[WWE boss Vince McMahon "stepping aside"
while misconduct allegations are investigated
Vince McMahon is "stepping back from duties" as CEO
of the wrestling and entertainment company WWE,
while allegations of misconduct against him
are investigated. His daughter Stephanie McMahon
will step in as interim CEO.]
Literally will use anything for ratings it’s shocking.
Including this:
Quote:
Vince Crosses the Line (Not the TNA One)
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Vince McMahon's profile 2-Disc DVD (simply titled, McMahon) provided an in-depth look at the WWE owner in real life when it was released back in 2006. In fact, decent as the overall DVD was, we may have been given too much of a glimpse into the real life Vince and his legendary eccentricities over the course of the two-hour documentary that accompanied Vince's best matches and moments. Indeed, for what was essentially a vanity project that aimed at presenting Vince in the best light possible, most viewers would have come away from this thinking Vince was a very strange guy indeed.
So, what was the problem? Well, in between all the cute family stories, lavish praise from the wrestlers interviewed and the general crooning about how “Vince turned the business around,” a bomb is dropped when the subject of Stephanie McMahon's real-life pregnancy comes up.
In a sit down interview filmed exclusively for the DVD, Stephanie, who was at that point pregnant with her and husband HHH's first child, tells a story about how Vince called her into his office one day and told her he planned to write her condition into the storylines. Not so bad, you're thinking, right?
Well, the story Vince proposed involved revealing incest within the McMahon family, and ultimately claiming on screen that he was the father of Stephanie's child! Stephanie was understandably repulsed and turned the storyline down right there on the spot. “I don't know who would find entertainment in a storyline like that,” she notes on the DVD.
Did his daughter's firm rejection snap some sense into Vince? Er, no. Vince was undeterred, and quickly suggested Stephanie's brother, Shane, be revealed as the father instead. Stephanie wisely turned that one down, too.
This raises several troubling questions. Did Vince really think a demented storyline like that would be suitable for Raw? Did he not understand why the idea was so unacceptable to Stephanie? Besides the issues of taste, what about the teasing his granddaughter would surely get in school in a few years about such a high-profile angle? Stephanie has gotten her fair share of criticism for her role as head writer in WWE, but turning down this storyline is surely one of the smartest things she's ever done.
Interestingly, whoever was editing this DVD didn't realize how badly this whole thing made Vince look, and elected to keep it in the feature. Maybe the most puzzling thing of all.
But even he didn't like this idea below:
Spoiler:
Baron Von Bava
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As I've shown, Vince McMahon has come up with some crude, distasteful angles in his time, and also given serious consideration to other people’s downright bizarre ideas that most sane people would throw out without a second thought. The man must be impossible to shock, right?
Well, WWE writer Dan Madigan (who also penned gross-out horror See No Evil for WWE Films) found a way. Speaking to Powerslam Magazine in 2008, Madigan spoke about his stint in the company and revealed that he pitched an idea in spring of 2004 that had stunned Vince into silence—and swiftly ended his promising WWE career.
In one creative meeting with Vince, Stephanie and the rest of the writers, Madigan revealed that he had excitedly stood up and explained to everyone what he thought was one of the best creative ideas he had ever came up with: Baron von Bava, a frozen Nazi storm trooper from 1940s Germany who thawed out in 2004 to spread terror and mayhem wherever he went.
Madigan explained that the panicked, desperate Nazi scientists, realizing they were losing the war, had frozen and preserved one of their best soldiers in order to ensure their legacy for a future generation. A freshly thawed out Bava would know little of the modern world and would not realize why his Nazi behaviour was seen as so wrong.
The concept of a Nazi cyborg on a pro-wrestling show couldn't get any more offensive, surely? Well, actually, yes, it could. Madigan then explained: “To make the story even more insane, I wanted Paul Heyman, a Jewish New Yorker, to be the one to revive the baron and bring him to Smackdown to be his manager. I thought it would be a scream to have Paul E. come down to the ring and introduce Baron von Bava, only to have the Baron come down to the ring goose-stepping and wearing the red Swastika around his biceps.”
