Vince McMahon, longtime leader of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), is stepping back from his duties as Chief Executive Officer, at least temporarily. It’s the result of an ongoing investigation into misconduct across the top levels of management, spurred by reports of a secret $3 million settlement to a former employee with whom he allegedly had an affair.
His daughter, Stephanie McMahon, will take over his role as Interim Chairwoman and CEO.
McMahon, like her father, is no stranger to wrestling fans. She’s maintained an on-screen presence for large parts of the past two decades of WWE programming, often alongside her real-life husband Paul Levesque, better known as 14-time world champion Triple H.
Neither McMahon nor Levesque are strangers to the inner workings of the sports entertainment machine. Before stepping back from her role recently, she served as Chief Brand Officer during a period in which the company inked deals with multiple major networks and extended its reach across the globe.
Levesque’s official title with the company was Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development. He’s largely credited for the rise of the WWE’s developmental brand NXT, which stood as the most entertaining and unique vessel within the McMahon universe for a long stretch in the late 2010s and produced future stars like Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, Big E and Prince Pretty himself, Tyler Breeze.
So when the McMahon news broke Friday morning, the online wrestling universe had so many jokes they made Triple H — the guy who wasn’t even mentioned in the WWE’s official press release on the matter — trend.