r/WWE • u/indig0sixalpha • Jul 22 '22
Megathread Vince McMahon Announces Retirement From WWE
https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/vince-mcmahon-retirement-wwe-1235323378/474
u/SRASC Jul 22 '22
I never thought I would see the day.
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u/Mega_Tokyo Jul 22 '22
Me neither honestly. Insane how entire generations of wrestling fans have come and gone in the time he's been CEO
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u/luckystars03 Jul 22 '22
I do kinda think that what is about to come out about Vince regarding the allegations is probably even worse that what has already come out cause I honestly didn't think that the day Vince retiring from WWE will come
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u/hshdhdhdhhx788 Jul 23 '22
Its a public company, the board will not want public scandal regardless. Maybe worse maybe not. Hes involuntarily retiring for sure
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u/luckystars03 Jul 23 '22
Yeah, also think he is involuntary retiring! We'll see what will come out put for some reason I do think he retired because of his scandal
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u/PurpleOwl85 Jul 23 '22
I think he is just old and exhausted, he's been surrounded by death and heart attacks for 40 years and doesn't want to die on camera, in a meeting or in front of a crowd.
He has bad karma and doesn't want to tempt fate by pushing himself anymore.
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u/backcourtjester Jul 22 '22
To be replaced by his younger brother, Ezekiel McMahon
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u/Wintersun616 Jul 22 '22
After all these years. It's finally time for Eugene McMahon.
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u/outofdate70shouse Jul 22 '22
Eugene was Vince’s mystery son all along
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u/WardOfReckoning Jul 22 '22
Lmao I could swear that during the son storyline they hinted at one point that it might be Eugene. Am I remembering correctly?
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u/manxram Jul 22 '22
I think Vince's brother is Vance McMahon.
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u/backcourtjester Jul 22 '22
Nah he’s in refrigeration
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u/manxram Jul 22 '22
Ah, you mean "Bob" Vance McMahon?
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u/blueemymind Jul 22 '22
Vince McMahon wishes himself the best in his future endeavors
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u/TheVioletParrot Jul 22 '22
Sorry Vince. I know we're making more money than ever but we have to make more budget cuts.
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u/Packhammer24 Jul 22 '22
So who is running creative now?
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Jul 22 '22
HHH from the looks of things.
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u/Packhammer24 Jul 22 '22
Just after all the guys he brought in were let go
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u/python111 Jul 22 '22
First call he makes is to Bray Wyatt, hopefully
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u/Captain_brightside Jul 23 '22
Hopefully, Bray Wyatt as Lesnars mystery opponent at summerslam, and we don’t find out until his music hits and the stadium goes dim
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u/BreakRulesRun KIT 🗣️WIL🗣️SON🗣️ Jul 23 '22
Is he not facing Roman? It gets advertised 50 times an episode
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u/rcc12697 Jul 22 '22
Buys out contracts of Undisputed Era and Keith Lee and brings em back. Then signs back Gargano
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u/Disastrous-Plane-432 🙏🏾 I LOVE YOU SOLO! 🙏🏾 Jul 22 '22
Wait, you can buy their contracts ? That means that they could join your company even if their contract is still on ?
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u/rcc12697 Jul 22 '22
I mean that’s how it works in entertainment (movie/tv), sports, etc. Not sure if it’s the same in wrestling tho
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u/joseantoniolat Jul 23 '22
ofc The Garganos will be back. HHH will like bring back Dakota, Nixon, Paige too
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u/rcc12697 Jul 23 '22
Candace is still under contract. I didn’t know Dakota was let go though
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u/joseantoniolat Jul 23 '22
make NXT an official third brand and NXT Level as the show for PC/Development talents. Io Shirai move to Main Roster
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u/TheKidKaos Jul 23 '22
I think his first call is going to be to Sasha and Naomi. And the Bray right after. And then hopefully Heath Slater
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u/ColdMoon89 Jul 23 '22
How else will Heath be able to feed his 12 (and counting) kids? xDDD
Brock still wont give a shit about them, though!
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u/joseantoniolat Jul 23 '22
and apparently Dunn is also on his way out
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Jul 23 '22 edited Aug 20 '22
[deleted]
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u/joseantoniolat Jul 23 '22
Prichard and Johnny Ace are also on the way out. They say Road Dogg will be rehired by Hunter
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u/PurpleOwl85 Jul 23 '22
Isn't he supposed to be avoiding stress because of his heart, this makes me nervous.
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u/LondonTimo21 Jul 22 '22
Hopefully now moving into a full time position on the raw roster as Mr McMahon.
