Backstage News On Why Vince McMahon Attended WWE Raw

The news of Vince McMahon attending last night's "WWE Raw" stirred up wrestling Twitter, with many fans wondering if WWE's Executive Chairman and majority owner had returned to oversee day-to-day creative operations. However, McMahon was reportedly visiting the WWE taping to merely catch up with an old friend.

According to PWInsider, McMahon was at TD Garden in Boston "primarily to visit John Cena" and the usual production and executive teams, spearheaded by Triple H, went about their business as per usual. The report added that McMahon was never booked to appear on the show or get involved in any capacity. 

As reported earlier by Fightful Select, McMahon "looked different" according to talents that spotted him backstage at the taping. It was later noted by Sean Ross Sapp that McMahon was sporting "a mustache" per one talent who spoke to him. Another talent described McMahon's new look to include "a creepy little mustache," per Sapp.

This was the first instance of McMahon attending a WWE show since he "retired" from his day-to-day operations in July 2022. The chatter of McMahon potentially returning to WWE's creative team picked up steam in January after news broke of the veteran promoter reinstating himself to WWE's board of directors. Subsequently, McMahon confirmed that his return would not have "any impact on the roles, duties, or responsibilities" of WWE's existing management teams and that his sole purpose was to "maximize value for all WWE shareholders" or to help carry out WWE's sale. 

Although some fans and wrestlers remain skeptical about McMahon steering clear of WWE's creative processes, several reports have suggested that the 77-year-old is indeed done. According to Fightful, Triple H has reiterated to talents that he has the "final say" with regard to creative direction, something that was confirmed by talents who worked the Royal Rumble earlier this year.