Everything to know about Vince McMahon planning WWE return

After “retiring” from WWE following hush money allegations, Vince McMahon is reportedly planning his comeback to the company.

Back on June 7, WWE released a statement that Vince McMahon was stepping aside as CEO and chairman of the company. The announcement came after the Wall Street Journal reported on sexual misconduct allegations made towards McMahon, in addition to hush money payments he made to multiple female employees. But months later, McMahon is looking to find his way back into the company.

According to Lauren Thomas of the Wall Street Journal, McMahon is looking to return to WWE in efforts to pursue a sale of the company.

McMahon still has majority voting power through Class B stock, and announced that he will be electing himself and two former executives, Michelle Wilson and George Barrios, to the board. For that to happen, three positions would need to be vacated.

So, with McMahon working his way back into WWE, what exactly does this mean for the company?

Everything to know about Vince McMahon plotting return to WWE

McMahon expects to resume the role of executive chairman, but needs board approval for that to become a reality. He wants to oversee the company’s upcoming media rights and strategic alternative negotiations.

The Wall Street Journal reported that unless he is given this position to oversee the strategic review, “he won’t support or approve any media-rights deal or sale.”

In a statement released on Thursday shortly after the Wall Street Journal report dropped, McMahon detailed why he wanted to return to the company in regards to the media rights negotiations.

“WWE is entering a critical juncture in its history with the upcoming media rights negotiations coinciding with increased industry-wide demand for quality content and live events and with more companies seeking to own the intellectual property on their platforms,” said Mr. McMahon, via Figure Four Online. “The only way for WWE to fully capitalize on this opportunity is for me to return as Executive Chairman and support the management team in the negotiations for our media rights and to combine that with a review of strategic alternatives. My return will allow WWE, as well as any transaction counterparties, to engage in these processes knowing they will have the support of the controlling shareholder.”

While McMahon is planning to return to the company, he said in his press release that he has no plans to shake up the company’s management team.

“WWE has an exceptional management team in place, and I do not intend for my return to have any impact on their roles, duties, or responsibilities,” said McMahon, via Figure Four Online.

Back in December, McMahon sent a letter to the WWE board, expressing his desire to return to the company. The board responded by saying that they would be open to working alongside him in the review process, but they unanimously agreed that his return to WWE would not be in the shareholders’ best interests.

Since McMahon stepped aside, his daughter, Stephanie, was named chairwoman and co-CEO. Nick Khan holds the other co-CEO title. Paul “Triple H” Levesque was named chief content officer, putting him in charge of the creative writing department for television programming.

This will certainly be a story to follow in the coming days, but what we know right now is that McMahon is planning a path back to WWE.