WWE deal with Elon Musk preventing major presence - Reports
Elon Musk is the richest man in the world, and he has multiple ties to the WWE Universe. The company previously began doing business with Musk's companies, and unsurprisingly, such a deal came with at least a few strict requirements. Sources just revealed new details on how the promotion's newest in-ring product is blocking them from another platform.
Triple H extended an invitation to Musk in August 2023 when the billionaire joked that he was going with the WWE style of fighting for his rumored cage match against Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. Elon also has very clear ties to President Donald Trump, the biggest inductee into the Celebrity Wing of the Hall of Fame. Officials signed a lucrative deal with Musk and his X platform in early 2024 for the site formerly known as Twitter to exclusively air the Speed series, which is WWE's first new weekly series under Triple H's leadership.
WWE Speed is apparently the reason why the largest wrestling company in the world does not have a Bluesky presence. The X-like micro-blogging social media platform launched in 2019 within Twitter for research, then really increased development in 2022 after Musk bought Twitter. Bluesky has more than 31 million users, including brands, sports leagues, and celebrities, but not World Wrestling Entertainment.
Backstage sources have not disclosed any instance of company officials outright telling talent that they could not go public on Bluesky, according to Fightful Select. However, it was noted that WWE's lack of presence on Bluesky is directly tied to the Musk-owned X, where Speed is exclusively hosted.
The NFL also does not have a presence on Bluesky, and the same goes for UFC. The NFL recently asked the New England Patriots to remove their account, but it was reported this week that the league is holding out on an official partnership with Bluesky, perhaps for financial reasons and not due to concern of upsetting Musk. There's been no talk of WWE negotiating an official deal with Bluesky, but the two-year deal with Speed is the issue for the time being.
WWE Speed Championship tournament updates
World Wrestling Entertainment's latest Speed men's tournament wrapped up to begin this month. Dragon Lee retained the Speed Championship over Chad Gable with 38 seconds left of the five-minute bout.
The Speed title match marked Lee's first defense since dethroning Andrade in November. The masked superstar had been on hiatus due to his wife giving birth.
The next Speed women's division tournament began this past week, with Zoey Stark defeating Kayden Carter to advance to the next round. Shotzi vs. Alba Fyre will take place this coming week, with the winner facing Stark to determine the next challenger to Speed Women's Champion Candice LeRae.