It took me a few days to digest the news of Vince McMahon being truly gone this time around from the WWE. The initial announcement of him retiring a few years ago prior to the TKO/Endeavor deal/merger felt more shocking than this one. But my quote for the situation that occurred in recent days over the Vince McMahon controversy is that while I’m shocked that it still happened I’m not surprised. With how things ended up going with Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo movement as well as Epstein Island, seeing another major power player in Vince McMahon with all the sexual misconduct allegations being made, it felt only a matter of time before something major would happen.
So the biggest piece of the news was how TKO/Endeavor actually managed to kick Vince McMahon out for good it seems. Part of the deal came about as the latest scandal broke about another person that McMahon had effectively groomed and trafficked came out in the news. In the first situation (not the Rita Chatterton one even though that came up again recently), Vince was still the majority owner of the WWE. He left at a time when the first investigation occurred regarding NDAs that he made various women sign came about where he appropriated company money to hush them up. He was pushed out seemingly and announced his retirement which did not last long for which he would act like a bulldozer upon his return, kicking out some existing board members and replacing them with what one would presume to be more yes-men figures for a plan that he had in mind. Then the rumors started about McMahon selling off the WWE, some said to the Saudis because of their dealings with major events happening, despite talent and fan protest over the sensitive nature of the matter. Instead, the TKO/Endeavor merger happened and it looked that McMahon would once again receive a near iron clad type of contract that would almost make it seem impossible for him to be terminated.
However, this matter came about again with the NDAs and a new victim. Just as the Royal Rumble 2024 was set, one of the major advertisers in Slim Jim announced that they were about to part ways. However, almost immediately TKO/Endeavor kicked McMahon out as it has been speculated more advertisers would most likely bail if something wasn’t done. After that announcement was made, Slim Jim made their return while an uneasy Royal Rumble 2024 occurred. During the Royal Rumble, both Cody Rhodes and HHH were asked about the situation. Cody handled the answer quite politically while HHH tried to ignore it, although he probably was instructed to push the issue aside as pretty much the main person in charge from a public point of view at this point. That response garnered HHH, who usually has been good in these settings, quite a bit of heat with the fans as he said some things that sounded like absolute bullshit if you didn’t look at the very specifics.
And while this one victim stepped forward, more started to come about. Torrie Wilson, who is well known to the WWE Universe, admitted her discomfort when she was in a bikini. Johnny Ace (John Larengitis) said he was a victim too, although probably everyone including the roaches living in his home probably thought he’s full of shit. But this has been just the beginning and there are those doing a great deal of investigation on the matter. McMahon, while still being worth billions, can still face major charges, depending on what this investigation reveals. Law experts have said that these so-called NDAs cannot be held up in court. And if more victims come forward, it might end up turning into a Harvey Weinstein situation for Vince.
But you have to go back and think about the history of the WWE and how Vince had run it. There’s so many shady aspects throughout the years that had been brought up that it becomes harder and harder to question McMahon’s denial. Like Steve Jobs, Vince McMahon seems to exude a reality distortion field around him and part of that field potentially includes believing that whatever comes out of his mouth is absolute truth. It’s like Donald Trump; these major power players are what psychologists would label as sociopaths. In their own minds, they can only comprehend that they’re the hero and nothing else matters.
And with how the WWE ate up the territories and all the competition, it left the wrestlers powerless. With regards to the named victim, she was a young person caught up in a master manipulator’s schemes. I’ve heard arguments about why she didn’t just take the money and leave. Because she couldn’t. The powerful are able to prey upon the powerless because they create a prisoner’s mental institution around that person. You don’t know if you’re monitored, whom your real friends are, what you can trust. So you end up following along because you don’t know how to get out. And this is just one person. I’m sure many of the wrestlers were in the same boat. People inside the business talk about Eddie Mansfield and what happened to his career after he exposed the business. I’m sure those in the WWE and McMahon had that mentality of protecting the business at all cost.
Now, you have a bigger player with shareholders, effectively taking on a toxic but highly profitable asset. The people in charge must have known what’s gone on to some degree with the WWE and McMahon before allowing the merger/purchase to occur. If so I’m wondering if part of the plan has been to eventually get rid of him. One of the more interesting rumors is regarding the first leak for the NDAs. Some people have speculated that it was Stephanie herself that possibly was the one that leaked those memos. It was around the time when things got murky and she got ousted herself. But now apparently those in TKO/Endeavor are seeking her out to put her back in charge.
However, what does all this mean for the McMahons. I think HHH is just trying to play it safe for himself, even though his answer was pretty tone deaf. No one knows the whereabouts of Shane McMahon nor Linda. It’s been stated that Linda had split from Vince especially after her failed election situation. At this point, there probably isn’t any good reason for her to be associated directly to him outside of their children. But I think even Shane and Stephanie might not want to deal with Vince at this stage, not while he’s got this much heat on him.
Then there’s Vince himself. He’s 78 and his best lawyer had completely left him. Many of his allies are gone or probably muted at the WWE. He’s probably still stubborn and physically powerful, but I can’t see him being the same endlessly working person from the 80s or even mid 90s during the Attitude Era in being able to fight what probably will be an endless onslaught since he’s in a highly weakened position. With Harvey Weinstein and Epstein along with the #MeToo movement, it feels that Vince won’t be able to get away this time. The question is just how much will be unearthed from this. How many other victims and stories will make the news. And will TKO/Endeavor be willing to help the victims so that they can potentially separate themselves completely from Vince’s grasp.
I saw a funny picture on Jim Cornette’s YouTube show today with how Vince McMahon was depicted back at his presumed trailer park home in a white wife beater t-shirt. It makes me wonder if that’s a premonition of his future life after these allegations potentially strip him away of much of his wealth (given the number of lawsuits not just from rape victims but others that had been afraid to speak up about the WWE’s abuses). Or perhaps, Vince would finally be serving jail like Harvey Weinstein. If that were to happen, even if it’s a similar number of charges as Weinstein, Vince would either end up dying in jail of old age or be a dementia stricken person by the time he gets out.
But this also is a stark reminder of something that Road Warrior Hawk said in an old interview ages ago where he talked about how many people Vince had fucked over on the way up and that one day karma would repay him. It’s about time the devil collected his due it seems. Unfortunately, for Vince, the devil wasn’t him after all but someone far more powerful than him whom he sold his soul to a long time ago.