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More WWE shareholder lawsuit depositions set
In new court filings Wednesday, WWE President Nick Khan, Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque and fellow former WWE board members George Barrios and Michelle Wilson sought to depose one of the investor groups leading the WWE shareholder lawsuit over the company’s merger with UFC.
The executives served a notice to question representatives of the Laborer’s District Council and Contractors’ Pension Fund of Ohio, which is one of the entities acting as co-lead plaintiff in the case. Attorneys for the executives, who were WWE board members when the deal was made with Endeavor to create TKO Group Holdings, want to question the fund on why it decided to bring the case, how it chose its law firms, and what analysis it did on the merger transaction, among other topics.
Depositions don’t automatically become public record. Transcript excerpts from them may be used in future exhibits in the case.
Vince McMahon and the former board member are defendants in the case, which is being litigated in Delaware Chancery Court. McMahon has separate counsel.
The new filings came in the same week Stephanie McMahon and former WWE executive Frank Riddick were scheduled to be (and presumably were) deposed on Oct. 27 and Oct. 28, respectively. Wilson was deposed on Oct. 24. Barrios was deposed on Thursday. McMahon, Khan, and Levesque are scheduled to be deposed in November.
The shareholder lawsuit accuses McMahon and other former board members of breaching their fiduciary duties in approving WWE’s merger with Endeavor’s UFC in a process the plaintiffs allege was pre-selected to assure McMahon would remain with the company post-transaction. In a filing last year, McMahon broadly denied the allegations.
According to a filing submitted on Thursday, TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro will be deposed on December 8, slightly later than previously scheduled. TKO CEO Ari Emanuel is set to be deposed on December 2. Levesque’s deposition was moved from Nov. 4 to Nov. 18.
WWE draws $2.6M gate in Birmingham, and other ticket sales details
Pollstar data also revealed multiple million-dollar gates for WWE through the summer and the start of fall, which featured the company’s European tour. Raw on Aug. 25 drew a $2,590,009 gate on 11,152 tickets sold in Birmingham, England at bp pulse LIVE, with an average ticket sale price of $232. That was the go-home show to Clash in Paris and featured Roman Reigns, a segment featuring Nikki Bella and Becky Lynch, plus Bron Breakker, LA Knight, Seth Rollins, Jey Uso and CM Punk in the main event.
Saturday Night’s Main Event and Evolution drew a combined $2,006,415 gross gate, according to Pollstar, which didn’t provide separate data for the two events that took place on back-to-back nights in Atlanta. SNME featured Goldberg’s retirement match, and Evolution was the second edition of the premium live event in WWE’s history. Both events were held at State Farm Arena on the weekend of July 11 and 12, the same weekend AEW held All In: Texas.
WrestleTix estimated there were 12,412 tickets distributed for SNME and 9,303 tickets distributed for Evolution. The July 11 SNME was the last edition of the event on NBC, and it drew 1,425,000 viewers with a 0.33 P18-49 rating.
Just before All In in Arlington, AEW ran two nights of TV at the Curtis Culwell Center, about 45 minutes away in Garland. Dynamite on Wednesday, July 9 and Collision the next day on July 10 generated a combined $185,305 from 4,969 ticket sales. Like with the WWE Atlanta dates, Pollstar did not break these two events out separately.
One other AEW event we obtained data for was Dynamite on Sept. 17 in London, Ontario at the Canada Life Palace. The show drew $116,893 from 2,699 sales.
Additional single-day events with available Pollstar data are detailed below.
View interactive version of the table above
Grant v. Colker hearing: Attorneys for Dr. Carlon Colker and Peak Wellness withdraw motion as questions remain over whether Janel Grant will get more records.
A remote hearing was held on Monday in Connecticut Superior Court in the bill of discovery case brought by former WWE employee Janel Grant, who has been seeking records from Dr. Carlon Colker, a Connecticut physician mentioned in her separate federal lawsuit against WWE and Vince McMahon.
At the hearing, Colker’s attorney, Frank Silvestri, formally withdrew a motion that asked the judge to reopen a prior judgment. That motion, filed in September, sought clarification about how future discovery disputes could be handled after the judgment was entered in August. Silvestri told Judge David Bothwell that the motion was now moot because Colker and his clinic, Peak Wellness, had already produced Grant’s medical and billing records, as well as related data.
The outcome of this litigation could affect what evidence is available to Grant as she pursues her lawsuit against WWE and McMahon, in which she accuses McMahon of sexual abuse and trafficking and the company of negligence, particularly as the defendants in that case push to move the matter into private arbitration where discovery may be limited. McMahon has denied Grant’s allegations of abuse.
Grant’s attorneys did not dispute that some materials were produced by Colker but made clear in a filing the previous Friday that they believe additional information is still missing. In that motion, they stated that Colker had turned over only one document and certain “audit logs,” and that key issues remained unresolved after a recent conference between the parties. Grant’s requests include records of communications between Colker, McMahon, and WWE, and records of possible travel involving Colker and McMahon. Colker’s side has previously objected to producing those materials, arguing that request goes beyond the scope of this type of legal case, which is a pre-suit bill of discovery, not a conventional lawsuit.
“It’s our view that this case is over, that there’s nothing left to be done” Colker’s attorney, Silvestri, said at the hearing.
Judge Bothwell did not determine whether additional records still need to be provided to Grant. The judge indicated that if there are further disputes about what evidence Grant is entitled to — and it seems nearly certain there will be — either party can bring those disagreements back to the judge to resolve.
Grant’s lawyers have already asked for more time to decide if they need to request more documents, which suggests their discovery efforts aren’t finished yet.
That motion has been scheduled for the court’s “short calendar” on Nov. 10, a regular session in Connecticut where judges hear and decide pending motions, meaning the case may return to court that day for a ruling on Grant’s request.
In still another separate case, Colker is suing Grant’s attorney for defamation, claiming he was damaged by allegations that he treated Grant with infusions and pills without disclosing what she was being given.
UFC expands Paramount relationship with international rights
UFC and Paramount announced Tuesday a seven-year multi-territory expansion of their partnership across Latin America and Australia in 2026. The agreement expanded the sides’ media rights partnership that was announced in August, in which Paramount+ became the exclusive home for all UFC events in the United States starting in 2026.
The value of the new international deal was not revealed. The domestic rights agreement with Paramount, announced in August, is worth $1.1 billion per year for the same seven-year term.
This will mean the end of incumbent deals in Latin America with Fox and in Australia with partners Foxtel and Kayo.
Viewers in Latin America, including Brazil, will have access to 13 “marquee” numbered events and 30 UFC Fight Nights televised live for free for Paramount+ subscribers. Australian fans will have access to all 30 UFC Fight Nights, as well as the prelims for all numbered UFC events.
14TH&I annual filings
Vince McMahon’s new business venture, 14TH&I, registered its annual filings with the State of Connecticut, which does not require businesses to disclose any financial information.
The filings were registered under three LLCs, which are differentiated by Holdings, Management and Investments. McMahon was listed as the principal owner The filing also suggests Sean Delany is working for McMahon’s new company. Delany’s verified LinkedIn profile shows he worked as Vice President of Operations for WWE for the last several years.
Other former WWE staff are also working for 14TH&I, including Brad Blum, who is its president.
The filings indicate 14thi.com is the company’s working email domain, but there’s no working public website yet at that domain.
Trademarks the company filed within the last 14 months indicate the name 14TH&I will be used for private equity investment services, scripted televised entertainment, among other purposes. There’s no indication at this point that 14TH&I will be involved with the pro wrestling business.
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