WWE States Vince McMahon's Departure Could 'Adversely Affect' Their Ability To 'Create Popular Characters And Creative Storylines'

WWE are seemingly being cautious following Vince McMahon's resignation as CEO and chairman on July 22.

Within a 10-Q quarterly report, WWE stated: "The resignation of Vincent K. McMahon could adversely affect our ability to create popular characters and creative storylines or could otherwise adversely affect our operating results."

McMahon resigned amidst a WWE board investigation into allegations of hush money and sexual misconduct between 2006 and 2022. So far, the investigation has uncovered $19.6 million in unrecorded payments from McMahon although not all of the funds are believed to have been paid in relation to nondisclosure agreements. McMahon's resignation was reportedly hastened by federal prosecutors and the SEC opening their own investigations into the hush payments. 

WWE also noted within the 10-Q filing that the Board's investigation is "substantially complete" and the company estimated they will spend around $11.7 million this year on carrying it out. 

Following McMahon's resignation, WWE appointed Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan as Co-CEOs. Paul 'Triple H' Levesque is also the new head of WWE creative. Several changes have been made to WWE TV in the weeks since Triple H took over, with 'wrestling' and other terms having been unbanned. Several released talents have also been brought back, including Dakota Kai, Dexter Lumis, Karrion Kross, Scarlett, and Hit Row.