Vince McMahon has stepped back from his role as CEO and chairman of WWE due to misconduct allegations. And because of that, Netflix may cancel a documentary it has been working on about McMahon. According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, Netlfix could put the documentary on hold because it will portray McMahon as a hero.
“The other thing, too, is the television show, you know, the Netflix show that they’ve been working on,” Meltzer said as transcribed for Thirsty for News. “That changes a lot of the dynamic of that show, too, because the whole show is about portraying Vince McMahon as this babyface and Phil Mushnick and others as these giant heels out to get him for all the stuff in the 90s, and it was always a weird one to me, the trial and the Justice Department and everything like that.
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“With this hanging over Vince’s head, I don’t know that Netflix wants to put a show like that on the air. It’s kind of, even if Vince doesn’t have to leave with the sexual allegations and everything against him, that becomes a very tricky little thing there.” The Netflix documentary was first announced in November 2020 and will be produced by WWE and Bill Simons. At the time Meltzer reported that the documentary will be a multi-part series and set to be the highest budgeted in Netflix history.
On Friday, WWE announced McMahon has voluntarily stepped back from his role in WWE following an investigation by the company. A report from the Wall Street Journal said that multimillion-dollar hush money was paid by McMahon to women who allegedly had sexual relationships with him. WWE also announced that John Laurinaitis, head of talent relations, is also stepping down, and Stephanie McMahon will take over as interim CEO and chairwoman.
“WWE and its board of directors take all allegations of misconduct very seriously,” the firm said. “The independent directors of the board engaged independent legal counsel to assist them with an independent review. In addition, the special committee and WWE will work with an independent third party to conduct a comprehensive review of the company’s compliance program, HR function and overall culture.”
“I love this company and am committed to working with the independent directors to strengthen our culture and our company; it is extremely important to me that we have a safe and collaborative workplace,” Stephanie McMahon said. “I have committed to doing everything in my power to help the special committee complete its work, including marshaling the cooperation of the entire company to assist in the completion of the investigation and to implement its findings.”
