The UFC and WWE have officially joined forces under TKO, a new sports entertainment company worth billions.
Last Tuesday, executives from the new group rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, signaling the opening of the new publicly traded company. Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, UFC CEO Dana White, UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier, TKO executive chairman Vince McMahon, WWE CCO Paul Levesque (“Triple H”), and other key figures participated in the event.
The merger between the two sports entertainment properties opens a new world of possibilities for each brand. There are already many parallels between professional wrestling and MMA. A number of former UFC fighters have gone on to become WWE Superstars, such as Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler, and Matt Riddle, among others. A few wrestlers have tried their hand at MMA, such as Brock Lesnar, who became UFC heavyweight champion before returning to WWE.
Not to mention, there have been a number of crossover appearances over the years. Moving forward under the same umbrella, it’s something we could see more of in the near future. But which brand has more to gain from being under the same roof with the other?
Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, Farah Hannoun and Brian “Goze” Garcia answered that with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. To fill out the discussion from a professional wrestling perspective, we also brought in Wrestling Junkie‘s Nick Tylwalk to give his thoughts.
Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s full episode below on YouTube or in podcast form.
