Rather than staying behind the scenes, Vince McMahon is doing the most Vince McMahon thing ever and tonight will face the fans live on Smackdown.
The announcement was made in a very short press release issued today, and Vince was referred to as Mr McMahon, his WWE character.
McMahon voluntarily stepped down from his role as Chairman and CEO of WWE after the Board opened an investigation into a $3 million payment to a former employee who he had a consensual affair with. The money was paid to keep the unnamed paralegal from talking about the affair or say bad things about him.
Vince will retain his creative duties during the investigation and will most likely return to his previous roles once the investigation is complete.
Stephanie McMahon’s leave of absence was cut short just weeks after she announced her temporary departure from the company and is now back into the thick of things as the most powerful person – interim Chairwomen and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment.
Stephanie, who until she left had the role of Chief Brand Officer, becomes the first woman to chair the WWE Board of Directors and the second female CEO following her mother Linda McMahon.
On May 19, McMahon announced that she would be leaving WWE to take care of her family but vowed to eventually return as WWE was a lifelong legacy for her. McMahon endured a rough six months due to her husband’s health which took a toll on her and her whole family.
But in times of an emergency, the WWE board appointed her as interim Chairwoman and CEO to replace her father Vince, who is now being investigated for a $3 million payment in hush money to conceal an affair with a former WWE employee. John Laurinaitis, the head of WWE Talent Relations, is also involved and likely to lose his job as well.
In an e-mail sent to WWE staff this morning, McMahon informed them that she will be returning from her leave and assuming her new role.
“I love our company and am excited to continue to work with our President & Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan and our Chief Financial & Administrative Officer Frank Riddick,” Stephanie’s e-mail read. “And of course, I look forward to working with all of you. My door is always open.”
In the press release issued by WWE, McMahon said that she is committed to work with the independent directors of the WWE board to strengthen the culture of the company, saying that having a safe and collaborative workplace is extremely important to her.
Stephanie also said she will do everything in her power to help the investigation proceed and implement the findings of the special committee.
Stamford, Conn. – WWE and the Board of Directors today announced that a Special Committee of the Board is conducting an investigation into alleged misconduct by its Chairman and CEO Vincent McMahon and John Laurinaitis, head of talent relations, and that, effective immediately, McMahon has voluntarily stepped back from his responsibilities as CEO and Chairman of the Board until the conclusion of the investigation. McMahon will retain his role and responsibilities related to WWE’s creative content during this period and remains committed to cooperating with the review underway.
The Special Committee has appointed Stephanie McMahon to serve as interim CEO and interim Chairwoman.
“I have pledged my complete cooperation to the investigation by the Special Committee, and I will do everything possible to support the investigation. I have also pledged to accept the findings and outcome of the investigation, whatever they are,” said Mr. McMahon.
“I love this company and am committed to working with the Independent Directors to strengthen our culture and our Company; it is extremely important to me that we have a safe and collaborative workplace. I have committed to doing everything in my power to help the Special Committee complete its work, including marshaling the cooperation of the entire company to assist in the completion of the investigation and to implement its findings,” said Ms. McMahon.
WWE and its Board of Directors take all allegations of misconduct very seriously. The Independent Directors of the Board engaged independent legal counsel to assist them with an independent review. In addition, the Special Committee and WWE will work with an independent third-party to conduct a comprehensive review of the company’s compliance program, HR function and overall culture.
The Company and the Board do not expect to have further comment until the investigation is concluded.
Deadline.com is reporting in an exclusive story that Zac Efron is set to star in The Iron Claw, a drama based on the true story of the Von Erich family. The film, from writer-director Sean Durkin, will follow the rise and fall of one of wrestling’s most popular families.
A24 is set to finance and produce the movie with Tessa Ross, Derrin Schlesinger and Harrison Huffman producing. The film is being developed by House Productions, with the support of Access Entertainment, and BBC Films.
The Von Erich family consists of dad Fritz and sons Jack, Kevin, David, Kerry, Mike, and Chris, all of whom were professional wrestlers except for Jack. The family is filled with tragedy, with Jack drowning at the age of six, David dying of a suspected overdose, while Kerry, Mike, and Chris all committing suicide.
