Vince McMahon may be a lot of things but being known to tuck his tail and run is not one of them. Despite the litany of allegations against him regarding his behind-the-scenes behavior, the newly re-minted Executive Chairman of the WWE Board of Directors reportedly returned to WWE’s backstage area this past Monday night at Raw. His return comes a little over a month since his settlement with Rita Chatterton, a former WWE referee who accused him of rape.
According to reports from Fightful, McMahon was seen backstage at Raw this past Monday in the influential Gorilla position. He was said to be friendly, saying hello to a lot of people, and the word going around seemed to be that he was there to visit John Cena.
It was also noted that McMahon was sporting dyed hair and a “little mustache,” which some within the company compared to a Gomez Addams of The Addams Family-type look. A person who has been with WWE for more than twenty years went on to note that the change in McMahon’s look was more drastic than when he had gotten his head shaved in the infamous Donald Trump angle.
McMahon’s return to the backstage area does not appear to have come as much of a shock to most of the WWE locker room. Many talents that have been skeptical McMahon was gone for good double-downed on those sentiments once he reappeared on Monday. With that said, there is still some uncertainty regarding how involved McMahon will be with the WWE day-to-day going forward. One talent reportedly quipped that whether McMahon appears on Smackdown will be “the big tell.”
WWE staff were said to be as surprised to see McMahon return as the talent. No one was briefed ahead of time that McMahon would be in attendance, including several of the higher-ups within the company. One of those higher-ups noted to Fightful that they feel this was a way for McMahon to “test the waters” in regards to how people would react to him popping up at WWE events. The impression seems to be that McMahon will be at more going forward.
Stay with Haus Of Wrestling for all the latest regarding Vince McMahon’s backstage return to WWE.