Ex-WWE Co-President George Barrios Recalls 2020 Exit, Vince McMahon Bringing Him Back to Board

George Barrios and Michelle D. Wilson exited their co-president positions at WWE in 2020, a matter Barrios detailed in his new book. Barrios joined the company in 2008 to fill the role of Chief Financial Officer, and was later promoted to co-President with Wilson. The two exited WWE in January of 2020 but were later brought back to the Board of Directors by Vince McMahon in his return to the company in January of 2023.

Barrios appeared on the Two-Man Power Trip of Wrestling promoting his new book, Sometimes Wrong but Never in Doubt: How a Cuban Kid from Queens Transformed WWE. He recalled how he and Wilson wanted to leave in mid-2019 and were asked by McMahon to stay. They began making moves toward their exit but things were damaged at that point to where McMahon told them that it was time for them to go.

He also spoke about McMahon contacting him to come back to the board in 2023. You can see highlights below (per Fightful):

On Initially Telling McMahon They Wanted To Leave:

“The story began in July or August of 2019. Michelle and I had a great run, and the business was almost exactly where we thought it could get to, but we knew there was more runway, which there certainly has been. We were co-leaders of the company and were like, ‘We want to lead our own thing.’ We ended up staying together and working together. After an earnings call, we were both going on vacation and we were both like, ‘I’m thinking of leaving. I’m going to tell Vince. Let’s tell him together.’ We go in and tell Vince, ‘This has been a great ride. We want to go do our own thing.’ Dead silence. He’s like, ‘You can’t do that. We’ve been through too much together.’ He gets choked up and tears are in all of our eyes. We spent a couple of hours with him saying some of the best things I’ve ever heard personally about myself. ‘I couldn’t have done this without you. For 30 years, I’ve been pulling everyone behind me to build this. For the last ten years, you guys have been pulling me. What do you want?’ ‘We want to run our own thing.’ ‘You’re doing that here.'”

On Their Exits:

“Michelle and I walk out of his office, and she goes, ‘We’ve had a great run. Let’s stick to it. It’s time for the next chapter.’ I go into sell mode. ‘We have to do this. He has begged us to stay. Selfishly, there is more runway. There is a way to get what we all want.’ We spend the next few months trying to put together something. ‘You do that. You do less of this. We’ll do more of this.’ People start getting aggravated at each other, and it keeps getting worse and worse, and now snide remarks are slipping through. Unfortunately, that damaged the relationship, and three or four months later, it was, ‘I’m done.’

“We had to stay until the earnings call in February because we had a strategy that we had to reach, but then I was going back in. We have a board meeting on January 31 and I’m not myself. I was as low-key as Vince had ever seen me. Later in the afternoon, he calls, ‘This isn’t working. We have to end it.’ ‘I agree. Let’s go back to the original plan. Six months.’ ‘No, we have to do it right now.’ ‘Now? Today? We have an earnings call in four days.’ ‘Yeah, we have to pull off the band-aid.’ ‘This is not going to go well.’ That was it. A few months later, Michelle and I talked to Vince because it was not the way to end after 12 years. Called him up, ‘Do you want to get together for dinner?’ This is the middle of COVID. He goes, ‘That would be great.’ It was nice to do that.”

On McMahon Bringing Them Back to the Board in 2023:

“When Vince called me to come back to the board because he reached a decision that the company needed to do something big for its next move, wasn’t sure what it was, but he wanted help thinking through that. I remember the call and he tells what he’s thinking and he says, ‘I just need the A team. Can you come back and help?’ I said, ‘Yeah, of course.’ ‘Do you think Michelle will come back?’ ‘Yeah, I think she’ll come back.’ He goes, ‘Can you call her?’ I called her and we decided to come back. On a selfish level, for your own ego, the fact that the whole world saw that they didn’t understand the story (believing they were fired). When it was time to do the big stuff, he brought the people he respected and trusted. He wanted the A team. It was nice going back.”