By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
The following are among the highlights of WWE CEO Nick Khan’s appearance on Wednesday’s edition of The Bill Simmons Podcast.
-Nick Khan spoke about the changes to his job titles during his time with the company and stated that “as of this moment, I’m the CEO of WWE.”
-Khan said all of the changes with Vince resigning and returning are not as surprising from the inside. Khan said there’s only one person in charge of the company and he’s not that person. Khan said he thinks Vince played it smart by going away for five or six months and then retaking control of the company. “It is the public’s company, it is a publicly traded company, but with that controlling share, it gave him a lot of authority, he used it, and I applaud him for doing so.”
-Khan was asked if the WWE Board of Directors forced him to step down. Khan said he didn’t see it that way. He said Vince will do whatever is best for business and at that moment in time, Vince said stepping away for awhile as what was best for business. Khan emphasized that Vince really did step aside at the time. He also said that while it’s only been a week, he really believes Vince’s claim that he’s only back to engage in strategic alternatives and the media rights. Khan said Vince has had “zero” to do with the creative since he returned.
-Khan also said he went out of his way to see Vince once a month or so while he was sidelined. He said it’s no different than whether other friends have gone through hard times professionally. He said that’s when people need to hear from others most. Even then, Khan said there was never a moment of “do it this way or do it that way.” Khan admitted he was surprised in the moment when Vince stepped down, but it made total sense to him eventually.
-Khan said he was not surprised to see Vince take steps to return. He said anyone who believes Vince was truly going to retire does not know him.
-Simmons asked how much of Vince returning had to do with the company doing so well without him and pointed to the improved creative. Khan said he didn’t think so, but then asked Simmons what he thought. Simmons said he thinks it did bother Vince. Khan he thinks the succession plan in Vince’s mind is the one he put in place when he stepped down by having Levesque run creative while he and Stephanie ran the business side.
-Khan said Vince seemed thrilled for the first month he was away. Khan said he thinks Vince went to Italy. He said that by month five, he felt that Vince was getting ready to return. Khan said he hasn’t seen any type of heat from Vince toward anyone in WWE about business moves that were made in his absence.
-Simmons brought up bringing back Michelle Wilson and George Barrios to serve on the WWE Board of Directors and the departures that took place. Khan said he has nothing but good history with Wilson and Barrios. He said they know the company.
-Simmons said it seemed like Vince wanted more of the board on his side and moved out three people and then two quit. Khan said it was a nuanced thing on the sale process. Khan said Vince will run the sale process and having board members in who understood and embraced that was likely the determining factor.
-Simmons asked if Vince could hypothetically sell the company without the board’s consent and then questioned why even have a board if that’s the case. Khan said the misconception was that the board were puppets for Vince, but that wasn’t the case. Khan said that as he understands it, as long as its an unaligned fair process, the controlling shareholder can control it. He said that if there was a handshake deal and he wanted to declare that he wanted to buy out the other shares, then the board would control that process. Khan said it appears that’s not what he’s looking to do.
-Simmons recalled Levesque being pushed to the side and having health issues previously and Stephanie taking a leave of absence. Simmons noted that both returned and now Stephanie has resigned. Simmons questioned what happened. Khan said rule number one is to stay out of family side of the family business when you’re in the position he’s in. He spoke about the show “Succession” and joked that people see him as the non-family member who people call an idiot and wonder why they work there. Khan said he considers himself to be someone who simmers the pot rather than being a pot stirrer.
-Khan said Levesque’s health scare was the most traumatic health issue that he’s seen a friend go through that did not result in death. He called talking with Levesque and saying he seemed out of breath. Levesque said he was going to get checked for COVID-19. Stephanie called Khan hours later and informed him that Levesque was undergoing an emergency procedure. Khan said he saw Levesque a month later and he looked like a different person. “It was scary,” Khan said. “It was scary for him. It was scary for Stephanie. They have three school-aged daughters, it was scary for them.” Khan said he felt Stephanie taking the leave of absence was a decision that most people would make if they could while their spouse was down. Khan said he jokes with Stephanie publicly and privately that she took the shortest leave of absence in the history of corporate America.
-Khan said he was on the phone when Vince called Stephanie and asked her to be the interim CEO. Khan said Stephanie said no problem and was in. Khan said Stephanie’s work as an executive was “off the charts phenomenal, and she’s great people.” Khan said it was easy to work with Stephanie. He said that he thinks she decided to step out once her father returned.
-Simmons pointed out that Stephanie seemed to be on a “make everything okay again tour” with sponsors and networks. Simmons said he assumed that meant Vince was not returning and it was a new era of the company. Simmons asked if Khan felt Vince learned any lessons over this time or if they were just going back to where they were a year ago. Khan said Vince seems happy with where the company is at. Simmons wondered if the lesson for Vince was that he would stay out of things and just focus on the sale. Khan said yes and noted that Vince has spoken about “all strategic alternatives.”
-Khan said the story that the company was being sold to the Saudi Arabian investment group was totally false. He called it absurd and said it was one hundred percent false.
-Khan said he doesn’t believe it will be a lengthy process. Simmons noted that you want multiple bidders and you want to play them against one another. He said there are rules and these things take months and months.
-Simmons said he still doesn’t understand why Stephanie left. Khan said he thinks Stephanie came back because her father asked her to. Khan said he thinks Stephanie felt her work was down for now. He said she’s a terrific executive and an even better person. “Life is long, let’s see,” Khan said regarding Stephanie’s potential future with the company.
