As he faces a mountain of legal woes, former WWE leader Vince McMahon is traveling, eating out and keeping in touch with friends and associates — including former President Donald Trump.
McMahon resigned as executive chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment’s parent company almost three months ago after a former employee, Janel Grant, accused him in a bombshell lawsuit of sexual abuse and trafficking. He denied the allegations. McMahon, 78, is also facing a federal criminal investigation, although he hasn’t been charged.
NBC News and CNBC talked to 11 people familiar with McMahon and WWE about how he’s been spending his time — and how the global brand he built over more than four decades is moving on without him. These people, including close personal associates and company insiders, declined to be named, citing ongoing legal cases and the confidential nature of internal corporate communications.
Multiple WWE insiders said he hasn’t had any contact with company leaders and figureheads since he resigned. Mark Shapiro, the operating chief of WWE parent company TKO Group Holdings, said in March that McMahon “doesn’t work for the company, doesn’t come into the office, and he’s not coming back to the company.”
That also means McMahon hasn’t talked to his son-in-law, WWE creative chief and former superstar Paul “Triple H” Levesque, or daughter, Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, regarding company matters, sources said. While she introduced WWE’s WrestleMania event earlier this month, McMahon-Levesque, who worked beside her father for more than 20 years and played roles in storylines, currently has no involvement with the company, according to people familiar with the matter. Levesque and McMahon-Levesque declined to comment through a spokesperson, as did a WWE representative.
McMahon is nonetheless indelibly linked with the wrestling outfit, which he bought from his father 42 years ago. Still, he seems to have moved on, according to multiple sources. McMahon has kept up his other routines, and it’s as if he’s unfazed by his legal fights, two sources said...More?
source: nbcnews.com
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April 17, 2024
Vince McMahon's life after WWE: Kittens, vacations and staying in touch with Trump
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April 12, 2024
WWE Makes Behind-The-Scenes Changes In Talent Relations
Days after Paul "Triple H" Levesque was promoted to Chief Content Officer in September 2022, WWE announced the hiring of Dan Ventrelle, who was positioned to serve as the new Executive Vice President of Talent. In this role, Ventrelle oversaw WWE's talent department while reporting directly to Levesque. After nearly two years, Ventrelle has now reportedly left WWE, causing the company to make a few changes in the talent relations department.
Days after Paul "Triple H" Levesque was promoted to Chief Content Officer in September 2022, WWE announced the hiring of Dan Ventrelle, who was positioned to serve as the new Executive Vice President of Talent. In this role, Ventrelle oversaw WWE's talent department while reporting directly to Levesque. After nearly two years, Ventrelle has now reportedly left WWE, causing the company to make a few changes in the talent relations department.
News of Ventrelle's exit first emerged via SEScoops' writer Aaron Varble, who stated that Ventrelle departed from WWE earlier today. Fightful Select has since corroborated this report, adding that WWE President Nick Khan sent out an internal memo to inform staff of the subsequent backstage shakeups.
"WWE has begun the process of reorganizing its Talent Relations group," Khan wrote. "Moving forward, Chris Legentil, in addition to his role in Comms, will help us in leading this new group. Matt Altman, in addition to his role in marketing, will be working closely with Chris to help this endeavor. Talent Development and Recruiting will now report to Shawn Michaels. All of Talent, which includes Talent Relations, Development and Recruiting will continue to ultimately report into Paul Levesque. As of today, Dan Ventrelle will be moving on from WWE. We thank Dan for his tremendous contributions."
April 10, 2024
Triple H: I Told Ari Emanuel When TKO Formed, ‘I Just Want To Have Fun. If It’s Fun, I’ll Stay’
Triple H just wanted to have fun.
WWE and UFC officially merged in September 2023 to form TKO under the Endeavor banner. Triple H was already appointed as the Chief Content Officer, but Vince McMahon would often make remote changes throughout 2023.
With the merger, Vince started to become less involved until he eventually resigned as TKO Executive Chairman in January following a lawsuit against him where he was accused of sex trafficking and sexual assault.
With Vince fully out of the picture, Triple H has ushered in a new era.
"I’m loving what I do, that’s the biggest thing for me. When TKO went down and Ari Emanuel talked to me about this, I said, ‘I just want to have fun. If it’s fun, I stay. If It’s not, we’ll figure out something else.’ We’re having fun. I want everyone to have fun. When the signature was playing, I picked up the headset and said, ‘Biggest thing we want to remember tonight, everybody, have fun. Enjoy this.’ If this is fun, everybody loves it. If we have fun making it, you’re going to enjoy watching it. That’s what I believe," Triple H said at the WrestleMania XL press conference.