Kevin remains the last-surviving member of the Von Erichs and his two sons, Kevin and Ross, are now wrestling as well. His daughter Lacey also wrestled but retired in 2010.
The Young Bucks became the first two-time AEW Tag Team champions after they won the titles last night in a ladder match against Jurassic Express.
Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy spent 161 days as champions, winning the titles from The Lucha Bros in a cage match on the January 5 episode of Dynamite. The Young Bucks previously held the titles for 302 days, winning them from FTR in November 2020 at Full Gear and then losing them to Lucha Brothers in September 2021 at All Out.
The match was originally a triple threat with The Hardys also involved but Jeff’s arrest on Monday and his subsequent suspension forced a change in creative. The match was turned into a regular ladder match with the two teams instead.
The finish of the match came after Luchasaurus was thrown off the ladder, crashing through tables at ringside. That enabled Matt and Nick Jackson to deliver the BTE Killer finishing move on Jungle Boy, allowing them to get the titles hanging above the ladder.
But that wasn’t the end of bad news for Jurassic Express. After the match was over, Christian Cage was helping Jungle Boy in the ring but then turned on him, hitting the Kill Switch and then delivering the conchairto.
There is an unconfirmed report, with the news broken by Raj Giri of WrestlingInc.com, that Sasha Banks has been released from WWE.
Banks, along with Naomi, has been suspended since May 21 following their walk out from Raw earlier in the month. The two, who were WWE Women’s Tag Team champions, did not agree with the creative laid out for them heading into the Hell In A Cell event and after a meeting with Vince McMahon went nowhere, Banks and Naomi handed over their belts to John Laurinaitis and quit just before Raw went on the air.
There are rumors that both Banks and Naomi were in negotiations for a new WWE deal as their contracts were coming up in a couple of months. If Banks was indeed released, that would trigger the 90-day no-compete clause.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Wrestling adds that WWE did not confirm or deny the story.
Banks has been wrestling for WWE since 2012 and made a name for herself while in NXT. She was called up to the main roster in 2015 and has been an integral part of the roster ever since. During her time in WWE, Banks was part of many first-time matches for the women and was one of the faces of the women’s revolution in WWE.
The 30-year-old’s illustrious career in WWE got her the NXT Women’s title once, the Raw Women’s title five times, the Smackdown Women’s title once, the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles three times, one NXT Year-End Award and one Sammy Award. She also is one of the handful of females to main event a WrestleMania, having done so last year in Tampa with Bianca Belair.
This week’s episode of NXT, which was taped, drew 612,000 viewers on USA Network, down 45,000 viewers from the previous week. The show did a 0.12 in the 18-49 demo, down 0.02 from last week and placed #25 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. NXT was unopposed when it comes to major sports competition so the number must be considered a disappointment. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
The investigation into Vince McMahon’s $3 million payment to a former employee to silence her for a secret affair is being conducted by New York-based law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is an international law firm headquartered in New York City specializing in litigation and corporate practices, particularly mergers and acquisitions, with over 1,000 attorneys in 11 offices worldwide.
The law firm was appointed by the eight independent members of the board after preliminary findings revealed that the WWE Chairman and CEO used personal funds to pay her the sum, with $1 million up front and the rest over a period of five years. The non-disclosure agreement was signed earlier this year.
The independent contractors include Steve Pamon, Erika Nardini, Steven R. Koonin, Connor Schell, Ignace Lahoud, Jeffrey R. Speed, Alan M. Wexler, and Man Jit Singh.
The other members of the board who are not involved in the investigation as they are executives within the company are Nick Khan, Stephanie McMahon, and Paul Levesque, along with Vince who chairs the board.
A few new matches have been added to the AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view and now the card contains a total of five matches so far.
The IWGP United States title will be defended as Will Ospreay takes on Orange Cassidy. The AEW Women’s title will also be on the line but it will be an AEW-only affair with champion Thunder Rosa versus Toni Storm.
A trios match featuring Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Minoru Suzuki versus Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta, and Shota Umino was also added yesterday.
Previously-announced matches include Jon Moxley vs Hiroshi Tanahashi for the interim AEW World title and the AEW All-Atlantic Championship four-way match with PAC, Miro, and two still-to-be determined opponents, one of which will come from NJPW.
In what could be some blockbuster bad publicity for WWE, the Wall Street Journal broke the news that the WWE Board of Directors are investigating Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon over a $3 million settlement payment allegedly to silence a former employee who he had an affair with.
These investigations started in April after an anonymous e-mail spilled the beans and further findings also revealed other kind of hush payments involving Vince and now head of talent relations John Laurinaitis.
The anonymous correspondence said that Vince hired this person – a paralegal – on an annual salary of $100,000 but then it was doubled after a relationship between Vince and the employee started. The Wall Street Journal further reveals that in the e-mail it was stated that McMahon handed over the female employee to Laurinaitis “like a toy.”
She was eventually moved to Laurinaitis’ team in 2021 and the $3 million settlement took place this year, with the money keeping her silence over the whole affair.
The person who sent the original e-mail, a friend of the paralegal, also sent a copy of the NDA to the Board of Directors, which had an upfront payment of $1 million and the rest to be paid out over a period of five years.
“My friend was so scared so she quit after Vince McMahon and lawyer Jerry [McDevitt] paid her millions of dollars to shut up,” the email said.
Reached out for comment, a WWE spokesperson said that the relationship between McMahon and the former employee was consensual and everyone is cooperating with the Board.
WWE’s chief attorney, Jerry McDevitt, also told the WSJ that there were never any harassment claims against Vince and there was no payment to her on her departure.
The company also sent a statement to its hundreds of staff regarding the affair.
“The Wall Street Journal has published a report about WWE with allegations that we and our Board of Directors take seriously. We are cooperating fully with the independent investigation initiated by our Board of Directors,” the short e-mail said.
It’s Wednesday and you know what that means, the Road Rager-themed episode of Dynamite airs tonight on TBS live from St Louis, Missouri.
It’s a jam-packed show with six matches already announced, including one title match and one hair match!
The planned triple threat ladder match for the AEW Tag Team titles is now down to two teams with Jurassic Express defending the gold against The Young Bucks. The Hardys miss out due to Jeff’s suspension.
An All-Atlantic Championship qualifying match will see Ethan Page take on Miro, Toni Storm battles Britt Baker, and Dax Harwood goes up against NJPW’s Will Ospreay.
Also tonight, Chris Jericho takes on Ortiz in a hair vs hair match and Wardlow is in a 20-on-1 handicap elimination match against the Plaintiffs. Wardlow must pin all 20 men one by one to win the match.
In addition, Jon Moxley and Hiroshi Tanahashi, the two men who will be battling for the interim AEW World title, will be having a face-to-face encounter.
Jake Atlas, the AEW star who was recently arrested for assaulting his boyfriend, isn’t expected to return to AEW according to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Wrestling.
Atlas, 27-years-old, was arrested on May 23 and charged with domestic violence but AEW made no mention about his status since then. He has been out of action since February recovering from a torn ACL, an injury he got in his second match with the promotion against Adam Cole.
He was announced as “All Elite” in January after impressing AEW President Tony Khan during a Dark taping at Universal Studios.
Atlas will be appearing in court in Orange County on June 28.
Nikki and Brie Bella pulled a prank on America’s Got Talent, posing as an act called Duo Rag Dolls.
Introducing themselves as Monique and Stephanie, the Bella Twins, covered in make up and wigs, said they are 31 and 29 respectively and they met in school.
After a bit of chit chat with Simon Cowell, their act started and obviously it was booed out of the building and all four judges hitting the X to end the train wreck.
After their act stopped, Brie blamed her sister for not showing up for rehearsals the day before. The two eventually started pushing each other and then they destroyed the set as they wrestled. A stagehand came up to break up the fight but he was clotheslined off the stage as both twins jumped as well.
After Brie smashed Nikki’s head on the judges table, Nikki said, “Hey Simon, was that extreme enough for you?”
Nikki was a judge on America’s Got Talent: Extreme with Cowell but the show got canceled by NBC.
Variety.com is reporting that Comcast Xfinity customers will no longer be getting free access to Peacock Premium although an end date has not been announced.
This will obviously effect all those who were previously subscribed to WWE Network and got it for free through the service when it migrated to Peacock.
The service was made available at no extra charge to Comcast cable and broadband customers to help bump the streaming service when it launched in 2020.
