After the shocking news that Vince McMahon was voluntarily stepping aside from his duties as WWE Chairman and CEO, and then the equally shocking news that he would be appearing on tonight’s SmackDown, the news is leaking out about his behavior and attitude at tonight’s taping.
PWInsider is reporting that McMahon’s behavior has been quite upbeat backstage, being seen “joking around” during the production meeting before the taping. He has been described as being in a “great mood” despite all the challenges of the past few days.
Nothing regarding the allegations has been addressed to the crew by McMahon. Rumors swirled over the last day that he would address the crew at some point, but that has not happened as of this writing.
During preshow meetings, which were described by several sources as “weird,” nothing was discussed about McMahon’s segment. This could have been done to prevent leaks.
WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis, who has also been embroiled in the investigation against McMahon by the WWE Board of Directors, is not in Minneapolis.
On early Friday morning, WWE announced that Vince McMahon would voluntarily step aside from his duties as Chairman and CEO while the board investigated misconduct allegations. The allegation is that McMahon agreed to pay a secret $3 million settlement to an employee with whom he had an affair. The investigation was started by the WWE Board in April and has since unearthed other nondisclosure agreements involving claims of misconduct by McMahon.
McMahon’s longtime lawyer, Jerry McDevitt, stated that the employee had not made any claims of harassment and that he paid the settlement using personal funds.
In the interim, Stephanie McMahon, who recently took a leave of absence from most of her WWE duties, will step into her father’s role as Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of WWE. Her father will retain his duties on WWE Creative.
Vince McMahon has stated, “I have pledged my complete cooperation to the investigation by the Special Committee, and I will do everything possible to support the investigation. I have also pledged to accept the findings and outcome of the investigation, whatever they are.”
We will have live coverage of Friday Night SmackDown at 8 pm Eastern/7 Central.