Look at the calendar. Now that we're in September, this is the month that Endeavor recently spoke about being when they expect the WWE and UFC merger to be finalized under the parent company, TKO Holdings.
Whether or not that comes to pass, or if it continues to take longer, remains to be seen. But this is the time of the year when WWE has to start planning some general ideas of what can go down at WrestleMania 40 and, as such, some of the content over the next few months leading up to that point. What happens at Crown Jewel and Survivor Series will lead into Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber and finally, the biggest show of the year in April.
Admittedly, I'm not a big UFC guy, so I don't know the inner-workings of the MMA business. But I would assume now is also when many contracts are being drafted and ideas are passed around for what can happen come UFC 300, supposedly set to occur at the first quarter of 2024. As that can mean anything from January, February or even late into March right around WrestleMania time, then the stars are aligning that Endeavor could have a lot on its plate.
TL;DR = I think we're about to see some big news break in the next couple weeks that will start to showcase what Endeavor plans to do for WWE and UFC as far as major attractions go.
Let's dive into some of those names and topics I'm keeping an eye on and why.
Ronda Rousey's Hard Out - Possibly Returning for UFC 300
This week, there was a short burst of buzz toward the idea of Ronda Rousey eyeing a return to MMA for UFC 300, as brought about by this DailyMail post. Dana White would go on to call that report a crock of shit and dismiss it (via FightFans.co.uk)
But it would make sense to fit into the timeline of her "hard out" for SummerSlam and leaving WWE from that point on. That could be not just to exit on a big show, but to give herself enough months to train for what could be her final fight to undo the embarrassment of her loss to Amanda Nunes and end on a more positive note.
After all, it does seem like she's done in WWE. Her last run was less than stellar. It didn't give off the vibe she was having fun, and she might want to just have one more fight before retiring and focusing on her family and trying to get deeper into acting and the like.
Let's just say I'm not entirely sold that there's nothing to this. My tin foil hat is on that we will get an announcement of her return fight in the coming weeks. Maybe I'm wrong, but until the card is shown and it doesn't have her on it, I'm convinced she'll at least show up there. What the MMA odds would be for her to win her fight would entirely depend on who she'd be up against, and I'm not at all the person to ask for names of potential opponents, let alone the numbers.
Crossover Stars Between WWE and UFC
We've seen a handful of names bounce between these two promotions before, like Brock Lesnar. But with both entities being under the same roof, it will provide a much easier transition for anyone to jump to the other side for a brief stint, if not a full career change.
It would not shock me if we see WWE Superstars showing up in attendance for UFC events more often, and vice versa, to help promote those brands. But Endeavor might even do more than just that, and have those big names take part in the action itself.
For instance, Daniel Cormier was the special guest referee for Matt Riddle vs. Seth Rollins at Extreme Rules 2022. Who's to say that doesn't become a more regular thing?
What about bringing Conor McGregor in for a WWE match? His fighting days may be over, but worked punches and maneuvers could extend his athletic career if he's a guest competitor just a few matches here and there, kind of like how Logan Paul is utilized in WWE.
The opposite could work, too. Maybe Bobby Lashley wants to have another MMA fight. Someone like Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Akira Tozawa or Chad Gable could want to step in the octagon for something different.
Endeavor might end up looking at both sets of fighters as potentially interchangeable in the sense that Riddick Moss isn't doing anything much in WWE and has struggled in the past few years to get over. If he'd be down for a fight, maybe try him out in a UFC event and see if he can draw some buys there.
That would be especially true come big shows like UFC 300 and WrestleMania. A Superstar like Xia Li isn't in a position right now that seems likely she'll be in a big spot come Mania. She might not be used at all. But if she's intrigued about combat sports, and she's off television for a lack of creative spot as it is, putting her at UFC 300 would be a far better use of her skills than paying her to sit out The Grandest Stage of Them All.
Of course, it goes without being said that contracts are complicated and even if someone was interested in going between UFC to WWE or WWE to UFC, they would have to settle all the details for HOW that can happen, which may be more complex than it's even worth doing. But at least the idea is there that in the coming months, we might see Endeavor sitting down with talent asking them if they'd be interested in crossing over and working with the other side.
