WWE recently confirmed in a press release that Vince McMahon stepped down from the positions of Chairman and CEO. It was shortly announced that he would be making an appearance on the latest edition of SmackDown to address his absence. It was previously noted that he tore the SmackDown script. WWE Smackdown kicked off with Vince McMahon coming to the ring to address the fans in a brief segment. Vince welcomed the fans to the show but did not mention anything about the situation. The promo was heavily criticized. Now, reports suggest that he was seen smiling backstage.
Vince McMahon was smiling backstage
Ringside News noted that “Vince made sure everyone saw him smile. If you didn’t know what was going on, you’d think he just won the lottery.” He obviously wanted everyone to see that he has plenty of confidence about the current situation.
This was credited as “one of the most stress free television days in a long time.” Another reason it was “stress free” was because Bruce Prichard went in for shoulder surgery this week, “which was pretty coincidental timing.” We were told that Prichard is “out of action for a little bit, with Ed Koskey picking up the slack.”
John Laurinaitis was not there this week and neither was Bruce Prichard. Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn were both there and it was “business as usual, just like they wanted.” The only big change we were told about was that the atmosphere had much less stress.
Mr. McMahon was entailed in a controversial matter. The Wall Street Journal recently unveiled that WWE is investigating a secret $3 million settlement paid to a former employee of Mr. McMahon. The probe has also scooped several claims of misconduct from former employees toward The Chairman and top executive John Laurinaitis. It is not known which member leaked the story. There are twelve people on the board. Dave Meltzer discussed the source of the leak on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio. Dave was not sure who might have released the information.
