Eric Bischoff doesn't expect to see Vince McMahon leave WWE.
Vince McMahon returned to WWE in January 2023 after he previously retired in July 2022 amid allegations of sexual misconduct and hush money. Following his return, WWE reached a transaction agreement with Endeavor that would see WWE and UFC merge to form TKO. The deal closed on September 12, 2023. McMahon is noe the Executive Chairman of TKO Group Holdings.
Speaking on Strictly Business, Bischoff shared his thoughts on the WWE/UFC merger and Vince McMahon's place in it. He shared his belief that McMahon doesn't want to walk away from WWE. Likewise, Bischoff noted that he doesn't think McMahon would want to do anything outside of WWE He also predicted that McMahon's exit would come with kicking and screaming, rather than his own decision to leave.
“I would never bet against Vince McMahon in terms of Vince doing what Vince wants to do. My instinct and a little bit of experience suggests to me that Vince doesn’t want to walk away, this is Vince’s baby. This is a part of Vince’s family. I don’t see him walking from it. Nothing has ever happened in my professional lifetime that suggested to me that Vince wants to do something other than what he’s currently doing. He doesn’t have hobbies, he doesn’t appear to have much of a social life. He works like a maniac, he lives to work and he works to live. I don’t think Vince could be happy doing anything else other than what he’s doing. You know, some of the stock price issues could be a reflection of a lot of the news that we’ve read over the past couple of days about the pending litigation and the criminal charges and all of the crap that’s floating around out there. Personally, I don’t think any of that sticks. It’s a lot of nasty noise and a lot of uncomfortable information, but I don’t think at the end of it all it will come to fruition or mean anything, Vince will be just fine in that regard. I don’t know that, I just feel that. But, I don’t see him wanting to do anything else. If they’re going to take him out of there, it will be kicking and screaming, it won’t be him saying it’s time to go," Bischoff said.
Eric Bischoff continued by noting that he believes Vince McMahon's potential exit would not impact WWE in a detrimental day. He called that possible outcome a credit to McMahon and organization he has built. Bischoff stated that especially after the Endeavor deal, WWE has a great leadership system, and he wished other companies had the same kind of management.
“If Vince McMahon walked away this afternoon, cashed in his 28 million stocks, whatever he’s got, took his three billion dollars, bought a yacht and floated around the Caribbean for the rest of his life, I do not see it having any adverse impact on WWE, and that’s a credit to Vince. Vince has done such a great job building that organization, surrounding himself with the right people, on the creative side of the business, business side of the business. Certainly now with Ari Emanuel and Endeavor behind it, the quality of leadership and talent in WWE right now is amazing. I wish a lot of other major companies had the same type of leadership in management," Bischoff said.
Click here to see what Bischoff had to say about Vince McMahon's mustache.
Bischoff recently said Cody Rhodes is the future of WWE. Check out his comments here.
A former WWE board member has said they don't think Vince McMahon's return to WWE was judicious. More information is available here.
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