The ghost of Stamford past refuses to leave the locker room

If you have spent any time in the wrestling bubble lately, you have probably noticed that Vince McMahon is still the main character, even when he is nowhere near the Gorilla position. It is exhausting. Every week, some old head or a podcaster with an axe to grind pops up to tell us how much the business misses him. Latest case in point: JBL, who recently hopped on the Something to Wrestle podcast to claim that the business world is better with McMahon in it.

JBL’s take is predictable, but it highlights the weird disconnect between the current corporate structure under TKO and the remaining loyalists. As reported by WrestlingNews.co, the Hall of Famer remains steadfast in his defense, even while the legal situation surrounding McMahon and the company continues to spiral. It is the classic “he made me a millionaire” defense, ignoring the fact that the company is currently moving in a different direction legally and culturally.

The conspiracy theorists are out in full force

You cannot have a slow news cycle without Vince Russo throwing a wrench into the works. Russo is currently floating the theory that the WWE is somehow "clearing the field" in preparation for a secret McMahon comeback. Ringside News has chronicled his descent into this specific brand of fantasy booking, which frankly has zero basis in the current corporate reality of a publicly-traded entity answering to shareholders.

The sheer hubris of this narrative is laughable. Suggesting that a billion-dollar machine under TKO would hit the undo button on the most damaging controversy in its history just to satisfy a few nostalgia-blinded veterans is peak wrestling fan fiction. It is the kind of logic that usually ends with a character being kidnapped, which, funnily enough, Heidenreich actually pitched as a return angle involving McMahon. Sometimes truth is stranger than a mid-2000s lower-card storyline.

The human cost is not going away

While the old guard dreams of the Attitude Era, the real-world consequences of the lawsuit are active and painful. Janel Grant is still deep in the legal trenches, and the news that she is set to receive an advocacy award this September serves as a cold, hard reminder of why we are even having these conversations. This is not a work, and it is not a storyline you can pivot away from with a run-in.

We also have the quiet, boring logistical headaches. WWE just had to postpone its return to Charlotte, NC, which shows that even the touring schedule is not immune to the chaos rippling out of central office decisions. When you lose dates and have to manage PR disasters, it costs actual money—the kind of money that makes Russo and Coachman thinking they can demand a bidding war for their services look completely delusional.

Missing the point of the current product

The obsession with legacy figures like McMahon stunts the conversation about where the product is actually going today. We are watching a version of WWE that is leaner and, strictly speaking, more corporate. If you actually look at the metrics, the brand is functioning just fine without the guy who once thought kidnapping angles were the answer to declining ratings.

The fixation on "fixing" the company as if it is broken ignores the fact that business deals are happening and the audience is still eating it up. Expecting TKO to pivot back to a singular, flawed figurehead ignores everything we know about how modern media conglomerates operate. They are not looking for a savior; they are looking for risk mitigation.

The scorecard of bad ideas

  • Russo and Coachman claiming they are worth a bidding war.
  • JBL insisting the business is better with the guy currently under investigation.
  • Heidenreich’s pitch to kidnap the boss as a creative direction.

Ultimately, the McMahon era is a closed chapter, no matter how much the peanut gallery shouts from the cheap seats. The professional wrestling business has moved on, and you should too. It is time to stop looking for the shadow of the former boss every time a main event finish goes sideways or a city gets bumped from the tour schedule. The industry is evolving, and frankly, it is doing just fine without the baggage.