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WWE and UFC Finalize Merger as WrestleMania 39 Becomes the Most Successful in Franchise History

Photo: WWE/NYTimes

In a move that sent shockwaves through the sports entertainment industry, the WWE has finalized a merger with Endeavor’s UFC.  The news comes on the heels of the most successful WrestleMania in the history of the company in Los Angeles.

Monday, Vince McMahon announced plans to sell a controlling stake in WWE to Endeavor in a merger with mixed-martial arts rival UFC.  The all-stock deal will see Endeavor’s UFC and WWE merged to create a new standalone company, yet unnamed, noted to be worth around $21 billion. Endeavor shareholders will own 51% and WWE shareholders 49%.  An 11-member board will be split 6 directors to 5, Endeavor-WWE.

WWE in the deal is valued at $9.3 billion. In the re-alignment, Endeavor’s Ari Emanuel will be the CEO, McMahon will be the executive chairman. WWE CEO Nick Khan will be president of the unified company and UFC’s Dana White will continue as president of that organization.

In an interview with Emanuel and McMahon for CNBC, Vince shared that it was time for things to evolve, elaborating, “a family business has to evolve, for all the right reasons. And this is the right business decision, and it’s the right family decision.”  The major merger is expected to close mid-year pending regulatory approval.

This all comes at a time for McMahon where he had to pay the company back $17 million dollars of reimbursement for costs during the legal probe for allegations of sexual misconduct against him.  When many thought Vince was done at the WWE, he has bounced back.  Vince expressed: “Let me just say, I’ve made mistakes both personally and professionally through my 50-year career. I have owned up to every single one of them and then moved on.”

The deal was struck as a crucial time when Fox and NBCUniversal are entering into an exclusive negotiating window which began on April 1st. Fox airs Smackdown, while USA Networks airs Raw, and in a separate deal, Peacock now holds the streaming rights.

During Monday Night Raw, Paul ‘Triple H” Levesque assured viewers at home and the audience in attendance at Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles, that with the new merger, it will not effect the current landscape of WWE programming and live events, sharing “We ain’t goin’ nowhere!”

Photo: WWE

In a look at WrestleMania 39 by the numbers: the two-day sold-out event at SoFi Stadium set new records for viewership, gate, sponsorship, merchandise and social media. Night 2 surpassed the existing global viewership record by 33 percent, just one day after Night 1 of WrestleMania 39 surpassed the existing global viewership record by 28 percent.

WrestleMania 39 generated a gate of more than $21.6 million, breaking the previous record by 27 percent, with 161,892 in attendance at SoFi Stadium over the two nights.  Sponsorship revenue eclipsed $20 million, more than doubling the previous record. Merchandise sales were up 20 percent versus the record set in 2022.  This year’s WrestleMania has over 500 million views on social media and 11 million hours of video consumed over the two days, a 42 percent increase over last year.

Now take a look at Vince McMahon and Ari Emanuel discussing their merger with CNBC this morning below, followed by Triple H addressing the crowd at the beginning of Monday Night RAW tonight.

Do you think the WWE/UFC Endeavor merger will ultimately be a a good long term for the WWE? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Days Of Our Lives

Deidre Hall to Guest Star on Season 3 of Comedy Series ‘Hacks’

Days of our Lives star Deidre Hall (Marlena) is set to play a version of herself on third season of Hacks. Look for Hall this month in an episode titled “The Deborah Vance Christmas Spectacular,” to air on May 23 on Max.

Not only will Hall appear in the episode, but so too, will Back to the Future and Taxi star, Christopher Lloyd.

According to EW.com, Deidre will play “a fictional version of herself, who just so happens to be the mom of Paul W. Downs’ Jimmy.”

Photo: JPI

Hacks co-creator and Downs’ wife, Lucia Aniello shared on Hall’s casting, “It made sense to us that Jimmy’s late father, a big-time manager, would have been married to an actress. When the idea for Deidre Hall came up, it just felt right.”

