By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet
Tony Khan made a play for total control of the pro wrestling industry. Brandon Thurston of Post Wrestling reports that Base 10, a company backed by AEW owner Khan, was one of four companies that bid for WWE in 2023. The Base 10 bid $6.9 billion, the lowest of the four bidders. Endeavor won the bidding process with an $8.5 billion bid. Endeavor formed TKO Group Holdings after taking control of WWE. Read more on the story at PostWrestling.com.
Powell’s POV: The information was released in court filings related to the shareholder lawsuit against TKO regarding the sale of WWE. I was not big on the idea of Khan acquiring WWE at the time because I feel that one person having too much control over the industry is a negative, as shown when Vince McMahon acquired WCW and later bought ECW out of bankruptcy. I’d feel the same way if TKO were ever to make a play to acquire AEW. Nevertheless, it’s interesting that Khan made a significant bid for WWE. We can only wonder how different the landscape would be today had he successfully acquired the company.
(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time dating back to 1997. He hosts a weekly podcast, Pro Wrestling Boom, and also appears regularly on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast. Reach him via email at dotnetjason@gmail.com and on social media via @prowrestlingnet.bsky.social or x.com/prowrestlingnet. For his full bio and information on this website, click here.)
I almost wished that happened in a way just for the shear comedy of it all.