WWE recently ushered in a new era with Stephanie McMahon becoming the co-CEO and Chairwoman following Vince McMahon’s retirement. She recently expressed her desire for the company to engage in more tuck-in mergers and purchases. As part of the deal, Stephanie discussed potential opportunities for WWE to engage with professional boxing.
Stephanie McMahon talks about the matter
The McMahon family certainly has a deep history in boxing. Jess McMahon, Vince’s grandfather, was a boxing promoter in the early 20th century. Stephanie McMahon has now stated during her appearance at the Wells Fargo 2022 TMT Summit that any potential acquisition must “align with our capabilities.” While discussing the possibility of acquiring smaller wrestling promotions, whether domestically or internationally, McMahon mentioned another possibility for WWE: boxing.
A number of pro boxing legends have made their way into WWE. Muhammad Ali was a special guest referee in the main event of Wrestlemania I, Mike Tyson had feud with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Floyd Mayweather Jr. broke The Big Show’s nose and most recently, Tyson Fury campaigned in the WWE,
McMahon cited how, in the late 1980s, former WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon consolidated pro wrestling by combining multiple championships into one:
“Just to give some examples of what I meant by that, [an acquisition] has to align with our core capabilities, right, so whether that’s smaller wrestling promotions, say, internationally. Or it’s another bigger opportunity around a business that is, you know, kind of all over the place like boxing. Who’s the lineal champion? Who’s the WBC champion? Who’s the this — it’s kind of it’s all over the place. That’s where professional wrestling was some 40 years ago. My father, Vince McMahon, who was the Chairman and CEO, obviously, had the opportunity to roll up all of those different territories and create one major brand in WWE that has now gone from a regional, territorial, content play to a global media franchise. And how can we then replicate that in other areas, with boxing being an idea of one of them.”
