AEW Star Says Vince McMahon's Departure Is Good For The Wrestling Business
As 2022 comes to a close, no story in the past year of wrestling was bigger than Vince McMahon stepping down as WWE CEO, as many within the company thought the 77-year-old would die on the job. Despite those sentiments, McMahon stepped away due to several disturbing allegations released by the Wall Street Journal, associating McMahon with potential sexual misconduct allegations that McMahon reportedly paid to cover up.
Out with the old and in with the new came in fast fashion, with Paul "Triple H" Levesque becoming WWE;s Chief Content Officer and his wife Stephanie McMahon sharing co-CEO duties with Nick Khan, ushering in what seems thus far to be a period of creative and financial success. While few of his former employees have come forward to dance on McMahon's grave, many have supported the move, including former WWE superstar Matt Hardy, who detailed why "without a doubt" McMahon stepping down was good for WWE during the latest episode of his podcast, "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy,"
"We needed someone that was more with today's times and today's pro wrestling, and with the more current fans," Hardy said. "[AEW CEO] Tony Khan is much more with today's wrestling audience and sees things more modernly, Triple H does as well. You need young blood, that's the cycle of life, too. People have good runs but nothing lasts forever, and even Vince as a promoter, he couldn't last forever. Things need to change, need to be done differently."
Could AEW benefit from McMahon's departure?
Since Levesque has become CCO of WWE, the company has achieved never-before-seen heights, with WWE Clash at the Castle in Cardiff, Wales becoming WWE's biggest European gate in company history, along with several other premium live events breaking records. Levesque has brought a breath of fresh air to the WWE product and seems to have big plans for the future, including expanding the company's developmental "NXT" brand to other places in the world, hoping to create a "World Cup-type scenario" in WWE.
Not only did Hardy tab McMahon's departure as a positive for WWE, but he also suggested that it could benefit his current promotion of AEW, as well. The former WWE Tag Team Champion said that competition is "obviously needed" in professional wrestling, mentioning how someone "needed to push WWE to be better and do more" and with Levesque taking over, WWE has "changed the game plan in a lot of ways."
"Everything is a lot more competitive, changing the style, changing what they're offering in many ways," Hardy said. "It's a different formula, and you're not getting the same formula that's been going on for 40 plus years. I think it's a good thing, and it makes the wrestling business healthier. I think competition is healthier when a lot of promotions are doing great things and fans want to tune into different shows because they're doing different things."