Eric Bischoff comments on Vince McMahon's return to WWE.
McMahon previously announced his retirement as WWE CEO on July 22, 2022, amid a board investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and hush money. On January 5, the Wall Street Journal reported that McMahon was planning to return to WWE, and the former WWE Chairman subsequently confirmed the news in a press release.The next day, a filing announced that McMahon was back on the WWE Board of Directors, and WWE subsequently confirmed the news.
Speaking on After 83 Weeks with Christy Olson, which was recorded before McMahon's return was official, Bischoff shared his thoughts on the situation. First, he noted that he knows McMahon is a fighter, but he previously thought that part of him had perhaps grown smaller recently. However, Bischoff pointed out that he was wrong.
"Vince is a fighter, and Vince being forced into retirement is incongruent with what many people know as Vince’s nature to fight. I think Vince feels like that was his company, it was his empire. Obviously, he had help, but it’s been his baby since he bought that company from his father. I thought that part of Vince is still there, but I think it’s a smaller part. Well, I was wrong [laughs]," Bischoff said.
The conversation continued, and Olson shared her belief that things in WWE had been better when McMahon was gone, so some fans are concerned about his return. Bischoff responded by stating that while he didn't know all the details about the story and he hasn't read everything, he believes McMahon's intention in coming back would be to aggressively pursue a sale. The WWE Hall of Famer described how he thinks this would be McMahon's exit strategy, and it won't impact the way WWE is run, as McMahon likely wouldn't be running the company after a sale.
“I understand your question. Now I haven’t read everything that’s come out in the last couple of hours. I’ve seen some of the bigger headlines and a couple other emails and stories. But I think Vince is, his reason for coming back and making this move is to aggressively pursue a sale. So in that case, I don’t think that matters because if he sells the company, he’s not going to be running it anymore. Whether things ran better with him or without him is irrelevant. It’s a moot point because whoever buys it isn’t gonna have Vince McMahon running it anyway. They’re gonna run it. So no, I think this is Vince’s exit strategy. Whether it will run better with him or without him isn’t really a discussion in an exit strategy like that. I could be wrong, but if you just break down the motivation of why he’s doing it, what he said publicly, and then what that means going forward in the event of a sale, I just don’t think that’s a factor," Bischoff said.
McMahon's official press release, and a letter he sent to the WWE Board made it clear that his return us geared towards media rights negotiations, rather than pursuing a potential sale. WWE's official announcement regarding McMahon's return noted that the company looks forward to "exploring all strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value."
The value of WWE stock increased following the news of McMahon's return and a potential sale. More information is available here.
Fightful Select reported that McMahon is not wanted back at WWE.
Saraya previously commented on McMahon's potential return. Check out her comments here.
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