Saudi Arabia Is NOT The Favourite To Buy WWE

Despite prior reports, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is not the favourite to purchase WWE.

by Andrew Pollard
Vince McMahon
WWE.com

With the seemingly impending sale of WWE on the horizon, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund is said to not be the current favourite to purchase the long-standing market leader.

Last week saw reports that not just was the Saudi PIF favourite to purchase WWE, but that a sale had already been agreed. Those reports were soon rubbished as being untrue, with such talk having led to several talents being "done" with WWE if a deal with Saudi Arabia was indeed to happen.

Now, in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer has noted how Saudi Arabia's PIF is still in the running to purchase WWE, but that they are not the current favourite to get a deal done.

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In terms of other interested parties, WWE CEO Nick Khan last week met with Disney and ESPN, while UFC owner's Endeavor, Netflix, Amazon, Comcast, and Warner Bros. Discovery are all speculated as potential buyers. Likewise, AEW's Tony Khan and his father Shahid are also said to be interested parties when it comes to potentially making a move to buy WWE.

Of course, all of this has come about as part of Vince McMahon's return to the WWE Board of Directors this month. The disgraced McMahon has brought back George Barrios and Michelle Wilson to assist in negotiating new TV deals for Raw and SmackDown in addition to facilitating the sale of the company.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.