More Evidence Emerges About TKO’s Negative Effect on WWE and UFC Revenue

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports While the assumption was that merging WWE and the UFC under one umbrella would lead to even more growth for the two companies, more bits of evidence continue to emerge about the negative effect their parent company is having on their products. There is a surprising amount of crossover between WWE and the UFC. Many of the fans for both brands watch both products.

Several wrestlers tried their hand at mixed martial arts, and quite a few former UFC stars have made the jump to pro wrestling. That is why when the two global giants merged in 2023 under the umbrella of TKO Group Holdings and went public, it seemed like a perfect business match. However, while the companies are posting strong numbers again in 2026, there are also obvious signs that meddling from TKO and some of the strategies the parent company has tried to institute are hurting WWE and UFC’s potential.

Over the last couple of years, WWE fans have grown frustrated with TKO decision makers like CEO Ari Emanuel sticking their nose into the company’s creative process. Emanuel has been supportive of board member Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s inconsistent and confusing appearances on WWE content in 2024 and 2025. He was reportedly behind Travis Scott being used in the lead-up to WrestleMania 41 , then the rapper flaked out and never appeared again.

And this year, he is allegedly the driving force for why Pat McAfee was thrust into the storyline for the Night 1 WrestleMania main event between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton . WrestleMania 42 ticket sales are still way behind last year’s event WrestleMania Saturday Sat • Apr 18, 2026 • 3:30 PM Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV Available Tickets: 3,850 Available Combo Tickets: 1,307 Current Setup: 45,767 Tickets Distributed: 40,610 📈 +1,265 since the last update (3 days ago) 📅 Days until show: 8 🔢 Total # of seats… pic. twitter.