Dave Meltzer has suggested that it would be “almost impossible” for Vince McMahon to return to WWE after “unrecorded” expenses emerged.
On July 22nd Vince McMahon announced that he was retiring as WWE CEO and Chairman of the Board.
The announcement came as McMahon remains under investigation regarding allegations that he paid a former employee $3 million in “hush money” after the pair had an affair. More allegations have since been made public, including claims that McMahon paid four women more than $12 million across 16 years as part of similar agreements.
Despite the public announcement of McMahon’s departure, many fans noted that he will retain his position as majority shareholder. Furthermore, it has been reported that McMahon remains “available” to WWE personnel while his transition away from the company takes place.
This led to some speculation among fans that McMahon might only temporarily be out of the picture, and will return when the investigations were resolved. However, it appears that this will not be the case.
On July 25th, WWE disclosed via a SEC filing that they’ve made “a preliminary determination” regarding payments made by McMahon. The payments made between 2006 and 2022 totalling $14.6, should have been recorded as business expenses.
It is unclear as to whether these payments are related to the alleged payments of $12 million made above.
As a result, WWE will be reissuing financial statements for 2019, 2020, and 2021, as well as Q1 of 2022. They aim to republish these statements by Tuesday, 9 August, though “there is no assurance that it will be able to meet this deadline”.
Following the news, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that the latest revelations mean that it “would be almost impossible for McMahon to return to power.”
“The key to this revelation is that it would be almost impossible for McMahon to return to power and this won’t be a temporary departure until the heat dies down as many in wrestling over the past few days had believed, noting the company track record over the years with people who had gotten negative publicity over different things.”
It was also announced on July 25th, that Triple H is now head of WWE creative.
Inside The Ropes will continue to update this story as it develops.