Allegations Surrounding Vince McMahon Cloud WWE

WWE is defined by Vince McMahon. What does that mean moving forward?

Vince McMahon built the WWE into a global juggernaut. He is now casting a dark cloud over the entire organization.

News broke on Thursday that former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit against McMahon that alleges he sexually assaulted her, as well as sex trafficked her. A report in the Wall Street Journal detailed Grant’s suit, which is full of graphic, nonconsensual sexual activities that were allegedly forced upon her.

The statement from McMahon’s spokesperson–“This lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and a vindictive distortion of the truth. He will vigorously defend himself.”–indicates he is willing to fight the allegations. But if this is drawn out in legal proceedings, it could lead to an even uglier account of what transpired–and the people involved.

The landscape surrounding McMahon has also changed. Unlike prior controversies involving McMahon when he was the end-all, be-all force in WWE, that is no longer the case. McMahon is the TKO Holdings Group Executive Chairman, but like everyone else, he reports to CEO Ari Emanuel.

In regards to the latest allegations, a representative from TKO provided a statement to Variety:

“Mr. McMahon does not control TKO nor does he oversee the day-to-day operations of WWE. While this matter predates our TKO executive team’s tenure at the company, we take Ms. Grant’s horrific allegations very seriously and are addressing this matter internally.”

It will be telling how vigorously TKO defends McMahon. He no longer owns WWE. His ironclad contract does protect him financially, yet not politically. There are also lots of variables that this suit could bring to light–perhaps explaining why Stephanie McMahon willingly opted to exit the company when her father returned to power, or why John Laurinaitis was let go by WWE last August while Vince McMahon remained, as well as potentially other alarming elements in discovery.

Would McMahon ever resign from TKO as Executive Chairman? Given his past, that seems unlikely. Will there be a push from within to ensure that occurs? Time will tell, but that appears to be much more likely.

McMahon’s past in wrestling will never be forgotten. But his present with WWE appears bleak, and it is difficult to envision him having a future with the company.