Vince McMahon Could Possibly Return to WWE Once Lawsuits Fade Away

Vince McMahon’s exit from WWE may not be as final as it looks — and Dave Meltzer thinks the door could quietly reopen once the legal smoke clears.

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer laid out a scenario where McMahon’s resignation isn’t the end of the story, but a pause dictated by timing, optics, and lawsuits. According to Meltzer, Vince’s original “retirement” was never meant to stick.

“On the day Vince McMahon resigned, said he was leaving, said he was retired, said he was done — he had zero intention of that being the end. None.”

Meltzer explained that internal communications revealed what he repeatedly referred to as a “playbook” — a strategy that allowed Vince to step away publicly while positioning himself to return through a corporate sale.

“This was a playbook that someone — whether it was Ari Emanuel, Vince McMahon, or someone else — gave to him. This is how it’s going to go down. And it went down exactly like that.”

That strategy, Meltzer said, centered around the sale to Endeavor, which the shareholder lawsuit now claims was never a real bidding process to begin with.

“Even Liberty Media said it was all pre-wired. That’s the term they used.”

McMahon’s second departure in early 2024, Meltzer argued, wasn’t about reflection or consequences — it was about damage control after the Janel Grant lawsuit became public.

“The lawsuit was so descriptively horrible, it scared off sponsors and made Endeavor say, ‘you’ve got to go.’”

But Meltzer doesn’t believe that means Vince is gone forever. Instead, he suggested the current situation looks eerily similar to how McMahon maneuvered his way back once before.

“They’re probably waiting for this lawsuit to go away… and then maybe they bring him back. That was the playbook.”

Even without controlling power, McMahon still owns billions in TKO stock — and Meltzer noted that Vince stopped selling shares, something he views as a major tell that conversations may already be happening behind closed doors.

If the lawsuits resolve quietly, Meltzer’s read is that the same people who once enabled Vince’s return could decide it’s safe to do so again — even if his role is symbolic or corporate rather than hands-on.

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