Update On Whether Vince McMahon Is In Memphis For Tonight's WWE SmackDown
With the news surfacing today that Vince McMahon has officially returned to WWE, there has been a fair amount of curiosity as to whether or not he might make his presence felt this evening by being in attendance for tonight's "WWE SmackDown" in Memphis, Tennessee. But according to PWInsider, there have been no signals that McMahon would show up nor have there been any indications that he's even been around the offices at Titan Tower — the headquarters of WWE — in Stamford, Connecticut.
McMahon had stepped back from all his roles in WWE with an announced retirement in July of last year, following allegations of sexual misconduct and hush money payments, which led to an internal investigation. His daughter Stephanie stepped into the role of co-CEO along with Nick Khan, and it was his son-in-law Paul "Triple H" Levesque who took the reins on WWE creative, which had been one of McMahon's primary focuses in the past. There has been some concern as to whether or not McMahon would re-insert himself back into those operations of the company in coming back, especially after a number of previously released talent were brought back into the fold and the creative direction of WWE's weekly programming has shifted overall into a fresher presentation. A recent report indicated that there was concern in the locker room about what was then just a hypothetical McMahon return with one talent fearing a "roster uproar" if McMahon were to take a primary role in creative again.
A WWE employee meeting was called for this afternoon to address this developing situation. Talent is not involved, but it's be safe to assume this will come up backstage at "SmackDown" in some capacity.