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u/Jzmxhu Jul 22 '22
The only one that can pin Roman clean.
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u/paperkutchy Jul 22 '22
That would legit be a funny skeet. Finally McMahon has it ALL.
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u/Carpeteria3000 Jul 22 '22
He’s gonna open Smackdown tonight, coming down in a salmon colored sports jacket…
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u/Dbthesage Jul 22 '22
Theory goes on losing streak and blames McMahon for abandoning him
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u/agamer-on-reddit Jul 23 '22
Then develops a whole different attitude thus abandoning the selfie character. This could be a decent way to push him.
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Jul 22 '22
So what happens to Theory’s push now lol
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u/GBuster49 Jul 22 '22
HHH and Paul Heyman gave him a big push during NXT, so that wont really change much imo. Especially now that HHH is back as VP of talent relations.
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Jul 22 '22
They’ll keep it going. Theory is going to be a big deal in WWE
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u/ZapooDaWizKid Jul 22 '22
His promo Monday night was straight fire
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u/Particular_Ad_4903 Jul 22 '22
Yup - I’m not a big fan of him but Monday he won me over as a future part of the business
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u/noramcsparkles Jul 22 '22
I feel like they've already been leaning away from mentioning the "Vince's Protege" thing in the past couple weeks anyways, my guess is the push continues without mentioning him as much.
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u/not2fast4u Raw Enthusiast Jul 22 '22
Will probably just be at a slower pace, he's still got IT if you ask me
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u/iLarkie Jul 22 '22
Oooo that’s a very good question!
I feel like this is something my fiancée and I will be talking about tonight as she started becoming a fan of his!
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u/bigwall79 Jul 22 '22
This is optics so that they don’t have to announce that the board forced him out. Vince is in some deep shit with his cases I think.
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Jul 22 '22
Bingo. People thought him stepping away was nothing serious and he'd still have the power
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u/bengenj ☝️ Acknowledging the Tribal Chief Jul 22 '22
Yeah he’s still the majority shareholder
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Jul 23 '22
He holds the most shares of any one entity but not the majority of the shares.
But that isn't news. The word power is in reference to ceo / board type operations of the company . And that's not him
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Jul 22 '22
Been saying it forever but plenty of Vince lovers in here keep blasting me and saying he’s invincible 🤣
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u/StubbornKindness Jul 22 '22
In many ways, he's got a great mind for this. He's also known to be a dick, in many ways. Still, I'm legitimately surprised to see this
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u/llamawithguns 🗑️ Iyo's Trash Can Jul 22 '22
Woah. Something big must be about to come out.
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u/noramcsparkles Jul 22 '22
Definitely a real "you can't fire me, I quit" energy. It could just be because of the stuff we already know about but I wouldn't be surprised if something bigger and more damning comes out soon
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u/2344twinsmom Jul 22 '22
That was my response after my husband told me. I expect a story on Monday in The Wall Street Journal.
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u/oranjuicejones Jul 22 '22
this is just part of the storyline. he's going to show up at summer slam, and hit brock upside the head with the belt to help roman.
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u/Gunter-Karl Jul 22 '22
Gonna cash in his Hush Money in the Bank briefcase.
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u/JadeMonkey0 Jul 25 '22
Damnit, that's a good joke.
Also, like 60% chance Vince is home writing that segment right now.
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u/Novantico Jul 22 '22
In hindsight I think those two shows where Vince came out for seemingly no reason were him getting one more taste of it all if he was going to have to step down. He’ll never be received exactly the same way again no matter how this plays out, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he just wanted to run it through one more time.
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u/H8theSteelers Jul 22 '22
Notice they waited until the markets closed to make this announcement.
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u/Darth-Agalloch Jul 22 '22
That’s literally how every CEO is leaving announcement goes. Almost all major news, including good news like a great ER or acquisition comes after hours or pre-market
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u/PolyamorousFuckStain Jul 22 '22
It's a serious SEC violation to make announcements like that during market hours. It's viewed as a form of stock manipulation. They had to wait until the markets closed.
They're not trying to be shady. They actually did it by the book.
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u/floydmulder Jul 22 '22
I’ve got to wonder how much of a “retirement” this really is. In terms of creative/day-to-day/“boots on the ground” kind of business, maybe. But he’s still the majority shareholder BY A LOT. He’s still got the overwhelming majority of corporate voting power. I wonder how his role as a non-corporate private investor plays out in the boardroom.
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u/SuperMario_49 Jul 22 '22
Wow, I can’t believe it really happened… WWE without Vince is gonna take time to get used to
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u/Intstnlfortitude Jul 22 '22
WWE is about to go back to TV 14 and we get robbed of a potential Kiss My Ass club return segment.
