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Italy Unfiltered

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Italy Unfiltered - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

Italy Unfiltered

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Italy Unfiltered

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Italy Unfiltered - All You MUST Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

Explore Italy’s Unfiltered Locations To Get An Amazing Traveling Experience

When it comes to traveling, Italy often tops the list of dream destinations. Aside from its famous cities full of history and culture, Italy has many hidden treasures waiting to be discovered. 

Some unfiltered locations in Italy are filled with beauty and serenity. These places offer a glimpse into the country’s varied landscapes and vibrant local communities, and they allow you to escape from the hectic city life. 

That said, in this guide, we will explore some off-the-beaten paths to uncover Italy’s true essence. So, let’s get started with the details. 

Sorrento is a charming coastal town known for its breathtaking views and vibrant atmosphere. This place is famous for its scenic cliffs, vibrant markets, and delicious local food. These are the things that make the destination a visit. 

You can wander through its lively streets, discover hidden shops filled with shops, and taste limoncello, a lemon liqueur unique to the region. For those looking to explore beyond the beach, sorrento boat tours are a fantastic way to experience the crystal-clear waters and picture-perfect coastline. These tours take you to hidden coves, swimming spots, and nearby attractions like the mythical Capri Island. 

Booking these tours in advance is smart because it ensures you have a spot in this popular activity. This will save you time, especially during peak times when many people visit. This way, you won’t miss out on the chance to see the area’s stunning beauty from the sea.

The Apennines Mountains

For those who love the great outdoors, the Apennine Mountains offer endless opportunities for adventure. You can explore hiking and biking trails to attractive lakes and forests. The Apennines are Italy’s backbone, showcasing the country’s natural diversity. This area is perfect for those looking to immerse themselves in nature and enjoy Italy’s pristine landscapes away from the crowds.

In simple words, the place offers endless possibilities for adventure and relaxation. So, grab your hiking boots and camera, and get ready to discover the breathtaking views of the mountains. 

Sicily is a fascinating island filled with ancient ruins and stunning waters. It is the place where you can learn about the country’s past while enjoying the crystal-clear waters. Exploring the city allows you to see historical sites and bustling markets. Each town has its own charm and stories. 

Additionally, you can also visit ancient places like the Valley of the Temples or relax on sandy beaches with breathtaking views. The place offers something for everyone, whether you are interested in history, nature, or simply soaking up the sun by the sea. 

The Path of the Gods

High above the Amalfi Coast , the Sentiero degli Dei, or Path of the Gods, offers hikers an experience like no other. It offers breathtaking views of mountains and sea, connecting Agerola to Nocelle. 

The path connects the tiny hilltop town of Agerola with Nocelle; it showcases stunning vistas, ancient paths, and a peek into rural life. It’s not just a hike; it’s a journey through time in the middle of nature’s overwhelming beauty.

The adventure promises breathtaking sights and a deep connection with the surroundings.

Amalfi Coast Boat Excursion

No visit to the Amalfi Coast is complete without experiencing its splendor from the water. An Amalfi Coast boat tour presents a unique perspective of this world-renowned coastline. It allows travelers to see the beauty of towering cliffs, colorful villages perched precariously on the mountainside, and secluded bays accessible only by sea. 

It’s an adventure that promises moments of pure joy and awe-inspiring sights. This is the place where the crystal-clear waters invite you for a swim, and the sunset paints the sky in colors of gold and pink, offering moments of pure bliss.

The Venetian Lagoon

Venice is famous for its canals and old buildings, but did you know it has secret islands in its lagoon? These islands offer peaceful escapes from the busy city. Explore the colorful houses of Burano, San Francesco del Deserto with its calm monasteries, or Poveglia with its eerie beauty. Each island has its own story waiting to be explored. 

As the day draws to a close, the setting sun transforms the sky into a mesmerizing canvas of colors, casting a golden glow over the landscape. It’s a magical sight that fills you with a sense of wonder and gratitude for the beauty of nature. These moments of pure bliss are what make an Amalfi Coast boat tour an unforgettable adventure.

