In the wake of Vince McMahon’s retirement last July amidst an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct and hush money payments, Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan were named co-CEO’s of WWE.
In January, Vince McMahon announced that as majority shareholder of the company, he was electing himself back to the Board of Directors alongside former co-presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson in order to facilitate a sale of the company. Days later, Stephanie McMahon announced her resignation, leaving Khan as sole CEO of the company.
Speaking on a recent episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Khan was asked about WWE‘s creative process and how far in advance storylines were planned out.
“Months in advance. Months, months, months in advance. If you said now, ‘where is the creative team with their process?’ They are months ahead of WrestleMania. Obviously, a huge focus on Saturday and Sunday to make sure we can execute what the plan is, but they’re months ahead and they know that’s the way it should be because 52 weeks a year, three to four programs a week, if you’re not months ahead, you’re going to get caught.” (h/t Fightful)
One of the high profile matches taking place at WrestleMania 39 will take place between Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes and record-breaking Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. All eyes are on Rhodes to see if he’ll be the one to defeat Reigns, ending the longest championship reign of the modern era.
Nick Khan Believes WWE Is In A Good Position
In a recent interview with the Sports Business Journal, Khan addressed upcoming media right deals and said that he believes the company is in a good position to negotiate.
“If you look at the ratings and relevancy of our product, we like to think we’re in a good position. We look to get into the heat of the conversation first with our incumbents by the middle of the year or so. Depending on the timing and how strategic alternatives shake out, it will be either be middle of the year getting hot and heavy, or some time shortly thereafter.”
Continuing, he explained why the impending sale of the sports entertainment giant adds extra complication to media rights negotiations.
“That’s probably the trickiest of all the parts, but one thing that all potential buyers know is that the rights that Fox and NBCU negotiated for separately will obviously have to be adhered to and respected with all sorts of good faith attached to that.”