WWE has undergone many changes over the last few years, beginning when Vince McMahon first stepped down from the company in June 2022, to his return the following January to reportedly help orchestrate a sale of the company, to when WWE merged with UFC to create TKO Group Holdings. WWE President Nick Khan, who joined the company in August 2020, sat down on the “Bill Simmons Podcast” ahead of WrestleMania 42 and spoke about some of the changes between the regimes, including how they schedule their own big events around other major things going on in the sports world.
“Coming out of COVID, we looked at our premium live events calendar and we had one… This is in 2021, and I asked [McMahon], ‘Why are we going up against Tom Brady’s return with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New England?'” Khan said. “He was like, ‘I don’t know. What should we do?’ I said, ‘Just move to Saturday night. I rather go up against Alabama at LSU in its prime than Tom Brady’s return to New England with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.’ ‘Great, do it.’ It was very easy to sort of make those changes, which we did.”
Khan said that they made sure to book WWE WrestleMania 42 around the NCAA’s Final Four weekend, after WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia fell on the weekend. He said the event was the last deal they “inherited,” presumably from McMahon. He explained that the Royal Rumble has been moved to run the weekend between the NFL conference finals and the Super Bowl, rather than running conference championship weekend itself. Since the move, Khan said “ratings skyrocketed” for the event.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “The Bill Simmons Podcast” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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