Vince McMahon won’t be CEO and chairman of WWE for the time being, and Stephanie McMahon’s time away will apparently be cut short.
In a joint press release this morning, WWE and its Board of Directors announced that effective immediately, Vince McMahon was stepping down from both of his familiar roles with the company. The move is a direct response to the ongoing investigation into payments made to cover up alleged affairs and other misconduct by Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier this week.
“I have pledged my complete cooperation to the investigation by the Special Committee, and I will do everything possible to support the investigation,” Vince McMahon said in the release. “I have also pledged to accept the findings and outcome of the investigation, whatever they are.”
Until those findings are made, Stephanie McMahon will serve as WWE’s interim CEO and chairwoman. It’s a quick change in the status quo for Vince’s daughter, who had announced a leave of absence to focus on family on May 20.
Vince McMahon will remain in charge of creative for WWE programming for the time being, and he’s already made an eyebrow-raising decision by booking himself to appear live on SmackDown tonight. WWE revealed that choice in a second press release that was short and to the point: “WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced that Mr. McMahon will appear on SmackDown tonight at 8 pm ET live on FOX.”
While it seems almost inconceivable that Vince McMahon would speak at any length without addressing the very large elephant in the room, it’s also hard to fathom what could be gained except a chance to offer some public contrition — not typically his style, but these are extraordinary circumstances.
It’s going to be interesting to see how the crowd at the Target Center in Minneapolis reacts when Vince McMahon makes his way out onto the stage. There’s also a heavily publicized Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match between Roman Reigns and Riddle scheduled for tonight, so there should be no lack of talking points to close out a roller coaster week of WWE news.