"I refuse to believe that"- 38-year WWE veteran makes a bold claim about Vince McMahon's retirement
Some people don't believe that Vince McMahon has completely stepped back from WWE. Veteran announcer Tony Chimel recently spoke about McMahon's retirement from the company.
Vince McMahon retired earlier this year, announcing his retirement amidst a wave of misconduct allegations. McMahon was replaced as CEO by Stephanie McMahon while Triple H took over the WWE creative.
Tony Chimel had his say on the Two Men Power Trip of Wrestling podcast when asked about Vince's retirement. He said that he did not believe that Vince was fully retired and questioned whether the former CEO discussed things related to WWE with Stephanie McMahon, Triple H and others. Chimel said:
"I do not see Vince [McMahon] sitting on a beach in Florida and not doing anything. He can be retired, that's fine. I refuse to believe that he's not having any input in anything in that company and it'd be interesting to see if he's still on the payroll or he got a severance package or what goes on with that when you become owner of the company. Is he not now owner? Does he not own any stock? Does he have nothing to do with the company? Does he not talk about business to Steph, to Shane, to Hunter [Triple H] or anybody... I don't know about that. "[0:06 to 0:41]
Tony Chimel on WWE being Vince McMahon's life
Tony Chimel went on to say that WWE was Vince McMahon's "world". He said that he doesn't believe that McMahon has absolutely zero input in what goes on in the company:
"That's his world. That's his life. The business that he created, a great business. He created a great career for me for 38 years and I just don't believe he can be retired or not have any input or not backstage or anything like that. There's now way I'm believing that he doesn't have any say or no comments about any of the stuff or is he getting paid by the company? I don't know. "[0:43 to 1:09]
At 77, time for me to retire.
Thank you, WWE Universe.
Then. Now. Forever. Together. #WWE #thankful
Chimel was excellent in his role as the company's ring announcer. Many WWE fans would recognize his voice if he had to do the intro for a superstar, especially Edge. He spent 38 years in the promotion.
While speaking to Sportskeeda, former WWE Superstar EC3 gave his take on Vince McMahon and whether he saw AEW as a competition. You can check that out HERE.