On January 6th it was confirmed that despite Vince McMahon retiring from WWE back in July, he was now back with the company.
24-hours earlier news had broken that the former Chairman was taking steps to return. A statement from McMahon himself then confirmed that he wanted to come back to the company in order to oversee a sale. To make this happen he was reinstating himself to the Board of Directors.
To facilitate his comeback, McMahon removed JoEllen Lyons Dillon, Jeffrey R. Speed and Alan M. Wexler from the Board, reinstating himself, Michelle Wilson and George Barrios.
Vince McMahon’s return comes despite fresh allegations of sexual assault emerging just a month ago. In a report noting that McMahon was refusing to meet the legal demands of two women, it was revealed that he stood accused of sexually assaulting a spa owner in California in 2011.
The other woman he wasn’t meeting legal demands for was former referee Rita Chatterton, who was seeking $11.75 million in damages for an alleged rape committed by McMahon back in 1986.
Tony Khan Jokes About Vince McMahon Comeback
After the news was made official, AEW boss Tony Khan wasted little time in poking fun at the situation. In his usual pre-Rampage tweet promoting the show, he wrote “Everyone at work is being so nice to me these past 24 hours! I wonder why… It must be belated holiday spirit.”
Everyone at work is being so nice to me these past 24 hours!
I wonder why…It must be belated holiday spirit.
See you tonight on TNT for TWO hours of @AEWonTV live,
Friday Night #AEWRampage + #BattleOfTheBelts, back-to-back LIVE
Starting at 10pm ET/9pm CT
TONIGHT— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) January 6, 2023
January 6th is a big night for AEW with a live edition of Rampage being followed by Battle of the Belts V.
It has been announced that TNT Champion Darby Allin will defend his newly won belt against Mike Bennett, while Top Flight take on Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson.
At Battle of the Belts the headline clash will see The Acclaimed defend their AEW World Tag Team Titles against Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal in a No Holds Barred Match. Elsewhere, Jade Cargill puts her TBS Title on the line against Skye Blue and Orange Cassidy defends his All-Atlantic Championship against Kip Sabian.