A new report has claimed that writing assistants had to “filter” Vince McMahon, who was known to call people by the wrong name and make insensitive and offensive comments.
During his time as WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon had the ultimate final say on what appeared on WWE television and what didn’t.
While McMahon earned praise for the rise of the Attitude Era and WWE’s subsequent financial success, he was known to be incredibly erratic at times, seemingly changing his mind, and creative direction on a whim.
Now that McMahon has retired as Chairman and CEO, and been replaced as Head of Creative by Triple H, a clearer impression of what life was life in creative under his charge has come to light.
A new report from Fightful Select features comments from some involved with the creative process within WWE, who claimed that creative writing assistants had to “filter” the now former Chairman. These assistants had to know “what not to write” for McMahon when taking notes for him, while it’s claimed that “minutes are heavily edited.” Something which was the case for a “long time.”
This ranged from Vince saying things that “would appear insensitive or offensive, to “oh god, what did he just say?” moments, all the way to simple kayfabe things.” McMahon was known to constantly call people by the wrong name, and use terms that weren’t socially acceptable, which he himself wouldn’t allow to be used on television.
Meanwhile a former production employee stated the following:
“If a live feed of Vince McMahon on a headset any given night ever made it out, that it would provide a picture of that production experience, especially for the announcers. There were plenty of times he was in a good mood, but he would blow up at the most ridiculous things and act like they ruined an angle that was far past its expiration date anyway.”
In closing, the report notes that when asked, those within or near creative expected Triple H to have a better recall of what had been done before. One person stated that there were so many thing they were pretty sure McMahon didn’t remember doing again and again, even when others pointed these things out.
On July 22nd, Vince McMahon announced his retirement from WWE amidst an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct and hush money payments. On July 25th, the Wall Street Journal reported that a federal investigation into these allegations “hastened” his retirement, which an SEC filing actually calls a resignation.
It was also disclosed via the SEC filing that the company has made “a preliminary determination” regarding payments totally $14.6 million made between 2006 and 2022 that should have been recorded as business expenses. This includes amounts both already paid and to be paid in the future.