In one of the strangest playing out of a story in pro wrestling, Stephanie McMahon is not only back with WWE weeks after leaving and then being buried and is now both the interim CEO and interim Chairwoman of the Board.
The move was made on 6/17, days after the Wall Street Journal story broke regarding her father and John Laurinaitis having affairs with Laurinaitis’ 41-year-old assistant and the story going into detail on a $3 million payoff in exchange for an NDA with the woman, to be paid out over a five-year period. The story also noted that there were other payoffs made to women over the years by Vince McMahon that totaled millions of dollars.
Vince McMahon announced that during the investigation against him that he was stepping down as CEO and Chairman of the Board, but would remain as the head of creative. At both Smackdown and Raw, where ratings have shot up huge coming off the publicity, particularly with younger viewers, backstage, with Vince McMahon in charge, it was largely business as usual.
Jim Valley is back on today’s Wrestling Observer Live to run down the few highlights on SmackDown, but mainly talks about the excessive appetites of Vince McMahon. How much money, sex, power and monuments to himself does one person need before his incredible drive changes from an asset to a sickness?
Plus, the passing of Dave Hebner, Forbidden Door, Sasha Banks, Triplemania and more.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including everything you ever wanted to know about Vince stepping down and being replaced as CEO and Chairwoman with Stephanie McMahon. Dave Meltzer joins us, we’ll take your questions and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
In the latest development in one of wrestling’s biggest stories, Vince McMahon has voluntarily stepped down as WWE Chairman and CEO while the company’s Special Committee of the Board investigates alleged misconduct.
Stephanie McMahon was named interim CEO and Chairwoman until the investigation concludes.
However, Vince 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.”
Stephanie McMahon tweeted the following this morning:
Until the conclusion of the investigation into recent allegations, I am honored to assume the role of interim Chairwoman & CEO. I love @WWE and all it continues to do to entertain billions around the world. https://t.co/E2MushpoSG
Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that in an email to WWE staff, Stephanie McMahon said, “I will be returning from my leave of absence and assuming the role of interim Chairwoman and CEO. 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. And of course, I look forward to working with all of you. My door is always open.”
On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal revealed that the Board was investigating Vince McMahon over a $3 million “hush pact” with a former employee with which he allegedly had a relationship with, in addition to other potential non-disclosure agreements.
“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.”
Dave Meltzer and I are back on Wrestling Observer Radio talking all the latest news in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter including stories on Stephanie McMahon, a possible Vince McMahon autobiography, John Cena’s return to WWE, and NJPW Dominion.
We also talk about Paige’s last day in WWE, UFC 275, AEW Dynamite ratings, and Forbidden Door.
Andrew Zarian is back to follow up on the Stephanie McMahon story.
We wonder why Stephanie is being talked about negatively after taking a leave of absence from WWE and how it could be a changing of the guard at the company.
We talk about Cody Rhodes’ injury and what WWE will do now to create a top babyface.
Lastly, we look at the World title picture at AEW after CM Punk’s injury and go over the scenario scheduled for AEW Dynamite and NJPW Dominion.
Enjoy the latest We’re Live, Pal, in podcast form below or on YouTube above.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including Stephanie McMahon and the Business Insider article about her departure, another new WWE hire, Stardom and New Japan doing a joint show, ratings, UFC this weekend, Wrestling at the Chase history, the RAW show and shitty booking and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Business Insider article on Stephanie McMahon
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including Cody Rhodes’ torn pec, his decision to work Sunday’s WWE Hell in a Cell, whether a doctor believes the other doctor was negligent, CM Punk, SmackDown, NXT 2.0, Stephanie McMahon getting buried and tons more.
Despite a Business Insider report over the weekend that alluded to Vince McMahon driving Stephanie McMahon out of WWE, that is not the case according to our Dave Meltzer.
Meltzer confirmed Monday that she indeed took a leave of absence on her own.
The BI report read that Stephanie “is being replaced in her corporate role as part of a shakeup executed by her father, Vince McMahon, the organization’s 76-year-old CEO.”
The longtime WWE Chief Brand Officer announced her leave of absence on May 19th, saying she was going to take time off to spend time with her family and looked forward to returning.