The Lake Como

Lake Como, situated in the Alps, is a beautiful spot known for its peaceful atmosphere and stunning views. The lake has a unique Y-shaped structure and is surrounded by green hills and fancy villas.

There is plenty to do here: you can enjoy water sports, hike in the surrounding mountains, or simply enjoy a boat tour. Along the way, you’ll see charming towns nestled along the shoreline. Whether you’re seeking adventure or relaxation, Lake Como offers something for everyone to enjoy.

Tuscany’s Untouched Val d’Orcia

Val d’Orcia, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Tuscany, offers breathtaking landscapes that appear straight out of a painting. Rolling hills dotted with cypress trees, dark-age castles, and hilltop villages define this area. It’s a paradise for photographers, nature lovers, and those seeking peace. 

In addition to its natural beauty, the region is renowned for its wine production. Wine tastings and tours of the vineyards allow you to immerse yourself in the area’s rich wine culture. Simply put, Val d’Orcia offers an unforgettable experience in the heart of Tuscany’s untouched beauty.

The Lake Garda

Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is located between the Alps’ foothills. It offers a diverse landscape that caters to every type of traveler. Here, you can engage in thrilling water sports, explore medieval castles, and walk through beautiful botanical gardens. 

The lake’s clear waters are perfect for sailing, windsurfing, and kayaking. Its surroundings offer spectacular views for hikers and bikers. Lake Garda’s charming towns, such as Sirmione and Riva del Garda, boast historic streets and delicious cuisine, making it a perfect blend of adventure and culture.

The Abruzzo

Abruzzo, often overlooked by travelers, is a region of raw beauty and rugged views. It’s home to the Apennine Mountains, dense forests, and protected national parks, where you can spot wolves, bears, and lynxes in their natural habitat. 

If you love adventurers, Abruzzo offers exceptional hiking, mountain biking, and skiing opportunities. Its ancient hilltop villages and castles, combined with a strong tradition of food and wine. This provides a deep dive into Italy’s rich heritage and unspoiled nature.

Puglia, the heel of the country’s boot, is famed for its whitewashed hill towns, centuries-old farmland, and extensive Mediterranean coastline. In Alberobello, you can marvel at the unique trulli houses, relax on pristine beaches, and explore exciting caves by sea. 

Puglia’s coastline is dotted with hidden coves and sparkling seas, making it an ideal destination for relaxation and adventure. The region’s flavors highlight olive oil, wine, and fresh seafood, offering a taste of Italy’s southern charm.

Umbria, or a country’s green heart, is a region filled with medieval hill towns, dense forests, and rolling hills. Unlike its more famous neighbor, Tuscany, Umbria offers a peaceful view of Italy’s rural life. The region is rich in history and culture. 

Towns like Assisi and Perugia offer beautiful basilicas, ancient ruins, and vibrant festivals. For nature lovers, the Sibillini Mountains and Lake Trasimeno provide stunning settings for outdoor activities. 

The Final Thoughts

Italy’s beauty extends beyond its famous cities and landmarks, offering hidden gems and unfiltered adventures. Italy offers a diverse range of experiences. Each destination invites exploration, providing a glimpse into its endless beauty and the excitement of discovery. So, what are you waiting for? Pack your bags and experience the mesmerizing beauty of the country. 

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Tiny Urban Kitchen

Published: Aug 26, 2022 · Modified: Sep 13, 2022 by Jennifer Che

Day Trip to Chianti Classico Region

The Tuscany wine region has been on my list of places to visit for quite some time now. Even though we'd been to Florence during our honeymoon 20+ years ago, we'd never explored the surrounding wine regions.

Although our time in Florence was still short this time, our excellent tour guides from our last Piedmont trip ( Travel Langhe ) recommended their friends Deb and Massi from Italy Unfiltered . Massi (who's Italian) and his wife/business partner Deb (who's American but now lives in Italy) worked with us to design a custom itinerary that included their recommendations as well as our own suggestions.

Deb was our main point of contact during the planning stage, and she was great. Super organized, responsive, and flexible. On the day of the tour, Massi came and picked us up and spent the whole day with us.

