5 Reasons Why Vince McMahon Won’t Let Triple H Take Over Anytime Soon

The writing is on the wall. For years, it had been well established that when Vince McMahon steps down or passes on, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon will take over WWE. They’re already lower players in senior management. The general understanding is that Stephanie will take the reins on business dealings and marketing, while the King of Kings will take over on talent and creative.

The creative piece, in particular, is of chief interest to fans. Given how well NXT has come across under Triple H’s leadership, and all the more so how uneven main roster booking has seemed, plenty of fans are clamoring for that transition to happen soon.

Despite having a competent son in law ready to take his place, it’s not entirely clear Vince will actually ride off into the sunset in the immediate future. This article takes a look at five reasons why he may not hand over power to The Game anytime soon.

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#5 The god complex

Vince McMahon loves to be in control.

Vince McMahon’s kayfabe persona once acted as though he were a god, inventing the McMahonism religion to prod at born again Shawn Michaels. While the gimmick was, at the least, an exaggeration of how McMahon sees himself and acts, there have been those who’ve suggested McMahon calls the WWE his Universe because he likes the idea of being the god of something and having complete control over everyone who exists under his domain.

It’s a hard thing to give up the kind of control Vince McMahon has enjoyed over WWE for over thirty-five years. This is particularly so when he’s a notorious workaholic and micromanager. To go from such a dominant, powerful figure to a businessman pursuing other ventures, much less a retiree, likely goes far beyond his comfort zone. Would McMahon even know who he was if he were not the head of WWE? It’s for all of these reasons that the theory he’ll remain in control of his company until he dies has gained so much traction.

#4 No turning back

If Vince McMAhon lets go of control, he probably won't be able to get it back.

Vince McMahon has experimented with delegating responsibilities to different parties, particularly as WWE has grown and developed a more bureaucratic corporate structure. Putting Triple H in charge of Talent Relations was, in itself, a big step, but Helmsley was stepping into a role others like Jim Ross and John Laurinaitis had filled ahead of him. Giving The Game the charge to start and lead a new developmental system added a layer, and indeed felt like a step toward grooming him to take over creative at large. Trusting The Game to make the most of 205 Live was another step in this direction.

For now, though, there’s always the potential to walk things back. If Triple H were prove incompetent or not up to the pressure in the long term, make a major gaffe, or perhaps most personally have a falling out with Stephanie McMahon, it wouldn’t be too late demote him. Once McMahon steps away from the business, the odds are that he’s out, and the people in charge won’t have a responsibility to listen to his input, let alone reinstate him to power.

#3 Differing Aesthetics

Triple H and Vince McMahon don't necessarily see eye to eye about everything in the wrestling business.

In the big picture, Triple H and Vince McMahon probably have more in common than differences in how they see the wrestling world and the overall creative direction of WWE. However, the way Helmsley has booked NXT has signaled some ways in which his perspective might be different. His focus on serious wrestling, centered on building big matches without so much comedy or emphasis on authority figures feels old school. Bringing back War Games and signing a high volume of talent from smaller promotions, who don’t necessarily look like the prototypical WWE bodybuilder further indicate a certain traditional mindset.

Hardcore fans in particular have responded favorably to NXT and 205 Live under Helmsley’s direction. There’s little indication that McMahon objects to The Game doing his thing on these smaller WWE brands. Bur for Raw and SmackDown? The Chairman may still not be comfortable with how Helmsley would handle the flagship WWE products.

#2 Blurring the bloodline

It could be hard for Vince McMahon to let go of his company to someone outside his bloodline.

Promoting is in the McMahon blood. Vince’s grandfather promoted mostly boxing, and his father famously headed what would become WWE before Vince took over and took the company national, and then worldwide. Stephanie and to a lesser extent Shane are waiting in the next generation, but Triple H appears to be the one positioned to take over booking, thus ending McMahon bloodline’s leadership over the product.

Of course, Helmsley has married into the McMahon family, and though his real legal last name remains Levesque, he is for all intents and purposes, a McMahon now. Nonetheless Vince is nothing if not a man of principle, and it is conceivable that, against all cooler heads and logics, he may still have some misgivings about permanently giving up his life’s work to someone only related to him by marriage.

#1 The prospect of selling WWE

As far fetched as it may seem, the prospect of someone other than Vince McMahon possibly selling the company he built may be too much for him to bear.

Rumors have sprouted up on a recurring basis that WWE leadership could conceivably sell off the company to a larger corporate entity like Disney or a major television network. Nothing concrete has emerged and the ideas are still abstract enough not to take them too seriously.

For now, though, Vince McMahon retains the rights to head off any sale or merger he wouldn’t feel comfortable with. It’s highly unlikely his successors would do anything rash or sell during McMahon’s lifetime. However, the sheer possibility that they could may be enough to further hold up McMahon from feeling comfortable about letting go of top dog status with WWE. If his life’s work were to be sold, surely he’d want to make that choice, not to mention profit from it. More likely, though, he would want to head off the company falling into any other hands after he worked so hard, for so long to build, evolve, and preserve it.