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Nick Khan took over as the President of WWE half a year after the company had relieved George Barrios and Michelle Wilson of their duties. WWE had announced the hiring of Khan as the new President and Chief Revenue Officer.
Even Vince McMahon was full of praise for him:
“Nick is a seasoned media executive with a deep understanding of our business and a proven track record of generating significant value for sports and entertainment properties,” said Vince McMahon.
Nick Khan doesn't make too many public appearances. He has been heard in WWE press conferences making comments as well as an occasional interview or two. But nobody has gone more in-depth with Khan than BT Sport's Ariel Helwani, a world-renowned MMA journalist.
Nick Khan's interview with Ariel Helwani was revealing. Khan was Helwani's former manager/agent and they made sure to clarify this beforehand. What was more surprising, however, is how frank and straightforward Ariel Helwani was about the questions he asked.
Nick Khan hasn't always been popular with WWE despite him hardly speaking out. As you will see in this list, there are a lot of topics that Khan covers, including the WWE releases, NXT's rebranding, competition with AEW, The Rock's return and so much more:
#6. Nick Khan on how much he cares about "taking the heat" for WWE releases
Sean Ross Sapp from Fightful, in a deleted tweet from June, said:
“We were told that Nick Khan specifically is willing to take the heat and did not seem concerned about prior plans, projects, who the person or married to, how long they’ve been signed, or what they have going on,” said Sean Ross Sapp.
While we will get to the WWE releases in-depth a bit later on, Nick Khan was asked about the criticism that he receives from people online. He said that he's only an observer of Twitter and not a user. To add to it, he essentially confirmed Sean Ross Sapp's tweet from June, saying:
"When something's a disaster I want all the credit, when it's a hit I want none of the credit. If I'm blamed for what the fans don't like, that's good by me," said Nick Khan.
Khan specified that while he cares about people close to him and what they think of him, he couldn't be bothered by people he doesn't know. He essentially said that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and said that he is willing to take any heat for the controversial decisions.
We doubt that this will do much to increase Nick Khan's popularity, but we also doubt that he cares very much.
#5. Nick Khan goes in detail about the rumors of WWE being sold
Back in February 2021, Nick Khan addressed the rumors about WWE potentially being for sale. The speculation about it came from the fact that the company had numerous releases in the name of budget cuts. This was despite being highly-profitable during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ariel Helwani wouldn't take Khan's previous vague answer, so the President of WWE went into detail about what he means when he says the promotion is "open for business":
"A couple of things on it - number one, when I say we're open for business, that means if someone credible calls on anything - NFTs, trading cards, international rates, we take the call. We're inherently salespeople, meaning we're not sort of like 'no we don't want to talk to this company'. If you pitch us something and you're a credible company, we're going to hear the pitch. We're an entrepreneurial company that Vince [McMahon] and others have builtt over the last 35 years or so and we always want to stay fresh and entrepreneurial. In our minds, when I say 'open for business', if somebody credible calls asking 'hey are you guys for sale?', it's 'What's your offer? What are you thinking?'" said Nick Khan.
In a more direct answer, Nick Khan said that WWE isn't actively trying to sell, nor are there internal meetings about it:
"We're not trying to sell. That's not our intent. There are no internal meetings about selling this company - the internal meetings are about growing it and the ability we think we collectively have to tremendously grow what the value of the company is now," added Nick Khan.
Khan was further pressed about WWE's potential talks for sale right now, and he confirmed that as of now, there are no conversations happening about a sale:
"People call all the time about all different things. But we're not in any active conversations about any of that," concluded Nick Khan.
This makes one thing clear - WWE is open to offers that are credible and if the price is right.
#4. Nick Khan finally goes into detail about the decision behind the WWE releases
Nick Khan addressed the releases in WWE, which have been the most controversial part of the company in the last 19 months. From April 2020, WWE has gone on a spree of mass releasing. This happened throughout 2020 and started again exactly a year later in April 2021.
What has been more shocking about the releases in 2021 is the fact that there are high-profile names in there. Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, and Aleister Black are perhaps the biggest on the list.
While the layoffs that have happened backstage have never been addressed, Ariel Helwani asked Nick Khan about why there have been so many releases in WWE lately.
Khan went into detail, implying that while there is a collective group of people, Vince McMahon makes the final decisions:
"There's a collective of us. And keep in mind, in WWE there's one boss. That's Vince, as we all know. So between Bruce Prichard, who oversees the entire creative process, between Kevin Dunn who oversees all of our production, between Stephanie McMahon, [Triple H], all are involved in these decisions, with ultimately Vince making the final decision on everything," Nick Khan said.
