Wilmington, DE - Two groups of shareholders have filed competing pitches for the lead plaintiff role in a consolidated class suit seeking damages from World Wrestling Entertainment founder Vincent McMahon and others in connection with WWE's $21 billion merger with Endeavor Group, both arguing they have most successfully pursued the suit's claims.

Individual shareholder Dennis Palkon and the Laborers' District Council and Contractors' Pension Fund of Ohio filed a motion on Thursday to co-lead the suit. They are represented by Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP and Block & Leviton LLP, who seek an appointment as co-counsel.

A competing motion was filed by City of Pontiac Reestablished General Employees' Retirement System, which was accompanied by a co-lead counsel bid by Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP and Prickett Jones & Elliott PA.

The consolidated suit is the result of merged litigation filed by the three parties pursuing lead counsel appointment.

Palkon and the Ohio Laborers say in their lead plaintiff bid that they began their investigations on behalf of the WWE's stockholders shortly after the merger. They claim that the Pontiac retirement system previously "caused unwarranted delay" in the suit by requesting unnecessary documents and then filed a plenary complaint against the WWE with additional claims.

"Regardless of Pontiac's motivations, the Palkon/Ohio complaint is more targeted and cohesive while the Pontiac complaint obscures the core theory in favor of secondary allegations that neither impact the chances of surviving a dispositive motion, nor increase the value of the claims pled," Palkon and the Ohio Laborers argue.

The Pontiac retirement system contends, however, that its added claims make for a stronger suit and that it has actively pursued claims while its competitor "watched from the sidelines."

"In sum," it adds, "Pontiac's complaint is superior because its counsel 'worked the case up more thoroughly and aggressively.'"

The consolidated litigation filed on behalf of WWE stockholders seeks relief for breaches of fiduciary duty by the named defendants in connection with the WWE's merger with mixed martial arts franchise the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The claims arise from a deal first announced last April and closed in September 2023. Under the agreement, existing WWE shareholders rolled all existing equity into TKO Group Holdings — which formed when the WWE merged with Endeavor — the UFC's parent company. Endeavor then stated it will own 51% of the combined entity while WWE stockholders will own 49%. The deal combined two of the world's largest professional fighting sports and entertainment organizations.

Counsel for the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.

Dennis Palkon and the Laborers' District Council and Contractors' Pension Fund of Ohio are represented by Jason M. Leviton, Joseph Kiefer, Kimberly A. Evans, Lindsay K. Faccenda, Irene R. Lax and Robert Erikson of Block & Leviton LLP, and Jeroen van Kwawegen, Edward G. Timlin, Margaret Sanborn-Lowing, James Janison, Gregory V. Varallo and Andrew E. Blumberg of Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP.

City of Pontiac Reestablished General Employees' Retirement System is represented by Randall J. Baron, David A. Knotts, Lion Wintemute, Christopher H. Lyons and Tayler D. Bolton of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP, and Marcus E. Montejo, Corinne Elise Amato, Kevin H. Davenport, John G. Day and Seth T. Ford of Prickett Jones & Elliott PA.

The case is In re World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. Merger Litigation, case number 2023-1166, in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware.