Vince McMahon has officially announced his retirement from the WWE, looming in a new era in the professional wrestling circuit. After changing the game in this industry over the past 40+ years and making it the sports entertainment that it’s today, the most successful promoter won’t be around.
Prior to this week’s episode of Friday Night Smackdown, Vince McMahon had announced that he was officially retiring from WWE with the following statement on Twitter,
“At 77, time for me to retire. Thank You, WWE Universe. Then. Now. Forever. Together.”
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At 77, time for me to retire.
Thank you, WWE Universe.
Then. Now. Forever. Together. #WWE #thankful— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) July 22, 2022
There has been mass confusion over WWE’s undisputed boss suddenly stepping away from his duties. In an update from Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics, it was stated that Vince McMahon “is retiring from all roles, including head of creative.”
Wrestling Inc has also confirmed the same from a spokesperson saying that he is “retiring in full”. Current Interim CEO and Chairwoman Stephanie McMahon and WWE President Nick Khan will be taking care of things in the company while Paul Levesque aka Triple H will be the co-CEO as well as the EVP of Talent Relations replacing, John Laurinaitis.
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Vince McMahon under investigation in a hush-money scandal
Many do believe Vince McMahon announcing his retirement from the WWE has to do with the Wall Street Journal story that came out in June reporting that the WWE board was investigating allegations that Vince McMahon reportedly paid $3 million to a former paralegal to cover up an affair with. In a follow-up story, it was noted that the WWE’s former chairman had also paid three more women for a total of more than $12 million to cover up harassment, misconduct, and abuse.
Despite all the allegations, Vince McMahon recently appeared on episodes of WWE Raw and Smackdown and even introduced John Cena during his 20th-anniversary celebration. He was in charge of creative content, for the time being, but now his retirement will be in full effect.
In more updates from PWInsider, the backstage reaction from WWE Superstars to Vince McMahon’s retirement is pretty positive but they’re also in shock, to say the least. Many believed that he’d be in charge till his death.
Some of the WWE Superstars are also excited a new WWE creative team will take things over now that Vinnie Mac is gone. There are also some speculations about Vince possibly attending SummerSlam 2022 so that he can meet WWE Superstars, one last time.
