Could Vince McMahon return to WWE?

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has thrived in the months since Stephanie McMahon, Paul Levesque (HHH), and Nick Khan took the reins.

Vince McMahon was a dinosaur; an old man struggling and failing to adapt to the changing times. During Vince’s era, the WWE locker room was chaotic. The company’s writers would spend the week concocting new stories, only for Vince to throw out the scripts mere hours before RAW and Smackdown went on air.

If you have ever wondered why some episodes felt random and disjointed, Vince was making things up on the fly. You probably noticed a disturbing absence of long-term storytelling. Vince had no interest in appeasing hardcore wrestling fans, because he thought they would remain loyal regardless the product’s quality.

He wanted to woo casual viewers by creating jaw-dropping moments designed to go viral on social media as opposed to telling cohesive stories. And he succeeded. But in so doing, he alienated hardcore fans.

These people took offense to Vince’s disrespectful approach to a medium they adored. The final straw was that arduous period during the pandemic when the company released dozens of superstars without warning or explanation. But why does any of this matter today?

After all, Vince left in July amidst accusations of sexual and financial impropriety. Well, Vince wants to come back. And before you ridicule the idea, the tycoon is WWE’s biggest shareholder. Vince is still the most powerful person in the company.

Theoretically speaking, no one can stop him from returning to the fold. At the moment, we don’t know what to expect. Sources close to Vince say he received misguided advice from people that encouraged him to resign back in July. He thinks the public backlash would have dissipated if he had just waited a few more weeks. He is probably correct.

A few months ago, Vince’s crimes were the biggest story in the wrestling business. But then CM Punk sparked a brand new scandal during that infamous AEW press scrum, and the public quickly moved on.

Then again, the AEW controversy has only benefited WWE because of Vince’s absence. Many wrestlers left WWE for AEW because they could not stand Vince. But they grew restless in AEW once Vince left because they loved HHH, and he was now in charge.

Each month brings new victories for WWE because HHH has created a warm and inviting environment that allows wrestlers to thrive. HHH wants his athletes to have some input in their storylines. The quality of the product has improved drastically. Look at Sami Zayn. The Bloodline Saga, initially the best arc in all of wrestling, had fizzled out under Vince.

Today, the Sami/Usos/Kevin Owens feud is white hot, a fictional tale so electrifying it dominates the internet every week. The WWE locker room wants nothing to do with Vince. Consider what happened with Gunther. Vince was planning to eviscerate the character shortly before he left because he was unimpressed with the wrestler’s performance.

But in the months since Vince’s departure, Gunther has become one of the biggest names in the company. Gunther is one among many wrestlers who would fade into obscurity if WWE’s founder returned. One assumes that Fox, the USA Network, and NBC Universal will oppose a change in leadership. The company’s deals with its broadcast partners are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Those partners don’t want the negative publicity surrounding Vince, not when the 77-year-old just became the target of a new sexual assault case levied by a former WWE referee he allegedly raped.

Additionally, WWE stock dropped in value when rumours of Vince’s return emerged. Even though Vince McMahon has the power to reclaim his old job, the strong opposition from the board, wrestlers, broadcast partners, and advertisers may repel him.

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