I'll go so far as to say I'll be surprised if we don't see at least an attempt to bring UFC people into WWE for WrestleMania, maybe with some kind of multi-person tag team match like any celebrity match would have been approached in the past.
WrestleMania 40 Won't Be the Same as WrestleMania 41
Even if there is a total separation between WWE and UFC, and Endeavor isn't interested in jumping straight into cross-promotional methods too quickly, there will assuredly be a massive shift in some policies between the Road to WrestleMania 40 and what we get come WrestleMania 41.
Let's say everything is finalized by September 12. Those are just legalities and paperwork and things outside of the creative spectrum. Endeavor will inevitably start cutting costs, consolidating departments, laying off redundant positions and employees, moving offices around and settling into its new patterns, before anything drastic takes place as far as major shifts to how WWE has been presented in the past.
Even in the months from September through April, I don't think it is a guarantee we'll see changes like the ring apron having ads on it. That could be tested out at WrestleMania because of how big of an event that is, or even Survivor Series or Royal Rumble, but it might not be the case quite yet. Endeavor isn't going to want to make too many adjustments and turn off the regular fans by making it feel like an entirely different product.
But by the time WrestleMania 41 comes around, you'd better place your bets that they'll have ironed out some of the kinks, tested a few ideas on lesser pay-per-views and events, and we'll see WrestleMania 41 with a different presentation than WrestleMania 40. For all we know, WrestleMania 41 may even revert back to a standalone purchase pay-per-view that you need to pay a premium price for on top of your Peacock subscription, rather than being lumped into the monthly fee.
WrestleMania 39 is going to go down in history as the last under Vince McMahon. WrestleMania 40 will be the transition year and the first that is technically an Endeavor-produced show, but I'd suspect they'll stay hands-off for most of it outside of brand deals and a few tweaks similar to how USA Network and FOX will demand certain things be done a certain way for Raw and SmackDown as part of their deals. But then, WrestleMania 41 will be the first true Endeavor WrestleMania. They won't be able to resist instituting policies they think will yield the biggest profit, so it might end up being packed to the brim with even more product placement and commercialization to a nauseating level.
Basically, if we see anything change from the way WrestleMania 39 was presented to what we get at WrestleMania 40, fans should expect those changes to increase in intensity and quantity by WrestleMania 41.
If there's a more sports-oriented feel to it than ever before, to try to give off the vibe that WWE is an equivalent to the NFL or MLB, then that will be an indicator of stepping away from the "sports entertainment" industry going forward—almost like an indictment of embarrassment to offset all the people who call wrestling "fake" instead of "scripted" material. By WrestleMania 41, you'd likely see more matches that are presented as athletic competitions and hard-hitting fights and less of the bitter personal feuds that culminate in an epic soap opera between the ropes.
It's all going to start in more minuscule ways a few weeks after the merger. Maybe through commentary teams changing up their approaches to calling matches, or an edict about having less colorful characters like an Undertaker gimmick and more of the generic fighters in trunks.
The Bottom Line
WWE is going to change. All the people thinking business will run as usual under this new regime because "Endeavor didn't mess around too much with UFC" are going to be hit with some surprises quicker than they're expecting.
Some of those changes may come as early as the end of September, starting immediately upon crossing the T's and dotting the I's of this merger's finalization. Others may take a few months and be in place by WrestleMania 40, and others will take place over years. But it IS going to happen. And those changes you see that happen the quickest are likely ones that Endeavor considers major flaws in the system that have to be corrected asap, or major missed opportunities that must be capitalized on immediately. It isn't going to be a single swift adjustment, as many other tweaks will be made, but it is guaranteed the landscape will look different even just a few weeks after the deal is done.
No one knows for sure what is in store for WWE, but it is about to undergo the biggest change the company has gone through in 40 years with the creation of WrestleMania in 1985. By the time we get around to WrestleMania 40 or WrestleMania 41, it may not even resemble the same show we're watching now.
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