Vince McMahon was the CEO of WWE for several years and ruled the company with an iron fist. Everything that went on in the company went through him, especially the scripts. McMahon is also getting a huge documentary soon. Vince McMahon recently celebrated his 77th birthday with his close friend John Cena.

It was his first outing since stepping down as WWE’s CEO and Chairman last month. The 16-time WWE champion John Cena and his wife Shay Shariatzadeh joined the 77-year-old billionaire at the Waverly Inn restaurant in New York City. TMZ obtained some photos and video from the outing.

Interestingly, as Vince got ready to get inside his sprinter van, a mystery woman was seen walking behind him. Linda, McMahon’s wife, was not present. You’ll remember that After the Wall Street Journal reported a few months ago that the WWE president had given several women “hush money” over the years, Vince quit and later formally retired.

After shocking the sports entertainment industry with his retirement announcement in mid-July, McMahon has kept a relatively quiet profile ever since. Vince tried to hide his face as he got into his car, giving the impression that he didn’t want to converse.

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In case you weren’t keeping track, Vince McMahon was busted in a massive hush money scandal within WWE. It was discovered that he paid millions of dollars over the past 16 years to various employees. The stories surrounding his offenses range from sending a dick pic to “coercing” oral sex from a female Superstar who later got a $3 million payment.

In SEC filings, WWE officially revealed that they have nearly completed their investigation on Vince McMahon. This is, of course, a process, but it also had the utmost priority within the company.

“On June 17, 2022,” the filing noted, “the Company and its Board of Directors announced that a special committee of independent members of the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Special Committee”) was formed to investigate alleged misconduct by the Company’s former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Vincent K. McMahon, who resigned from all positions held with the Company on July 22, 2022 but remains a stockholder with a controlling interest (“Mr. McMahon”), and another executive, who is also no longer with the Company.”

The filing went on to say that, “The findings of the investigation identified agreements executed by Mr. McMahon which were previously unknown to the Company. On July 25, 2002, the Company announced that it had determined that certain payments that Mr. McMahon agreed to make during the period from 2006 through 2022 (including amounts paid and payable in the future totaling $14.6 million) were not appropriately recorded as expenses in the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements. The Company subsequently identified two additional payments totaling $5.0 million, unrelated to the alleged misconduct by Mr. McMahon that led to the Special Committee investigation, that Mr. McMahon made in 2007 and 2009 that were not appropriately recorded as expenses in the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements. Together, these unrecorded expenses total $19.6 million (the “Unrecorded Expenses”). The Company has evaluated the Unrecorded Expenses and has determined that such amounts should have been recorded as expenses in each of the periods in which they became probable and estimable. All payments underlying the Unrecorded Expenses were or will be paid by Mr. McMahon personally. The Special Committee investigation is substantially complete.”

“Management evaluated the quantitative and qualitative impact of these accounting errors on the Company’s previously issued unaudited interim Consolidated Financial Statements included in the Original Filing and concluded that the errors were not material to its previously issued financial statements. The Company has determined that, while the amount of Unrecorded Expenses was not material in any individual period in which the Unrecorded Expenses arose, the aggregate amount of Unrecorded Expenses would be material if recorded entirely in the second quarter of 2022.”

Since Vince McMahon’s departure from WWE, Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan were appointed the new co-CEOs. Triple H, Vince’s son-in-law and Stephanie’s husband, took over WWE’s creative direction as leader of the company’s talent relations.

Since McMahon’s exit, Triple H has undone a lot of Vince’s decisions. He already brought back a slew of wrestlers that his father-in-law fired. We’re not sure if John Cena and Vince McMahon discussed any business during their dinner together, but it’s likely that Vince isn’t keen on hearing about how well received Triple H’s leadership is.

During the WWE tryouts before SummerSlam, Triple H even addressed the idea of filling Vince McMahon’s shoes in WWE. That is an impossible task, but he is more than game to take the responsibilities and focus on putting out the best product possible.

They’re a massive pair of shoes to fill, that I am trying in some way to step into, but I do not dream, for one second, that I fill those shoes by myself. It’s going to take a lot of us, it’s going to take a team, it’s going to take everybody here to fill those shoes and continue this on but we will. The intent is to continue the legacy of what has been going, what made me fall in love with the business that he created and take it to new levels, to take it beyond where it is now. The only way we’re going to do that is with a team.

Vince McMahon’s life has certainly been a fascinating one. Many would love to tell his story, but that doesn’t mean everything is roses when it comes to McMahon’s history. That being said, an unauthorized Vince McMahon documentary is on the way. Dave Meltzer confirmed this during a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, and it sounds like there’s nothing WWE or Vince McMahon can do to stop it.

The Vince one is one of the biggest stories of our lifetime… By the way, there’s a big doc about to be done on Vince. Not made by WWE, yeah. You don’t need wrestling footage, there’s so much news footage and there are million stories. There’s so much to that story.

When it comes to Cena, his career is skyrocketing. His roles in the Fast Franchise and DC Universe as the Peacemaker are making him a household name. If you add in the fact that his voice is also prominent in so many commercials in the form of voice-over work, his likeness and voice is literally everywhere. It’s very ironic that he gained his fame by declaring that we “can’t see” him.

Interestingly enough, Cena’s teases of a WWE return haven’t diminished. Every so often, he can carve out the time in his schedule. When he is usually asked about the subject, he is coy in his response. While speaking to Adam’s Apple recently, Cena admitted that a return around his 20-year anniversary with WWE could make sense.

I know in WWE years I turn 20 pretty soon, so that’s a pretty big thing. And from a pretty storied class of folks: Batista, Randy Orton, Brock [Lesnar] who kind of all turned 20 this year. I’m aware that that’s coming around the corner and who knows?

John Cena and Vince McMahon are obviously close. They have made a lot of money over the years, and Cena likely wouldn’t have an acting career in the first place if Vince McMahon didn’t give him the time off from WWE so many years ago.

Cena still shows up for WWE events, and he’s not done in the ring. The biggest problem is finding time in his busy schedule to return at all. It appears he was able to mark off one night on his schedule to have dinner with his former boss.

Since Cena and Vince have remained close over the years, it makes sense that the former WWE president would choose to celebrate his milestone birthday with the potential WWE Hall of Famer. Check out the photos from Vince’s public appearance below.

Are you expecting to see more of Vince McMahon’s public appearances? Sound off in the comments!

Gunjan Nath

In search of simplicity and inner peace, Gunjan is basically a guy soldiering through his paranoia. You could say Art, Witty/Dark Humor, Movies, Anime, Post-rock/Black Metal/Hip-Hop/Shoegaze Music, Football, Creative Writing, Photography, Videography are his forte. A Jack of All Trades and a Master of Many.

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