The past 18 months may have been the most turbulent period in WWE history which is really saying something. That turbulence began when allegations were made against Vince McMahon claiming he had paid various women, some of them former employees, to stay quiet regarding sexual relationships the chairman had with them. Some of the allegations were even more serious as McMahon was accused of sexual misconduct and even rape.
Criminal Liabilities And Being Forced Out Of WWE
McMahon retired from WWE unexpectedly a short while after that only to return a few months later. Turns out McMahon came back to oversee the sale of WWE, which has now been finalized, and to get himself a spot on the new company's board. It's not plain sailing for the former boss now, though. An inquiry into the allegations made, and the company money McMahon may have used to pay off the women in question, may end in the 78-year-old being forced out of his new executive vice chairman role.
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That's according to the chair of Dickinson Wright's Government Investigations And Securities Enforcement Practice Group, Jacob Frenkel. "Depending on the potential findings following the inquiry into Vince McMahon, McMahon could face criminal and/or civil liabilities that could prevent him from serving as an officer or director of a public company," Frenkel explained to the LA Times. That presumably means not only might McMahon be forced out of WWE, but could also mean he faces jail time depending on the results of the inquiry.
Talent Meeting
There has been an assumption by some as recently as this week that the sale of WWE to TKO was engineered by McMahon so he could continue to work as a higher-up at the company he used to own. It's been reported that talent in attendance at a Vince-led meeting this week thought Stephanie McMahon should have been the one telling them about WWE's bright future under new owners. Stephanie resigned from her role in WWE in January once it was clear the company was up for sale.
The inquiry currently underway into Vince is presumably the same one that involved federal agents conducting a search of his house. Hard to comment on how exactly I feel about all this, but I personally still find it hard to believe Vince would have been willing to let go of WWE without some other motive in mind. In the same meeting referenced above, McMahon reportedly told employees he sold WWE because the company had plateaued and a sale was the only way to ensure it continues to ascend.
