WWE: Vince McMahon Reportedly Signed NDAs Without WWE’s Knowledge, CM Punk Underwent Triceps Surgery, More on NXT Jan. 30, 2024 Viewership

Vince McMahon Reportedly Created & Signed NDAs Without WWE’s Knowledge

As noted before, WWE’s now former Board of Directors had investigated Vince McMahon in 2022 regarding allegations of McMahon committing sexual misconduct towards several former female employees and paying over $12 million in secret “hush money” settlement payments.

VICE News reported that one source spoken to familiar with the situation stated that McMahon had created and signed his NDAs deals in secret without WWE’s knowledge. This source reportedly also stated that this was the reason why WWE had to issue revised earning statements in the summer of 2022 following their discovery of McMahon’s secret payments.

It was also reported that based on several legal experts spoken to, McMahon’s NDAs are likely unenforceable in the court of law and were “poorly drafted.” It was also reported that the fact McMahon only paid $1 million of the $3 million he agreed to Janel Grant likely makes any deal he made null and void.

It was also reported that McMahon had signed the secret NDAs on both his behalf and WWE after he had sought legal counsel from his longtime attorney Jerry McDevitt, who was stated to have wrote them. One lawyer spoken to reportedly described this apparent conflict of interest as being “bizarre.”

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CM Punk Triceps Injury Status Update – CM Punk Underwent Surgery

As noted before, CM Punk suffered a torn triceps injury at this past Saturday’s Royal Rumble 2024 event and will be out of action for WrestleMania 40 due to his injury situation.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that CM Punk had underwent successful surgery earlier this week. Those same sources reportedly also stated that Punk was seen in attendance backstage wearing a brace on his arm at Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Birmingham, Alabama.

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More on NXT Viewership for January 30, 2024

The January 30th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT gain a slight increase in overall viewership and key demographic rankings but suffered a slight decline in key demographic ratings.

NXT drew 648,000 viewers and a 0.18 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking was 9th place.

Detailed key demographic viewership breakdowns were not available in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer reported that the main reasons for NXT’s mixed results was due to the small decline from their overall key demographic viewership, which was down 7.1% compared to last week’s show. This was mostly offset by the gains from their Over 50 viewership group, which its percentage was not given.

In terms of notable head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Indiana Pacers vs. Boston Celtics drew 991,000 viewers on TNT, the College basketball game of North Carolina vs. Georgia Tech drew 955,000 viewers on ESPN, the College basketball game of Oklahoma State vs. Kansas drew 642,000 viewers on ESPN, the College basketball game of Marquette vs. Villanova drew 205,000 viewers on FS1, Vanderpump Rules drew 1,387,000 viewers on BRAVO, Moonshiners drew 856,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, Curse of Oak Island drew 2,372,000 viewers on History Channel, 1000-LB Sisters drew 1,285,000 viewers on TLC, and Love & Hip Hop Atlanta drew 401,000 viewers on MTV.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 237,000 viewers.

In terms of peak viewership, NXT’s peak overall viewership reportedly was at 710,000 viewers during the quarter hour featuring the 2024 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semifinal Round match of LWO vs. Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams. NXT peak key demographic viewership reportedly was at 264,000 viewers for the same quarter hour.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 10.8% in overall viewership and up 34.7% in key demographic viewership.