Jeff Jarrett: Wrestling Business Is No Longer A Family Business After WWE-UFC Merger

During an appearance on his "My World" podcast, All Elite Wrestling's Jeff Jarrett spoke about the WWE-UFC merger officially closing earlier this week, with Endeavor unveiling the creation of TKO Group Holdings, a brand new premium sports and entertainment company.

"Today [September 12] is the first day that the wrestling business can no longer say it's a family business," Jarrett said. "The McMahons were truly the last of the territories. 

"Yes, it grew, went national, then went global, then went public, but at the end of the day, on Christmas, or Thanksgiving, or holidays, whether the McMahons sat around the kitchen table or not, it was still a family-run business."

WWE was founded by the McMahon family in the 1950s. The promotion was originally known as Capitol Wrestling Corporation before TKO's Executive Chairman Vince McMahon bought CWC from his father, Vince McMahon Sr., in 1982. McMahon would change the organization's name to the World Wrestling Federation under the Titan Sports, Inc. umbrella, eventually taking the company national and then global after breaking away from the territory system. 

McMahon's wife Linda, son Shane, and daughter Stephanie all worked for the promotion in various roles over the years.

McMahon, whose son-in-law Paul "Triple H" Levesque is the only other member of his family to still be involved with WWE as Chief Content Officer, continued to run the organization until the summer of 2022, when he retired amid multiple sexual misconduct allegations. The 78-year-old later returned to WWE as Executive Chairman to seek a sale of the promotion. It was announced on April 3 that WWE and UFC would be merging under the Endeavor umbrella to form a new sports and entertainment company.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "My World" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.