WWE, Netflix, and the $5 billion bet on live wrestling

As ‘Raw’ makes its Netflix debut and prepares for a global audience, WWE is still wrestling with the toxic legacy of its complicated founder.

He was there to celebrate his appointment to the board of TKO Holdings, the conglomerate that talent agency Endeavor had created four months earlier by merging two leagues under its umbrella, WWE and the mixed martial arts league UFC. To his left stood Ari Emanuel, the Hollywood agent, CEO of Endeavor and now TKO, too. To Johnson’s right was Vince McMahon, board chairman of TKO.