Dwayne Johnson talks WWE without Vince McMahon and his hopes for big drink deals – BNN Bloomberg

Dwayne Johnson, who turned a professional wrestling career into one of the world’s biggest box-office hits, believes World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. could one day be sold to a major network after the company’s former chairman’s controversial departure.

WWE shares have soared on the New York Stock Exchange after Vince McMahon, the company’s chief executive officer and chairman, resigned in July amid media reports of alleged sexual misconduct and infidelity. McMahon’s announcement that he wanted to retire at the age of 77 marked the end of a six-decade career as a promoter who turned the professional wrestling business from seedy beer halls into a billion-dollar business that regularly sells out soccer stadiums and is broadcast in dozens of countries. In a later statement, WWE announced that McMahon’s daughter Stephanie and former talent agent Nick Khan would be named co-CEOs. Since the management reshuffle, several analysts have told clients that the company is prepared for an acquisition.

“I’ve known Vince for a really, really long time and he’s a businessman,” Johnson told BNN Bloomberg during a recent visit to Toronto to promote an upcoming film.

“I think the key to selling WWE is to ensure that whoever is acquiring this owned brand must love the wrestling business. Of course you can love the asset, and you can love everything that goes with it, but you have to love the professional wrestling business… because if you didn’t, then you might kind of see the writing on the wall; What will happen in four or five years?”

While WWE is traditionally known for hosting live wrestling events and selling television rights to traditional broadcasters, its stakes have grown by more than a third since it signed a five-year, $1 billion deal to license its streaming Platform to NBCUniversal Media LLC in January 2021. McMahon’s abrupt exit, coupled with continued demand from larger networks for exclusive live programming, has fueled ongoing takeover speculation at WWE, which had a market capitalization of $5.6 billion at Monday’s close .

“We think WWE’s current operational restructuring and market considerations regarding the value of live content are optimal for a takeover attempt,” Benchmark Company analyst Mike Hickey said in an August research note.

Johnson hesitated when asked if he would consider a strategic investment or accept a directorship at WWE – where he quickly became a household name after making his debut in 1996 under the nickname “The Rock”.

“[WWE co-CEO] Nick [Khan] and I’ve talked about that, and we always enjoy it over a bottle of Teremana [Johnson’s tequila brand]’ Johnson said. “I love the wrestling business. I grew up in it. My grandpa [and] My dad started here in Canada where [his father] was born. So I’m not entirely sure if a board seat is in my future, but other things may be certain in my future.”

A WWE representative was not immediately available to comment on whether the company would consider an acquisition.

Johnson was in Toronto last week to promote his upcoming film Black Adam, as well as the launch of his energy drink Zoa in Canada. The sugar-free beverage is the latest business venture Johnson is juggling, alongside tequila brand Teremana, its apparel brand partnership with Under Armor Inc. and the relaunch of the XFL professional football league.

That empire has reportedly taken Johnson’s net worth to nearly $300 million, according to a recent Forbes tally, although a 2021 Vanity Fair profile suggested that the soaring valuations of his various companies may have pushed the actor toward billionaire status to get close.

It’s a far cry from his early 20s when he was cut by the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders in 1995, leaving him with $7 — a fact that served as inspiration for the name of his production company, Seven Bucks Productions.

Those CFL ties remain strong as Johnson approached the league last year about working with the XFL ahead of its restart, including what he described in the interview as “deep conversations” with Canadian businessman Larry Tanenbaum, who owns 25 percent Share in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE), which owns the Toronto Argonauts. (BCE Inc., which owns BNN Bloomberg through its Bell Media division, has a 28 percent stake in MLSE.)

“We were all together at this time[in 2021]for some sort of partnership between the XFL and the CFL in the spirit of growing the game because we all love the game of football,” Johnson said. “Our turn came and eventually those talks started to stall. We all agreed: respectfully, let’s put down the pencils [and] wish each other good luck.”

In a July 2021 statement, CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie publicly admitted that XFL talks had fizzled, but didn’t slam the door. “While we remain open to finding new ways of working together in the future, we and our XFL colleagues have collectively decided not to enter into formal agreements at this time,” he said.

Johnson’s beverage companies seem to be his main entrepreneurial focus these days. The Zoa and Teremana brands are prominently featured on its various social channels, which total 341 million Instagram followers. Johnson said total sales for the privately held Zoa have surpassed $100 million since its launch in the US last year, expanding its distribution to more than 100,000 stores before making its first international foray this month undertakes in Canada. Meanwhile, Teremana has grown from a small craft tequila brand to more than doubling sales volume to 640,000 nine-liter cases in 2021. according to a January tweet from Johnson and later secured an investment from German spirits company Mast-Jägermeister in February. The terms of the investment were not disclosed.

Johnson said the long-term goal is for the Zoa and Teremana brands to attract lucrative takeover deals, similar to how Diageo Plc acquired two celebrity-backed beverage brands: George Clooney’s Casamigos Tequila for around $1 billion and Ryan Reynolds American’s Aviation Gin in 2020 for $610 million. He realizes there’s a long way to go before a takeover happens.

“We’re looking five years, ten years, 15 years into the future,” Johnson said. “I think you have to because it takes a lot of time to build brands like this. I will tell you that one of our goals with Teremana is not just to keep growing internationally, but as with any brand… the goal is that it eventually finds its way into the world and doesn’t get attached to it as much. The same goes for Zoa.”