

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 2.7% in overall viewership and up 40.8% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was up 68.8% compared to the same week last year.