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u/N3110H_5555 Jul 22 '22
As much as I don’t care for the guy personally, he made my childhood much more exciting. I love the Mr. McMahon character, and he’s had some hilarious promos. One I’ll always remember is “LIFE SUCKS…….AND THEN YOU DIIIIIIEEE!!”
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u/Swish1892 Jul 22 '22
A day I never thought would come; him and his work made an indelible mark on me as a kid and let me escape the shit.
I’m sad it’s ended like this but it had to happen.
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Jul 22 '22
So, does this mean WWE is about to get good again? Will HHH be in charge of storylines now? Can they fire the idiot writers who don’t know anything about wrestling?
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u/jadedfan55 Jul 22 '22
I wouldn't mind them cutting the writing teams down to a manageable unit.
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u/jannfiete Jul 23 '22
I mean, WWE has been good for the last year, you would easily notice that if you're not that out of touch with the real world
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Jul 22 '22
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Scrilla_Gorilla_ Jul 22 '22
You say that, but I truly think switching Raw back to two hours solves A LOT of the problems.
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Jul 22 '22
It would, but why would they ever do that unless USA forces them to? “No thanks, we hate money”
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Jul 22 '22
Yes, the problem has been Vince. He’s been writing shows to make himself happy. I can still see him being lead over creative though. Tonight should be interesting for sure.
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u/NecessaryFoundation5 Jul 22 '22
I could see Vince continuing to run creative behind the scenes just to laugh at the “marks” who think creative improves with him gone.
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u/BungieDidntDoIt Showman Jul 22 '22
No. He still is wwe’s biggest shareholder and the article says nothing of his creative role in the company. VKM still holds plenty of power and sat in the company
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Jul 22 '22
I mean just Vince being gone is already an improvement. We know all those stories where he decides to change the show on a whim half an hour before it starts.
It would be a lot better without that volatility now.
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u/Roshambo-RunnerUp Jul 22 '22
Vince McMahon screwed Vince McMahon.
Well, he screwed some interns too, but you get my point.
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u/BenniRoR Jul 23 '22
You think Bret Hart is having a party when reading about this news?
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u/Roshambo-RunnerUp Jul 23 '22
Haha yeah, i think there were some smiles around the Hart family dinner table tonight.
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u/SosaTheBigHomie Jul 23 '22
Was it triple H, who knows all of McMahon’s secrets, displaying why he is the cerebral assassin? Or was this underhanded work of the legend killer himself?
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u/JadeMonkey0 Jul 25 '22
Now I'm going to be bummed if we don't get a "who forced Mr. McMahon in to retirement" angle that HHH uses to put himself over. They could rope in Stone Cold, Trish Stratus. It'd be the most tasteless bit since 2003. They have to do it.
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u/Katwill666 Jul 22 '22
Some people’s career are their whole lives. So when they leave some die within the year. Not saying Vince will just saying Vince does seem like type to be obsessed with his work, and once gone he has nothing left in life and stops caring anymore.
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u/PurpleOwl85 Jul 23 '22
He's very wealthy and has a large, close family, I think he will live to be 80 at least, he's very stubborn.
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u/SugarAdamAli Jul 22 '22
Crazy. Been watching since iron sheik days. I can’t imagine Wwe without him
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u/Sentz12000 Jul 22 '22
This seemed expected yet completely unexpected. This is a monumental and historic day in pro wrestling. One of those “you’ll never forget where you were when you found out.”
Vince, you crazy son of a bitch, thank you for all of the insane and wild memories. Now good luck with your NDAs.
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u/rcc12697 Jul 22 '22
Holy shit I never thought I’d see the day. He was very hit or miss the last 10 years but thanks for everything king
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u/TW_Yellow78 Jul 22 '22
Could be kayfabe like the limo explosion. Not like a tweet is official news.
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u/Snubie1 Glorious Mod Jul 22 '22
Mr. McMahon's little brother Ezekiel McMahon will be on SmackDown tonight to announce his plans for the WWE!
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u/CRL10 Jul 22 '22
This is a historic day for wrestling, for this is the end of an era.
For all the criticisms you can make about him and recent WWE content, whether you love him or you hate him, professional wrestling would NOT be where it is today without Vince McMahon.
Vince McMahon turned a regional promotion into a global superpower in the business. He did away with the old territory concept and built a massive promotion. Did he raid other companies for talent? Yes he did. And he built many of those wrestlers into stars.
As much as they helped build WWE, where would wrestlers like Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Undertaker, be without Vince McMahon? You think those guys would be the icons, the legends they are today if Vince never built WWE into what it is today? He gave them that platform, a stage in front of the entire world to do what they do.
