Vince McMahon is back.
A day after the longtime WWE chairman announced that he would be coming out of retirement, McMahon maneuvered his way back into the company’s board of directors ahead of a new media rights deal for the promotion as well as a potential sale.
Vince McMahon, the majority owner and former chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., who retired last year amid a misconduct probe, has returned to the company and is pursuing a possible sale of the business.
Wall Street Journal
In a statement, McMahon mentioned that “WWE is entering a critical juncture in its history with the upcoming media rights negotiations coinciding with increased industry-wide demand for quality content and live events and with more companies seeking to own the intellectual property on their platforms.”
Furthermore, McMahon added, “The only way for WWE to fully capitalize on this opportunity is for me to return as Executive Chairman and support the management team in the negotiations for our media rights and to combine that with a review of strategic alternatives,” McMahon continued. “My return will allow WWE, as well as any transaction counterparties, to engage in these processes knowing they will have the support of the controlling shareholder.”
McMahon’s return to the board was reliant on the removal of three current members which ultimately happened. JoEllen Lyons Dillon, Jeffrey R. Speed, and Alan M. Wexler stepped down paving the way for McMahon, along with previously former members Michelle Wilson and George Barrios.
With the move, the WWE along with co-CEOS Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan as well as WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque released a joint statement reading, “Today, we announce that the founder of WWE, Vince McMahon, will be returning to the Board We also welcome back Michelle Wilson and George Barrios to our Board of Directors. Together, we look forward to exploring all strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value.
Additionally, the WWE also declared that the would “undertake a review of strategic alternatives with the goal to being to maximize value for all WWE shareholders.” which goes in line with McMahon looking to spearhead a sale of the company, however, nowhere in the statement does it say that a deal on a sale is imminent or guaranteed.
With McMahon’s return to the board, it was also reported that Ignace Lahoud and Man Jit Singh have resigned effective immediately which is significant considering Singh was the lead investigator for the WWE in their investigation into sexual misconduct and hush money payments allegations made against McMahon.
What next for WWE with Vince McMahon back?
It’s incredible and disappointing to think that the WWE would allow Vince McMahon to return considering the serious allegations against him that originally led to his retirement from the board. However, Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston mentioned on Busted Open Radio that “WWE can’t make a TV rights deal without his approval. That’s been made explicit. WWE can’t sell the company without his approval. That’s been made explicit.”
In turn, Thurston believed that RAW would remain on USA with SmackDown potentially heading over to Amazon Prime Video while also mentioning that any streaming deal could be hindered by the past allegations against McMahon. Hesitation from networks though may not be an issue though if the WWE does decide to sell.