WWE Believe Vince McMahon's Resignation Could Hurt Company Creatively & Financially

WWE finally reported its Q2 2022 financial results yesterday, doing so following a short delay sparked by the promotion uncovering a further $5 million in unrecorded expenses paid out by its former CEO and Chairman, Vince McMahon. This was on top of the $14.6 million in unrecorded expenses already found by WWE, necessitating adjustments to prior financial reports.

The SEC filing accompanying WWE's latest results contained some interesting notes, most notably on the potential adverse impact McMahon's departure may have on the company.

McMahon was prompted to resign from his position as WWE CEO and Chairman on 22 July. This came following allegations that he had paid in excess of $12 million to suppress allegations of sexual misconduct, with an investigation by the SEC and federal prosecutors hastening his departure.

WWE states in the filing that McMahon's departure "could adversely affect our ability to create popular characters and creative storylines or could otherwise adversely affect our operating results." This is attributed to Vince's extensive role in WWE - and the scope of recent changes.

Per the filing:-

Until he resigned from all positions held with the Company on July 22, 2022, in addition to serving as Chairman of our Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. McMahon led the creative team that develops the storylines and the characters for our programming (including our television, WWE Network and other programming) and live events. On July 22, 2022, the Board appointed Stephanie McMahon, at that time Chief Brand Officer, interim Chief Executive Officer, interim Chairwoman and a director of the Company, and Nick Khan, at that time President, Chief Revenue Officer and a director of the Company, to serve as the Company’s co-Chief Executive Officers. The Board has also appointed Stephanie McMahon to serve as the Company’s Chairwoman. Furthermore, in the wake of Mr. McMahon’s departure, our creative effort will be led by Paul Levesque, the Company’s Executive Vice President, Talent Relations and Creative and Ms. McMahon’s husband, who has decades of experience in our Company and has been an important player in all aspects of our creative process, including television, talent and live events. Although Mr. Levesque has extensive practical experience with many of our revenue streams and, with Ms. McMahon, has been critically involved in our business transformation over the past several years as well as our continuing brand development, these collective changes at the top of our organization are extensive and recent, and it is therefore possible that the loss of services of Mr. McMahon could have a material adverse effect on our ability to create popular characters and creative storylines or could otherwise adversely affect our operations and/or financial performance.

Triple H's ascent to WWE's lead creative position has been viewed positively by fans, though the former NXT chief has currently been at the helm for less than a month. While he has made noticeable adjustments to Raw and SmackDown, swooping changes have not yet been forthcoming, perhaps on account of the above.