With Vince McMahon’s hush money controversy making rounds on the news and the media having a field day, wrestling legend Chris Jericho opines on the matter defending Vinnie Mac.
Chris Jericho is widely recognized for his astuteness and accomplishments in the wrestling business. Y2J is a decorated wrestling personality who has also worked closely with the Boss, Vince McMahon. The creator of The Money In The Bank ladder match recently spoke about the scandalous topic that has become the talk of the town, Vince McMahon’s hush money controversy. Although Jericho is no longer working for the WWE, his contribution to the industry puts him in the position to hold court on the issue. Speaking on the True Geordie podcast, Jericho had interesting words in Vince’s defense.
According to Y2J, the whole controversy is made a mountain out of a molehill. He claims that it is common to have sexual affairs in the business and that nothing that Vince did was illegal. Jericho believes that the issue is trivial and should not be allowed to make a stink.
He stated, “I mean is there a surprise in any industry when it happens? And really, when you look at it, it’s not illegal. He had an affair, paid the lady off to not say anything, and moved on,”
Jericho compared the situation with that of Harvey Weinstein’s recent scandal except Vince’s situation was mutual. “People want to jump on it but there’s still always an undertone of, ‘It’s wrestling’. If you look, that story came out with a bang, and then you really haven’t heard anything about it since. If this was, you know, Hollywood with Harvey Weinstein, that sort of thing. But the difference between that was he was holding women back from getting gigs, Harvey Weinstein, either bang me or you don’t get the starring role.”
Make no mistake, Jericho does not condone Vince’s act and termed it “immoral” but he also pointed out that Vince’s act was not illegal.
So long as it was consensual and Vince paid her money to keep it a secret, it was nothing more than a mutual agreement.
Jericho describes Vince McMahon as a regular guy
Later in the podcast, Jericho referred to Vince as “a lad at heart”. Jericho has spent most of his career working closely with Vince McMahon. In his opinion, Vince is a genius running a billion-dollar company. Y2J’s description of Vince McMahon resembled the character of a regular guy. According to him, Vince is a man who likes to hang out, joke, and drink. Jericho recalled when Vince McMahon told him in 2005 that he wishes he could get away.
“I remember when I left in 2005, I said I need to get away. And he said to me, ‘I wish I could get away sometimes, but I can’t.’ Kind of wistfully for like three seconds, then he was back to Vince McMahon.”
Jerich further described Vince as a powerful man surrounded by a lot of “yes men”.
Jericho jumped ship in 2018 of his own accord. The “best in the world” made it clear that he has not burned the bridge with the WWE or Vince McMahon by speaking profoundly about him. Jericho will forever be one of the most revered legends in WWE history.
As for Vince, the consequences following the investigation have already led him to step down as the CEO. The final outcome is yet to be revealed.
