WWE CEO Nick Khan has spoken highly of the promotion's broadcast partner, ESPN.
WWE signed a mammoth $1.6 billion deal with ESPN earlier this year to broadcast PLEs domestically, with the first show under the new deal being Wrestlepalooza. Khan recently spoke toUFC legend Daniel Cormier, where he praised the way the global sports broadcasting giant promoted the show.
"So, look, even if you look at our launch with Wrestlepalooza from Indianapolis, the way that ESPN covered that event, they made us feel like it was the Super Bowl," he said. "So much so that on College GameDay that morning, they had Pat McAfee, Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban, Rece Davis, and Desmond Howard do their pick for the Brock Lesnar-John Cena match."
The debut of WWE on ESPN began with a bang as the show kicked off with a match between Brock Lesnar andJohn Cena, where the former squashed the retiring star. The show, though, was controversially panned by ESPN itself, which gave it only a B+ grade. There has been chatter recently that ESPN was unhappy with its deal with WWE, but that doesn't appear to be the case, as ESPN insiders have expressed satisfaction with their relationship with the company.
While touching upon Lesnar, Khan had nothing but praise for "The Beast Incarnate," even recalling the push he gave the host, Cormier, in the UFC ring.
"Now you know what Brock's all about with that push in the octagon, you know, years ago and all of that stuff," said Khan. "As you know and I'm not saying, you know, in the UFC every day but when he walks into a room, he looks and usually is the baddest dude on the planet. And that's what he looks like, andthat's his personification. By the way, he's a gem to work with. Easy."
Since that match in September against Cena, Lesnar has featured in just one other match in WWE, which came at Survivor Series: WarGames.
