Vince McMahon retired from WWE in a sudden announcement on Friday, July 22nd, ending the era of WWE that many thought still had years, decades even, to go. His decision was met with an outpouring of emotion as the wrestling world bid farewell to the sports entertainment juggernaut.
Since his departure, there has been a noticeably different WWE compared to when he was at the helm of the ship. With the company now being run by Stephanie McMahon, Nick Khan, and Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque, WWE has almost completely transformed.
Vince McMahon, to the surprise of many, has indeed stayed away and enjoyed retirement as peacefully as he can, given the circumstances at the time of his exit.
Legendary Referee Mike Chioda Wants To See A Vince McMahon Return
Mike Chioda, an iconic wrestling official known for his over three-decade run in WWE, believes Vince McMahon should return for an official goodbye. The ex-Chairman and CEO hasn’t appeared on WWE programming since before his retirement and given his generally low profile, he may want to keep it that way.
Speaking on his Monday Mailbag With Mike Chioda show, the ex-WWE senior official declared it was “sad” that Vince is yet to be given the farewell Chioda feels he deserves, before insisting that McMahon will one day return:
“I’m sure he’ll come back, hopefully in another year or so or maybe next year at WrestleMania. Give it a little bit of time and then hopefully he gets the right send-off he deserves for running a major company and employing people like myself for 35 years.”
At the time of Vince McMahon’s retirement, he was under investigation for having allegedly issued hush money payments worth over $13 million to former female employees he’d reportedly been having affairs with. The initial announcement, which came via the Wall Street Journal, resulted in a temporary change to WWE’s management structure.
Vince has kept out of the spotlight since retiring, only being spotted while celebrating his 77th birthday at the end of August.