Former WWE Co-President George Barrios is opening up about his decision to return to the company’s board of directors in 2023 despite the growing controversy surrounding Vince McMahon.
WWE announced on January 30, 2020, that Barrios and fellow WWE Co-President Michelle Wilson were departing the company as part of what was described as a “management transition.” After serving as WWE’s Chief Financial Officer beginning in 2008, Barrios rose to the Co-President position alongside Wilson before both exited the organization.
The pair returned to WWE in August 2023 when McMahon brought them back to serve on the company’s board of directors amid the sale process that ultimately led to WWE’s merger with UFC under the TKO banner.
During a recent interview with John Pollock of POST Wrestling, Barrios addressed why he was comfortable returning despite the allegations that had surfaced against McMahon.
“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.’”
Barrios’ comments come against the backdrop of the lawsuit filed in January 2024 against McMahon, former WWE executive John Laurinaitis, and WWE itself, which included allegations of sexual assault and sex trafficking.
When asked whether he had reviewed the lawsuit before reaching his conclusions, Barrios acknowledged that he did and even sought outside legal insight.
“I read a lot of stuff. I’m not a lawyer. I did talk to one. Part of me said, some of this stuff doesn’t seem to make sense. Explain it to me, even the chronology and so on. Ultimately, did I read it? Yes. Did I get comfortable with it? Yeah. I don’t want to comment on anyone’s particular perspective, but I got comfortable with it.”
Barrios was also asked if his return to WWE was motivated by loyalty to McMahon after working closely with him for more than a decade.
“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,” he said.
