Roman Reigns Addresses Vince McMahon Retiring From WWE
Roman Reigns has given his first public comments on Vince McMahon’s decision to retire from WWE.
After returning to WWE at SummerSlam 2020, Roman Reigns has established himself as the biggest and most successful star in WWE.
Weeks after he returned and laid waste to Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman, Reigns captured the Universal Championship at Payback and his reign continues to this day. As of July 28th, 2022 he has held onto the title for 697 days, one of the longest WWE World Title runs in modern history.
At WrestleMania 38, Reigns went one step further, defeating Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship and becoming the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.
Reigns rose to the top of WWE – despite fans showing increasing hostility toward the star – thanks to the efforts of former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon who saw the Tribal Chief as the face of the company. As a result, Reigns is likely the last wrestling megastar McMahon created before his retirement.
Following a recent appearance on The Today Show, Roman Reigns signed autographs backstage while the assembled media tried to get a word with the WWE star. When asked about McMahon’s retirement, the Head of the Table said that he wished his former boss nothing but the best.
“I just wish him nothing but luck and happiness in the future. It’s been great.”
Vince McMahon announced his retirement as WWE CEO and Chairman on July 22nd. He has since been replaced by Stephanie McMahon who is now the Chairwoman of the Board and co-CEO alongside Nick Khan.
The shakeup continues with Triple H being named Head of both Creative and Talent Relations.
Vince McMahon’s departure comes amidst an investigation being held regarding allegations that he paid a former employee $3 million in “hush money” after the pair had an affair. More allegations have since been made public, including claims that McMahon paid four women more than $12 million across 16 years as part of similar agreements.
As the scandal deepened, it was announced that WWE will be reissuing financial statements for 2019, 2020, and 2021, as well as Q1 of 2022.
The move comes after the company uncovered payments worth $14.6 million made by McMahon that should have been recorded as business expenses.