WWE Was Once In Talks To Buy Playboy

The talk of the pro wrestling world might be WWE’s impending sale right now, but there was a time when Vince McMahon was in the buying mood. In fact, Mr. McMahon also had interest in buying one of the world’s most popular adult magazines.

A few WWE Divas graced the cover of Playboy over the years. This was a high-profile spot, and it usually helped the issue sell like hot cakes, thanks to the pro wrestling fan base’s salacious taste for scantily clad females. WWE and Playboy had such a good relationship that Vince McMahon thought about taking it to the next level.

Bruce Prichard revealed during a recent episode of Something To Wrestle that there was a time when WWE was in talks to buy Playboy from the legendary Hugh Hefner.

“We were winding down the Playboy association,” Prichard said. “And again, we were in transition. We were transitioning to a more PG-themed product. But there was a point in time where we were negotiating to actually purchase Playboy. That was an interesting time as well.”

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Prichard also noted that the allure of seeing WWE Superstars on the cover of Playboy brought a special esteem to the company’s product. It made them seem like a much bigger deal as their Divas’ faces would grace the cover of the wildly popular magazine on newsstands all over the world.

“I think that anytime that you can be on newsstands in front of the public, whether they bought it or not,” Prichard continued, “when you would walk by a newsstand, you would see your stars on the cover. Whether they bought it or not, they saw those stars on the cover of Playboy and that was like ‘Oh hey — wow, that’s a huge celebrity.'”

Playboy and WWE are both different companies right now, and it doesn’t seem like they will be partnering up any time soon. That doesn’t eliminate the possibility that a female WWE Superstar might dip their toes into producing NSFW content, but Mandy Rose’s case was a great example to illustrate how much those times really have changed for WWE.

What’s your take on this situation with WWE and Playboy? Sound off in the comments!