A Peacock Premium subscription, which also includes WWE Network, costs $4.99 per month or $9.99 per month for no ads.
Peacock had 28 million monthly active accounts by the end of Q1 2022, including 13 million paid subscribers.
Sasha Banks has been absent from social media ever since her suspension from WWE but Florida-based clinic Newsom Eye featured The Legit Boss on their Instagram account after Banks went to get eye surgery.
Banks, who wears glasses and contact lenses, got a procedure called Photorefractive Keratectomy to improve her vision.
“We are thrilled that another #WWE superstar graced us with their presence and is now seeing clear with her #NewsomEyes,” the post read. “Mercedes Varnado was excited to have #PRK surgery with Dr. Newsom, and could not be happier with the results!”
Several photos, including one where Banks is seen with a new hair color posing with the clinic staff, were posted on the IG entry. In a video, Banks introduced herself under her real name.
Banks has been suspended for several weeks along with Naomi after the two did not agree to the storyline heading into Hell In A Cell. The WWE Women’s Tag Team titles have since been abandoned as well.
Monday Night Raw drew an average of 1,695,000 viewers this week, a big drop of 177,000 viewers compared to last week’s post-HIAC show.
Raw started well with 1,812,000 viewers, then dropped to 1,740,000 viewers for the second hour, before finishing the night with just 1,534,000 viewers. Raw dropped 278,000 viewers from the first to the third hour mainly thanks to the NBA Finals on ABC which drew 13 million viewers and no real main event to keep viewers glued to Raw.
Raw was #1, #2, and #3 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demo with 0.47, 0.44, and 0.38 respectively for an average of 0.43, down 0.09 from last week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
The Roast of Ric Flair on July 21 just got a heavyweight added to it in the form of former boxing heavyweight champion and big-time wrestling fan “Iron” Mike Tyson.
Tyson and Flair are in business together as Tyson’s company Tyson 2.0 will be producing and marketing cannabis products featuring the likeness of the Nature Boy in the United States.
The roast, as part of Starrcast V and taking place from the Nashville Fairgrounds, will happen on Friday, July 29, on the eve of SummerSlam. Diamond Dallas Page and Eric Bischoff will also be part of the roast.
Tickets are available at Starrcast.com. The Roast of Ric Flair will also air on FITE.TV.
AEW President Tony Khan issued a statement today announcing the suspension of Jeff Hardy effective immediately.
“We were able to resume contact with Jeff Hardy this afternoon. AEW does not condone Jeff’s alleged behavior. We’ve made it clear to Jeff that we’ll assist him in getting treatment for substance abuse issues, which he has indicated that he’s open to receiving,” Khan wrote.
Hardy refused to get treatment prior to his WWE release saying that he wasn’t willing to sacrifice his family for a month in order to keep his job.
“In the interim, he is suspended without pay, and he can only return to AEW upon successfully completing treatment and maintaining his sobriety,” the statement continued.
Hardy is expected to appear in front of a judge today. He was charged with three counts yesterday following his arrest.
Rampage last Friday on TNT drew 476,000 viewers, up 1,000 viewers from the previous week and the best number since April 22. Rampage is now back in its usual 10PM time slot after several weeks of pre-emptions. The show did a 0.16 in the 18-49 demo, up 0.02 from the prior week and placed #6 on the cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
TMZ.COM posted the six-minute footage from Jeff Hardy’s arrest yesterday afternoon, with three police officers surrounding the car and each of them drawing their guns.
Florida Highway Patrol officers repeatedly told Jeff to come out and eventually he exited the vehicle and was immediately grabbed by an officer and checked for any weapons. Hardy could be seen very shaky and then sat down on the floor. Asked where he’s from, Jeff said from North Carolina and said his final destination was North Carolina as well. He also tells the officer that he has a doctor’s appointment to check for a brain scan.
One of the officers then explains how they got several 911 calls about him and that he was driving all over. Jeff was told to stand up and then the officers engaged in a discussion with him.
Hardy then admits having shots of fireball and the officers proceed to tell Jeff to walk in a straight line, which he fails spectacularly. One of the officers then tells him to count to 30 as he places handcuffs on him and tells him he was under arrest.
