Following the filing of a new lawsuit accusing him of sexually assaulting and trafficking a former WWE employee, Vince McMahon resigned from his role as TKO Group Holdings’ chairman on Friday.
But if McMahon’s departure from the company is anything like his first “retirement,” the WWE founder will still find a way to be involved in the company, according to one of its former stars.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Ronda Rousey weighed in on McMahon’s high profile departure. In doing so, the former UFC megastar-turned-WWE superstar said that as long as executive director Bruce Prichard is still involved in the company, then so is McMahon.
“Bruce Prichard is basically Vince’s avatar, if he’s still around Vince still has a hand in the business,” Rousey wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Vince was still running things through Bruce when he was ‘gone’ before.”
Bruce Prichard is basically Vince’s avatar, if he’s still around Vince still has a hand in the business. Vince was still running things through Bruce when he was “gone” before
— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) January 27, 2024
Following her retirement from UFC in 2016, Rousey debuted in WWE at the 2018 Royal Rumble event and enjoyed a year-long run in the company before returning to WWE for another stint from 2022-2023. In the midst of her second run with the company, McMahon took a leave of absence and temporarily retired following several allegations of sexual misconduct before executing a Succession-like powerplay to return to the company with the intent of executing a sale.
If Rousey is to be believed, however, then McMahon was never truly absent from WWE in the time between his retirement in July 2022 and his return in January 2023. But while McMahon’s stock ownership gave him a path back into WWE — despite its board’s objections — it’s unlikely that he would have an avenue to return to TKO, the parent company formed by WWE’s merger with UFC.
Nevertheless, when coupled with the allegations in the lawsuit, Rousey’s comments about Prichard raise questions regarding how much the executive director (and other WWE employees) knew about the horrific behavior McMahon has been accused of. While McMahon might be finished with the company once and for all, the fallout from this week’s lawsuit is likely only getting started.
