The WWE shareholder trial is officially off.
The trial had been scheduled to begin Monday in the Delaware Court of Chancery, but it was removed from the court calendar on Friday, just days before it was supposed to start. Now, there is confirmation that the trial has been cancelled.
Tamara Burton, the Court Administrator for the Delaware Court of Chancery, confirmed to POST Wrestling’s Brandon Thurston on Saturday evening that the trial is no longer moving forward as scheduled.
It has not been confirmed whether the two sides have reached a settlement. The trial was supposed to run for four days this week, with Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster presiding over the case. Now, that schedule is no longer happening.
The lawsuit centers on WWE’s 2023 merger with UFC to form TKO Group Holdings. The plaintiffs allege that WWE was undervalued in the deal and named Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, Paul Levesque, George Barrios, and Michelle Wilson as defendants.
The plaintiffs also alleged that McMahon steered the transaction toward Endeavor and did not allow other bidders, including KKR and Liberty Media, to take part in a fair bidding process for WWE.
The case had been heading toward trial after a 75-page pre-trial brief put McMahon’s return to WWE and his relationship with TKO CEO Ari Emanuel under the microscope. The filing claimed McMahon never intended for his July 2022 retirement to be permanent and later threatened to block any media rights deal or transaction unless he was brought back.
That trial will not happen this week now. Whether that means a settlement is coming, a deal has already been reached, or another development is happening behind the scenes has not been confirmed. For now, the biggest update is simple: the WWE shareholder trial that was supposed to begin Monday has officially been cancelled.
What do you think about the WWE shareholder trial being cancelled before it was set to begin? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section below.
