George Barrios explains what he knew about the allegations against Vince McMahon when he agreed to return to WWE in 2022.
The former WWE President spoke with POST Wrestling to promote his new book. During the conversation, Barrios spoke about his return to the WWE board in 2022 ahead of the company’s merger with Endeavor.
Barrios served as WWE Co-President for nearly twelve years before being let go, but he was ultimately brought back for a second time in 2022. He explained what he knew about the allegations against McMahon, and shared how WWE approached him to come back with co-President Michelle Wilson to help facilitate the pending merger.
“I’ll be honest, I knew about it. I wasn’t spending my time pouring over things because everything that was being alleged either happened long before we got there, and I think there was one that happened after. My recollection was it wasn’t anything while we were there that anybody was alleging, so I wasn’t paying that much attention. And a lot of the stuff, as you know John, had already been out there, so it wasn’t new. There was some elements of non-disclosure stuff and payments, things like that, but some of the stuff, like the fact that he had an affair, was not new.
“So, in any event, when he does call me and says, ‘Hey, look, I want to do one other big thing. I need the A-team. The current folks are great, but they’re not up to something that big. Would you and Michelle come back?’ This part I’ll keep private. We did have a conversation about it. Number one, I was with the guy for 12 years, and I saw the character he displayed around me. That’s what I have to go on. When he said what he said to me on that call, the combination of my experience with him and what I saw and what I knew, I said, ‘Yeah, I’m comfortable.’”
George Barrios addresses being a “Vince McMahon loyalist”
Barrios confirmed he read the details of Janel Grant’s 2024 lawsuit against McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis. He admitted that he spoke with lawyers to better understand the details of the lawsuit, not because he feared being sued himself.
POST Wrestling’s John Pollock asked if Barrios returned to WWE because he was a “Vince McMahon loyalist.” Barrios denied the claim and said that he being a loyalist is not who he is.
“No. I’m not a loyalist to anybody. In fact, I’m somewhat of a disagreeable person. I do what I think is right. And if somebody doesn’t like it, I’m very comfortable if somebody doesn’t like the decisions I make. For better or worse, that’s the way I’m built. I always say Vince and I had an amazing business relationship.
“It was like high-performing teammates. We weren’t buddies. We weren’t chit-chatting, and part of it is I think there was a modicum of respect. I wasn’t in there trying to kiss his ass. He had been surrounded by that for a long time. That’s not me, for better or for worse. A loyalist? No. I’m loyal, but I’m not a loyalist. I don’t do shit because somebody said, ‘Hey, I need you to do this, come in.’ That’s not me. I do it because I think it’s the right thing to do.”
Read More: AJ Lee Confirms Return To WWE Programming
