Tag: Vince Mcmahon Retirement

Linda McMahon comments on Vince McMahon’s retirement from WWE

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Linda McMahon has given her first public comments about Vince McMahon’s retirement from WWE.

At an event for the America First Policy Institute, Linda fended off questions from a reporter about Vince McMahon’s retirement. When the subject was brought up, Linda attempted to shut down the line of questioning.

“I’m not gonna talk about Vince and WWE. I’m here to talk about AFPI,” Linda said.

The reporter continued to ask about the issue, asking Linda what her thoughts were on Vince deciding to retire.

“Well, you know what? He’ll just be deciding on how he’s gonna spend his free time,” Linda said. “I think that’s a good thing.”

The reporter then asked Linda if she was concerned about Vince being investigated for his alleged hush money agreements.

 “No,” Linda said. “Come on. I told you I’m here to talk about AFPI.”

Amid a sexual misconduct scandal, Vince McMahon announced his retirement from WWE on July 22. Vince’s retirement came after the Wall Street Journal reported that he had agreed to pay more than $12 million over the past 16 years to “suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity.” All four women were formerly affiliated with WWE.

Linda McMahon is the chair of the America First Policy Institute, a political organization that’s aligned with Donald Trump. Linda resigned from Trump’s cabinet in March 2019 to become the chair of the America First Action super PAC.

WWE Raw ratings up for first post-Vince McMahon episode

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

As expected, with all the news breaking regarding Vince McMahon’s ouster and Paul “Triple H” Levesque being put in charge of creative, Raw’s ratings were up significantly last night, averaging 1.90 million viewers and drawing a 0.50 rating in 18-49.

Raw was first on cable and beat all but one network show, including Spanish-language programming, in 18-49. The Bachelorette on ABC at 0.74 in 18-49 was the only show that beat Raw last night.

Raw’s 0.33 rating in the 18-34 demo was third on television behind The Bachelorette and one show on Univision.

On cable, Raw swept the key demos except one, winning with women 18-49, men 18-49, 18-34 overall, and men 12-34, and tied in women 12-34 with Air Jaws Top Gun on Discovery.

Raw was up eight percent in viewers from last week, up nine percent in 18-49, and up three percent in 18-34.

The key items on the show were Roman Reigns appearing for both an early interview and later match, and the Rey Mysterio 20th anniversary celebration. The episode was Raw’s go-home show for SummerSlam.

From last year, Raw was up five percent in viewers, up two percent in 18-49, and up six percent in 18-34. When you figure in the drop in cable homes, the actual percentage increases were 11 percent in viewers, eight percent in 18-49, and 11 percent in 18-34.

There was a major third hour drop of 15 percent in viewers from hour one, which hasn’t been the case often of late. That’s with Reigns & The Usos vs. Riddle & The Street Profits as the main event. The big drop was 21 percent in women 18-49, plus eight percent in men 18-49, 13 percent in women 12-34, while men 12-34 stayed even.

There were two episodes of Miz & Mrs airing after Raw. The first episode ranked 18th for the night and second in its time slot behind Mega Predators of Oz on Discovery, averaging 540,000 viewers and drawing a 0.16 rating in 18-49. The second episode, the final of the season, was 28th for the night and also second in the time slot, doing 389,000 viewers and a 0.12 rating. The first episode in the same time slot as last week was down five percent in viewers and down nine percent in 18-49.

The three hours of Raw were:

  • 8 p.m. 2.02 million viewers
  • 9 p.m. 1.97 million viewers
  • 10 p.m. 1.71 million viewers

WWE Raw video highlights: A new era begins

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A new era for WWE began last night with the first Raw episode since Vince McMahon’s retirement.

The show, which emanated from Madison Square Garden in New York City, took place on the same day it was announced that Paul “Triple H” Levesque is WWE’s new head of creative. It was also Raw’s go-home show for this weekend’s SummerSlam pay-per-view.

McMahon’s retirement wasn’t directly mentioned on Raw, though Roman Reigns made reference to it by telling Theory that his “daddy’s not here anymore.”

