After six decades in wrestling, mostly as the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, Vince McMahon is calling it a career.
Taking to Twitter on Friday, McMahon announced that he is retiring. He thanked the WWE Universe in a very short message:
“At 77, time for me to retire. Thank you, WWE Universe. Then. Now. Forever. Together,” McMahon wrote.
His tweet has quickly gone viral with over 30,000 likes in just 20 minutes. But WWE fans are having a hard time coming to terms with it in the comments:
“Thank you Vince for everything,” WWE superstar Mandy Rose tweeted.
“I genuinely read this and went (whoa),” one Twitter user wrote. “Never thought it would ever actually happen.”
“My heart. My entire heart is sad right now. Thank you @VinceMcMahon for everything you’ve given to us. For Wrestlemania, for all the memories. All the storylines. Forever grateful. #ThankYouVince,” wrote another.
It’s unclear from this message what exactly McMahon is retiring from. Is he retiring from in-ring competition? Is he stepping down from all roles at WWE?
The timing of the announcement is a little suspicious though. It comes on the heels of McMahon stepping down as WWE chairman and CEO following a payoff scandal.
At the time of the announcement, McMahon was believed to be retaining his role on the creative side of WWE programming.
Nevertheless, McMahon is a wrestling and entertainment icon and WWE will forever be changed in his absence.