Stephanie McMahon Accused of Playing to Fans at ESPNs Expense Over Controversial VPN Remarks

During her sit-down with Roman Reigns, McMahon casually promoted Surfshark, a VPN that lets users access content in other countries, including Netflix libraries where WWE Premium Live Events are available effectively bypassing ESPNs $30/month paywall in the U.S.

The ad aired just weeks into WWEs new partnership with ESPN, and it didnt go unnoticed. Fightful Select reported that at least one source we spoke to at ESPN wasnt thrilled by the VPN ad read on Stephanie McMahons podcast. While the backlash hasnt escalated, the timing raised eyebrows due to WWEs deal with ESPN being a major revenue driver.

Now Vince Russo is calling it exactly what he thinks it was a calculated move by Stephanie to win points with frustrated fans. Speaking on Riding With Russo, he rejected the idea that McMahon simply didnt understand VPNs. In his view, she knew what she was doing and wasnt worried about upsetting ESPN. Russo explained the context and motivation like this:

Russo painted the move as a PR tactic aimed at softening the blow of WWEs increasingly expensive offerings especially to U.S. fans now juggling both Netflix and ESPN subscriptions just to follow the product. By casually suggesting a VPN workaround, Stephanie offered fans an insider trick, all while ESPN foots the bill for exclusivity.

The strategy may have bought goodwill with the fanbase, but its also drawing attention to the growing tension between WWEs global content model and its domestic streaming deals. Russos take: Stephanie gambled on keeping the fans happy even if it meant throwing a little shade at ESPN in the process.

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