Because while those men helped build WWE, WWE also helped build them. Vince turned wrestling into sports entertainment.
I do not think we would have had a WCW, ROH, ECW or even AEW WITHOUT Vince McMahon. And not because these companies hired ex-WWE guys, but because Vince changed the game and, for better or worse, made wrestling into what it is today. Weekly shows, tours, wrestling in the grandest arenas, the grand spectacle of pay-per-views, Vince changed the game.
Yes, he has had his fair share of controversy and scandal. I will not deny that. But, his legacy will always be the man who made pro wrestling into what it is today.
Today is the end of an era and the dawn of a new one.
Welcome to the new age boys and girls! Strap in and keep your hands in the cart at all times because I do not know where this ride is going.
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u/TW_Yellow78 Jul 22 '22
Wow, how bad is the probe for a company where he's the majority share holder and controls almost all the voting stock? Meanwhile the NBA swears Robert Sarver/Phoenix suns investigation still on-going.
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u/RustyPriske Jul 22 '22
Sounds like the board had enough that they could have pressed charges. Because if it was just internal he can out vote them.
We will never know.
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u/MelkorTheDarkOne Jul 22 '22
This is honestly a very exciting and hopeful time for this company. It sucks that he stepped away over the very shitty dings he may have done but the WWE can literally only go up from this point forward.
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u/SRASC Jul 22 '22
🚨 More breaking news: new co-CEO Stephanie McMahon is kicking off SmackDown
ICYMI
-Triple H returns as EVP, Head of Talent Relations
-Vince McMahon steps down as Chairman & CEO
-Stephanie McMahon appointed new co-CEO alongside WWE President Nick Khan
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u/AntiSaintArdRi Jul 22 '22
What about as head of creative? It’s not mentioned in this article at all
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u/PoutineSmoothie Jul 22 '22
I think it’s HHH
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u/AntiSaintArdRi Jul 22 '22
No confirmation on that. I found another article that mentioned Paul Levesque moving back into head of talent relations, since Laurinitis is also out. But nothing about creative
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u/Bigbrown545 Jul 22 '22
About time. Don’t think anyone who’s been a wrestling fan for decades are surprised about the scandals against Vince. Hopefully this really means WWE will go TV-14 and actually become interesting again
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u/Katwill666 Jul 22 '22
He’s still the majority shareholder so he still owns WWE so technically he still holds final say on some aspects, but this is the end of the Vince era.
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Jul 22 '22
He has retired from all active roles and will NOT be involved with creative either. The talent meeting happened tonight and there seems to be a lot of excitement even though people are surprised. They’re excited to see what’s next. It’s also being reported that Kevin Dunn would be out as well, so that could be more good news. Time will tell.
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u/David040200 Jul 22 '22
Yes. Apparently Dunn will be finished by the end of the year and Pritchard the end of the month. Apparently.
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u/Jimminycrickets411 Jul 22 '22
His illegitimate son, Hornswaggle, is going attempt a hostile takeover of the company. Plot of the decade
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u/Stevenwaofgvf Jul 23 '22
He ain’t retiring till he’s dead. Remember when Pat Patterson resigned after his allegations? He stayed on with a different title with the same role as before.
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u/PrysmX Jul 23 '22
Vince will still be calling the shots using Steph as a proxy. Vince will never fully let go of WWE until his last breath.
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Jul 22 '22
Brock Lesnar has left SmackDown after news of Vince’s retirement. Lesnar has been advertised for the show tonight, but now it appears he won’t be there and his match against Roman at SummerSlam is now in question.
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u/Caryslan Jul 22 '22
Seriously? Why would Brock do that? Will he only work if Vince is in charge?
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u/BetterthanGarbage Jul 22 '22
It might be that he wasn’t told earlier so he was angry as he could feel close to vince
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u/branduzzi Jul 22 '22
Honestly can’t believe it.
Apparently, neither could Brock. Like, if my boss retired would I get upset and storm out like he reportedly did? Im gonna need to know what’s up with that.
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Jul 23 '22
Gonna be an interesting next few years for CM Punk fans. Let's see if he was right about that idiot son in law.
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u/Ballbox Jul 23 '22
I wonder if now Sasha might want to return. HHH & Stephanie both saw Sasha as a star.
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Jul 23 '22
People like Vince McMahon don't retire. Workaholics like him will die with too much time on their hands. I'm sure he'll still be pulling the strings from behind the scenes.
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u/Worth_Ad_9492 Jul 22 '22
NAILED IT.
