January 27, 2024 @ 3:10 PM
According to Ronda Rousey, Vince McMahon’s still got his fingers in the business of WWE, even following his resignation on Friday from parent company TKO Group Holdings after he was sued for allegedly sexual assaulting and trafficking a former WWE employee.
“Bruce Prichard is basically Vince’s avatar,” Rousey wrote on X (formerly Twitter). The former UFC champion spent several years wrestling for WWE before leaving the company and continuing to wrestle on smaller independent shows. Prichard is the executive director of WWE’s creative team, overseeing the writing of its television programs.
“If he’s still around Vince still has a hand in the business,” Rousey continued. “Vince was still running things through Bruce when he was ‘gone’ before.”
McMahon was previously forced out of his role as WWE chairman and CEO in 2022 after news broke that he had paid settlements of millions of dollars to multiple women, with his daughter Stephanie stepping in as chairwoman co-CEO with executive Nick Khan.
However, McMahon was able to return due to his majority ownership in the company and engineered a merger between WWE and UFC, creating TKO Group Holdings under the ownership of Hollywood agency Endeavor. The company was cofounded by McMahon and Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel.
It is unclear if McMahon could return once again, though he doesn’t hold the same influence behind the scenes and on the company’s board as he once did. He continues to hold around 11% of TKO Group’s stock.
WWE is set to hold one of its biggest events of the year, the Royal Rumble, on Saturday night. McMahon’s resignation came after sponsor Slim Jim paused its advertising, but the company has since announced that it has returned to sponsoring the Royal Rumble given McMahon’s departure.
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