On March 6th Vince McMahon appeared backstage at a WWE television taping for the first time since returning to the company in January.
It was reported that McMahon was there to visit John Cena who was appearing on the show, but there has been speculation there could be more to it.
In recent weeks it has been reported that McMahon has been, and is, more involved than initially believed. It is known that he speaks with Triple H regarding creative and it was claimed that he “had input” in the storyline between Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn.
This was followed by reports that the 77-year-old “pushed through” the WrestleMania match between Brock Lesnar and Omos. While it has been noted that McMahon is not “officially” involved in WrestleMania, he is “doing more than they’re letting on.”
Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer noted that there could have also been another backstage hint at McMahon’s involvement. Meltzer reports that a pre-taped segment for the March 20th episode of Raw was redone after someone used the term “wrestling,” something McMahon famously didn’t like.
“If you haven’t seen the fingerprints of Vince McMahon on camera, and there are little things here and there, there was a pre-tape interview on the 3/20 Raw where somebody used the term “wrestling” and they had to redo. Granted since Reigns and Rhodes used the term “pro wrestlers” in their promo on the same show.”
Why Did Vince McMahon Leave WWE?
Vince McMahon initially retired in July 2022 surrounded by allegations of sexual misconduct. It was claimed that he paid numerous women a series of “hush money payments” in order to suppress the allegations.
On January 19th, 2023 it was reported that McMahon had reached a settlement with former referee Rita Chatterton. The settlement was in relation to a 1986 incident where Chatterton alleged that she was raped by McMahon.