The drive out to the Chianti Wine Region from Florence takes about 45 minutes, and the views are stunning once you get into wine country.

Massi knew we loved taking photos, so sometimes at various spots along the drive he would just stop the car and let us get out to take some photos. We were blessed with amazing sunshine and lovely weather overall, so the views were amazing.

First Stop: Montefioralle

Montefioralle is an ancient village nestled in the hills above Greve in Chianti, right between Florence and Siena. This tiny, tiny village is virtually car-free and still retains its original fort-like walls.

Some say it is one of the most beautiful villages in Italy. It's really small and very walkable, and so very quaint and pretty all around. We spent about 20 minutes exploring and taking photos of the village itself as well as the surrounding vistas.

Stunning views of the surrounding mountains from every angle!

Second Stop: Altiero  Vineyard

Deb and Massi have built up relationships with many winemakers in the region over the years they have lived in Italy. They try to seek out more unique, off-the-beaten-path experiences for people who take their tours.

We met the winemakers of Altiero in Chianti. Altiero is a small production organic winery that only produces around 15,000 bottles per year.  It was cool to get up and personal with this family and learn more about their winery.

Samuela, the winemaker, shared with us about the long process it took for them to become DOC certified. In Italy, DOC certification ensures that a wine is made in a particular geographical area and using a certain production method.

On top of that, the wine has to pass a taste test for a certain quality standard. It takes years to achieve and lots of paperwork and waiting. For this family, it took them nearly 12 years.

After an educational tour of the winery itself, we began tasting wine on their magnificent patio with unparalleled views of the Chianti wine region below.

So amazing!

We enjoyed the wines and thought the prices were very reasonable. Best yet, they shipped to Hong Kong! So we ordered a case of 12 and asked then to ship it to us when we arrived back in Hong Kong!

P.S. They ended up delivering it early, so it arrived while we were serving out our 3-week quarantine. We drank several bottles in quarantine!

Third Stop: Lunch + Vertical Tasting at Castello di Ama

This third part of the tour was our request. When Bryan's best friend found out we were traveling to Italy, he (perhaps half jokingly) told us we should try to taste a vertical of Castello di Ama's flagship wine, the Bella Vista.

I asked Deb and Massi if they could arrange it for us, and guess what? They did! They arranged for us to have a winery tour, lunch, and the vertical tasting at Castello di Ama. So fun!

The Restaurant: Il Ristoro di Villa Pianigiani 

We began with a lovely pasta lunch at the winery restaurant, which was delicious! Of course they serve their own wine, and it was tempting to try several even before our official wine tasting.

The freshly made pastas were excellent, and we did enjoy a glass of their wine (just a taste!) during the lunch together with the pastas.

The Winery Tour

Next we took a private tour of the winery.

Very different from Altiero, Castello di Ama is a much bigger operation. At the time of the tour they were just putting on the finishing touches on their brand new, gorgeous tasting space.

The surrounding views are stunning, with olive trees, rows of grapevines, and mountains in the distance.

The Tasting

The tasting was really, really fun, and we did get to try both a number of different Castello di Ama wines, as well as a mini vertical of their flagship, the Vigneto Bellavista. We tried the 2006, 2007, and 2011.

We also tried the L'Apparita 2008 and Vigneto La Casuccia 2011.

We decided to buy some Vigneto Bellavista as well as some other more "casual" wines for everyday drinking. Yes, they ship to Hong Kong as well!

As we were winding up the tasting, i noticed the magnificent sunset right outside the window. I ran outside with my camera and managed to grab a few shots before the sun went down.

Dario Cecchini - Antica Macelleria Cecchini

Our last stop was at celebrity butcher Dario Cecchini's famous steak shop (and restaurant) in Chianti. Dario Cecchini has been features on Netflix's Chef's Table as well as BBC's Food Programme. He's an 8th generation butcher who strongly believes in traditional methods and art of butchery.

"You're from Hong Kong?" His eyes lit up.

"I'll be opening something in Hong Kong soon."