April 9, 2024
WrestleMania 40 Shatters Multiple WWE Records to Become Highest-Grossing Event in Company History
WrestleMania 40 broke multiple WWE records and has become the most successful live event in the company’s history.
WrestleMania 40 took place over two nights at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA. Per WWE, the gate for the event was up 78% compared to the previous record set during WrestleMania 39, with 145,298 in attendance across both nights this year. The company also says viewership was up 41% versus last year, while merchandise sales — in partnership with Fanatics — was up more than 20% over last year.
But the live events on Saturday and Sunday nights are just one part of the story. WWE set up a massive presence in Philadelphia from Thursday-Monday. The company, along with Fanatics Events, hosted the WWE World experience at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where fans could pay to get up close with authentic WWE memorabilia from their archives as well as take part in immersive experiences. This was coupled with the WWE Superstore, which featured a wide range of branded merchandise from apparel to toys and beyond.
The April 5 episode of “SmackDown” originated from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, drawing the largest gate in “SmackDown” history. Likewise, the April 8 episode of “Monday Night Raw” drew the largest gate in “Raw” history. WWE also put on the NXT live event “Stand and Deliver” on Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center, which drew a record breaking crowd of 16,545, the most ever for an NXT event.
On social media, over 660 million views were generated across WWE’s social channels, while the WWE YouTube channel had its biggest day ever on Sunday with 67 million views in 24 hours.
WrestleMania 40 featured a number of smash hit matches, most notably the WWE Universal Championship match between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes on Night 2. On Night 1, the two squared off with the aid of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Seth Rollins, respectively, in a tag team match that marked Johnson’s first match for WWE since 2016.
source: variety.com
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April 8, 2024
Triple H Says He’s Happy To Have Stephanie McMahon Back Home, She Belongs Here
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April 7, 2024
Forever
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Stephanie McMahon rings in the Paul “Triple H” Levesque era
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The Rock comments on the job Triple H has done and how this WrestleMania felt knowing Vince McMahon is no longer involved
“I think that Triple H has done a tremendous job as our chief creative officer, I think that’s his title, he has a few, earned every single one of them. I like ushering in new things and new times and new eras and it feels like in our world here, professional wrestling, it is a new era that we’re ushering in. I talked to Triple H earlier as we were kicking off and kicking off the show tonight and without giving detail on what we talked about, it was a special night for him. This was the beginning of something and marking the beginning of something new for him, under his creative, and I think from a company standpoint, this is an exciting time for the company, for WWE, an exciting time for TKO. You felt the convergence towards the end of the year when the acquisition happened, you felt the convergence in the first quarter of the year as I was fortunate enough to come back and kind of traversed our way to what these storylines could look like, so it’s an exciting time and I think we capped off day one of WrestleMania that we had stated was gonna be the biggest of all time, which is really saying a lot given how many great WrestleManias there has been in the past, so I thought collectively as a company and a team, [it was] a really great show tonight.”
credit 411mania.com for the transcription
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April 6, 2024
Paul Heyman: For The Rest Of My Life, I Will Forever Be A Paul Levesque Guy
April 1, 2024
CM Punk On WWE Return, Reconciling With Triple H, Nick Khan As The 'Difference Maker'
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March 31, 2024
WWE: Next Gen debuts April 1 on Roku
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March 23, 2024
AJ Styles reveals why WWE 'isn't the same' under Triple H
AJ Styles has revealed that WWE is incredibly different under Triple H compared to Vince McMahon.
McMahon reigned in the company since its formation a number of decades ago, until his retirement in 2022 following allegations of sexual misconduct, though returned and began to lure control back.
That was until September last year, when WWE and UFC formed a merger under umbrella company TKO, which had McMahon as executive chairman until he resigned in January following allegations of sex trafficking, which he has denied.
Now, the show is run by former WWE star and McMahon's son-in-law, Triple H - real name Paul Levesque - and reports have generally suggested that the company is a much better place to work.
Those opinions were echoed by Styles The Battleground Podcast.
Ronda Rousey Details NXT Being Stolen From Triple H
Writing in her new book Our Fight – available for pre-order now – Ronda Rousey detailed that turbulent time in WWE history and thinks it was McMahon’s “cronies” that made the move to take NXT out of Triple H’s hands:brbr
NXT, which had been Triple H’s domain, had been caught in the ongoing family dispute between him and Vince McMahon. Vince’s unwillingness to give up any control made progress on the main roster all but impossible. But operating out from under Vince’s thumb, Triple H had built NXT into a brand that was not only developing WWE’s next generation but producing some of the organization’s best and most innovative wrestling.
