New documents show Endeavor execs anticipated Vince McMahon’s 2023 return & selling to them
Newly revealed documents and text messages revealed that a key executive that now heads up TKO was confident about Vince McMahon’s return to WWE in 2023 and that he would sell the company to Endeavor — a prediction that turned out to be accurate.
The report comes courtesy of Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston in association with Post Wrestling who obtained the documents and revealed the information Monday, including images of text messages from newly disclosed records as part of the current WWE shareholder lawsuit.
The suit claims that McMahon was in violation of his fiduciary duties by arranging for WWE to merge with UFC to create TKO, a move done to keep him in power rather than get the best deal for WWE shareholders.
One of the key messages is from Mark Shapiro, who heads up TKO and was also a higher-up at Endeavor, sent to current TKO chief financial officer Andrew Schleimer and then-Endeavor CFO Jason Lublin.
“Nick and Stephanie are going to take over the WWE for the next nine months. Vince [will] be back with a new board or he will take the company private or he will sell it/coming to us. The race is on. The courtship is on,” Shapiro wrote.
“Nick” is Nick Khan and “Stephanie” is Stephanie McMahon. The text was sent on July 22, 2002 — the same day Vince McMahon announced his “retirement.” It’s unclear why Shapiro was so confident, or accurate, with his assessment.
Vince McMahon returned less than six months later in January 2023, placing himself back on the WWE Board with the intent to sell the company. The deal with Endeavor then came together three months later.
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Thurston noted that the documents reveal that Vince McMahon and Endeavor head/agent Ari Emanuel were communicating during the timeframe in which he stepped down and then returned, arranging for an August 2022 dinner with Emanuel, Stephanie McMahon and Khan. It was noted there is nothing illegal about such a meeting given McMahon’s stature as that time as WWE’s primary shareholder.
There was also an exchange that same month with Emanuel offering backstage passes to a Bill Burr comedy show at Boston’s Fenway Park. While some of the exchange, in addition to an unknown download link and attachments, is redacted, one line from Emanuel is not: “I will be your greatest partner.”
It’s unclear if Emanuel was alluding to the impending deal.
There was also an August 2022 exchange where Emanuel offered to fly from Paris to Italy to meet McMahon after the now-former TKO chairman McMahon met with a senior banker who served as WWE’s financial advisor during the sale process. That same banker had worked with Endeavor previously as well as McMahon as part of his 2020 XFL re-launch.
Executives from Liberty Media, a group who was also interested in WWE, sent internal emails after the April 2023 merger announcement, saying they felt the deal was “pre-wired” and already arranged before the formal bid process kicked off.
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One of the exchanges from the extensive article showed McMahon texted with Khan about creative in February 2023, asking if Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes were aware of “new creative” for WrestleMania that year and the year after, noting he had asked both Paul Levesque and Bruce Prichard.
Khan replied “Langis” to which McMahon didn’t have any idea what he meant. Khan told him to read the word backward which is assumed to be Signal, the encrypted messaging app.
From Thurston:
“That interaction, regarding “new creative,” runs counter to Khan’s statement a month later on CNBC that McMahon wasn’t involved in the creative process. The public record doesn’t show more about what “new creative” McMahon was referring to or whether he had any influence in Roman Reigns’ win over Cody Rhodes in the main event of that year’s WrestleMania, an outcome that surprised many fans.”
The shareholder lawsuit is set to go to trial in June 2026 with the discovery phase nearing an end with financial restitution possible if the plaintiffs win the case.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.