Mark Shapiro addressed recent discussion surrounding WrestleMania 42 ticket sales and fan criticism of WWE creative during the latest TKO financial call.
Questions about WrestleMania attendance and overall demand became a talking point following comments made by Pat McAfee on WWE television regarding ticket sales and discounts for the Las Vegas event. Online criticism also increased after McAfee became involved in the storyline between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton.
WrestleMania 42 ticket sales addressed by TKO
Speaking during the TKO first quarter financial results call, Shapiro said the company is not worried about the event’s overall performance despite comparisons to the previous year in Las Vegas.
“We fielded some investor questions about WWE demand and the state of creative, driven by online commentary and the year-over-year WrestleMania ticket sale performance. We are not concerned about the ticket performance whatsoever.”
Shapiro explained that WWE did not expect WrestleMania to continue growing year-over-year in the same market.
“It was unrealistic to expect year two growth in Las Vegas. Even with that, WrestleMania 42 was still one of the highest gates in WWE history and easily outperformed anywhere else we could have staged it.”
The comments reflect WWE and TKO’s internal view that WrestleMania 42 remained financially successful despite online debate about attendance trends and pricing strategies.
Shapiro also addressed criticism tied to WWE’s creative direction, including complaints regarding celebrity involvement and commercial breaks.
“As it relates to the creative, there will always be periodic fan dissatisfaction around creative execution, commercial load, and celebrity usage. We listen to all the feedback. We do not turn a deaf ear, but these are not new criticisms,” he said.
WrestleMania 42 featured several celebrity appearances and crossover integrations throughout the event weekend, including McAfee’s involvement in WWE storylines following the show.
Despite fan criticism in some areas, TKO’s latest financial report showed WWE revenue increased significantly during the first quarter of 2026, driven by media rights, live events, and partnerships.
The company also stated during the earnings call that demand for premium live events and experiences remains healthy moving forward.
TKO Group Holdings reported strong first quarter 2026 results, with revenue increasing sharply across its major business segments and the company authorizing up to an additional $1 billion in share repurchases.
The company announced revenue of $1.597 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, up 26 percent from $1.269 billion in the prior-year period. Net income rose to $249.8 million, compared to $165.5 million for the same quarter in 2025. Adjusted EBITDA increased 32 percent to $549.8 million, while adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 34 percent from 33 percent.
TKO also returned approximately $1 billion of capital to equity holders through share repurchases, dividend payments, and related distributions during the quarter. Along with those results, the company reaffirmed its full-year 2026 guidance, continuing to target revenue between $5.675 billion and $5.775 billion and adjusted EBITDA between $2.240 billion and $2.290 billion.
“TKO is off to a formidable start in 2026, with strong results and continued momentum across each of our businesses,” said Ariel Emanuel, Executive Chair and CEO of TKO. “We are reaffirming our full-year guidance, and today’s incremental $1 billion share repurchase authorization underscores our conviction in TKO and its long-term value.”
Mark Shapiro, TKO President and COO, pointed to the company’s media rights portfolio, live event demand, and premium experiences as major drivers behind the quarter.
“TKO’s first quarter results reflect the strength and durability of our premium IP. Our media rights portfolio is firmly in place, our financial incentive packages continue to scale, and demand for our premium live events and experiences is healthy,” said Mark Shapiro, President and COO of TKO. “With UFC Freedom 250 at the White House and On Location’s FIFA World Cup partnership, TKO will take center stage this summer, crowning moments for audience growth, cultural relevance, and our business trajectory.”
TKO first quarter results show growth across WWE, UFC and IMG
The consolidated numbers showed growth in each of TKO’s reportable segments. UFC revenue rose 12 percent to $401.2 million, WWE revenue increased 22 percent to $475.7 million, and IMG revenue jumped 38 percent to $655.4 million. Corporate and Other revenue also increased to $73.9 million.
Across reportable segments, total revenue reached $1.532 billion before corporate and other revenue and eliminations. Total adjusted EBITDA from reportable segments was $607.9 million, up from $494.8 million in the prior-year quarter. Corporate and Other posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of $58.1 million, improving from a loss of $77.4 million in the same period last year.
WWE’s revenue increase was driven by growth in live events and hospitality, media rights, consumer products, and partnerships. WWE media rights, production and content revenue increased to $281.7 million from $251.6 million, with TKO citing higher media rights fees, notably the impact of distribution agreements with Netflix and ESPN.
WWE live events and hospitality revenue rose to $123.5 million from $76.3 million. TKO said the increase was primarily tied to financial incentive package revenue, most notably for Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia. WWE adjusted EBITDA increased 32 percent to $256.1 million, while adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 54 percent from 50 percent.
UFC revenue increased to $401.2 million from $359.7 million. The biggest driver was media rights, production and content revenue, which increased to $275.3 million. TKO said the increase reflected higher media rights fees from the new Paramount distribution agreement that began in January 2026, partially offset by two fewer Fight Night events.
UFC adjusted EBITDA rose to $254.5 million from $227.4 million, while adjusted EBITDA margin remained 63 percent.
IMG was TKO’s largest segment by revenue in the quarter, increasing to $655.4 million from $476.3 million. The increase was primarily related to hospitality sales at On Location from the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics. IMG adjusted EBITDA increased to $97.3 million from $73.5 million.
Cash flows generated by operating activities reached $694.5 million, up from $162.8 million. Free cash flow rose to $674.5 million from $135.5 million. TKO said the operating cash flow increase was helped by improved performance and working capital timing, including approximately $582.4 million in net pre-payments held in escrow related to FIFA World Cup 26.
As of March 31, 2026, TKO had $788.9 million in cash and cash equivalents. Gross debt stood at $4.671 billion.
The company’s new $1 billion share repurchase authorization is incremental to its previously announced $2 billion repurchase program. TKO said it will determine the timing and amount of any repurchases based on market conditions, share price, and other factors.
TKO also paid a quarterly cash dividend on March 31 based on an aggregate distribution of approximately $150 million, or $0.78 per share, from TKO Operating Company, LLC.
The company reaffirmed its full-year outlook and plans to provide further detail on its earnings call. The results show continued growth across the expanded TKO portfolio, with WWE, UFC, IMG, On Location, PBR, and boxing-related initiatives now all part of the broader business structure.
Hiromu Takahashi is reportedly becoming a topic of discussion within WWE following the NXT arrival of his former Los Ingobernables de Japon stablemate EVIL, now performing under the name Naraku.
According to Bodyslam, there is growing belief within the WWE Performance Center that Takahashi could eventually join WWE. The report also stated that some within the company believe Takahashi may end up using the ring name “Nox Raijin,” which had originally been linked to Naraku before WWE changed direction.
Hiromu Takahashi WWE rumors
The situation surrounding the Nox Raijin name has become more interesting following recent developments on WWE NXT.
Earlier reports indicated that WWE intended to rename EVIL as Nox Raijin after filing a trademark for the name on April 28. However, WWE instead revealed during this week’s NXT episode that EVIL would compete under the name Naraku.
Sean Ross Sapp previously reported that WWE internal documents were still referring to EVIL as Nox Raijin as recently as May 3, suggesting the change to Naraku happened very late in the process.
That has now led to speculation that the Nox Raijin trademark may have always been intended for another performer, with Takahashi emerging as a possible candidate.
Takahashi spent 16 years with New Japan Pro-Wrestling after debuting in 2010 and became one of the company’s top junior heavyweight stars. During his NJPW career, he won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship five times and set a record by winning the Best of the Super Juniors tournament four times in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Outside NJPW, Takahashi also competed in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre under the name Kamaitachi, where he captured the CMLL World Lightweight Championship. He additionally appeared for Ring of Honor, AEW, and Pro Wrestling Noah throughout his career before departing NJPW in 2026.
Takahashi and Naraku were longtime allies in Los Ingobernables de Japon before EVIL turned on the faction in 2020 to join Bullet Club. Because of that history, a potential reunion — or confrontation — between the two in WWE could add another layer to Naraku’s developing storyline in NXT.
Naraku is currently targeting Tony D’Angelo and the NXT Championship following his recent television debut.
At this stage, there is no confirmation that Takahashi has signed with WWE, but his name being discussed internally and the lingering mystery around the Nox Raijin trademark have added fuel to the speculation.
It has been another week of twists and turns on the Aleister Black/Malakai Black rollercoaster. Prior to today, reports had suggested that the recently released WWE star was not expected to re-sign with AEW, where he had worked from 2021 to 2025 before being released to return to WWE. Earlier on Wednesday, however, a new report emerged suggesting that Black could not only return to AEW, but was in active negotiations to return once his 90 day noncompete clause was up, though it was stressed that no deal had been reached between the two sides.
Hours later, cold water is being thrown onto that story. Fightful Select reports that, after reaching out to AEW regarding the story, they received a swift denial that there were any talks between AEW and Black at this time. For those hoping there is any possibility that Black and AEW could reunite, it was noted that there remained plenty of time between now and Black’s noncompete coming up, leaving the door open for a change and for the two sides to negotiate.
While there may not be talks between AEW and Black at this time, an earlier report by Fightful stated that the bridge wasn’t completely burned between the promotion and the former AEW World Trios Champion. Many have speculated that Black would have a hard time making his way back to AEW following rumors that he had refused to lose matches, as well as at least two AEW stars, including MJF, publicly indicating they would not welcome Black back to the locker room.
Dana White has said almost the entirety of the UFC Freedom 250 promotional trailer was made with AI.
White drew criticism for using AI for UFC’s promotional material and clapped back at said critics during the UFC Fight Night 271 post-event press conference, calling on people to “shut the f*** up and watch the fights.” And it doesn’t appear as though he will be stopping using AI following the release of the UFC Freedom 250 trailer.
“So, the White House promo that we just did is AI,” he told Katie Miller during her podcast. “The whole promo is AI. Even my voice isn’t my real voice. My guys put together the whole promo for the White House without one guy going into the sound booth, filming, or anything. The only thing that’s real in the spot is the fight footage.”
TKO’s President, Mark Shapiro, has confirmed company-wide usage of AI both pertaining to UFC and WWE. And the topic of discussion has seen UFC’s Chief Content Officer, Craig Borsari, defend that the promotion only uses it as a tool rather than taking whatever finished product the technology itself churns out – which is somewhat contradicted by White’s comments on the matter.
Miller went on to ask whether White saw AI as the future, to which he said, “It already is. It’s not the future. It’s now. It’s already happening.”
