WWE Was A “Mess” During Vince McMahon 2023 Return

A former WWE star has looked back on working for Vince McMahon.

At SummerSlam 2023, Ronda Rousey left WWE for a second time, with her relationship with fans largely broken. The star made her return at the 2022 Royal Rumble, but her second run failed to live up to the promise of her first, which ended at WrestleMania 35.

By the time her final match with Shayna Baszler rolled around, many fans felt that Rousey had fallen out with the industry, while she’s since revealed that she’d run out of patience with the politics backstage. This, combined with her desire to have more children, led her to walk away.

During a wide-ranging new interview with Bert Kreischer, Rousey reflected on her life and career to date, including her two spells with WWE. However, she reiterated that it’s highly unlikely there will be a third.

“Probably not going to be going back. I’m grateful for the experience, but it’s not my circus, not my monkeys.”

Ronda Rousey Delivers Damning Vince McMahon Verdict

During the conversation, Rousey also lifted the lid on what it was like working for Vince McMahon during his return in 2023 after “retiring” in July 2022. His departure came after it was reported that he’d paid almost $20 million to several women to hide allegations of sexual misconduct.

After forcing his way back onto the Board of Directors, McMahon began to get involved in creative once again, seemingly undercutting many of the changes made under Triple H. Meanwhile, he was also working behind the scenes to secure the sale of the company.

Reflecting on this period, Rousey said the creative department was constantly seeking McMahon’s approval, and that created a “mess” behind the scenes.

“The first time? I was like, ‘Oh, yeah. This is, I’ll do it even better the next time.’ And then yeah, when I went back [to WWE], it was kind of like the death throes of the Vince McMahon era. It was when he was still around, but kind of like, not really.

And then like, it was just all this indecision, and everyone’s kind of frozen because they didn’t want to move without his permission, but they couldn’t get it. It was just a mess.”

Rousey added that by that stage, McMahon largely didn’t care how successful WWE was; he was only focused on regaining and exerting his control over others.

“And I think Vince didn’t really care about how successful the company was or how much money he was making. He cared about how much influence he had on other people culturally. And so he was trying to impress his viewpoint of the world on everybody else through that. The bottom line be damned.”

Vince McMahon’s second tenure with WWE came to an end in January 2024 after he was named as a defendant in a sex trafficking lawsuit filed by former employee Janel Grant.

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H/t to WretlingNews.Co