Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that WWE’s former Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon is facing legal demands from two women who allege that he sexually assaulted them, with both allegations being previously unreported by the media when WSJ’s initial reports on McMahon first released in June earlier this year.
Within the report, WSJ also revealed that Vince McMahon intends on making a comeback, believing that he was given bad advice before his retirement as he thinks the media frenzy would have died down after a while. Within the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, a direct quote from a longtime supporter of Vince McMahon shared his thoughts on the prospect of the 77-year-old returning to power, claiming that it would “cripple the company” due to the likelihood of class action shareholder lawsuits should he upend the entire Board of Directors.
“What if (he) decided to upend the entire Board (he has 80 percent voting stock) and is still the largest owner of common stock? The class action shareholder lawsuits would cripple the entire company. The networks would balk. FOX had to get rid of Roger Ailes. I don’t think they will be favorable to his return. NBCU is a prisoner of the deal and even they spoke up about his TV appearances when he was in the headlines and still appearing on TV. The shareholder revolt would endanger the entire organization. This was a terrible shot today to the `moving forward’ `business as usual’ claim that was implemented by Stephanie, Levesque (and) Nick Khan. Now the conspiracy theories will be all about (Vince) coming back. If he comes back, it’s a scorched Earth scenario. Unless he figures a lesser role (and how can he of all people take a lesser role?), but the leak from his side is that he was given bad advice, so now he’s blaming people.”
-Longtime Vince McMahon Supporter
On top of the most recent WSJ report, Vice released their “The Nine Lives of Vince McMahon” documentary this past Tuesday. One complaint lodged by viewers was that the contents of the documentary were all stories and reports that were previously touched upon during the “Dark Side of the Ring” series, leaving many disappointed that Vice didn’t dive further into new information.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has now provided an insight into the reasoning behind many important figures in Vince McMahon’s career not being involved in the production of the documentary, revealing that a number of high-profile names simply turned down doing interviews for Vice.
“The reason it was only Russo and the reporters is that a large number of people turned down doing interviews for it. Names we were told that were asked and didn’t participate included Chris Jericho, Jim Cornette, Eric Bischoff, Bryan Danielson, C.M. Punk, Mick Foley, Jim Ross, Jerry Brisco, Jerry Jarrett and Ted Mann of the Wall Street Journal. Some of those names confirmed to us being asked and turning it down.”
-WON
At the time of writing, it appears unlikely that WWE shareholders would welcome McMahon back into the company with open arms, however, it remains to be seen whether the former Chairman still makes a play for the position he left behind earlier in the year, regardless of how it affects the company.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any updates on Vince McMahon’s legal situation, as well as the prospect of him returning to WWE as soon as we hear more.
