Vince McMahon officially announced his retirement back in July and since then the company has gone through some major changes. Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan are serving as co-CEO with Triple H in charge of creative, but it was recently reported that Vince McMahon is interested in returning to WWE.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Vince McMahon feels that he received bad advice when he stepped down and he also believes that the controversy from the sexual misconduct would have blown over. The report also noted that two more women have made allegations of sexual misconduct against Vince McMahon and Dave Meltzer pointed out on Wrestling Observer Radio the timing of the report being released may not be a coincidence.
“I think the fact that he wants to (return) and the fact that this stuff then comes up at the same time where people go, ‘Hey there’s no way, there’s more allegations’, all in the same story – I don’t know that that’s a coincidence. It’s really interesting, and the big unanswered question is who, or whom, are the people who are in touch with the Wall Street Journal? We know they’re probably from the Board of Directors, but who is it that did this? I’ve had people in wrestling, almost everyone in wrestling that I talk to, it’s like, ‘Who exactly is the person?’, and usually the speculation revolves around three people, and I don’t know that it’s one of those three, but it’s a really interesting question.
Vince wants back. Vince is the majority shareholder. He owns the most voting power. He does not own 50% of the stock, but he does own probably close to 80% of the voting power. If it was a private company, he could be in tomorrow. But because it’s a public company, the Board of Directors have to make decisions, and the Board of Directors, their job is to look out for the company, and they may very well believe – and probably do – that Vince coming back would not be the best thing.
Because he left because of these allegations that are public, if he came back, there would definitely be issues with some sponsors, there’d be queasiness. Even perhaps Fox and USA. You’re definitely risking that because, with these different allegations out and the payoffs and stuff like that – it’d be a big, big, big risk.”
Meltzer also addressed a potential sale and noted that because Vince owns the majority of the voting power he can block any sale with anyone. It was noted that as long as Vince is looking to come back there could be no potential sale of WWE.
It’s also being said that there’s a lot of uncertainty in WWE right now as people are unsure of what’s going on and Vince McMahon returning would be a major internal upheaval. However, it’s being said that even allies of Vince McMahon know that the company is running better without him.
“I know allies of Vince – very much allies of Vince and very protective of Vince and things like that – who are not business allies of Vince within that company right now, because they know that it would be the worst thing. And they are very strong allies of Vince. People who you would think are his allies, you don’t know. People are happier in the company, they know the company’s running better, and so the people who are allies or looking at the best interests of the company, they don’t want him back.
When Vince was on the rocks, they were allies of Vince, and they didn’t think he was ever gonna go, and they thought he’ll ride it out and it’ll go away. But once he left, the idea of him coming back, I was surprised about a lot of people who you would think are his allies. And personally, I’m sure they are. But as far as wanting him back… I’m sure there’s (some) people that do.”
H/T WrestleTalk.com
