Signs Linda And Vince McMahon's Marriage Was Never Going To Last

The following article includes discussions of abuse and sexual assault.

Vince and Linda McMahon were once regarded as a true power couple. After Vince conquered the world of professional wrestling through the meteoric rise of WWE, Linda set her sights on a political career. But with Vince stepping away from WWE in 2022 due to allegations of sexual misconduct and cover-ups totaling millions of dollars in hush-money payments, it seemed as though his marriage to Linda had effectively come to an end as well.

Vince and Linda wed in 1966, with their children Shane and Stephanie McMahon — who also would go on to become pro-wrestling personalities. But around the time the hush-money scandal came to light in 2022, sports journalist Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that while they were not divorced, Vince and Linda had already "lived largely apart for a long time." Two years later — with Linda being nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Education, and Vince's legal troubles having only gotten worse — Linda's lawyer confirmed that she and Vince were indeed separated.

However, the writing had been on the wall long before Vince's more recent scandals. Looking back on their nearly-60-year marriage reveals a pattern of not only more legal troubles, but also generational trauma, infidelity, and anecdotes that suggest Vince and Linda have kept each other at arm's length for quite a while.

As a child, Vince McMahon rarely had a good example of what a healthy family dynamic looks like. Vince was born to wrestling promoter Vincent J. McMahon and Victoria Hanner (later Victoria Askew). However, Vince wasn't properly introduced to his birth father until he was 12. Vincent had left Victoria when Vince was still in diapers, taking custody of their older son in the process.

Vince grew up as Vinnie Lupton — a surname that came from his stepfather Leo Lupton. In a 2001 interview with Playboy, Vince revealed that Leo was severely physically abusive. "When you're young and you're facing a man, you get the s*** beat out of you," Vince said (via The Sun). "First time I remember, I was six years old. The slightest provocation would set him off." While Vince said he also had positive memories of Leo — such as watching "The Jackie Gleason Show" with him — he made his feelings about him abundantly clear. "It's unfortunate that he died before I could kill him," Vince said of his stepfather. "I would have enjoyed that."

When Vince was 16, he met a 13-year-old Linda. As Vince recalled in 1999, he saw his future wife's stable home life as an escape from his dysfunctional one. "I had no idea what a family was until I met Linda, and saw how they lived," he said (via Cigar Aficionado). "It was an Ozzie and Harriet life. There wasn't screaming and beating."

Even if two people are technically on the same side, being involved in courtroom drama can often take its toll on a relationship — and Vince and Linda McMahon are no strangers to legal battles. In 1993, Vince and WWE — which Linda was president of at the time — were indicted on federal charges related to steroid distribution. The steroid trial greatly rattled WWE, and though Vince was acquitted in 1994, the whole thing undoubtedly damaged the company's image. The scandal would also come to haunt Linda after she decided to go into politics.

As of 2024, the McMahons are also in potential legal trouble regarding a sex abuse scandal that dates back decades. WWE's infamous "ring boy scandal" involves a former ring announcer named Mel Phillips (who died in 2012) allegedly using his position at WWE to prey on and sexually assault teenage boys in the 1980s. In 2024, five anonymous men saying they were among Phillips' victims sued WWE, with Vince and Linda being named as co-defendants (per Rolling Stone). The five men allege the McMahons "knew or should have known" about the abuse, accusing both Vince and Linda of allowing a culture of sexual impropriety to take shape within their company. Just one month after the suit was filed, Donald Trump tapped Linda to lead the Department of Education. Per The Washington Post, Linda's lawyer called the suit "baseless."

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Linda McMahon first became involved with WWE when her husband Vince McMahon took over the company in the early 1980s. In addition to her behind-the-scenes role as an executive for the company, she also appeared as an on-screen talent on several occasions. In 2009, however, Linda resigned from her position in the family business to pursue her political career.

In 2010, Linda ran as a Republican for one of Connecticut's seats in the U.S. Senate. She ultimately lost to Democratic nominee Richard Blumenthal, who still holds his seat as of 2024 after being re-elected in 2016 and 2022. Linda made another bid for the Senate in 2012, this time challenging Democrat Chris Murphy. Murphy won that election, and subsequently won re-election in 2018 and 2024. According to a New York Times report from 2012, the McMahons spent a total of roughly $100 million between Linda's two failed Senate campaigns.