The piece featured quotes from WWE insiders that painted a less positive picture of the 45-year-old and appears to be part of what Meltzer called a burial by the company via our message board.
One of the BI quotes focused on the lack of growth on sponsorship which was around $20 million in Q1. Stephanie said on the Q1 investors call that there’s no reason WWE couldn’t be bringing in hundreds of millions a year in the next three-to-five years.
“We weren’t seeing that growth,” said the company insider (said) of Stephanie McMahon’s tenure. “When someone is moved out of a company, it’s usually the result of something not working. We took stronger control of that a few months ago.”
Her exit, temporary or permanent, is the latest in what has been a multi-year overhaul of the front office since Nick Khan took over as president for fired co-presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson in early-2020.
BI also reported that former Manchester United chief marketing officer Catherine Newman will start her WWE tenure this month as head of marketing.
WWE has posted a job listing for a director of brand and marketing, handling some of chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon’s duties while she is on a leave of absence.
In a listing posted to Workday today, WWE announced that it is seeking a new full-time employee to be “…an important contributor to the growth and success of the WWE Premium Live Events, WWE linear programming and the WWE brand.”
Stephanie has held her current title of CBO since 2013, but announced on Twitter last week that she was taking a leave of absence to focus on her family, effective May 20.
McMahon’s husband, WWE executive vice president Paul “Triple H” Levesque suffered a cardiac event last September.
Here is the full text of the job listing:
The Brand and Marketing Director will be an important contributor to the growth and success of the WWE Premium Live Events, WWE linear programming and the WWE brand. This professional will lead cross-functional promotional plans for events such as WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and SummerSlam, supporting creative execution across linear, social, digital and OTT platforms. In addition, the Marketing Director will contribute to the development of overall WWE brand assets and oversee the execution of WWE brand campaigns on WWE’s social media accounts. Creative ideation, attention to detail, marketing insight, strategic thinking, problem solving, and ability to pivot quickly are key. Candidate should thrive in a supportive team environment that prizes collaboration, innovation, and leadership.
Key Responsibilities:
Lead promotional planning for WWE Premium Live Events and internal milestones
Coordinate inputs and activities across multiple internal stakeholders including Media/Production team, Creative Services, Communications, Entertainment Relations, Community, and more
Manage paid media agency relationships in support of Premium Live Events, tracking budgets and leading reporting and optimization
Access, analyze, and disseminate internal and third-party research to improve WWE messaging, creative and promotional tactics
Create clear and concise presentations that track promotional tactics across events and clearly indicate support plans, creative consistency and business objectives
Brief, review and approve promotional creative (video, static, etc.), ensuring impactful messaging for WWE fans and consistency with WWE brand and event guidelines
Support supplemental WWE activations around Premium Live shows, ensuring fan awareness and smooth execution on site
Lead internal and external meetings with clear agendas and collaborative conversation
Qualifications:
Minimum of 6 to 8 years of related experience, preferably at a league/team, media/creative agency, media company, or the marketing organization of a brand/property
Experience with a combination of any of following: league or event sponsorship, digital/social media, linear or OTT networks, experiential, custom production, talent rights/endorsements
Proven experience in understanding the relationship between brand marketing objectives and cross-platform media offerings needed to help drive & achieve a brand’s business goals/results
Ability to create cohesive 360 marketing programs
Understanding of social media dynamics, paid media tactics, and reporting
Experience designing and writing PowerPoint decks
Comfort with ideating collaboratively or as an individual
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate clearly in both writing and speech
Demonstrated ability to stay organized and prioritize in an extremely fast-paced environment
Passionate, driven, and personally accountable with a commanding presence and energy
Experience leading and mentoring a team a plus
Ability to travel domestically for WWE events and production; approx. one time per month
Andrew Zarian is joined by Garrett Gonzales of Wrestling Observer Radio and Fight Game Media on today’s Wrestling Observer Live to discuss this week’s biggest stories.
Sasha Banks and Naomi were publicly suspended on SmackDown this week after walking out during Monday Night Raw. The two speculate what the outcome might be for both going forward.