He slipped us his business card, which included a tiny bag of Florentine steak spices.

We promised to visit his new Hong Kong venture as soon as it opened.

We couldn't stay for dinner, unfortunately (oh how fun it would have been!), but he did gift us a few larger bags of his special Florentine steak spice to try.

Chianti Wine Region Tour

We had a great time with Italy Unfiltered. We opted for a guaranteed private tour , which cost 200 Euros per person for the whole day (pick up 9AM / drop off around 6PM). We could have opted for a semi-private tour (180 Euros per person), which means there's a chance we would be paired up with another couple. I guess since it was Covid times we wanted to be cautious, so we opted for the guaranteed tour. This also allowed us to customize our itinerary, swapping out certain things for the Castello di Ama tour that we did.

I really felt like I only got a tiny taste of the Chianti wine region. The wine region is beautiful, much like other wine regions I've visited in Italy. I would love to come back and explore more, but then there are so many other wine regions to visit!

In any event, it's an easy day trip from Florence (only 45 minute drive), so if you're going to be in Florence, it's not a huge deal to take a day off and tour around the wine region. Joining a private tour means you can drink more wine and not worry about driving!

We had an amazing time, and I would opt for a private tour again if I came. Italy Unfiltered was great! (This is totally not sponsored. In fact, they have no idea I am writing this post).

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Want to work remotely in Italy? The country just launched its new digital nomad visa.

Remote workers with dreams of working from the rolling hills of Tuscany or the cliffs of Positano are now one step closer to making that reality. Italy launched a new digital nomad visa.

Two years after its announcement, the highly anticipated digital nomad visa officially became available for those eligible on April 4.  

“Italian-style, everything happens slowly,” said Nick Metta, a lawyer for the law firm Studio Legale Metta , which has helped Americans relocate to Italy for decades. “Now there is a pipeline of people waiting just to file the application. It's been a long-awaited visa.” 

Most of Metta’s clients would previously apply for a student visa, which allowed them to work part time in Italy. 

Under the new visa, people will be able to work from Italy for one year, with the option to renew once their visa is due for expiration. Without a visa, U.S. travelers could only stay in Italy for up to 90 days without the ability to work.

Learn more: Best travel insurance

The launch makes Italy the latest European country to offer a digital nomad visa , which has already been available in Greece and Hungary. 

Here’s everything we know about the digital nomad visa for Italy:

Destinations behind a paywall? What to know about the increasing tourist fees worldwide.

Who can apply for a digital nomad visa in Italy?

According to the official decree , the visa is meant for those who “carry out a highly qualified work activity through the use of technological tools that allow you to work remotely.” 

The regulations define eligible applicants as “digital nomads,” self-employed freelancers, “remote workers,” or those employed by a company outside of Italy and can work from anywhere, according to Studio Legale Metta.

To qualify for the visa, the applicant has to meet certain requirements:

◾ A university or college degree or an accredited professional license.

◾ Six months of work experience in the industry, or five years for applicants without a university degree.

◾ An existing employment contract.

◾ A criminal record check.

◾ Proof of an annual income of 28,000 euros (about $29,880.06).

◾ Evidence of housing in Italy.

◾ Evidence of health insurance coverage.

Applicants can also apply to have family members join them on their Italian move, but the government has to give the final approval. 

How do I apply for the digital nomad visa in Italy?

Thankfully, Metta said the paperwork for the digital nomad visa isn’t “too complicated.” 

The first stop for interested applicants will be the Italian Consulate for their area. “Consulates are basically the front of the government to receive the applications,” Metta said. Interested applicants can book an appointment with the consulate and start gathering their necessary documents. People can also apply by mailing in their application. (However, Metta did mention consulate websites are often confusing and outdated, so working with a relocation service can make things easier.)

To apply, applicants will also need a passport with an expiration date at least three months after the end of the visa period and two passport-sized photos.

Relocation services can also help people navigate the sometimes complicated process of applying for a visa, such as negotiating early termination penalties with landlords in Italy. 

