TKO CEO Ari Emanuel Sees Big Pay Decrease, Aleister Black Reveals The Best Advice Bray Wyatt Gave Him, WWE-NFL Draft News

Deadline is reporting that TKO CEO Ari Emanuel saw a significant drop in his compensation last year. According to the company’s SEC proxy filing released on Friday, Emanuel earned $18.1 million in 2024 — a sharp decline from the $64.9 million he received in 2023.

Emanuel, who holds a majority stake in TKO — the parent company of both the UFC and WWE — still made substantial earnings through other transactions. He pocketed $173.8 million after leading Endeavor’s transition from a public company to a private one, shifting from CEO to executive chairman as the company rebranded to WME Group. Emanuel also previously earned $308 million in 2021 during Endeavor’s IPO, with the majority of that coming from stock.

Meanwhile, TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro saw his compensation double, jumping from $16.1 million in 2023 to $32 million in 2024.

During a recent appearance on the “Wrestling the Rap Game” podcast, Aleister Black revealed the advice he received from Bray Wyatt when asked about a hypothetical House of Black vs. Wyatt Family match. He said,

“I miss Bray so much. I grabbed my phone the other day and I was scrolling through my messages and I found one of my old conversations with him. I used to send him these messages with ideas and stuff, and one of the last things he ever said to me was, ‘Don’t let them tell you who you are. Stand for what you stand for.’ At the time, I was mentally not doing great. I was like, ‘This idea, that idea, what do you think I should go with?’ He’s like, ‘It doesn’t matter. Just don’t let them tell you what you need to do. You’ll know what you need to do. Stand your ground and don’t let them shake you into something you don’t feel comfortable with. This is who you are and what you do, so stick to it.’ That is relevant today, in certain aspects. Sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in, and sometimes you have to let it go. In certain aspects, some of that is still true to this day. It’s one of the last things we spoke about and it’s still one of the most truest things he said.”

The WWE-NFL Draft crossover rolled on at the 2025 NFL Draft, where Jimmy Uso took the stage to announce the San Francisco 49ers’ 227th overall pick.

Fresh off WrestleMania 41, Jimmy thanked the fans for their loud support — complete with plenty of “yeet” chants — and said that he was thrilled to be part of the Draft festivities.

Jimmy revealed that the 49ers had selected Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke.

From @WrestleMania to the Draft, Jimmy Uso delivers our 227th pick! @WWE | #FTTB pic.twitter.com/iVbdJTciNv

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) April 26, 2025