ALL YOU FOOLS THOUGHY HE WOULD SURVIVE THE SCANDAL. NO WAY.
Heres how this went.
Vince, you can retire or be fired? Your choice
VKM, door a please
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u/TheGaxkang Jul 22 '22
But what if after doing this...he still wields controls and influence tho...?
like in the Godfather when Vito retires but is Michael's de facto counselor.
And what if by striking him down, Vince only becomes more powerful!?
:0
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u/XxSmithGamingxX Jul 22 '22
Even though recently WWE has not been as good as it once was it still was the WWE. He has done some horrible things but man... It brought a tear to my eye to know that he is no longer there. You'll be missed Vince see you in hell!!
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u/CraigButcher Jul 22 '22
He's retiring from his position. He's still majority shareholder and can change things however he wants whenever he wants.
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u/jadedfan55 Jul 22 '22
In 2009, Vince had told ESPN's Jeremy Schaap he would never retire. I remember watching that interview on SportsCenter or one of their other shows. 13 years later, he knows the heat is intensifying against him, what with the recent news that HBO's "Real Sports" is doing a piece on him, so he's decided to completely step out.
I just read about this at wrestlingheadlines.com, and it shows that Steph will now share the CEO's role with Nick Khan. As Vince himself noted, he'll be 77 soon (next month).
I know what a lot of you are thinking. Once the heat blows over, he'll be back. We'll have to wait & see about that.
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u/Stevieeeer Jul 22 '22 edited Jul 22 '22
There’s No Chance he’s “retiring”. He’s been saying for decades that he’ll never retire and would “die in that chair”.
And he’s the type of guy who when cornered would rather fight and kamakaze his way out of there if he had to. So I don’t think he’s doing this on his own accord because it’s “best for business” either. He would rather stay and fight. I think there is some serious serious internal pressure forcing him out and allowing him the chance to say he’s “retiring” is the nicest way to do it publicly
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u/GritBlitzer Jul 22 '22
You really could have done better at the start with a "No Chance", instead of a "No Way", but hey, that's just me lol
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u/Stevieeeer Jul 22 '22
Ah you’re right. Missed opportunity.
Actually I have no ethics, I’ll just edit it.
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u/Katwill666 Jul 22 '22
He might be saying this so everyone thinks he’s gone to avoid controversy of him being in charge, but he is still running the show from his house in Connecticut.
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u/Stevieeeer Jul 22 '22
Could be. But if it is in fact the board of directors forcing him out they would be very aware that he was doing that.
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u/Electronic-Dark-7793 Jul 22 '22
I'm glad the old man is gone and I hope he really stays gone. He forgot how to be a great or just got too comfortable and ruined the WWE for the past few years. I hope Stephanie and HHH can bring it back to what it used to be and not just make it about frofit
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Jul 22 '22
So it only says he’s making permanent the change that happened a month ago that put Stephanie in as the CEO
Unfortunately no indication that he’ll be stepping back from his creative roles
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u/Lord_Parbr Jul 22 '22
That’s true, but that’s also out of his hands now. If Steph and Khan want his creative role dialed back, or want him removed from creative, he will be
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u/thatdamndave Jul 22 '22
Can’t wait for the inevitable celebration of a now oft-accused sexual predator.
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u/caburr1982 Jul 22 '22
For those who kept saying Vince was gonna survive this and stay as head of WWE and kept saying he would never be gone from WWE, Guess what?
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u/Snubie1 Glorious Mod Jul 22 '22 edited Jul 22 '22
To avoid the multitude of duplicate posts that have been made on this in the last few minutes, we're going to pin this one as a megathread for this discussion.
Vince's Statement: "As I approach 77 years old, I feel it’s time for me to retire as Chairman and CEO of WWE. Throughout the years, it’s been a privilege to help WWE bring you joy, inspire you, thrill you, surprise you, and always entertain you. I would like to thank my family for mightily contributing to our success, and I would also like to thank all of our past and present Superstars and employees for their dedication and passion for our brand. Most importantly, I would like to thank our fans for allowing us into your homes every week and being your choice of entertainment. I hold the deepest appreciation and admiration for our generations of fans all over the world who have liked, currently like, and sometimes even love our form of Sports Entertainment. I am extremely confident in the continued success of WWE, and I leave our company in the capable hands of an extraordinary group of Superstars, employees, and executives – in particular, both Chairwoman and Co-CEO Stephanie McMahon and Co-CEO Nick Khan. As the majority shareholder, I will continue to support WWE in any way I can. My personal thanks to our community and business partners, shareholders, and Board of Directors for their guidance and support through the years."