Reigns was in action in the main event, teaming with The Usos to defeat Riddle & The Street Profits. Reigns pinned Riddle to get the victory. There was then an angle where Rollins attacked Riddle and stomped him into the steel steps ahead of Saturday’s PPV.

Plus, Rey Mysterio celebrated the 20th anniversary of his WWE debut, and there were brawls between Bianca Belair & Becky Lynch and Logan Paul & The Miz.

More coverage from last night —

WWE Raw video highlights —

Logan Paul and The Miz brawl as Raw goes on the air

Theory interrupts The Bloodline

Drew McIntyre vs. Theory

Bobby Lashley & Drew McIntyre vs. Theory & Sheamus

A video package looks at Rey Mysterio’s WWE career

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50OYQUBLz2s

Rey Mysterio’s 20th anniversary celebration

The Mysterios vs. The Judgment Day

Rhea Ripley returns, The Judgment Day attack Rey Mysterio backstage

Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch brawl

Alexa Bliss vs. Doudrop

Logan Paul hosts Impaulsive TV

Jeff Jarrett keeps the peace between The Usos and The Street Profits

AJ Styles & Dolph Ziggler vs. Alpha Academy

Riddle & The Street Profits vs. The Bloodline

Seth Rollins attacks Riddle

Raw Talk: Judgment Day, Miz, Maryse, Ciampa, and Bobby Lashley appear

WWE stock rises following Vince McMahon retirement

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Wall Street reacted to Vince McMahon’s retirement as WWE stock rose by more than eight percent on Monday.

WWE stock ended Monday at $71.81 per share, up 8.44 percent from what it closed at last Friday. The announcement of McMahon’s retirement was made on Friday after the stock market closed.

This is the highest point that WWE’s stock has been at since 2019.

WWE’s market capitalization (the value of all the company’s stock) is currently $5.34 billion.

The stock’s rise on Monday was driven by the belief that WWE is more likely to be sold following McMahon’s retirement. McMahon remains WWE’s majority shareholder after retiring from the company.

“This is a challenging environment with the equities of most of the logical buyers depressed, but there is demand for live event programming, and it is the first time that one could realistically think that WWE could be for sale,” media analyst Alan Gould of Loop Capital told Deadline. Gould listed Comcast, Disney, Amazon, Netflix, and Fox as potential buyers.

It was announced on Monday that Paul “Triple H” Levesque is WWE’s new head of creative. Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan are WWE’s new co-CEOs, and Stephanie is now WWE’s chairwoman.

WWE also announced in a regulatory statement on Monday that, due to “certain unrecorded expenses” by McMahon dating back to 2006, the company will be restating several financial statements from 2019, 2020, 2021, and the first quarter of 2022. The expenses total $14.6 million and will be paid back by McMahon.

Vince McMahon retirement announcement boosts WWE SmackDown ratings

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

With the show airing just hours after Vince McMahon announced his retirement from WWE, Friday’s episode of SmackDown saw a ratings boost.

Friday’s SmackDown averaged 2.256 million viewers on Fox, up 8.6 percent from the previous week. It’s the best audience for the show since June 17, which was the day Vince McMahon appeared on SmackDown after announcing that he was stepping away as WWE chairman and CEO during the WWE Board of Directors’ misconduct investigation.

SmackDown drew a 0.62 rating in the 18-49 demo, which topped all of television on Friday and was nearly double any other program on the night. That’s also SmackDown’s best rating in the demo since June 17 and is the show’s second-highest rating of the year so far.

SmackDown also topped all of TV in the 18-34 demo with a 0.39 rating.

As compared to the same week in 2021, SmackDown was up 5.6 percent in overall viewers and up 12.7 percent in 18-49.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo numbers for SmackDown, along with the 10-week averages in both categories. This week’s show was up 9.7 percent in viewers and up 29.2 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

Wrestling Observer Live: Vince McMahon retires from WWE, ROH Death Before Dishonor recap

Posted on by Andrew Zarian

On the Sunday edition of Wrestling Observer Live, Andrew Zarian is joined by Matt Ryan of Catalyst Wrestling to break down the week’s news.

