Posted in: Movies, Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: fox, wrasslin, wrestling, wwe
Rumor: The Part of Fox That Disney Didn't Buy Could Buy WWE
A new report from Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter claims not only that WWE could be looking at moving its TV deal to Fox from NBC, which owns the USA Network, but that the company could even buy WWE outright. According to the report, WWE executive Triple H has already had meetings with Fox about the move, which would see WWE replace UFC if UFC does not renew their deal with Fox. Under the rumored new deal, Fox's broadcast network would air a two-hour WWE Raw, with Smackdown Live airing on FS1, and more wrestling content being produced to fill up more time usually filled by stuff like UFC's Best Knockouts that's constantly airing on the Fox Sports networks.
The report also speculates that Fox could purchase WWE in its entirety in order to avoid having to constantly renegotiate TV deals. Fox has a buttload of money due to Disney buying most of 21st Century Fox's assets, though the TV network, Fox News, and main sports networks would remain a separate company.
Of course, though Meltzer's words are often treated as gospel in the pro wrestling community, it's worth noting that beyond the reports of Triple H meeting with Fox, this is mostly speculation on Meltzer's part and may not actually come to fruition. In fact, Meltzer doesn't even take original credit for the speculation, writing, " there has been a lot of speculation in and out of media," and hedging that the talks are "clearly as preliminary as it could be." Still, it's almost too good to be true to imagine a two-hour Monday Night Raw and a WWE not run by Vince McMahon, though we have to assume any deal would include a "make Roman look strong" clause in the contract.
Meltzer says that the deal will become less likely if UFC does re-sign with Fox, though that deal hasn't happened yet. WWE's current TV deal won't expire until 2019.