Vince McMahon announced on July 22, 2022, that he was “retiring” from WWE and was stepping down from all of his positions within the company. Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan promptly stepped in as the Co-CEOs of the organization, while Paul “Triple H” Levesque took over McMahon’s booking duties as the Chief Creative Officer. McMahon’s announcement came at a time when he was being investigated by the WWE Board of Directors over allegedly paying millions of dollars to former employees to cover up various misconduct allegations. WWE publicly stated in its financial reports that McMahon paid nearly $20 in non-disclosure agreements and that the money was improperly documented in WWE financial reports, forcing the company to revise multiple financial reports.
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The departure came just as the SEC and federal prosecutors were reportedly looking into the situation, though no legal charges have been brought forward. WWE announced that its investigation had ended during its latest quarterly financial report. Sources then told Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp that, while the investigation was over, there was no indication that McMahon would be returning to the company.
“One WWE spokesperson was contacted for comment and said that Vince McMahon was ‘done, done,’ and would not be returning to the roles that were taken over by Triple H and several others,” Sapp wrote at the time. “Beyond that, another WWE higher up said that the morale in WWE over the last few months has been the highest they’ve seen it in over a decade that they’ve been around.”
That now no longer appears to be the case. While reporting on two alleged sexual assault victims recently seeking damages from McMahon — including Rita Chatterton, a former WWE referee who accused McMahon of rape and an unnamed former spa manager who claims McMahon assaulted her in 2011 — The Wall Street Journal reported that McMahon is looking to make a “comeback” in WWE.
“The 77-year-old Mr. McMahon also has told people that he intends to make a comeback at WWE, according to the people familiar with his comments. He has said that he received bad advice from people close to him to step down and that he now believes the allegations and investigations would have blown over had he stayed, these people said,” Joe Palazzolo and Ted Mann wrote.
WWE has yet to make a comment on this latest report. Stay tuned for further updates.
