Vince McMahon indicates WWE’s succession plan doesn’t necessarily include his family members

During today’s interview on The Pat McAfee Show, Vince McMahon was asked about WWE’s succession plan and how much that topic is on his mind. McMahon is 76 years old, after all.

Here are Vince’s thoughts on the future of WWE:

McMahon: “No, I don’t think about it a lot. Hopefully, if you built something, hopefully you want it to continue on, and prosper and grow, whether that’s with a family member or without a family member...You have to be objective, and look at family members, whoever it is, just like you would other employees. And quite frankly, I probably have expected more out of my family members, which is probably not the right thing either.”

McAfee: “That’s gonna be a big deal right there, what you just said...”

McMahon: “But nonetheless, you have to do the right thing for the business. So if this person is not working out, then they shouldn’t be a part of the company.”

This quote is particularly interesting because the last couple years have seen WWE President Nick Khan grow a tremendous amount of power backstage.

That period also coincided with Triple H losing favor after NXT was easily beaten by AEW head-to-head in the ratings. Triple H then had a scary health situation that required a heart operation. Triple H’s entire vision for NXT was dismantled and erased as soon as he had to take leave to deal with his health, and he has clearly lost power since then. Triple H is married to Stephanie McMahon, of course. It was assumed for many years that Triple H and Stephanie would run WWE after Vince is gone.

There’s also Shane McMahon, who hasn’t been a significant part of the WWE succession plan in well over a decade. He was most recently sent home by Vince for apparently being an obnoxious douchebag backstage at Royal Rumble.

This might have been crazy to say a couple years ago, but it really does feel more than ever that WWE could either be sold or run by someone outside the McMahon family when the appropriate time comes. Vince’s response above certainly leaves the door open for the latter possibility, which is why McAfee immediately pointed out it’s a big deal.

What do you think the future of WWE looks like, Cagesiders?