People were excited about NXT in a way that they weren’t about Raw and SmackDown’s constant reliance on rehashing the same formulaic story lines over and over. As NXT grew and it became apparent that there was the potential to expand and profit from it, suddenly it became attractive to Vince. In fall of 2019, WWE launched a weekly NXT show—slated to go head-to-head on-air with AEW.
Now, NXT was on the up-and-up, but so too was AEW. Then Triple H almost died, suffering from heart failure and requiring surgery. He stepped away to deal with his health, and in his absence, Vince’s cronies saw an opportunity. NXT was losing the ratings battle to AEW, they whispered to Vince.
Ronda Rousey then took aim at former Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis who she claimed was running NXT in Triple H’s stead. It’s safe to say Rousey is no fan of Laurinaitis but says his failure running the brand was systematic of wider problems in the company:
Changes needed to be made. Which is how John Laurinaitis, a former wrestler turned WWE executive and all-around dirtbag, ended up running NXT. Laurinaitis had made a name for himself as an average but by no means outstanding wrestler before he moved into playing an in-ring authority figure type and then a producer. He looked and acted like an entitled sixty-year-old former frat boy. Tall, blondish, and with a cleft chin, he always appeared to be scowling, even when he smiled. His raspy voice earned him the nickname Johnny Laryngitis, which was one of the nicer things people called him.
Whereas Triple H looked for talent and potential in NXT prospects, it appeared John Laurinaitis looked for f*ckability. He further purged the NXT roster, firing it seemed like everyone over twenty-five and turning recruiting attention away from the indie circuits in favor of blonde sorority-types from places like the Universities of Florida and Tennessee.
Putting the blame for the decline on Laurinaitis—which Vince would basically try to do a few months later—would be easy but Laurinaitis was only a symptom of what was wrong within WWE. Honestly, the actual drama was so much better than anything WWE could ever script.
source: tjrwrestling.net
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March 6, 2024
WWE Announcers Are Being Given More Leeway Under Triple H
A ton of things have changed in WWE once Paul "Triple H" Levesque took over creative from Vince McMahon in the summer of 2022 following the hush money scandal. The product has gotten better and morale has increased within those who work for the company. Commentary has also changed after years of McMahon being notorious for yelling at the announcers.
Changes
Corey Graves has been part of the commentary team for years and has worked under both men. Graves took on a new role as the lead SmackDown play-by-play voice last month.
While speaking on the Short and to the Point podcast, Graves talked about the support he has from Triple H, noting he owes a lot, if not his career, due to him supporting his transition from wrestler to commentator.
Experience
“He also is really cool and sort of refreshing in a sense that he gives us [announcers] space. When he's in Gorilla [position] right where the old boss sat, instead of being told and prompted, 'Hey, you've got to say this, you have to do it this way, you have to use this verbiage,' He, I think, understands that we’re all fans and we all love this in different ways. And as the business grows and evolves, you kind of have to let go of the reins a little bit. I still have my guide rails, I just feel like they’re a little bit wider on each side now where rather than trying to stay on a particular path and walk in a certain rhythm and do things a certain way, I have a little bit more leeway to be me and develop my own style.”
February 13, 2024
The Rock Recalls Getting Emotional After Recent WWE Headquarters Tour With Triple H
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The Undertaker Comments On Triple H’s Management Style in WWE
During the latest episode of Six Feet Under (via Fightful), The Undertaker gave his thoughts on how Triple H runs WWE creative, describing it as a ‘very calm’ management style. He also noted that it was almost “too calm” for him.
He said:
“He’s doing it calmly. So I’m not I’m not around, obviously, like I used to be. When I was working full-time, or even when I wasn’t working full-time. It was just so chaotic. There is like this calm backstage. The crew itself, the talent, they’re relatively young. Top to bottom, they’re young people. They’re all so chill. I’ve seen Triple H get worked up, but I haven’t seen him yell at Talent. I haven’t seen him bad mouth anybody. There’s been times where you come back through the curtain and you know that ass-chewing is coming. I haven’t seen that with him. Like I said, I haven’t been around a whole lot, but I’ve been around enough, and I know him well enough, and I can just tell it’s such a chill vibe. For me, I almost don’t like it because it’s almost too calm. To me, and this is just me on the outside looking in, it’s like they don’t care enough. It’s not that. It’s just the atmosphere.”
Triple H Introduced As Paul Levesque On SmackDown
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January 28, 2024
Triple H When Asked About Vince McMahon Allegations: I Want To Focus On The Positives
January 27, 2024
End Of An Era 2.0
For the first time since its inception as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation in the 1950's, the only member of the McMahon family currently with the WWE is a Levesque. End of an era.
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November 27, 2023
WWE-UFC Merger Challenged In Lawsuit Alleging “Sham Sales Process” for Megadeal
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