-- WWE held an employee staff meeting yesterday at their new headquarters in Stamford, CT - the first meeting since Endeavor bought the company and merged it with UFC. Below are additional notes from session, from both pwinsiderelite.com and fightfulselect.com:
- Nick Khan, Paul "HHH" Levesque and EVP Brad Blum came out first to address staff. Khan was the only one of the three to speak. He put over Vince McMahon, stated that the layoffs were an unfortunate part of the business but thanked the remaining employees for their hard work.
- Khan then introduced Vince McMahon, who talked about the acquisition by Endeavor, claiming that WWE had stagnated and that this deal had to be done to take the company to the next level. He praised Ari Emanuel and said that he had a lot of respect for him.
- McMahon then introduced Endeavor CEO Emanuel, referring to him as his "new boss." Emanuel then praised McMahon, saying he's been after him for about 20 years, trying to become WWE's representative agent and has often looked to Vince for advice, which he says was always the right advice. Emanuel also revealed that his recently engaged daughter Ashlee now works for WWE, though it is believed she has been with WWE for a while as a creative assistant not as a recent addition after the merger.
- All of the Executives, including Ari Emanuel, stayed to converse and chat with employees, however, Vince McMahon reportedly left immediately after the presentation.
- McMahon's comment about the Endeavor transaction needing to happen to take a plateaued WWE to the next level was met with considerable "eye rolls" according to those who were there since WWE had been touting record financial figures for quite a while.
- The above comment from McMahon also led many to once again conclude that he brokered the deal in order to easily find his way back into the company rather than to take WWE to greater heights.
