Throughout his history with WWE, Vince McMahon had been with the company through many ups and downs and in July of 2022 he announced that he would be stepping down as CEO and Chairman of the company. However, Vince McMahon returned to WWE in January of 2023 to pursue a sale of the company, and it was later announced in April of 2023 that WWE had been sold to Endeavor.
In the months that followed there was a lot of speculation regarding Vince McMahon’s role with the company and how hands on he may, or may not have been regarding creative plans. On March 30, 2023, Nick Khan appeared on CNBC to talk about a potential sale, and he was asked if McMahon had become more involved with the creative process following his return, to which he responded, “No, is the answer to that.”
However, POST Wrestling has released a new report which reveals text messages between Vince McMahon and WWE higher ups which show that Vince discussed the plans for the WrestleMania 39 main event.
The report notes that on February 28, 2023, Vince McMahon texted Nick Khan about creative plans for WrestleMania 39. The conversation, which presumably involved Triple H and Bruce Prichard reads as follows:
Text from me to Paul and Bruce: “Hey guys just double checking. Does Roman [Reigns] and Cody [Rhodes] know the new creative re [WrestleMania] and next year ?”
Bruce: “Not to my knowledge. I don’t know if Paul has had a conversation with either. Roman’s first appearance since we spoke is Friday in DC. Both will be there in person.”
Me to Paul: “ Paul have U “?
Nick Khan: “Langis.”
Vince McMahon: “What in the blue h*ll is ‘Langis’ lol.”
Nick Khan: “Read it backwards!”
The text messages have been revealed as part of the ongoing WWE shareholder lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court in which plaintiffs allege that Vince McMahon violated his fiduciary duties by orchestrating a sale process which was designed to preserve his power rather than maximize value for shareholders.
At WrestleMania 39, Roman Reigns shocked the world when he defeated Cody Rhodes in the main event. The public records do not reveal details regarding the “new creative” that Vince was referring to, but it’s worth noting that a WWE Hall of Famer recently came forward and claimed that Cody Rhodes was originally supposed to win at WrestleMania 39.
Shareholders who are suing over the merger are reportedly less concerned with Vince McMahon’s involvement with creative, and more concerned with Nick Khan suggesting Vince McMahon use Signal which has an auto-delete feature. The plaintiffs allege that key communications on Signal were not properly preserved.
The shareholder lawsuit is being litigated in Delaware Chancery Court and is set to go to trial on June of 2026.