Stephanie McMahon is taking a leave of absence, what does that mean for her and WWE?
Double or Nothing is this coming weekend. Andrew and Garrett go into the entire week’s festivities and take a look at the Double or Nothing card, including what matches are the most intriguing.
SmackDown this week had the main roster debut of Max Dupri, formerly LA Knight, and a fantastic main event that saw the Usos defeat RK-Bro to unify the Tag Team Championship belts.
All this and more on this ad-free edition of Wrestling Observer Live.
Dave Meltzer and I are back on Wrestling Observer Radio talking all the latest news in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter including the latest on the Sasha Banks and Naomi situation within WWE as well as Stephanie McMahon taking a leave of absence.
In addition, we talked about Raw and Dynamite’s competition when it comes to the NBA Playoffs as well as Valerie Loureda training for pro wrestling.
Lastly we took a look at the current card for Double or Nothing.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with a packed show! We’ll talk all the news including Stephanie stepping away from WWE, a few notes on Sasha and Naomi, Dave Meltzer joins us to talk the newest Observer, and Jay Bradley joins us to talk old-school OVW, the NWA, Inoki Genome Federation and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
In the new edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer provided an update on Stephanie McMahon’s leave of absence from WWE.
McMahon announced on Thursday that she’s taking a leave of absence from “the majority of [her] responsibilities” with WWE. She wrote that she looks forward to returning to the company after taking this time away to focus on her family.
Meltzer reports that the leave of absence was “100 percent” Stephanie’s choice and had been coming for some time, even though the announcement was a surprise to most:
This came out of nowhere to most. Most talent and those in the office and creative didn’t know about it until they heard she tweeted it. There were definitely a few people who knew and knew the background, but they weren’t saying much past there is more to it but the basic reasons given were not inaccurate. The part about leaving to focus on her family is definitely part of it. It was obviously a tough year with Paul Levesque being out for so long and she had to pick up a lot of his responsibilities and obviously had to deal from a family standpoint with his health issues. Levesque is back in the office full-time now.
There is no time frame for her to return but we were told she is returning. All kinds of speculation has transpired, but the only thing we were told directly is that this was 100 percent her choice, and this has been coming for some time, not something that just happened out of nowhere even though it would appear because virtually nobody knew anything except a few who had kept it totally quiet until just before she released the info but she was not forced or pressured and it was her choice. As far as what it means for the future, that at this point would be all speculation. She was the public face of the company and been pushed by the company to be positioned as one of the leading female sports executives in the country. Company President Nick Khan will be taking over her duties and those who reported to her will not be reporting to him. Stephanie McMahon, besides Being Chief Brand Officer, is a member of the company’s Board of Directors and aside from Vince, was the only original McMahon family member still working for the company. Stephanie also owns 2.5 percent of the company which would be valued at $116 million.
In her role as chief brand officer, McMahon is responsible for ensuring WWE’s global brand strength and growth.
WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon announced on Twitter Thursday that starting on Friday, May 20, she will be taking a leave of absence from the company.
As of tomorrow, I am taking a leave of absence from the majority of my responsibilities at WWE. WWE is a lifelong legacy for me and I look forward to returning to the company that I love after taking this time to focus on my family.
The tweet reads: “As of tomorrow, I am taking a leave of absence from the majority of my responsibilities at WWE. WWE is a lifelong legacy for me and I look forward to returning to the company that I love after taking this time to focus on my family.”
It’s unknown what responsibilities she will continue to retain in the interim.
The 45-year-old has been in the family business for more than two decades, starting in office work and eventually getting the job of heading up the creative team throughout most of the early-to-mid 2000s.
She was also involved in many on-screen storylines with the McMahon family and husband, Paul “Triple H” Levesque throughout the years. She has even wrestled on several occasions, winning the then-Women’s World title in 2000.
In 2007, she was promoted to executive vice president of creative and in 2013, she was promoted to her current role of chief brand officer. McMahon has been a face for WWE in corporate America, especially in the last several years, appearing on podcasts, speaking at conventions and business gatherings throughout the world.
She is a past winner of Forbes’ Most Influential Female CMO award.