As for Lloyd, he will portray, reclusive writer Larry Arbuckle, who is to have had a rather famous grandfather. In the episode, Hall and Lloyd’s character intersect, which leads to onscreen sparks.

Photo: AP

“We had written some things that were flirty, but the chemistry was palpable,” says co-creator and series star, Downs shared. Hacks stars Jean Smart as comedy legend Deborah Vance.

Photo: Max

Season 3 of Hacks debuts on Thursday night May 2nd on Max 9 pm ET/6 pm PT.

So, will you be watching Deidre Hall guest starring on Hacks? Comment below.

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General Hospital

Lane Davies Joins the Cast of General Hospital Setting up a ‘Santa Barbara’ Reunion with Nancy Lee Grahn

Some very intriguing casting news out of General Hospital. The ABC daytime drama has cast former Santa Barbara favorite, Lane Davies (ex-Mason Capwell), in the role of Fergus Byrne, an attorney who crosses paths with Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn).

According to TV Insider, Davies will make debut the week of May 22nd.  As soap fans know, together with the aforementioned Grahn, they created the Santa Barbara supercouple of Mason and Julia Wainwright. Davies portrayed Mason Capwell family from 1984 through 1989.

Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time in Port Charles for Lane. From 2002-2004 he played Dr. Cameron Lewis and also shared on-screen story with Grahn.  At that time Davies, played Xander Smith’s father.

Photo: NBC

GH fans are wondering about the last name of Davies new character, “Byrne”. If you recall, Alexis got herself involved with therapist Dr. Neil Byrne, who died when Harmony broke into Alexis‘ house and killed Neil by injecting him with opioids.

Photo:

Taking to her Instagram, Grahn shared her excitement at the upcoming on-screen reunion with Davies, “It never gets old. We do 😂…. but it doesn’t 😍. Lookin’ forward to another romp.”

So, what do you think about Lane Davies returning to GH to play an attorney in Alexis’ orbit? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.

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News

One Life to Live Alum Jonathan Groff Receives 2024 Tony Award Nomination for Leading Actor in a Musical

Nominations were announced on Tuesday for the 77th annual Tony Awards by previous winners, Renée Elise Goldsberry (ex-Evangeline Williamson, One Life to Live) and Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

When the dust settled it was Stereophonic (which is loosely based on the story of Fleetwood Mac) and Hell’s Kitchen (Alicia Keys musical) that both scored 13 Tony nominations to lead the pack.

However, Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along made quite the comeback and is nominated for several awards including Best Revival of a Musical and for one of its stars, Jonathan Groff (ex-Henry Mackler, One Life to Live).

Courtesy/Playbill

Groff is nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical and will go up against Brody Grant — The Outsiders, Dorian Harewood —The Notebook, Brian d’Arcy James — Days of Wine and Roses and Eddie Redmayne — Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club.

In addition to his previous Tony nod for his role in Hamilton, Jonathan was nominated for a Lead Actor in a Musical for his role as Melchior Gabor in the original production of  Spring Awakening.

Jonathan co-stars in the revival of Merrily We Roll Along “Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe and previous Tony winner Lindsay Mendez.

Back in 2019, Groff visited Live with Kelly and Ryan and discussed his debut on One Life while working at night on Broadway in Spring Awakening.

He shared on his experience on the soap, “I do remember my first day because I was doing Spring Awakening on Broadway at the time, and One Life to Live was my first time ever being on TV.  So I got this offer, and I was like, ‘Yes, I would love to be in a soap opera,’ and we finished Spring Awakening at 11:00 p.m. and I woke up the next morning at 4:0 a.m. to walk uptown to go to do One Life to Live, and I called my agent and left a message, and I said ‘You have to get me out of this, I can’t wake up at 4 o’clock in the morning!'” You can watch the clip below.

The 77th annual Tony Awards will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+ on Sunday, June 16, with Tony and Oscar winner Ariana DeBose returning to host for the third time.

So, rooting for Jonathan to take home his long-awaited Tony Award after several decades in the theater? Do you remember him as part of teen scene on OLTL? Comment below.

 

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