The Janel Grant lawsuit becoming public was a PR nightmare for WWE and TKO. Although Vince McMahon had already retired a year earlier, he kept trying to creep his way back into the company he had built. Things reached a breaking point earlier this year, and the cooperation cut all ties with him.
However, it appears that TKO president Mark Shapiro still has some personal connection with the former chairman. Speaking to CNBC, Shapiro revealed having breakfast with McMahon just a few weeks ago before the interview. It had been a long time since the company had heard from him, and he wanted to check up on the 79-year-old after the Netflix documentary about his life came out.
He was apparently fully professional during their conversation, cooperative, and kind. Despite their pleasant get-together, Shapiro made it clear that McMahon was fully out of the company. He does not make any executive decisions and is not on the board of directors.
However, he is still a shareholder in the company. McMahon does not hold the same position that he held a few years ago, as he has sold millions of dollars of TKO stock over the past year. Despite the rift between the 1999 Royal Rumble winner and his company, he still seems positive about its future.
I had breakfast with him a few weeks ago. Just to check in, been a long time, haven’t heard from him at all. Obviously the series on Netflix came out.
I wanted to see kind of where he was. Mark Shapiro on CNBCTKO President and COO Mark Shapiro recently met with Vince McMahon, who he says “couldn’t have been more positive” about the direction of WWE:”I had breakfast with him a few weeks ago. Just to check in, been a long time, haven’t heard from him at all.
Obviously the series on… pic. twitter. com/UWC7nqlZAl— WrestleTalk (@WrestleTalk_TV) November 7, 2024RELATED(Video) Current WWE champion gifts Tiffany Stratton a new customized title after stealing it from a fanShapiro’s revelation of this conversation was quite surprising, as he had previously stated that no one from the company, including him, talks to McMahon any longer.
Just a few months later, Shapiro confessed to sharing a meal with him. Regardless, it is nice to see that he has still kept his word about keeping Vinnie Mac out of the company. Vince Russo theorizes that Bruce Prichard was Vince McMahon’s spy in TKOBruce Prichard is a wrestling veteran who has been in the industry for nearly fifty years.
Initially a wrestler, he transitioned into a manager and would eventually go on to take more backstage roles. Prichard had a long-standing relationship with Vince McMahon and was one of the closest people to him in the company. Bruce Prichard and Vince McMahon (via WWE)The relationship between these two has raised quite some suspicions, especially from Vince Russo.
Speaking on Wrestling with the Devil, the former WWE writer said that Prichard was a loyal soldier to McMahon. One would think that as soon as the former chairman was kicked out of the company, he would take his ball and go home as well. After all, this is what people like Kevin Dunn had already done.
There’s a part of me like for Bruce to not do that and to still have a job there is the reason he still has a job there is because to this day he is Vince’s informant and still letting Vince know everything that’s going on in that company. Vince Russo on Wrestling with the DevilThus, Russo speculated that the only reason he is sticking with the company is so that he can be an informant for McMahon. In 2019, Bruce Prichard was promoted to lead both the Raw and SmackDown writing teams.
At that time, it was speculated that he held the most power in the company after Vinnie Mac himself. RELATEDFormer WWE champion accuses “COMMUNIST” Tony Khan of threatening his job over Donald Trump support
