It’s hard to think of a major company as associated with one family over the past few decades than WWE. Even after it went public in 1999, Vince McMahon has been synonymous with the promotion his father started. And with Vince remaining chairman and CEO, as well as the ultimate decision maker on all things creative, it’s been difficult to envision what WWE might look without him and his family.
Now that once unthinkable future could be here in a matter of months, even weeks.
Though rumors of a sale have popped up off and on for the last few years, it always felt that it would take a bombshell of some sort to bring about a WWE without Vince McMahon. That’s exactly what arrived on June 15, when the Wall Street Journal published a story on WWE’s board investigating a $3 million hush payment Vince is alleged to have made to “a departing employee with whom he allegedly had an affair.”
According to documents the WSJ acquired and its sources, Vince and WWE head of talent relations John Laurinaitis are alleged to be part of multiple nondisclosure agreements with female employees that essentially pay them to stay silent on claims of misconduct by the two men to the tune of “millions of dollars” in total compensation.
As company news goes, this is as big and bad as it gets. It’s not like it’s dirt that’s been dug up from the ancient past, either, as the former employee at the heart of the board’s investigation was hired in 2019 and signed the NDA as part of a separation agreement in January of this year.
For its part, WWE has hit the usual cover-your-butt talking points when situations like this arise. It is taking the allegations “seriously,” according to an internal message sent to staff, and told the WSJ it is “cooperating fully with the board inquiry.” It added that the “relationship with the ex-paralegal was consensual,” which may or may not turn out to be the case.
It also might not matter, in terms of determining who leads WWE going forward. Vince McMahon is still the most powerful figure in the company’s hierarchy, but he’s not the only power, which is an important factor in a situation like this. The investigation is being conducted by the board’s eight independent directors and led by former Sony Pictures Home Entertainment executive Man Jit Singh.
If the board decides Vince was guilty of behavior that could harm the company — and the optics on this particular story are already very bad — there’s a definite chance it could act to remove him. Even more likely would be the possibility that he’d read the writing on the wall and resign before he could be shown the door, if he truly thought there was no way he’d emerge unscathed.
Should that happen, WWE would be in completely uncharted waters with almost no official McMahon family presence at the top. Linda McMahon hasn’t held a leadership role since 2009, and Shane McMahon made his most recent of several departures earlier this year. Stephanie McMahon, arguably the most likely to take over for Vince just a few years ago, took a leave of absence from the company in May.
And in the meantime, other people outside the family have gained more power within WWE. Company president Nick Khan, in particular, has become a much more noticeable and active figure, making some observers wonder if it would be him, and not a McMahon, that would shepherd WWE into whatever a post-Vince era would look like.
Everyone with even the most remote interest in pro wrestling will be watching now to see if that’s what awaits. Wealthy, influential people have a knack for avoiding the consequences of actions that would sink the careers of most, so it’s not impossible that Vince McMahon somehow comes out of this with his position intact.
It’s certainly not guaranteed, though. That thought alone is going to be fascinating to watch as the fallout from this story continues in the weeks ahead.