Eric Bischoff discusses the WWE-UFC merger that has lead to the TKO Group.
During WrestleMania 39 weekend, the sale was officially announced as Vince had accepted an offer from Endeavor and the plan became to merge the WWE and UFC to form a 21 billion dollar company. Now, the merger with the UFC to form a new company, TKO Group has finalized as the company will now start trading on the stock market.
Speaking on the most recent episode of the 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff gave his thoughts on the type of changes he foresees coming to WWE and believes that creative will be left unaffected by the merger.
“Just based on my limited experience, having been a part of a merger on two separate occasions, first Time Warner and then AOL, I don’t think you’ll see a majority of the changes for another three, four, five, six months. It takes time. Obviously, Frank Riddick [former WWE CFO who will be stepping away from the company following the merger], as you pointed out, one company doesn’t need two CFOs, but I think the real changes will probably be seen in administration because that’s where there’s most likely duplication between the two entities,” Eric said. “So I think you’re at the administration level, your mid-level management team, you’re going to, you’re probably going to see some over the next two or three, four, five, six months, but I don’t think it’s going to affect creative. I’m almost certain of that. I don’t think it’s going to affect the things that people see on television. It’s more about the way the business operates behind the scenes, stuff that none of us ever talk about or know about. That’s where it’s going to happen. I think it’s going to be slow. I don’t think you’re going to see wholesale changes within the next 30 days. I think you’ll see changes that are going to occur consistently over the course of the next six months.”
Eric Bischoff
Obviously, with the merger between the two promotions, there have been layoffs, with over 100 WWE employees let go earlier this week.
H/T to Fightful for transcription
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