One of the biggest stories in the history of wrestling happened as Vince McMahon announced his retirement from WWE. Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan have been named co-CEOs.

ROH Death Before Dishonor was on Saturday night. We break down the card, including Claudio Castagnoli winning the ROH World Championship and FTR defending the Tag Titles against the Briscoes in another classic.

Plus, Jonathan Gresham apparently is done with AEW/ROH after having an apparent altercation with Tony Khan, and a little bit more on WWE possibly going to TV-14.

Click To Listen 

VIDEO: Dave Meltzer discusses Vince McMahon’s retirement from WWE on CNN

Posted on by F4W Staff

On Saturday afternoon, Dave Meltzer made an appearance on CNN to discuss Vince McMahon’s retirement from WWE.

Meltzer was a guest on Saturday’s edition of CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta. He addressed the McMahon story and what it will mean for WWE going forward.

When asked if he thinks McMahon will continue to call the shots from behind the scenes, Meltzer pointed out that McMahon is still WWE’s majority shareholder. Meltzer said it will be interesting to see if McMahon remains on the WWE Board of Directors. Meltzer said he believes McMahon will still have some influence, but this is the beginning of a new era for WWE in some ways.

Meltzer said that, while McMahon’s retirement is a shock, it’s not as much of a shock given everything that has come out in the Wall Street Journal’s reporting on the McMahon scandal.

One of the biggest announcements in the history of professional wrestling was made on Friday as McMahon announced his retirement from WWE. The retirement comes after it was revealed last month that the WWE Board of Directors was investigating alleged misconduct committed by McMahon.

The WSJ uncovered last month that McMahon had agreed to pay a total of more than $12 million to four women over the past 16 years to “suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity.” The four women were all formerly affiliated with WWE.

Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan are WWE’s new co-CEOs.

WWE SmackDown fast national ratings up following Vince McMahon retirement announcement

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

With the show airing just hours after Vince McMahon announced his retirement, Friday night’s WWE SmackDown averaged 2.17 million viewers in the fast national ratings, up 9.8 percent from the previous week’s overnight viewership number.

It’s the highest fast national viewership for SmackDown since June 17, which was the day Vince McMahon appeared on television following the announcement that he was stepping away from his WWE chairman and CEO roles while the Board of Directors investigated his alleged misconduct.

Last night’s SmackDown drew a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demo in the fast nationals. That topped all of network TV and was double the next highest rated program.

SmackDown’s final viewership is usually 5-10 percent higher than the fast nationals. The fast national demo rating is rounded to the nearest tenth, so 0.6 could be anything between 0.56 and 0.64. The final 18-49 rating is rounded to the nearest hundredth.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of fast national viewership and 18-49 demo numbers for SmackDown on Fox, as well as the final numbers for the previous 10 weeks.

Stephanie McMahon appears on WWE SmackDown, leads ‘Thank You, Vince’ chant

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A new era for WWE began with Stephanie McMahon opening Friday night’s episode of SmackDown.

Just hours after her father announced his retirement, Stephanie appeared at the start of Friday’s SmackDown and addressed the crowd. She welcomed the fans to the show and gave a brief speech, bringing up that Vince McMahon wanted to make sure that he thanked the “WWE Universe” and everyone associated with WWE in his retirement announcement. Stephanie said this was their moment to thank Vince together, and she ended her speech by leading the crowd in a “Thank You, Vince” chant.

The live crowd booed when Stephanie mentioned her father’s retirement. The fans began to chant “Thank You, Vince” before being prompted to by Stephanie.

Stephanie is WWE’s new chairwoman and is one of WWE’s new co-CEOs alongside Nick Khan. Stephanie had been serving as interim chairwoman and interim CEO since Vince McMahon announced last month that he was stepping away from those roles during the WWE Board of Directors’ investigation into his alleged misconduct.

WWE has yet to announce who will be in charge of creative following Vince’s retirement.

