Lawyers for ‘prolific texter’ Vince McMahon defend use of Signal, alleged missing messages
Even though Vince McMahon didn’t understand “What in the blue hell is ‘Langis’ lol,” his legal team defended his use of the Signal app and other messaging platforms as part of the ongoing WWE shareholders lawsuit.
The communication platform is best known for the ability to not retain a record of messages, hence the difficulty in providing information in lawsuits such as the aforementioned one where a group of shareholders feel McMahon’s decision to enter into an agreement with Endeavor to merge UFC with TKO was pre-determined and thus cost them money.
The plaintiffs filed a motion in April where they claimed “adverse inferences against Defendants related to Defendants’ spoliation of relevant Signal messages and other evidence.”
As noted in a Bloomberg Law article Wednesday, McMahon’s lawyers said there is no gap in traceable communication to be concerned with and that McMahon is “a prolific texter” with 22,000 messages from multiple platforms having already been provided.
From the article:
“McMahon’s attorneys preserved data from his personal devices, even after they were seized by federal authorities investigating sexual misconduct allegations against him, she said. But Signal data sought by the investors wasn’t available for retrieval until after those devices were returned in October 2025.
The investors argue messages apparently missing from chats on Signal, an encrypted platform that can be set to have content disappear, could’ve been relevant to the litigation.“
Eric Leon of Latham & Watkins LLP, representing WWE who is also named in the lawsuit, stated, “These parties negotiated this deal really the old fashioned way. They did it with dinners and lunches, and they did it over the phone, and we produced all of the phone records.”
The judge has yet to rule on the motion.
The aforementioned “Langis” reference is to a message McMahon sent to WWE president Nick Khan in February 2023 after Khan wrote “Langis” in reply to McMahon about wanting to have a talk about creative. That exchange took place after Khan said McMahon was no longer involved in creative.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.