Vince McMahon reportedly paid millions to Donald Trump's charity coinciding with the WWE Hall of Famer's WrestleMania appearance
The Wall Street Journal has published a new report on former WWE CEO Vince McMahon.
In a SEC filing last week, the company announced that it had uncovered an additional $5 million in unrecorded payments connected to Vince. The new report from WSJ suggests that Donald Trump's charity was the recipient of the payments.
The report claims that the 76-year-old paid $5 million in charitable donations to Donald J. Trump's now-defunct charity. According to the report, the 45th President of the United States received a $4 million payment for his appearance at WrestleMania 23. Vince also sent $1 million Donald's way for his appearance on an episode of RAW in 2009.
In a match billed as the "Battle of the Billionaires," Bobby Lashley (accompanied by Donald Trump) squared off against Umaga (accompanied by Vince McMahon) at WrestleMania 23. Donald or Vince would have their heads shaved based on who lost the match. Bobby defeated Umaga and Trump shaved McMahon's head after the match.
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The report states that Trump had his team personally review the contract he signed for WrestleMania 23 to make sure that his head would not be shaved under any circumstances.
Wall Street Journal: WWE CEO Vince McMahon paid $5 million to Donald Trump’s now dissolved foundation that he never disclosed, in return for Trump’s appearances at WWE events. wsj.com/articles/wwes-…
Damian Priest on the challenges Triple H faces as Vince McMahon's replacement in WWE
Judgment Day member Damian Priest recently spoke with Sportskeeda Wrestling's Liam Power to promote Clash at the Castle. The promotion's next premium live event will air from the Principality Stadium on September 3rd in Cardiff, Wales. It will be the company's first stadium show in the United Kingdom in three decades.
The 39-year-old spoke about Triple H taking over creative for the promotion. Damian explained that a new era for the company has just started and it will be a gradual process. Damian added that Triple H risks confusing fans if he makes too many changes at once:
“It’s in its infancy,” Priest said. “We just started with the new era, right? So it’s hard to speak about changes because everybody’s trying to figure out what’s happening, including Triple H. I’m sure he has a vision, I’m sure he knows where he wants to go, but it’s not gonna be a hundred percent change overnight. We have to get there and he can’t just turn away the fans. The fanbase, you can’t confuse them, so to speak.” [10:49 - 11:24]
It will be interesting to see if any more payments from Vince McMahon are uncovered by WWE's Board of Directors.
What are your thoughts on the future of WWE without Vince McMahon? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.