Mark Shapiro Says WWE Is ‘Taking The Torch & Moving Past’ Vince McMahon PLEs With WrestlePalooza

Mark Shapiro says WrestlePalooza represented a new era for WWE as they “take the torch and move past” the time when most PLEs were Vince McMahon-created. WrestlePalooza was launched in September as the first PLE on the ESPN app. Shapiro spoke on The Main Event With Andrew Marchand about the PLE. He noted that it was a way for them to move past the era where McMahon created most of their PLE brands.

“They’re open to new ideas,” Shapiro said of Nick Khan and Triple H (per Fightful). “They never seem exhausted. They’re ready to take on a new shot, a new risk, a new opportunity. ‘Hey, Nick, let’s talk about launching a new event.’”

He continued, “Right now, a lot of our PLEs were created by Vince McMahon. We need to get in the business of taking that torch and moving past that. And Nick (Khan) and Triple H created Wrestlepalooza, which is the launch event for our new ESPN deal. Which did incredibly well and may turn into a superfranchise. Not to mention from a merch standpoint, I don’t need to tell you, securing the I.P. rights and then selling merch at Wrestlepalooza, let’s just say it was a real winner.”

The company’s next PPV is a Vince McMahon classic in Survivor Series. That show takes place on November 29th from Petco Park in San Diego. It will air live on the ESPN App.