Backstage report surrounding WWE board’s investigation into Vince McMahon

There has been an update on WWE's Board of Directors investigation into alleged misconduct by Vince McMahon last year.

Vince McMahon resigned as the CEO of WWE on July 22, 2022. The 77-year-old stated his age as the reason for his departure in a tweet announcing that he would be stepping away. WWE's Board of Directors formed a special committee to investigate alleged hush money payments made to former female employees, which concluded last November.

In January 2023, Vince was unanimously elected as the new Chairman of the Board. His return coincided with his daughter, Stephanie McMahon, announcing her exit from the company.

According to a new SEC filing, Vince McMahon has now reimbursed WWE an amount of $17.4 million to cover the costs of the sexual misconduct investigation against him.

Below is an excerpt from the filing:

On March 20, 2023, World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (the “Company”) entered into a reimbursement agreement (the “Agreement”) with Vincent K. McMahon, the Company’s Executive Chairman, director and controlling stockholder. The Agreement provides that Mr. McMahon will pay the Company approximately $17.4 million to reimburse the Company for the costs that have been incurred and paid by the Company and/or its subsidiaries, through January 31, 2023, in connection with and/or arising from the investigation conducted by a special committee of the Company’s board of directors, related revisions to the Company’s financial statements and other related matters. Such payment was made on March 23, 2023.

WWE veteran claims SmackDown was awful when Vince McMahon was in charge

Former WWE manager Dutch Mantell recently claimed that SmackDown wasn't an entertaining show when Vince McMahon was in charge.

Following Vince's resignation from the company last year, Triple H was named WWE's Chief Content Officer. The Game took over creative responsibility for the company and brought back several released stars along the way. Wrestling fans have seemingly gotten behind Triple H's vision for the product and there is currently an incredible amount of excitement heading into this year's WrestleMania.

Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's SmackTalk show, Mantell praised the blue brand and noted that the show witnessed improvement once Vince McMahon was out of the picture.

"We watched SmackDown. It was awful when he was in charge and then when he left, the show slowly, increasingly improved. It got better. When people say it's Vince; not it's not Vince. It was without Vince. So when they actually got some fresh ideas in there; now the show is running on its own power right now," said Dutch Mantell. (3:54 - 4:28)

You can check out the full episode of SmackTalk in the video below.

Triple H is still currently serving as the company's Chief Content Officer after Vince McMahon's return. Time will tell if a power struggle will emerge as the promotion prepares for upcoming media rights negotiations and a potential sale of the company.

Do you enjoy the product more with Triple H in charge of creative? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.