Scarlett details Vince McMahon’s WWE return after 2022 retirement
In an interview with Denise Salcedo, former WWE talent Scarlett Bordeaux opened up about what things were like in the company when Vince McMahon returned after his 2022 retirement.
Recently unearthed text messages showed that McMahon was more involved in WWE creative than previously known during the period between his 2022 exit and ultimate resignation from the company in 2024. Bordeaux noted that, even though McMahon wasn’t around at shows, there was a noticeable change when he started getting involved again. Things felt like they did before with an uptick in last-minute changes.
“He wasn’t publicly out in the company,” Bordeaux said. “But we started talking to different producers and were like, ‘This show’s starting to feel really weird. The booking’s starting to feel weird. Things are changing last minute. This is starting to feel like it did before Vince left. Like, it feels exactly, exactly the same.’ And then a few producers privately told us, ‘He’s back.’ But it was one of those things like, people knew but didn’t talk about. Because there was no certainty about it. We didn’t see him around or anything.”
Bordeaux said the first few months after she and her husband Killer Kross returned to WWE in 2022 were amazing. But that changed quickly — and McMahon’s return led to Bordeaux and Kross’ plans being altered. Their involvement in a storyline with Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre was nixed. Kross noted that McMahon also “killed” a match between Kross and Bray Wyatt that was planned for a WrestleMania.
When asked if all talent were informed that McMahon was back, Bordeaux said people only found out if they had friends who knew what was going on. It was difficult to talk about the situation at the time with no actual proof McMahon had returned.
McMahon retired from WWE in July 2022 amid a sexual misconduct scandal but later placed himself back into power. His resignation in January 2024 came after former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit against McMahon and the company, accusing McMahon of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking. That lawsuit is still ongoing.
This week, McMahon was indirectly mentioned on Raw when CM Punk brought up the “weird old man” who once made Reigns eat dog food in a WWE angle.
Paul “Triple H” Levesque also recently discussed the period between 2022-2024, saying that — because McMahon was still chiming in and directing traffic from the side — there is “no real clear moment” in his mind where he took over creative. Levesque considers WrestleMania 40 in 2024 to be the first WrestleMania where he was fully in charge.
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.