TKO CEO Ari Emanuel has discussed how Paul "Triple H" Levesque and Dana White have handled WWE and UFC respectively, while also touching upon dealing with the likes of Vince McMahon.
Emanuel, whose company Endeavortook over WWE last year under the newly-formed TKO company, had a recent discussion on "Bloomberg" about the performance of both of TKO's brands.
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"I don't think it's Fight Club," began Emanuel. "I remember watching WWE WWF, actually when I was young. Paul [Levesque] has done an amazing job with the WWE, with 'Raw,' 'SmackDown,' PLEs, 'NXT.' And UFC is a sport that Dana [White] created over 30 years ago. Didn't exist. [It was] His vision. You don't have to explain the rules of the UFC to anybody in the world."
Emanuel added that their vision is to grow more sports out of the UFC, although he doesn't know what sports could come out of it. The CEO of TKO was also asked about how he dealt with controversial characters like former WWE CEO Vince McMahon.
"When you have guys that are visionaries, take whatever comes through on the cases with Vince McMahon who is no longer with the company, and now Paul, Triple H, is running that. They understand, kind of, the heartbeat. The skills I've maybe learned in the talent agency side have helped, but now we're partners. So, now, that's how I look at it. You just have to let the talent and those guys are talent do what they do and support them with all that they need," said Emanuel.
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Since WWE came under the TKO umbrella they've had to deal with the Vince McMahon allegations, which they seem to have got past as McMahon vacated the TKO and WWE board.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Bloomberg" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
