10 Reasons 2022 Was Wrestling's WILDEST Year Ever
1. Vince McMahon Ousted
Honestly, nothing sums up how wild 2022 was than seeing the
Godfather of Sports Entertainment embarrassingly dragged through his own muck
and shown the door, consigned to the ash heap of history.
If you forgot, or if you’re one of those weird #ThankYouVince people, the Wall Street Journal reported that Vince had coerced female employees, then paid them “hush money” in the eight-figure range in total. That McMahon – whose dalliances have been publicized before and even “fictionalized” in storylines – would have paid millions of dollars and forced women to sign NDAs wasn’t entirely shocking, though it was still surprising the extent to which this scheme extended.
While this was explosive enough on its own, the doors were blown off several weeks later when Vince “retired” from WWE (read: was ousted from his position) and turned over the reins to daughter Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan. Longtime McMahon sycophants were sidelined or fired, with Triple H assuming the day-to-day responsibilities of running the wrestling business.
We’ve already seen changes in the presentation of the product, but WWE is a lot like a giant ocean liner: it’s not going to make a sharp, sudden turn; rather, it’s going to be a long, slow arc to change direction. There have been positive changes, but it’s going to take time to work out decades of bad habits, dismal practices and a toxic atmosphere.
But yeah, if you had “Shane McMahon gets fired by Vince, who himself gets forced out after paying hush money to women; while Cody Rhodes leaves AEW, where CM Punk triggers a post-PPV brawl with the EVPs; and the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions and MJF walk out on their respective companies” on your 2022 bingo card, you probably need to play the lottery.
This was a wild year without even stepping between
the ropes, and 2023 looks like it could be just as crazy. Buckle up!