We now have more information on Stephanie McMahon’s 2022 WWE departure.
In May 2022, Stephanie McMahon announced that she was taking a leave of absence from her roles with WWE. At the time, she was the company’s Chief Brand Officer, a job title she held for nearly a decade. Her role was quickly filled, and it was said that if she returned to WWE in any capacity, it would be in a different position. Upon Vince McMahon’s retirement/resignation in July of that year (following the publicizing of several hush money payments made to former female employees), she served as the interim chairwoman and co-CEO for the rest of 2022. She resigned in January 2023, after her father returned to the company.
Considering the timing of her departures and returns, it has been speculated that those were decisions made by Vince McMahon. In the aftermath of her initial departure, a story leaked that tried to paint her as incompetent, likely in an attempt to preserve WWE’s stock prices following the initial story of Vince McMahon’s hush money payments breaking. After Janel Grant’s 67-page lawsuit against McMahon detailing allegations of sexual exploitation was filed last week, speculation arose that Stephanie’s second departure was because she was made aware of the allegations long before the public was.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter confirmed that was not the case, indicating that Stephanie left of her own volition.
“It was denied that her leaving this particular time was due to the Grant situation and her finding out about it, but her leaving the second time was because Vince returned.”
-WON
Stephanie McMahon’s departure from WWE came as a shock to many, as it seemed that she was being prepared to take over the company after her father. After the lawsuit and reports that TKO are looking for a “fresh start” by removing people who were close to Vince, it seems unlikely that she will ever return to wrestling, but anything is possible.
As always, we will keep you updated as more emerges about Stephanie McMahon’s potential WWE status.
