Today has been a wild one on the Vince McMahon news front, and the details continue to get wilder. A recap of Vince’s attempts to reintroduce himself on the Board, and his subsequent press release, can be read here and here.
Fightful Select reached out to those within WWE for a temperature check now that this pronouncement from Vince has come forth, and the reaction backstage has been interesting.
Dozens of sources within WWE were said to have been floored by the announcement. None of the general staff, nor any of the staff in the talent, production, or creative departments had any idea that such an announcement was coming. They were entirely in the dark up to, and including, the minute the news broke.
When asked what they knew about Vince’s pending announcement, one source said, “Not one bit, but considering some people from his [Vince] regime were kept this long, they must have known it would happen. We’ll see if they talk to us tomorrow,” referring to the SmackDown TV tapings.
The Wall Street Journal had reported that Vince was considering a comeback a month ago. According to that WSJ story, Vince stepped away from his role as Chairman and CEO because of bad advice from those within his circle. It was reported by Fightful then that many in the company did not want Vince to return.
When asked about this most recent news of Vince’s return, one top talent said, “Finding out online is scary, and it’s Vince, so I don’t believe a word he says. I hope current management and everything doesn’t change, but only time will tell.” The anonymous source went on to note the amount of respect they have for Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
Another talent believes there would be an uproar if Vince returned as head of creative, and they don’t seem to be alone in that sentiment. The idea that McMahon could wrest back control as head of creative is a common concern among in-ring talent.
“I would be blown away if he returned to creative,” said a recently signed talent. A higher-up within creative elaborated: “I can’t count how many interviews I’ve read, or people I talked to outside the company that said, ‘Vince liked me, but I got fired.’ He didn’t like you, he didn’t like any of them. Or else they wouldn’t have been fired during a pandemic.”
On the production side of things, employees there were in the dark about Vince’s announcement, as well. The general reaction among those contacted was that this was either bad news, or “news above their pay grade,” and that they wouldn’t concern themselves until they absolutely had to. Two sources within WWE creative have not learned of any adjustments to their duties, and it seemed to be business as usual: they were passed notes about tomorrow night’s SmackDown just prior to the Vince news breaking.