George Barrios Explains Decision To Return To WWE Board Amid Allegations Against Vince McMahon

On January 30, 2020, WWE announced that co-Presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson would be departing the company in a “management transition.”

Barrios joined WWE in March 2008 as Chief Financial Officer before being promoted to co-President alongside Wilson. Vince McMahon would “retire” as WWE CEO in 2022 after allegations of sexual misconduct and hush money, but he remained a member of the board of directors.

Barrios and Wilson would return in August 2023 when Vince brought them back to be members of the board of directors.

Speaking to John Pollock of POST Wrestling, Barrios was asked about his decision to return despite the allegations 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.'”

In January 2024, a lawsuit was filed against McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and WWE with accusations of sexual assault and sex trafficking.

Asked if he read the lawsuit, Barrios said, “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.”

Finally, Barrios was asked if he returned to WWE because he was a loyalist to McMahon.

“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.

Fans can learn more about Barrios’ departure in 2020 here.

He recently released his book Sometimes Wrong but Never in Doubt: How a Cuban Kid from Queens Transformed WWE. Fans can purchase a copy here.