In May, Vince McMahon’s daughter Stephanie McMahon announced a leave of absence from WWE.
She was performing the role of WWE’s Chief Brand Officer before deciding to take a break. Stephanie reasoned that she wanted to spend more time with her family.
Less than a couple of months later, she made her return and became the interim Chairwoman and CEO of WWE. This was after Vince McMahon had to step down following allegations of paying a former employee $3 million in “hush money” after the pair had an affair. Other allegations also came about, including claims that McMahon had paid four women over $12 million across 16 years as part of similar agreements.
McMahon announced last month that he is retiring from the position of the company’s chairman and CEO. He remains its majority shareholder.
“At 77, time for me to retire. Thank you, WWE Universe. Then. Now. Forever. Together. #WWE #thankful,” he wrote on ‘Twitter.
“I figured it was like a cosmetic thing.” – Dave Meltzer on Stephanie McMahon becoming the Interim CEO after Vince McMahon stepped down from the position
Dave Meltzer on Talk is Jericho, gave his take on the situation regarding Stephanie’s brief absence and the return that followed.
Meltzer said: “That was another shocker was in May when she took a leave of absence. You know it’s funny when it came out, almost nobody knew about that was coming but there were people who did know. But there was a reason and I don’t know the reason, nobody would tell me, I mean they would just say ‘there’s a reason.’ I kind of like that encouragement to dig but like 3 people in the world know and you know all 3 of them aren’t going to tell me but there was a reason that she left. You know, they filled her vacancy, filled her spot, it wasn’t like she was gonna go for a couple of months.
“I mean they hired someone from Manchester United to head her division and so she’s gone and when he steps down as CEO, she is the new interim CEO. So I hear that and I go ‘he is stepping down figuratively, she is in the spot for corporate reason and he is still head of creative, so I figured it was like a cosmetic thing.’ I didn’t think it was anything serious but it was interesting that she left which was supposed to be for a long time and I mean the word was that she would come back but no time soon and now all of a sudden she is essentially in the highest position of the company and now couple of weeks later her and her husband Paul are basically running the entire wrestling end of the company.”
Meltzer was also shocked as there were some derogatory statements made after Stephanie left which he felt was almost like a “burial” and Vince was the one to let her go. Meltzer knew that was false and Stephanie had left on her own but the reports stated otherwise. Only a few weeks later, Stephanie returned back to WWE in a bigger role than before. In the end, Meltzer said that Vince ran the company for so long and many people were excited to see someone new running the company.
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