Dave Meltzer Says He Wouldn’t Be Shocked by Vince McMahon Possibly Returning to WWE With End of Civil Lawsuit

As previously reported, Janel Grant’s civil lawsuit against WWE and Vince McMahon is entering arbitration. As a result, the lawsuit is expected to be dismissed soon. During today’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed the topic, with Meltzer noting that he wouldn’t be shocked by a WWE return for Vince McMahon with the lawsuit’s resolution.

When Alvarez stated that WWE and TKO cannot possibly bring McMahon back into the fold, Meltzer responded, “I mean, as far as bringing him back, that’s a whole another story. I don’t know. I mean, it would not shock me that he’s brought back in a position.”

When Alvarez asked what McMahon could possibly do, Meltzer speculated that TKO might install McMahon in some type of figurehead role. He stated, “It wouldn’t shock me. It wouldn’t shock me. I mean, I don’t know that I would expect it. I cannot imagine he would be put in charge of anything. I mean, that that, you know, it’s not like they’re going to have him replace Nick Khan calling the shots. He certainly isn’t going to create replace Paul Levesque (aka Triple H) doing the booking. There’s no way they can go to that card. That’s not going to happen, but the idea of bringing him in in a figurehead osition, trotting him out every now and then, like I said, it wouldn’t shock me at all.”

Additionally, Meltzer predicted that if McMahon was brought back and brought out as a surprise at a WWE show, he’d likely receive a huge reaction. He stated about the idea, “The funny part is is that if he came out as a surprise on a TV show, it’d be like this the giant reaction. I mean, it’s just the that’s the reality of the situation.”

Meltzer elaborated that TKO executives, including President Mark Shapiro and CEO Ari Emanuel, wouldn’t want to give up any of their power. he continued, “Shapiro and Emanuel aren’t going to give up that power that they have in that regard. They’re not going to replace Nick Khan. I mean, Nick Khan’s gotten very, very powerful and very, very successful. They’re not going to replace Levesque, I don’t think. Not with Vince anyway. And I don’t think they’re going to replace him anyway because they haven’t they haven’t trained anyone for that position.”

Meltzer further suggested that WWE NXT executive producer Shawn Michaels wouldn’t work as a replacement for Triple H, as Michaels wouldn’t want Triple H’s workload. He also said that Triple H is “really solid in his position,” noting the strong work Triple H did as Chief Creative Officer for the first couple of years of his tenure.

Assessing the Janel Grant situation, Meltzer noted that “Grant has had more influence on the big picture of pro wrestling than almost anyone in the last 10 years, except for maybe Tony Khan and Nick Khan.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Wrestling Observer Radio, with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.