10 Weird (But True) Facts For WWE In 2024

9. End Of An Era(s)

WWE Raw The Rock Cody Rhodes
WWE

At WrestleMania 40, Stephanie McMahon took great pride in announcing that this was the first Mania of the “Paul Levesque Era,” more or less acknowledging that up through WrestleMania 39, her father still wielded great influence over the company he built.

Indeed, by the end of 2023, McMahon had been formally ousted from any involvement with WWE, with Endeavor (TKO) CEO Ari Emanuel removing Vince from creative power in the company shortly after the WWE/UFC merger. He would resign entirely from TKO in January 2024 amid sexual assault and trafficking allegations.

That means that 2024 was the first year since he bought the WWF from his father in 1982 that Vince McMahon had nothing to do with WWE’s day-to-day operations. For the first time in 2024, WWE (WWF, WWWF, Capitol Wrestling Corporation) was run by someone who is not a McMahon. That’s more than 70 years of one family rule.

Somewhat related, 2024 marked the first year since Brock Lesnar returned to WWE in 2012 that he did not appear on WWE programming. Lesnar reportedly had been planned for a return at the Royal Rumble in January, but as part of Janel Grant’s allegations against McMahon, all plans involving Brock were scuttled. He didn’t show up on television, nor has he been directly referenced by name.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.