World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. said Wednesday that it had repurchased the 2 million shares of common stock owned by Viacom. WWE said that the sale wouldn't affect its alliance with Viacom, whose
cable subsidiary TNN (soon to be Spike TV) and broadcast outlet UPN run WWE programming. "With approximately $271 million in cash balances, we have the resources to effect such a transaction without
compromising our overall business strategy or our financial condition as we continue to generate significant free cash flow," said WWE CEO Linda McMahon.
