WWE: The Fall Of An Empire

Vince McMahon John Laurinaitis
WWE.com

It's been a while since scandal engulfed WWE with enough potency to actually force Vince McMahon to actually do something about it.

Wrestlers, officials and/or members of staff have fallen afoul of the law or worse and, depending on their status, he has sometimes had to act. He's long been a proponent of hoping the that the problem simply just goes away, and based on the success of this strategy for a very recent United States president, he was probably on to something all along.

McMahon's status within the company he turned into an empire will be determined by the ongoing investigations, but he's been in wrestling long enough to know that the one thing that can be capitalised on even more than a retirement is a return. A temporary exit now is one thing, but a gleeful return to the top table if he's absolved of all allegations will leave more p*ss in his pants than when Steve Austin held a toy gun to his head.

All that's the business of the boardroom, realistically. The perception battle is a different one he'll continue to navigate in the only (carny) way he knows. Last week's Wall Street Journal report was the latest in a long line of fairly public dramas he'll now have to hope will just dissolve into the background of the typical noise and news that makes up the rolling cycle on 24/7 television channels and social media alike.

Or all of that, but maybe 24 or so hours after the news broke. He had an episode of SmackDown to promote, after all.

CONT'D...

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett