Backstage Reaction to Vince McMahon’s Retirement from WWE

As noted before, former WWE CEO and Chairman Vince McMahon announced on Friday that he has officially retired from the company. Prior to his retirement announcement, McMahon was under investigation by WWE’s Board of Directors over allegations of sexual misconduct and hush money settlement payments by him towards several former female employees and talent in the company.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that the general reaction within WWE’s locker room was pretty positive overall. Most talent reportedly believe that this would lead to a new “energy” for WWE’s creative process and were “excited” to see what comes next. The general belief within younger talent was that a new and younger creative vision will help the company connect better with their overall audience.

Johnson reported that many talent also wondered what McMahon’s exit means for the remainder of WWE’s executive circles beyond Stephanie McMahon, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, and WWE President and co-CEO Nick Khan. Some talent reportedly had wished they could have at least said goodbye to McMahon personally and are hopeful that he might show up backstage at next weekend’s SummerSlam 2022 event to do so.

The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported in Friday’s Daily Update that many long-time people within the wrestling industry currently feel skeptical that McMahon’s departure is for good. Meltzer reported that despite his retirement, McMahon still owns most of WWE’s stocks and around 80% of voting power. Fightful Select reported that one WWE talent spoken to held a similar feeling of only believing that he is truly gone “once shows come and go and he’s no longer involved.”

In regards to McMahon’s retirement decision, Johnson reported in a separate report that his sources stated that McMahon had made the decision privately “about a week or so ago” with one source stating that the final decision was made “around ten days ago.” These same sources also stated that WWE officials made the decision to name Stephanie McMahon and WWE President Nick Khan as co-CEOs of the company once it became clear that McMahon would be leaving the company. The decision for McMahon’s retirement announcement to be done on Friday reportedly was due to WWE wanting to blunt any serious negative impact it could have had on their stocks for this week.