Nick Khan went into more detail about the thought process behind releasing certain talent:
"I think ultimately what's looked at is - Is this person, for us, going to move the needle, now or in the imminent future," Khan said. "We're always looking for what's next. We live in the present, we live in the future. We don't live in the past. So when people leave and they move on in their life and their careers, that's good by us. For us, it's what works for us and our product at that moment in time and again, what's gonna work down the road. And largely in part, the existing roster is based on that," Khan added.
This is arguably the most controversial part of Nick Khan's interview. He doesn't seem to mind taking the heat for all the releases and summed up the logic behind the releases while not mentioning budget cuts at all.
This also ties into the future of WWE and the kind of talent that the company is looking for going forward.
#3. Nick Khan on how WWE views AEW
Nick Khan was asked about WWE's biggest competitor in 2021, All Elite Wrestling. Although AEW isn't that old, Vince McMahon's promotion has taken notice of it.
Ariel Helwani asked Khan a bit more indirectly about AEW, stating that the released talent is mainly going to "one place". When asked about what he and WWE think about the promotion as competitors, Nick Khan responded.
He asked Helwani whether he ever spoke to him personally about competition in the six years they've known each other. Ariel Helwani backed this up by acknowledging that he doesn't. Nick Khan said that just like himself, WWE doesn't acknowledge other competition:
"It's not what we do at WWE. What I do and what we do, we look ahead. Where are we going?" said Nick Khan.
Quoting Jimmy Iovine, Khan continued:
"You've got to look at these things like a horse in a race. They put blinders on the horse. Why do they do that? So you're not looking back to see what the other horse is doing. If a horse does that, they'll trip and break their leg. I believe that in my career, I've always operated that way, and WWE has always operated that way - we look ahead. So our decisions are based on what's best for us," said Khan.
While this is an approach that WWE and Nick Khan have taken, what can't be denied is the fact that they have indirectly acknowledged AEW on numerous instances. The "Wednesday Night Wars" ended with All Elite Wrestling's victory and that seems to have had a direct impact on NXT.
Whether Khan is right about WWE's approach or not is up for you to decide.
#2. Nick Khan wants more hours added to RAW and SmackDown
Nick Khan was asked about the length of RAW and SmackDown. Ariel Helwani addressed the more popular opinion that the Red brand will benefit from having one hour less.
Khan doesn't view it the same way fans do, for understandable reasons. RAW was intentionally extended to a three-hour show to get a more lucrative broadcast deal. The third hour of the show is worth tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Nick Khan said that if it were up to him, RAW would be four hours and SmackDown would be eight hours. However, he admitted that it would stifle the creative team and knows that there is only so much good content they can churn out every week:
"From my point of view, RAW would benefit from being four hours, so we would get paid more money and SmackDown would be eight hours. But I understand that our creative folks, as amazing as they are, there is only so much great content they can do on a weekly basis. So, I’m good with the ‘three and two (hour) system,’" said Nick Khan.
While Khan was joking about the Blue brand being eight hours, it's a clear signal as to how valuable the show has become. The five-year, $1 billion deal that WWE signed with FOX for SmackDown's broadcasting rights changed how the company views the brand.
There's no doubt that it is the more valuable brand monetarily, which is why there has been a heavy push and shift in emphasis after two-and-a-half decades of RAW being the "flagship show of WWE".
#1. Nick Khan reveals that WWE is "always in contact" with The Rock for return ideas
The Rock is one of the biggest superstars in WWE history and Nick Khan understands the value he brings. However, The Great One is now one of the biggest stars in the world of Hollywood and his WWE appearances have gone down significantly over the years.
Ariel Helwani addressed the dream match between Roman Reigns and The Rock to Khan and asked him if it's something he would like to see. Nick Khan acknowledged it while also praising John Cena:
"I think it's something everybody would like to see - any of our big superstars like Roman [Reigns] against any of our big superstars who can do it. We know [John] Cena can still do it at an A-plus level, we know The Rock can still do it at an A-plus level. But ultimately, it comes down to all the boring business things like scheduling, timing, how long do we need him, how long does it take, what other commitments does he have, so we'll see," said Nick Khan.
When asked about WWE talking to The Rock about a return, Khan revealed that the company is always talking to The Great One about a return and different roles:
"In terms of Dwayne, looks he's focused on being the megastar that he (has) built himself into. We're always talking to him, about different opportunities and what could come. WWE is a producer on young Rock, they graciously allowed us to do that because they wanted us to be partners in it. So there's more to be done with them," said Khan.
This should come as no surprise. Nick Khan, Vince McMahon, and several higher-ups know the value that The Rock brings to WWE and he is their biggest crossover star of all time.
What Khan told us is the fact that WWE is constantly in contact with the Hollywood megastar. However, several things don't allow it to happen realistically. With that said, the door always seems to be open.
