WWE HOFer Has New Nickname For Vince McMahon Amid News Of Return

The news of Vince McMahon's plans to return to WWE as its Executive Chairman has sent shockwaves across social media, with celebrities, athletes and wrestlers sharing their two cents on the developing story. WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff had a rather interesting reaction, too, as he seemingly compared McMahon's actions to that of a cut-throat machiavellian. 

"McMahoniavellen," tweeted Bischoff. "You heard it here first. #StrictlyBusiness."

While the press release issued by McMahon Thursday suggests that the 77-year-old controlling shareholder of WWE has no intention of disrupting the company's day-to-day operations, the WSJ report that dropped a few hours prior to his statement paints a completely different picture, with many interpreting it as a case of McMahon holding his own company hostage. 

As per the WSJ story, McMahon told WWE's Board of Directors in December that he would not support any media rights deal or sale of the promotion unless he has direct involvement — or in other words, is not reinstated to the board. The story comes a month after McMahon reportedly approached WWE about a return to the company, but was rebuffed and told that his comeback would not be in the best interest of shareholders. 

Is Bischoff's new nickname for McMahon a fitting one? The term machiavellian was associated with followers of Niccolò Machiavelli, the Italian Renaissance philosopher who encouraged "the end justifies the means" behavior, especially among politicians, through his political treatise "The Prince" in the 1500s. The treatise also conveyed that "it is much safer to be feared than loved" and that a political ruler must "use whatever means necessary to gain power." Modern-day psychiatrists describe Machiavellianism as a personality trait that denotes manipulativeness, callousness and indifference to morality.

Meanwhile, Bischoff also reacted in real-time to the McMahon story via his "Strictly Business" podcast.