In 2022, Vince McMahon was left with no other option than to retire from WWE amid a series of sexual misconduct allegations and an apparent misuse of company funds to pay off his accusers. However, he'd later force his way back in to facilitate a sale of the company.
UFC owner Endeavor obliged and McMahon was given a role as WWE Executive Chairman. While he thankfully remained hands-off with creative, he continued to serve as a public face for the company, most recently appearing at a splashy Wall Street presentation adding The Rock to the TKO Holdings Group board.
Details of another shocking lawsuit soon followed, revealing the extent of McMahon's alleged sexual abuse involving a former employee. He's once again been pushed out of WWE and it appears we've seen the last of the man who, love or hate him, put WWE on the map.
According to TKO President Mark Shapiro, "We’re not in conversations with [McMahon]. We don’t know his motives, his plans or his timeline. He doesn’t work for the company, doesn’t come into the office and he’s not coming back to the company. And that’s where we sit."
This comes after he offloaded $412 million in TKO stock earlier this week; now, that's reduced his stake to just 8.5% of all shares, meaning he no longer has the power to muscle his way back into WWE.
What's most shocking about this is that WWE has already begun erasing McMahon from history. As the evil "Mr. McMahon" character, he was a staple of the Attitude Era and part of many huge storylines (some good, many bad). However, like those who wronged him or committed heinous acts outside the ring such as Chris Benoit, Vince is being censored out of projects.
Take the new WWE 2K24 video game, for example:
Announcing his WWE departure "out of respect" for the company and its fans, McMahon added, "I stand by my prior statement that Ms Grant’s lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth.
"I intend to vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations, and look forward to clearing my name."
It appears Brock Lesnar being caught up in all this has led to him receiving similar treatment as a recent video package announcing Paul Heyman's WWE Hall of Fame induction featured no sign of The Beast, despite his and Heyman's long-running friendship and partnership on WWE TV.