Following the conclusion of SummerSlam on Sunday night time, WWE has by no means felt extra like a TKO-owned property. The lasting picture from the primary two-night version of the annual summer time occasion could be Brock Lesnar making a stunning return after the Night time 2 fundamental occasion, attacking John Cena moments after Cena misplaced the undisputed WWE championship to Cody Rhodes.
Lesnar’s return was stunning not solely as a result of the 10-time world champion had been away from WWE — almost two years to the day — however particularly as a result of why he had been away.
Whereas not a listed defendant, Lesnar was named within the lawsuit filed by Janel Grant in opposition to WWE and former chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, alleging sexual abuse and trafficking whereas Grant was McMahon’s girlfriend and a WWE worker. McMahon allegedly informed Grant that Lesnar can be their subsequent “playmate,” per the lawsuit, which claims Grant was used as a software in contract negotiations with the wrestler. Lesnar allegedly demanded degrading movies of a sexual nature from Grant, although he twice did not attend what gave the impression to be organized sexual encounters.
When information broke of Lesnar being named within the lawsuit, WWE instantly distanced itself from the previous UFC heavyweight champion. On July 15, fellow former UFC heavyweight champ and UFC commentator Daniel Cormier stated that Lesnar being named within the lawsuit resulted in him being placed on TKO’s “banned record.”
Divorced from the above context, Lesnar’s return Sunday night time could possibly be dismissed as WWE but chasing one other “second,” which its artistic crew seems to prioritize out of main occasions.
Cena’s heel flip at Elimination Chamber in February was a “second,” one which succeeded wildly on social media. Nevertheless, the next reserving round a bad-guy Cena fell flat after the inspiring determine in his flip, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, disappeared from WWE programming. That left Cena floundering till a wierd, unprompted babyface flip occurred on “SmackDown,” 48 hours earlier than his match with Rhodes.
The context does matter, although, and WWE added loads of it by way of its notion of being a completely owned TKO product — even past Lesnar’s reappearance on the premium dwell occasion Sunday.
“WWE: Unreal,” a behind-the-scenes take a look at the promotion, debuted final Tuesday on Netflix. The truth-adjacent present, billed as WWE’s model of the NFL’s “Arduous Knocks” or “System 1: Drive to Survive,” framed Paul “Triple H” Levesque in the identical gentle as UFC CEO Dana White — a genius mastermind who controls the ins and outs of an enormous, difficult group.
Each WWE and UFC are owned by TKO.
Days after the debut of “Unreal,” Levesque appeared on the White Home the place he stood alongside President Donald Trump, who signed an govt order reinstating the Presidential Health Check. Levesque appeared in video posted to White Home social media accounts and gave interviews praising the President whereas claiming his personal world “will not be political.”
It was a web page straight out of White’s playbook. White has spoken at a number of Republican Nationwide Conventions, and UFC rolls out the purple carpet for Trump at occasions with an entrance extra elaborate than these granted to the promotion’s fighters. Regardless of these clear connections, White maintains he’s apolitical, saying he merely appreciates that Trump was there for him years in the past when UFC was scrambling to search out venues that might host its occasions. Equally, Levesque identified that Trump is a WWE Corridor of Famer, thus saying, “my hat’s off to him.”
Whereas UFC has lengthy skewed in a extra conservative route, the skilled wrestling panorama has moved towards a much more progressive lean over the past decade. WWE, which payments itself as a household pleasant product with a PG score, largely adopted go well with by supporting fan demand for an enhanced girls’s division and embracing intervals corresponding to Delight Month and Black Historical past Month whereas leaning into the range of its roster. For the primary time in latest reminiscence, WWE did nothing to acknowledge Black Historical past Month this February.
WWE might wish to declare it is world will not be political, however a lot of its extra devoted followers not really feel that is the case.
Hulk Hogan, who appeared at the newest RNC as a vocal supporter whose legacy was mired by racism, was almost booed out of the constructing in his ultimate WWE look on the “Monday Night time Uncooked” debut on Netflix on Jan. 6. Hogan was purported to make quite a few subsequent appearances with the corporate however by no means returned to tv. WWE ran a non-televised roast occasion throughout WrestleMania 41 weekend that includes hosted by Tony Hinchcliffe, who appeared at a controversial Trump rally. An try to carry an identical occasion SummerSlam weekend was canceled, reportedly as a result of low ticket gross sales.
Followers inside MetLife Stadium loudly booed this weekend when promotional video of Levesque’s White Home journey was proven on screens throughout Night time 1 and Night time 2 of SummerSlam. WWE lead play-by-play man Michael Cole spoke alongside the video saying WWE was dedicated to assist “make America match once more.”
After all, WWE has all the time been political, as all artwork is to a point. Nevertheless, McMahon shifted the complete tone of the promotion at roughly the identical level his spouse, Linda, ran for a United States Senate seat. The McMahons had been important donors to Trump’s three presidential campaigns, and Linda McMahon now serves the administration as Secretary of Training. Her daughter Stephanie, alongside Levesque, have been current for Linda’s greatest moments in Washington, D.C.
Throughout Levesque’s latest media tour selling SummerSlam, he addressed the lawsuit in opposition to McMahon during which Lesnar is known as.
Whereas the scandal McMahon’s retirement and eventual ouster from his positions inside WWE and TKO — additional resulting in a federal investigation that was dropped in February, shortly after Trump retook workplace — Levesque addressed the lawsuit in a approach that, on reflection, foreshadowed Lesnar’s return.
“All we will do is transfer ahead and allegations are allegations, proper?” Levesque stated. “It is a difficult relationship for anyone in life. No one is ideal.”
Levesque’s statements echoed the best way White has dealt with accusations of abuse which were levied in opposition to his fighters via the years.
WWE didn’t reply to a CBS Sports activities request for remark about Levesque’s look on the White Home or Lesnar’s return to the corporate.
WWE averted addressing Lesnar’s return by cancelling its commonplace post-show press conferences following SummerSlam, as a substitute transferring to a format that noticed superstars and Levesque interviewed by on-screen skills fairly than third-party media. Whereas correlation might not equal causation on this case — media members who attended prior press conferences had been inconsistent in asking robust questions — the timing of the choice was actually handy.
On the SummerSlam post-show, Levesque laid Lesnar’s return on the ft of Cena’s retirement run.
“For me, that is form of John Cena’s wishlist,” Levesque stated. “It is him writing the final chapter of his ebook, and I feel folks noticed a dialog with us the place he stated we would must screw it up fairly badly to break his profession. But it surely’s not about that for me. It is about John with the ability to exit the best way he needs to exit, to jot down his chapter. I do know what that is like as a performer. I do know what that is like for everyone to really feel that, and I feel for John to have the ability to do what he needs to do.
“One of many very first issues I stated to him was, ‘Who would you like, and the way?’ And we’re working via that.”
By the point Sunday’s present wrapped, Lesnar’s return capped off a two-night occasion that noticed almost each obtainable inch of actual property coated in sponsor logos — a TKO transfer that has made WWE broadcasts replicate the look of UFC occasions. Out of the blue, the “TKO-ification” of WWE was accomplished.