“It’s completely bonkers that you ended up with a situation by 2018 where a wrestling promoter, [WWE founder and reinstated board member] Vince McMahon, was so powerful and so well connected that his business was arguably a national security risk,” said Abraham Riesman, author of Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America.
Yet here we are.
Riesman came on this episode of The New Abnormal podcast to give co-host, and wrestling newbie, Andy Levy some historical context for WWE and McMahon, along with a look back at his relationship with Trump, his own daughter Stephanie, and what can be said regarding the rumor of a potential deal to sell the business to Saudi Arabia.
Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast.
First off, Riesman makes it clear that the only person who knows anything for sure about this is McMahon himself, and that in the meantime, he’s “working” us right now (which in wrestling speak means being fed lies.)
However, she says a deal would make sense because McMahon’s relationship with the Saudis is “pretty tight.”
Besides this, and their history—“His wife at the time was the director of small business administration in [Donald] Trump’s cabinet. She was in a cabinet-level position and at the same time, her husband is making $100 million-plus deals with the Saudi government, not some other entity there. Like it’s directly negotiating with the Saudi government”—there are two reasons why McMahon would sell, and they’d buy.
One is government regulation, or rather, a lack thereof.
“The Saudi government is not going to say, ‘Hey, we need to have better treatment of your wrestlers,’” says Riesman.
Also on this episode! Andy and co-host Danielle Moodie listen to clips of more Republicans and right-wingers talking themselves in circles, including Tucker Carlson on his favorite topic: sexy M&Ms. And this time, one might be a (*whispers*) lesbian.
Listen to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.
