Former WWE Co-President George Barrios recently shared new details about his departure from WWE. According to Barrios, Vince McMahon became emotional when he and Michelle Wilson informed him of their plans to leave the company.
Barrios joined WWE in 2008 and later became Co-President alongside Michelle Wilson. Their sudden departure in 2020 surprised many, though he briefly returned as a board member in 2022 before leaving again in 2023.
Speaking to POST Wrestling, George Barrios revealed that both executives had already decided to leave months before the January 2020 announcement and presented Vince McMahon with what they believed was a smooth transition plan.
Vince McMahon became emotional during George Barrios’ WWE exit
He recalled, “Hey, look, this is our, this is what we think we should do. We’ll do a nice transition. There’s a great team. You’ll have time to bring somebody in, either from the outside, because we’re willing to stay for however long you need us.”
According to Barrios, McMahon became emotional during the meeting. “So, we had what we thought was a great plan. You know, he gets very emotional, you know, his tears, saying, ‘You can’t do that.'”
“I mean, I get emotional even retelling it.” He then shared one of the most memorable things McMahon told him. “I built this business for 30 years, and I had to pull everybody along. And, for the last 10 years, you guys have been pulling me along.” When Barrios explained that he wanted the opportunity to do his own thing, McMahon responded, “George, what do you want to do that we’re not doing? When have I, Vince, ever said to you that we couldn’t do or shouldn’t do?”
He admitted McMahon had a point but explained there were outside factors involved. “Oh, Vince, look, there’s an external element. We all know the thing, but there’s something externally. There’s ego around having the title, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”
He said Michelle Wilson suggested sticking with the original plan, but Barrios wanted to explore other options. “So, anyway, we come out of that meeting. Michelle goes, ‘George, I still think we should stick to the original plan. Like, let’s go. We’ll come back and just say, “Hey, look, Vince, we thought about it. Doesn’t really mean.”‘
“And I go, ‘Ah, Michelle, you know, it is an awesome ride. We’re having a lot of fun working together. Let’s see if we can figure out a way to do that.’ So, in any event, at that point, we then spent two or three months trying to come up with a way.”
“You mentioned, you know, there were a couple of recent, actually, Bill Gates stepping down to be the chief technology officer, Ellison doing the same thing, putting different people in the CEO roles, but staying close to the product. We thought that made sense.”
“I think Vince, if he had to redo that decision all over again, I think he would have said, ‘Yeah, that’s a good idea. Let’s do that.’ That’s my guess. I don’t know that for a fact, obviously, but that’s my guess. But during that, in that moment, everybody started just getting pissed off at each other, and the relationship changed.”
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