Brock Lesnar will return to action for WWE this Saturday at Wrestlepalooza, but how much did ESPN have to do with it?
ESPN Programming and Acquisitions Lead Matt Kenny took part in an ESPN Media Call regarding this weekend’s WWE Wrestlepalooza event. When Jon Alba of Sports Illustrated asked about ESPN requesting specific talent for events such as Brock Lesnar, who is working for the company again despite being named in the ongoing lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE, Kenny confirmed that WWE has creative control, and they don’t make requests for specific talents to appear.
“For us, our relationship with the WWE is such where they have creative control,” Matt Kenny said. “And I think it’s important to provide some context there, where we are distributors of the events. It’s not all that dissimilar to all the other rights holder relationships that we have, where we have relationships with the league.
Each sport ESPN hosts is different
“Obviously, a glove, stick, and ball league is a little bit different than the combat sports world. As we could all appreciate. But in regards to our relationship with the WWE, they retain creative control. Which, by the way, we’re fine with, because they have built an incredible business for a long period of time.
“For as much as I playfully talk about my WWE fandom at the top of the call, I don’t need to be opining on what a script should be to WWE. We’re excited about what they do, how they do it, and can’t wait for Saturday.”
WrestleZone will have live coverage of WWE Wrestlepalooza later this weekend.
READ MORE: Report: Brock Lesnar Set To Be Added To WWE 2K25
What do you make of Matt Kenny’s comments? Are you surprised that ESPN isn’t requesting specific talent to appear on WWE events? Let us know your overall thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of these quotes, please credit ESPN with a link to this article for the transcription.
