WWE President Nick Khan Voices Frustration

WWE President Nick Khan has voiced his frustration over a particular issue. Khan, who joined WWE in 2020, has taken the company to new heights, with the sports entertainment juggernaut registering record revenue and profitability each year since he became a part of the promotion.

Khan oversaw World Wrestling Entertainment's deal with Netflix that kicked off earlier this year. He has now helped the company secure an exclusive deal for its premium live events with ESPN, starting next year.

While Khan is spearheading WWE's rise in digital platforms and its immense growth, he isn't a fan of one particular behavior. He appeared on The Varsity with John Ourand to talk about WWE's new ESPN deal, but the conversation ventured into different territory at one point. Khan was asked about his dislike for out-of-office automated messages.

"I just don’t understand why any human would do that. Basically, if someone emails you, it’s typically because they need a question answered or they need something (...) By the way, it’s in our hiring practice, you know, Chris Legentil, who is not only our head of comms [communication], but our head of talent. Chris is never an out-of-office guy. If you call Chris Legentil at 3 AM, he’ll answer on the first ring and say, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ In addition to out-of-office email replies that drive me crazy, the ‘Hey, I’m tired’ that drives me crazy. Everyone is tired," Khan said. [28:12 - 28:55]

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Khan has been relentless in his pursuit of making the global sports entertainment juggernaut successful and helping it reach newer and broader audiences across the world.

"I read an article years ago, ‘I’m busy' is a way of saying 'I’m important,’ which I get, so I assume everyone is busy. John, you’re busy every day. Are there days where you’re like, ‘No one has texted me, I don’t have anything to do.’ It just doesn’t work that way. So, no out-of-office replies here. No, ‘I’m busy.’ No, ‘I’m tired.'” [28:56 - 29:12]

WWE takes massive step with ESPN deal

On Wednesday, it was announced that World Wrestling Entertainment has signed an exclusive deal with ESPN to live stream its premium live events from next year in the U.S. The agreement will see ESPN pay WWE $1.6 billion over five years.

The shows will stream on ESPN's new streaming service, priced at $29.99 per month. It is set to launch on August 21. Notably, World Wrestling Entertainment's deal with Peacock will expire this year, but SmackDown will continue to stream on the platform.

If you use quotes from this article, please credit The Varsity podcast and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.

About the author

Sherjeel Malik is a writer at Sportskeeda and covers pro wrestling. He was hooked on the product from the moment he saw The Hardy Boyz jumping off ladders during the Attitude Era. While he comes from an engineering background, Sherjeel’s love for pro wrestling and content writing led him to pursue a career in sports journalism. Before assuming his current role at Sportskeeda, Sherjeel worked at other reputable organizations for five years.

While writing articles, he ensures that he only relies on credible sources for information and covers relevant subjects that do not project an agenda against a particular person or association. WWE legend Paul Heyman once shared Sherjeel’s work on his social media handle.

Sherjeel’s earliest memory of pro wrestling is watching Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker square off for the WWE Title in the main event of a pay-per-view in 1998. His favorite wrestlers are Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy. While he admires Orton for his character work as a heel, he looks up to Jeff because of his unique wrestling style and risk-taking ability.

If he could go back to the Attitude Era, Sherjeel would like to manage Ken Shamrock and be his mouthpiece. He feels Shamrock’s promo skills prevented him from becoming a main event-level act in WWE. Hence, he would like to help the UFC Hall of Famer get over with fans.

When not writing about pro wrestling, he likes to read classics and fiction books.

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Edited by Pratik Singh