Former WWE co-president opens up about dynamic with ‘quiet guy’ Vince McMahon
In an interview with Post Wrestling, former WWE co-president George Barrios opened up about the dynamic he and Vince McMahon had when the two worked together.
Barrios released a new book this month about his life and the time he spent as a WWE executive. He joined the company as Chief Financial Officer in 2008 and was later named co-president alongside Michelle Wilson, serving in that role from 2018-2020. Barrios said he and McMahon were very different temperamentally, with McMahon being more quiet and less likely to voice his opinion while a meeting was going on.
“People who don’t interact with Vince have this vision of the character he plays on Raw or SmackDown. He is larger than life, but — he’s a quiet guy,” Barrios told Post Wrestling. “And, in fact, probably the most difficult thing for him and I to connect on is I’m not. I tend to be a little louder. Very comfortable voicing my opinion. Vince, smarter than me, kind of keeps his opinion to himself until the meeting’s over. I kind of learned that from him, and actually because it’s a good trait.”
After their 2020 departure, Barrios and Wilson made a comeback when McMahon forced himself back into power in 2023 and named the former co-presidents to WWE’s board of directors. They remained on the board during WWE’s sale/merger process that ultimately saw the company acquired by Endeavor and merged into TKO with UFC.
George Barrios denies “loyalist” label —
Barrios told Post Wrestling that, while he considers himself a loyal person, he was not a “loyalist” to McMahon or anyone else.
“I’m not a loyalist to anybody. In fact, I’m a somewhat disagreeable person,” Barrios said. “So I do what I think is right, and if somebody doesn’t like it, I’m very comfortable that somebody doesn’t like the decisions I make. For better or worse, that’s the way I’m built. I always say Vince and I, we had an amazing business relationship. It was like high-performing teammates. We weren’t buddies. We weren’t chit-chatting. And part of it is, I think there was a modicum of respect. I wasn’t in there trying to kiss his ass. He had been surrounded by that for a long time. That’s not me, for better or for worse. So, yeah, a loyalist? No. I’m loyal, but I’m not a loyalist. I don’t do sh*t because somebody said, ‘Hey, I need you to do this, come in.’ That’s not me. I do it because I think it’s the right thing to do.”
McMahon’s return to power was brief, with him resigning from WWE and TKO in early 2024 after the sexual abuse lawsuit that was filed against him by former company employee Janel Grant. That lawsuit is still ongoing but appears to be heading to arbitration soon.
Nick Khan became WWE’s president following the departures of Barrios and Wilson.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.