John Hennigan, formerly known as John Morrison, shared his thoughts on the looming merger between WWE and UFC.
Following months of speculation, WWE confirmed that it reached an agreement with Endeavor on April 3; as part of the deal, WWE and UFC will merge and form a new company.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Hennigan was asked for his reaction to WWE getting sold. He noted that he was shocked, and after joking about Vince McMahon’s mustache, the former WWE star shared his belief that the merger will lead to cuts. With that in mind, he stated that he’s glad AEW is around.
“Shock. Hey, do you think Vince looks like the ghost of Rick Rude or Walt Disney? The mustache is on point, man. I was shocked at the merger. I think there’s a hiring freeze right now. I think they’re gonna end up letting a bunch of guys go. I think salaries are gonna get cut. I’m really glad AEW is around to balance that out a little bit. Because if they weren’t, there would no leverage, nowhere else to go, and WWE and UFC would be this weird monopoly that would just wring the money out out of the livelihoods of the fighters and wrestlers, and I always think that sucks.”
WWE CEO Nick Khan recently stated that WWE will be “pretty aggressive” as in its approach to cutting costs following the deal with Endeavor. Check out his comments here.
More must-reads: