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When news broke via the Wall Street Journal that the allegations levied at Vince McMahon had expanded out considerably, with the total financial figure growing to $12 million and the interactions that warranted such lofty buyouts not all being of a consensual nature, it felt like yet another inflection point in the final chapter of a very consequential era of WWE history.
Seemingly the entire internet turned against Mr. McMahon, with even some of his staunchest defenders turning their backs on the 76-year-old former Chairman of the Board and it felt like it was only a matter of time before something broke in regards to his future one way or another, as very few CEOs can weather such salacious selections of their personal history being brought to light.
But when 8 pm EST rolled around and WWE failed to make an announcement on the matter, it felt like only a matter of time before McMahon ended up on Fox channels the country over in the hopes of reshaping his perception or at least embracing the cheers of his fans one final time. I mean why not, right? McMahon did it after the first round of allegations – multiple times actually – and very few fans expected a newfound reservation from a man who is currently in trouble for being anything but.
… except that didn't happen either. No, SmackDown came and went and despite multiple opportunities to hit “No Chance In Hell” on the soundboard and parade out to the ring, McMahon opted against it, instead running a relatively normal episode of the show with the biggest complaints coming from the return of Max Dupri's Maximum Male Models, who were practically booed out of the building the week before.
Has Mr. McMahon changed his ways, or are things becoming a bit too real for even the greatest showman in the squared circle to maintain a business-as-usual mantra?
Vince McMahon can't afford to fight his current allegations on WWE television.
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The first round of allegations against Vince McMahon should have been enough to keep him off of television until the independent investigation being conducted by the WWE Board of Trustees was completed. He did a bad thing, multiple actually, and if he wasn't the long-time owner of the company it likely would have been the end of things right then and there.
But from McMahon's standpoint, it made just a little bit of sense to act definitely in the face of impending doom; his interactions were consensual, the money paid out was his, and even if what he did was wrong, that doesn't make it illegal when done between consenting adults.
These new allegations, however, are much harder to weather from a position of strength, as they present clear wrongdoing on the part of McMahon, with Stephanie's father reportedly leaving a few careers in ruin along the way. Going on camera now, with any chirpings of “boys will be boys” officially choked out like a flame under a mason jar, would simply serve as a way to definitely rub his power into peoples' faces while they sit at home looking for some escapist entertainment.
Whether that decision was Vince McMahon's, Stephanie McMahon's, or someone like Nick Khan's, it was the right decision for now and for the foreseeable future, at least until the independent investigation either vindicates Vincent James McMahon's son or holds him accountable for the actions he chose to partake in during his unchecked run as the most powerful man at Titan Towers.
