Former WWE boss Vince McMahon is cited for reckless driving in Connecticut crash

In this May 21, 2010, file photo, WWE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Vince McMahon is shown at the Connecticut Republican Convention in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

Former WWE CEO Vince McMahon is accused of causing a crash on a Connecticut highway that wrecked his Bentley and damaged two other cars, a few hours before Hulk Hogan’s death hit the news and he was quoted praising the wrestling icon.

McMahon was cited for reckless driving and following too closely after last Thursday morning’s crash on the Merritt Parkway in Westport, state police said in a report. No one was injured. He was released on a US$500 bond and ordered to appear in Stamford Superior Court on Aug. 26.

Representatives for McMahon did not immediately return email messages on Wednesday. TMZ first reported the crash on Tuesday.

Photos taken by one of the people involved in the crash, Barbara Doran, showed heavy damage to the front end of McMahon’s 2024 Bentley Continental GT Speed as it sat on a tow truck in Westport. The photos also showed rear-end damage to Doran’s BMW 430.

The police report said McMahon was driving northbound on the parkway, also known as Route 15, when he rear-ended the BMW and crashed into wooden guardrail. A car traveling in the southbound lanes struck debris from the crash that flew over the guardrail, state police said.

There were no passengers in the cars and all three drivers were wearing their seat belts, police said. The air bags in McMahon’s car deployed, the police report said. Doran said air bags in her BMW didn’t.

Doran, of New York City, said she was driving in the right lane when McMahon crashed into her. She said the impact sent her car off the road.

“I was driving along in the right lane and suddenly, boom. I was hit from behind and catapulted forward and you can see the skid marks where I was trying desperately to keep on the road,” she said.

Doran said a state trooper told her the other driver was McMahon, whom she didn’t know too much about. She said she and McMahon talked after the crash.

“He just, you know, expressed concern, was glad I was OK and all that. And I thanked him for his concern,” Doran, 72, said.

McMahon stepped down as WWE’s CEO in 2022 amid a company investigation into sexual misconduct allegations. He also resigned as executive chairman of the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE, last year, a day after a former WWE employee filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against him. McMahon has denied the allegations. The lawsuit remains pending.

McMahon bought what was then the World Wrestling Federation in 1982 and transformed it from a regional wrestling company into a worldwide phenomenon. Besides running the company with his wife, Linda, who is now the U.S. education secretary, he also performed at WWE events as himself.

By Dave Collins