Vince McMahon, John Cena, HHH, Donald Trump, Roman Reigns, WrestleMania Vince McMahon, John Cena, HHH, Donald Trump, Roman Reigns, WrestleMania
WWEBy Matt Yoder on

WrestleMania is the biggest showcase of the WWE’s year. In recent years, it has grown to become a mainstream cultural event as the pro wrestling company has seen its best run since the famed Attitude Era.

But at a time when WWE should be building towards its biggest show of the year, its biggest stars are busy cursing out fans and praising Donald Trump and Vince McMahon.

Is Vince Russo booking this?

WWE has been riding a wave of positive momentum and energy in recent years. Their new deal with Netflix is expanding WWE Raw’s global audience. Premium live events are doing better than ever on Peacock. Gate records continue to be smashed, and weekly shows play to sellout audiences. And critically speaking, the storytelling of the product has arguably never been better. From the Bloodline saga to Cody Rhodes’ championship run and John Cena’s heel turn, WWE is on an incredible creative run. Sure, the overall storyline leading up to this year’s WrestleMania has its critics, but there is no doubt about WWE’s overall success.

That’s why the words of WWE’s most prominent figures this week in the lead-up to WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas have been so puzzling. Instead of building as wide a tent as possible and getting hardcores and casuals alike excited about the event, this week has been marred by controversial remarks of their own making.

It began with WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque taking to WWE’s social channels to deride the online wrestling community and its critics within the industry. HHH said with no hesitation that critics should “f*ck off.”

Professional wrestling has long existed in its own universe. But WWE, more than anyone, has embraced pulling back the curtain with behind-the-scenes documentaries, press conferences, and many other things that, years ago, would have been accused of exposing the business. We’re a loooong way from David Schultz slapping John Stossel for saying wrestling was fake.

It was a weird move from HHH and struck the exact wrong tone that WWE should be sending in the lead-up to WrestleMania. However, Levesque apparently felt incredibly strongly about correcting people’s misconceptions that he had to say something to divert attention away from the event and onto himself, thereby engaging in a fight that nobody else was involved in.

Not to be outdone, WWE CEO Nick Khan fired shots at competitor AEW in an interview with Bill Simmons. WWE has been lapping AEW creatively and in a business sense for the last few years. While AEW’s Tony Khan has taken his fair share of shots at Nick Khan and WWE, the comments about wrestlers jumping ship to WWE again took the attention away from WWE’s own event.

Then there were the comments in two huge mainstream profiles by two WrestleMania main eventers that made Levesque and Khan’s remarks pale in comparison.

First came former WWE champion Roman Reigns in a Vanity Fair feature. He will main event night one of WrestleMania 41 in a triple-threat match against CM Punk and Seth Rollins. While it was rare to see Reigns in such a light, it seemed like laying the groundwork for a career after wrestling.

Reigns also discussed politics for the first time, stating that although he is a registered Democrat, he implied that he voted for Donald Trump.

Anoa’i is a registered Democrat, but he considers himself a centrist. In the most recent election, however, he says the choice was “very clear.”

“One person was giving us information. One person was answering questions, so it wasn’t that hard,” he says.

When I ask if that means that he backed Trump, Anoa’i pauses for a few seconds.

“I support our president. Trump is one of those guys where he’s got a vast history and a huge background. He’s been in entertainment. He’s been in big business, politics,” Anoa’i says. “At this point, I’m supporting a bright future for our country. Positive and competent leadership. For us to be what we’re supposed to be—to be a world leader and carry that respect and do what a world power like us should be doing.”

There’s nothing more polarizing in today’s America than talking politics. And although it’s no surprise to see a WWE wrestler supporting Donald Trump (the Undertaker famously had him on his podcast in the lead-up to last year’s Presidential election) the fact that it came now of all times once again has taken the focus away from WrestleMania and onto WWE’s increasingly close relationship with Trump and the current administration.

Deepening ties between WWE and Donald Trump come as no shock. Trump hosted two WrestleManias in the 1980s and was a central storyline figure in another. Linda McMahon is the current Secretary of Education, although she is trying to carry out Trump’s order to turn the department into a Vince McMahon limousine. When you add in Trump’s love affair with UFC and Dana White, the WWE’s relationship with the Saudi Arabian government, and it all happening under a broader TKO umbrella, there are a lot of political pieces that align.

Perhaps even more controversial than Reigns dipping his toes into politics was what John Cena said in a New York Times profile. Cena has been the ultimate company man for WWE and a model citizen. His shocking heel turn has perfectly set up the main event of night two against WWE champion Cody Rhodes. But his praise of disgraced former WWE chairman Vince McMahon to the Times might make that heel turn hit a little too close to home.

“I don’t care who hears it: I love Vince,” Cena said. “I’m not downplaying anything that needs to be decided or allegations of any kind, but when I love somebody, I love them wholeheartedly.” He added, “I know people are going to be angry about that, but they can’t put their value on my relationship with somebody I love.”

John Cena knew that praising Vince McMahon would not be well received, and yet he chose to share that sentiment anyway. For someone who has always been viewed positively for his work outside the ring, it is a strange choice that comes at the worst possible moment.

In the aftermath of the Cena profile piece being published, WWE PR began trending on X due to the flood of controversies created by its central figures during WrestleMania week, leaving fans and wrestling journalists in disbelief over everything they had seen coming from the company. If only we could just leave it at Cody Rhodes inviting Stephen A. Smith to be in his corner at WrestleMania.

You can go through the annals of wrestling history to find scores of moments when the industry has not been exactly culturally sensitive. But ever since Vince McMahon’s departure, WWE has taken a clever turn into a much more culturally aware space.

However, this week has seen the company take a backwards step into an insular time of circling the wagons and painting outsiders as the problem. Instead of the focus being on WrestleMania 41 with a stacked card and unpredictable outcomes, now wrestling fans are caught in debates about Vince McMahon and Donald Trump. Given all the progress WWE has made in recent years to become more mainstream and popular, this week’s comments from HHH, Reigns, and Cena have created distractions. And it’s taken away from all the other WWE media appearances that have gone according to plan.

WrestleMania 41 will take place Saturday and Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. And WWE has to be thankful that time is running out on the build to the show.

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