Vince McMahon is now gone from WWE, resigning his position as executive chairman of TKO after the most horrific sexual abuse allegations to date came to light as a result of a new lawsuit filed this week.
But is he really gone? One former WWE superstar cast some doubts, suggesting that McMahon could continue to wield influence through one of his longtime associates.
The superstar in question no longer works for WWE, which is why she may have felt secure in a position to share her opinion: Ronda Rousey, who parted ways with WWE this past October. Rousey took to social media on the day of the Royal Rumble to name Bruce Prichard as the person through whom McMahon would look to continue “running things,” claiming that he did it before.
Bruce Prichard is basically Vince’s avatar, if he’s still around Vince still has a hand in the business. Vince was still running things through Bruce when he was “gone” before
— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) January 27, 2024
Prichard has often been described as one of the most powerful non-McMahon family people inside WWE. His official position is executive director, but he almost certainly holds sway over more than just parts of the creative direction for weekly TV.
One thing that is different than what Rousey experienced during her time with the company, however, is an extra layer of oversight at the top. Already minimized from creative decisions, McMahon was also no longer CEO of WWE after it merged with UFC to become TKO — which is led by Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel. And while Emanuel has been a public supporter of McMahon prior to this week, it would not be shocking if he was playing a more active role in WWE after what went has gone down over the past 72 hours.
In other words, while Rousey could be correct, the hope would be that if there was ever a time when WWE was going to change a culture that could allow what McMahon’s accusers say went on, this is it. It might take some time to find out if that best case scenario comes to pass.