Did Trump buy the WWE?

On Monday’s Three-for-All RAW special, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced that he sold the company’s flagship brand, RAW, to billionaire Donald Trump. In concert with that announcement, both WWE and USA issued a joint press release on Tuesday detailing the purchase and Trump’s future involvement on Monday Night RAW. Below is that video:

But is it true? Apparently not…

It’s all a big wrestling “work” — a story element to drive the weekly show and entertain fans. The trouble is that both WWE and Raw’s parent network (USA) sent out official press releases announcing Trump’s “purchase.” And, WWE publicly held shares fell nearly 7% the next day.The releases were fiction. But, federal investigators prefer to use words like “false reporting.” The Securities and Exchange Commission generally frowns on deliberately false media reports that affect the stock market. In fact, they tend to watch any major media incident that causes a stir in the markets. Ask Martha Stewart.

If any WWE shareholder who’s less than thrilled with losing 6+% of his or her money so John Cena can rub elbows with Trump wants to file a complaint, McMahon and company could get pinned.

So while the WWE may be in a bit of hot water because of this stunt, they are still going to go forward with it. USA Network will be airing WWE Raw this Monday totally commercial free, thanks to new Raw “owner” Donald Trump.