At this point, Madigan admitted that he actually started goose-stepping in front of Vince and all the writers to show how the gimmick would work in practice.
When Madigan finished explaining the concept to everyone, he sat down and felt extremely proud, feeling he had just pitched the idea of his life (“In my mind, this idea worked out well,” he told Powerslam. “After the Katie Vick angle, I figured I could write anything for these guys.”)
Then he noticed that no one around him was saying anything—they had been stunned into silence. He looked over at a speechless Vince, who was possibly the most shocked out of everyone. After a long, depressed silence, the WWE owner, still not uttering a word and wearing the same stunned look, carefully picked up his jacket and briefcase and calmly walked out of the room, not to be seen again for the rest of the day. (“Well, that's a first,” Madigan recalled Ed Koskey saying shortly after Vince walked out.)
Another writer, speaking to the magazine for the piece, noted the severe damage this pitch had done to Madigan’s WWE career: “From that day forward, Dan was a marked man, his ideas were cast aside and not even judged.” Unsurprisingly, Madigan was gone from the company by November 2004.
Word backstage at SD! Seems to be that the rumours are true and it’s correct that Sasha Banks has indeed been released by WWE. TBR officially (future endeavoured).
Five Different Law Firms Investigating WWE On Behalf Of Investors
By Ross Berman |June 21, 2022
WWE is officially under the microscope.
After news broke that the WWE board of directors were investigating hush money payments made by Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon to cover up allegations of misconduct, both by former employees and by McMahon himself, a law firm announced it was investigating WWE on behalf of investors, looking into whether or not WWE violated securities laws. As of today, four other law firms have begun their own similar investigations. While none of these have yet gone far enough to be classified a “class” in a class action lawsuit, they are the preparatory stages for such a case. All of the investigations were announced through Business Wire.
Some of the investigations require investors that have lost a certain amount of money, while others only require investors to either have suffered losses from WWE stock or to currently own WWE stock. All share the same general purpose, to determine whether WWE mismanaged the company or neglected their fiduciary duties in a way that could be considered harmful to shareholders.
The issues began last week, when The Wall Street Journal announced that the WWE board of directors had been investigating the payments since April — one of which was allegedly paid out to silence a female employee with whom McMahon had had an affair. This led to the announcement that McMahon would step down from his corporate duties, while still overseeing the company’s creative direction. McMahon’s daughter Stephanie has stepped in as interim Chairwoman & CEO.
Despite WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis being put on administrative leave after being named in the board’s investigation, McMahon — the central figure of the investigation — remains on WWE television, making appearances on “WWE Smackdown” and last night’s episode of “Monday Night Raw.”
Two More Law Firms Investigating WWE
By Ross Berman |June 23, 2022
To paraphrase Smash Mouth, the investigations keep coming, and they don’t stop coming.
Following news of five different law firms investigating the company, two more have now announced they’ll be looking into WWE’s handling of fiduciary responsibilities to investors in the build up to, and fallout from, a bombshell report from the Wall Street Journal detailing an investigation by WWE’s own board of directors into hush money payments made by chairman & CEO Vince McMahon. The news has had a dramatic effect on WWE’s stock price, leading to the investigations on behalf of long-term WWE shareholders, who feel the company’s actions were not in the best interest of investors.
Like the other five companies, Pomerantz Law Firm and Moore Kuehn, PLLC will both look into whether WWE breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders, committed securities fraud, or engaged in other unlawful business practices. If proper evidence is found in the investigation, a class action law suit could be formed on behalf of investors, but no investigation has been officially designated a “class” as of publication.
An investigation into January 2022 Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) between McMahon and a former WWE paralegal led to the discovery of numerous NDAs between McMahon and former female employees alleging misconduct. WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis was also named in the WWE board’s investigation. McMahon has since stepped down from his corporate duties while maintaining control over the company’s creative direction. Laurinaitis has been placed on administrative leave.
Since news of the investigations broke, McMahon has made appearances on both “WWE SmackDown” and “WWE Raw.” The 76-year old executive did not address any allegations or the investigations on-screen or backstage, where he was said to be in a jovial mood despite the situation.
17-06-2022, 12:42 PM
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