While it's unclear if Linda's involvement in Vince's wrestling business hurt her campaigns, it's certainly something her political opponents honed in on. Fellow Republican Peter Schiff — who ran against Linda in the 2010 primary — put out an attack ad using footage from her WWE days. The Democratic group Progress Connecticut ran a similar ad during the 2012 election cycle. Despite losing both elections, Linda was later named head of the Small Business Administration by Donald Trump ahead of his first term as president in 2016.

The revelation that Vince and Linda McMahon were separated was hardly a surprise for those familiar with the couple. Given Vince's recent scandals and Linda's apparent distance from it all, many wrestling fans have speculated that their marriage has been one of convenience for some time. Lending credence to this idea are comments made by prominent pro-wrestling personality Jim Cornette in 2022.

According to Cornette, who worked for WWE from 1993 to 2005, Vince and Linda often behaved more like business associates than husband and wife. "We saw Linda more at the office than we actually saw her at the [McMahons'] house," Cornette said on his "Jim Cornette's Drive-Thru" podcast. "And at the office, she was never in the same place as Vince McMahon. ... Which, maybe that's the way they were still married and living under the same roof. ... So, it wasn't like they were walking hand in hand down the dew-kissed meadow in Greenwich."

Regarding why he thinks Linda didn't simply divorce Vince amid his scandals, Cornette said, "The settlement was already made. What'd she spend, $80 million to run for Senate? Like she's going to be a f***ing senator. ... And, you know, all the other things she has done ... that was her settlement. She don't have to do s***, she's got all the money she needs. ... She went from Vince to Trump, which is definitely a f***ing trade down."

Anyone who was a fan of WWE during the early 2000s is likely to remember the storyline where Vince McMahon drugged his wife Linda McMahon into a near-comatose state, then started blatantly cheating on her with wrestler Trish Stratus. This culminated in a match between Vince and his son Shane McMahon at "WrestleMania" in 2001, with Vince getting his comeuppance when Linda helped Shane win. However, the affair angle may have been a case of art imitating life — even if Vince's real-life cheating up to that point wasn't quite so flagrant.

In the 2001 Playboy interview, Vince revealed that he had copped to having multiple affairs while he was married to Linda. When asked about their relationship, Vince stated that he had been "loyal," but "not necessarily faithful." He added, "I probably lied to myself, thinking [Linda] knew who I was when we got married. The wild guy." Vince said he was "discreet" in his cheating, and that he "never, ever threw anything in her face."

Still, it was far from an isolated incident. "But one day she asked me, point-blank, 'Are you having an affair with so-and-so?'" Vince said (via Connecticut Post). "And I've never lied to her. 'Yes.' It crushed her. Then she asked, 'What about such and such?' 'Yes.' It went on. More names. I said, 'Yes, yes, and yes.'" Vince went on to claim that he had been faithful for about six years at that point.

While Linda McMahon was apparently able to look past some of her estranged husband's infidelity, something that appears to be irreconcilable is that, allegedly, not all of Vince McMahon's extramarital actions were consensual. For starters, a former WWE referee accused Vince of raping her in the 1980s, and eventually sued him in 2022. Vince maintained his innocence, though agreed to settle (per The Wall Street Journal).

Then, Vince ostensibly retired from WWE in 2022 after being implicated in a sexual misconduct and hush money scandal. Since then, more details have come to light, with a former WWE employee accusing Vince of manipulating her into a relationship, sexually assaulting her on multiple occasions, and even trafficking her to other men in the company (per The Wall Street Journal).

According to the lawsuit, Vince described Linda as his "ex" during this time, saying she was "long gone." However, the suit also says Vince claimed to have feared divorce once Linda found out what was happening. It alleges that Vince coerced the employee into signing a non-disclosure agreement, saying that if she did, Linda wouldn't divorce him and the whole thing wouldn't have to become a public scandal. Finally, the suit claims Vince had agreed to pay the employee $3 million to keep quiet, but ultimately only gave her $1 million. Per NBC News, the civil case was put on hold in May 2024 pending a federal investigation into Vince's alleged crimes.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).