Trial In WWE Shareholder Lawsuit Cancelled

The trial for the lawsuit over the WWE/TKO merger will not be taking place, as it turns out. As reported on Friday, the trial was taken off the court calendar after it was set to start on Monday.

Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston has confirmed with Court Administrator for the Delaware Court of Chancery Tamara Burton that the trial has been cancelled. There’s no word yet as to why, including whether a settlement is being arranged.

The lawsuit was filed in November of 2023 against Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, Triple H, George Barrios, and Michelle Wilson. It alleged that the TKO merger resulted in damages to WWE shareholders by undervaluing WWE. It alleged that WWE’s investigation into McMahon on sexual misconduct allegations was a “sham” and that McMahon manipulated the sale process to Endeavor for his benefit. The claim was that this ultimately breached the defendants’ fiduciary duty to shareholders.

A pre-triual briefing had been filed by the plaintiffs on Friday ahead of the trial that laid out their argument for why WWE was undervalued in the TKO merger. The plaintiffs cited an expert report by financial economist James L. Canessa, who the plaintiffs retained, which estimates damages to shareholders as a whole ranged from $446 million to $949 million.