Vince McMahon announced his retirement from WWE in July 2022 after being surrounded by allegations of serious sexual misconduct and claims that he paid hush money to the women involved to cover up the incidents.
This also brought to back into the spotlight a previous allegation of sexual assault, while he was later revealed to have been accused of sexually assaulting a spa owner in 2011.
Despite these allegations and the investigation that followed McMahon returned to WWE in early January, forcing his way back onto the Board of Directors. McMahon reinstated himself on the Board along with Michelle Wilson and George Barrios. During this process he removed three serving members and two others quit. His daughter and co-CEO Stephanie McMahon later resigned and Vince was elected Executive Chairman.
Nick Khan Praises Vince McMahon
Speaking in a new interview about McMahon’s return, WWE CEO Nick Khan praised the way that it had been handled. During an appearance on Bill Simmons podcast, Khan claimed that McMahon was smart for how he went about retiring and coming back, before commenting that he “applauded” the way he used his power to force a return.
“I think the way that he played it, to me, was smart. In that he went away for five, six months, which people – meaning the audience – seems to like when somebody does that. And he came back and took control back of his company as the controlling shareholder. So it is the public’s company, it’s a publicly-traded company, but that controlling share gave him a lot of authority, and he used it and I applaud him for doing so. To me WWE is Vince, Vince is WWE and we’re going to do the best we can to keep building the company,”
Khan added that he never expected McMahon to stay retired, but he appreciated him “letting the dust settle” before coming back.
“Anyone who knows him…anyone who believed that [his retirement] was permanent, doesn’t know him. That was never gonna happen, but I’m appreciative of the fact he gave it five, six months to let the dust settle a bit and then coming back in the way that he’s come back.”
It has been reported that many within WWE are now expecting McMahon to take full control of the company from top to bottom despite the assertions otherwise from Khan and Triple H.
H/t to Cultaholic