Vince McMahon’s rumoured wrestling business comeback has been given its latest fuel injection by a former voice of the WWE.
The ex-WWE CEO has had his charges settled by the Securities and Exchange Commission after he failed to disclose to the sports entertainment company’s board and others that he signed two settlement agreements worth £8.6million with two women in order for them not to reveal potential claims against himself and WWE.
The SEC said McMahon, without admitting or denying its findings, agreed to cease-and-desist from violating certain provisions, pay a £328,000 civil penalty and reimburse WWE approximately £1.06m. The SEC charges stem from two settlement agreements McMahon made, one signed in 2019 and another in 2022. The settlement is unrelated to the ongoing sex trafficking lawsuit filed by former employee Janel Grant last year.
In a statement McMahon called the speculation around the charges “misguided and misleading” adding: “In the end, there was never anything more to this than minor accounting errors with regard to some personal payments that I made several years ago while I was CEO of WWE. I’m thrilled that I can now put all this behind me.”
McMahon stepped down as WWE’s CEO in 2022 amid an investigation into allegations that match those in the lawsuit. He then resigned from WWE’s parent company in January 2024 after a former employee filed a federal lawsuit accusing him and another former executive of serious sexual misconduct. He has always denied any wrongdoing.
But now one of his former allies has had their say on what next for McMahon. The voice of WWE, former commentator Jim Ross, was speculating with wrestling promotor Conrad Thompson about McMahon’s potential return to the wrestling industry in 2025. Speaking on a recent episode of the Grilling JR podcast, good ole JR, who spent 20 years with the company, asked co-host Thompson: “You hear anything about Vince? You and I talked about this once before that maybe in 2025 he’s going to make some sort of return to his chosen profession, or is he, or does he need it? He don’t need it financially, but I don’t know. I don’t know. It just, it’s a never-ending story, Conrad.”
Thompson’s response raise eyebrows: “He’s bought a studio. He’s building a roster. We’ll see.”
It was revealed late last year that McMahon had purchased production facilities in Santa Monica, California. He has also brought in a number of former WEE alumni as staff to kickstart his new project. The nature of the venture has yet to be revealed but former WWE GM Eric Bischoff believes it is for entertainment purposes but did not rule out a wrestling business start-up.