Although the word going around backstage at Monday’s WWE Raw was that Vince McMahon was there to visit John Cena, McMahon was in the Gorilla position all night during Raw. It’s been reported that the belief is there is more going on than WWE is letting on.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reported today that McMahon being at the show caused more of a stir online than he did in person among those at the show because talent felt that it was just a matter of time before he was backstage at a show following his return as the Executive Chairman of the WWE Board of Directors in January.
It was said McMahon’s “physical appearance that turned heads” because he had dyed his hair and had a small mustache, which several talent described as resembling that of Gomez Addams from The Addams Family.
His appearance at the event was heavily discussed. One person in WWE who has known McMahon for 20 years stated it was “more drastic and a shock than him getting his head shaved.”
Although several photos of McMahon and his new look have been going around online, no real ones have come out yet.
Fightful confirmed Dave Meltzer’s report about McMahon being in Gorilla position throughout the night and added that McMahon “was not shy about saying hello and greeting talent.”
None of the staff or talent said McMahon was giving orders or feedback to anyone they saw.
The wide talk among talent was McMahon came to that show because Cena was booked and to enjoy the show. This was a “ stark contrast to when Vince McMahon forced himself back into power in December, and there seemed to be panic” or when he would appear at TV events when the initial Wall Street Journal stories broke last summer and were met with disgust by the former CEO and Chairman.
One talent said, “the big tell will be if he’s at SmackDown.” Those at the show were not prepared for McMahon to be there and were not told in advance. Several higher-ups were also not told in advance, but one person said they wished they would’ve been clued in considering the circumstances of the last nine months.
A few wrestlers said they intentionally avoided associating with him even though they believed they might have to deal with him in the future.
One higher-up felt “this was also a case of McMahon testing the waters of showing his face at WWE events and how the talent and staff would react.”
This is just a snippet of the story. For complete details, please visit Fightful Select at Patreon.com/Fightful.