Read Vince McMahon’s internal letter to WWE talent announcing retirement

Posted on by F4W Staff

In addition to publicly announcing his retirement from WWE on Friday afternoon, Vince McMahon sent an internal message to WWE talent informing them of the news.

The message was shared by an insider on Reddit and has been confirmed by us. In the message, McMahon wrote that he has thoroughly enjoyed sharing his “passion, wisdom, and love of the business” with the WWE talent. He encouraged the talent to bust their asses to be everything they can be as a person and a performer.

The full message is available below:

To all WWE Superstars: as I approach 77 years old (OMG am I really that old?), I feel it’s time for me to retire. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed sharing my passion, wisdom, and love of the business with you. No longer will you see the smiling, docile, level-headed, calm presence at Gorilla every week.

Your dedication to WWE will ensure that our company will continue to grow and prosper. Our organization is nothing without you. You are WWE’s only natural resource, chosen to perform in front of a global audience.

You are all WWE Global Ambassadors. Carry the WWE flag wherever you go. Wave it high and proud. And bust your ass to be all you can be as a person and as a performer.

One other thing-I won’t be with you, but I’ll be watching. Remember to keep your hands up, grab a hold, and sell. Btw, SmackDown airs live tonight at 8pm Eastern/7pm Central on FOX.

Vince

McMahon is retiring as WWE’s chairman and CEO and is no longer the company’s head of creative. He will continue to be WWE’s majority shareholder.

The Wall Street Journal first reported in June that the WWE Board of Directors was investigating McMahon over a secret $3 million settlement that McMahon had agreed to pay a former employee who he allegedly had an affair with.

The WSJ then published a follow-up story earlier this month reporting that McMahon had agreed to pay a total of more than $12 million to four women formerly affiliated with WWE over the past 16 years to “suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity.”

Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan are WWE’s new co-CEOs.

Vince McMahon announces retirement from WWE

Posted on by Joseph Currier

One of the biggest announcements in the history of professional wrestling was made on Friday as it was revealed that Vince McMahon is retiring from WWE.

In a statement issued by WWE on Friday afternoon, McMahon announced that he’s retiring as WWE’s chairman and CEO. WWE has confirmed that McMahon is retiring from all of his roles, including no longer being WWE’s head of creative.

McMahon will continue to be WWE’s majority shareholder. Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan are the new co-CEOs of the company. 

McMahon’s full statement announcing his retirement is available below:

As I approach 77 years old, I feel it’s time for me to retire as Chairman and CEO of WWE. Throughout the years, it’s been a privilege to help WWE bring you joy, inspire you, thrill you, surprise you, and always entertain you. I would like to thank my family for mightily contributing to our success, and I would also like to thank all of our past and present Superstars and employees for their dedication and passion for our brand. Most importantly, I would like to thank our fans for allowing us into your homes every week and being your choice of entertainment. I hold the deepest appreciation and admiration for our generations of fans all over the world who have liked, currently like, and sometimes even love our form of Sports Entertainment.

Our global audience can take comfort in knowing WWE will continue to entertain you with the same fervor, dedication, and passion as always. I am extremely confident in the continued success of WWE, and I leave our company in the capable hands of an extraordinary group of Superstars, employees, and executives – in particular, both Chairwoman and Co-CEO Stephanie McMahon and Co-CEO Nick Khan. As the majority shareholder, I will continue to support WWE in any way I can. My personal thanks to our community and business partners, shareholders, and Board of Directors for their guidance and support through the years. Then. Now. Forever. Together.

McMahon’s retirement comes amid a misconduct scandal that was first revealed by the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ reported last month that the WWE Board of Directors was investigating McMahon over a secret $3 million settlement that McMahon had paid out to a former employee who he allegedly had an affair with. In a follow-up story, the WSJ then revealed that McMahon had agreed to pay more than $12 million to four women over the past 16 years to “suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity.”

McMahon had stepped away from his chairman and CEO roles during the Board of Directors’ investigation but still was in charge of creative until now. Stephanie McMahon had been serving as interim chairwoman and CEO.

WWE also announced on Friday that Paul “Triple H” Levesque has been named the company’s new executive vice president of talent relations.