Roman Reigns has commented on the retirement of WWE chairman Vince McMahon, who stepped away last Friday after 40 years at the helm.
WWE announced that company President Nick Khan and Vince's daughter, Stephanie McMahon, will serve as the co-CEOS of WWE. Stephanie's husband and Vince's son-in-law, Triple H (Paul Levesque), will serve as the new Head of Talent Relations (replacing John Laurinaitis) as well as the head of WWE creative. Vince also gave up $2.7 million in company stock, though he will remain the majority shareholder of WWE.
McMahon, of course, played a significant role behind Reigns' rise to WWE greatness. The longtime WWE chairman himself viewed Reigns as the next franchise star to succeed John Cena. McMahon spent several years trying to push Reigns as the company's main babyface, even when a large portion of the WWE Universe rejected the idea.
Following an appearance on The Today Show (h/t Ringside News), the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion addressed McMahon's retirement with a short and simple message.
"I just wish him nothing but luck and happiness in the future," Reigns said. "It’s been great."
Eventually, McMahon's idea of turning Reigns into the company's top star paid off. All it took was a simple and long-awaited heel turn in the summer of 2020. Reigns' villainous turn was cemented when he joined forces with legendary heel manager Paul Heyman, and the rest is history.
The 37-year-old superstar is the longest reigning Universal Champion in history. A win against Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2022 this Saturday will push The Tribal Chief to 700 days as the title holder.
Roman Reigns Will Remain A Top Superstar Without Vince In The Fold
It'll be interesting to see how the new leadership team of Khan, Stephanie and Triple H go about changing the WWE with Vince now retired. But one thing that definitely won't change: Reigns' status as a top main event star who will continue to headline major pay-per-views for years to come.
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