Simmons asked about Shane McMahon’s departure. Khan said he’s never asked and would not ask. He said it would be career suicide. Khan said Vince’s son-in-law works as the head of creative. He said there’s always a lot of Twitter chatter that Levesque and Vince don’t get along, but he said he thinks everybody is getting along “just great.”
-Khan said he’s not worried about additional unflattering stories regarding Vince. He said Vince was very honest about things and he didn’t think Vince tried to hide or cover up anything. Simmons asked if Vince was candid enough with the general public. Khan said Vince never addressed it publicly. He said Vince doesn’t enjoy “the press thing.” He said sitting down and talking through it with someone wasn’t on Vince’s mind.
-Simmons asked if Khan understands why ten percent of him thinks this is all a work due to the timing of WrestleMania season. Khan said there is no swerve.
-Khan there are no plans for Vince to be on camera at this moment. He conceded that it could change in a few months if Vince and Levesque were on the same page about that. “I don’t see it right now,” Khan said.
-Simmons asked why Vince wants to sell the company. “I think he’s ready,” Khan said. “I can’t describe it as anything more than that after the last five months.” Khan pointed to the media rights deals coming up in October of 2024 the process of negotiating long term deals starts in a few months. He said that locking in a bunch of long term deals and then trying to sell it does not make sense. Khan confirmed that the goal is sell the company and then new ownership would be to negotiate the new deals, unless one of the media conglomerates ends up buying it directly. He explained that in the scenario of a media conglomerate acquiring the company wouldn’t want to be encumbered by long term media deals with other companies.
-Simmons asked if there are lanes for other suitors and cited the way the Phoenix Suns were recently acquired. Khan said yes. He also mentioned private equity. He said there’s a lot of money out there and there probably won’t be a lot of transactions in 2023, and WWE will probably get a heightened look. He said it may appeal to people who regret not buying the Suns or UFC.
-Khan said the possibility of Vince selling a portion of the company. Khan said that “strategic alternatives” isn’t meant to be cute, it’s because they are looking at everything. He mentioned scenarios such as merging or buying another company. He said a lot of it will come down to price but not all of it. He said it would come down to what’s the best value for the shareholder and what’s the best value for Vince after the shareholder.
-Simmons brought up Rita Chatterton filing a lawsuit against Vince, but did not specifically mention her allegation that she was raped by McMahon in 1986. He asked Khan if suitors would wait to see how it plays out and how bad it could be. Khan said he thinks everyone is plowing ahead. He said you just move forward. He said there’s always some type of hurdle in the way that you have to get through.
-Simmons asked what it’s like to work with Vince on a day-to-day basis. Khan said Vince is more polite than people assume. Simmons said Vince is more soft spoken than people think and it’s disarming. Khan said Vince is a great listener. Simmons spoke about his own dealings with Vince from the Andre the Giant documentary and the forthcoming Netflix documentary. Khan also said that having smaller meeting with fewer people have worked best for him and are the best use of time.
-Simmons brought up AEW as a challenger to WWE. He noted that the Khan family have deep pockets and that Tony Khan is a lifelong fan. Simmons said they seemed like a real competitor and tapped into the nerd fanbase that loves five-star matches. Khan asked Simmons how he thinks they are doing now. Simmons said not as well, but he thinks they are having a better 2023 than 2022 thus far. Nick said he has not met Tony Khan, but added that he “seems like a nice kid to me.”
-Nick said he and Stephanie ended up randomly sitting next to Shad Khan at a sports business luncheon. Nick said he felt Shad was as impressive as he could be. Nick spoke about Shad financing the company and not being involved on the wrestling side. Nick said he was never threatened by AEW. He said he doesn’t feel threatened by anyone on anything. He said it’s just not how he does business. Nick said he doesn’t care what anyone else is doing, he cares what his company is doing. Simmons said competition is a good thing. Nick agreed and said it’s what the company was built on. He also said that anyone can run a company on a loss if someone continues to finance it. When Simmons asked if that’s what he thinks AEW is doing, Nick said he didn’t know their books. Nick said WWE’s finances are public and had the highest grossing revenue and highest profitability in 2022.
-Simmons noted that WWE took Cody Rhodes from AEW. “How did you like that one?” Khan asked. Simmons said he liked it until Cody got hurt. Khan said he’s coming back at the Royal Rumble and he’s feeling good. Simmons asked if Cody was on the road to becoming the guy in WWE “other than Roman (Reigns).” Khan said it felt like Cody was heading in that direction. Khan added that they announced Cody will be in the Royal Rumble.
-Simmons asked if the rumors are true that The Rock will be at WrestleMania. Khan said he could not confirm nor deny.
-Simmons asked Khan if he misses being an agent. Khan said he loved being an agent. He said he never had a contract with a client. He said he never understood it because you can fire doctors or lawyers. Khan said his initial deal with WWE when he was at CAA was a handshake deal.
-Simmons pondered the possibility of WWE ending up on ESPN. “Why couldn’t it?” Khan asked. He said they had a number of conversations with ESPN in the past. He also said WWE and UFC only have 10-11 percent audience overlap. “If you look at all the subs that UFC has generated for ESPN+, our audience is different and supplemental to that, so yeah, we’re hyped,” Khan said. “We think we’re in a good spot.”
-Simmons asked if the WWE merry-go-round is over. Khan said he didn’t want to jinx anything, but he thinks the ship is steady.
Powell’s POV: The interview was conducted on Tuesday in Los Angeles and begins at the 119:45 mark. Simmons hit Khan with a number of good questions. I wish he would have asked if whether Khan was hired with the goal of selling the company and whether he hopes to stay with the company if it is sold. Khan and Simmons also had an interest chat at the end of the podcast about the future of ESPN, where NBA games might land, and more.
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