These services also help people with state and tax planning, especially if people own assets in the U.S., like a house. Once in Italy, people need to register their residency with the town hall, which will determine what sort of taxes they’ll pay. People can speak to an international tax specialist to figure out their future taxes as well. 

How much will the visa cost?

According to Studio Legale Metta, the application fee is 116 euros (about $123.78) per person.

How long will the application process take?

Not too long, actually. Metta estimates the process could take just three weeks if applicants are “well-organized and have all your tax documents filed.”

Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. You can reach her at [email protected] .

Italy Unfiltered

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ITALY UNFILTERED (Siena) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

Italy Unfiltered

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ITALY UNFILTERED (Siena) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

Vince McMahon's life after WWE: Kittens, vacations and staying in touch with Trump

As he faces a mountain of legal woes, former WWE leader Vince McMahon is traveling, eating out and keeping in touch with friends and associates — including former President Donald Trump.

McMahon resigned as executive chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment’s parent company almost three months ago after a former employee, Janel Grant, accused him in a bombshell lawsuit of sexual abuse and trafficking. He denied the allegations. McMahon, 78, is also facing a federal criminal investigation , although he hasn’t been charged.

NBC News and CNBC talked to 11 people familiar with McMahon and WWE about how he’s been spending his time — and how the global brand he built over more than four decades is moving on without him. These people, including close personal associates and company insiders, declined to be named, citing ongoing legal cases and the confidential nature of internal corporate communications.

Multiple WWE insiders said he hasn’t had any contact with company leaders and figureheads since he resigned. Mark Shapiro, the operating chief of WWE parent company TKO Group Holdings, said in March that McMahon “doesn’t work for the company, doesn’t come into the office, and he’s not coming back to the company.”

That also means McMahon hasn’t talked to his son-in-law, WWE creative chief and former superstar Paul “Triple H” Levesque, or daughter, Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, regarding company matters, sources said. While she introduced WWE’s WrestleMania event earlier this month, McMahon-Levesque, who worked beside her father for more than 20 years and played roles in storylines, currently has no involvement with the company, according to people familiar with the matter. Levesque and McMahon-Levesque declined to comment through a spokesperson, as did a WWE representative. 

McMahon is nonetheless indelibly linked with the wrestling outfit, which he bought from his father 42 years ago. Still, he seems to have moved on, according to multiple sources. McMahon has kept up his other routines, and it’s as if he’s unfazed by his legal fights, two sources said.For instance, on an afternoon in late March, McMahon returned on a private plane to the United States from the sunny Turks and Caicos Islands -- but he wasn’t alone, according to a person close to him. He had with him seven kittens and a puppy, all of which he brought back to be adopted by his friends, this person added. 

“If anything, he’s enjoying life,” said the person, who added that McMahon had also taken a trip to Italy. 

Jessica Rosenberg, an attorney for McMahon, declined to comment regarding the aspects of the former WWE chief’s life reported in this article. In an emailed statement Tuesday, however, she criticized Grant’s suit: “The lawsuit’s claims are false, defamatory and entirely without merit. We intend to vigorously defend Mr. McMahon and are confident that he will be vindicated.”

Life amid litigation

The details of McMahon’s life after his WWE reign present a stark contrast to Grant’s accusations, which paint a graphic portrait of a violent and controlling man. In the federal lawsuit, filed Jan. 25, Grant’s attorneys said that she was “the victim of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault and trafficking at WWE,” naming McMahon and former WWE executive John Laurinaitis. Both men have denied the accusations in the suit. The lawsuit also named WWE as a defendant. WWE and its parent company, TKO, have said that they take Grant’s allegations “very seriously.” 

“Vince McMahon raped, trafficked and physically assaulted Janel Grant as part of his decades-long normalization of treating women within the WWE as objects. He might have thought that Janel would just walk away, but that wishful thinking couldn’t be further from the case,” Ann Callis, an attorney for Grant, said in a statement Wednesday. “Every day we are focused on adding to our mountain of evidence, speaking with other victims, hiring renowned experts on sex trafficking/coercive control and preparing to vociferously litigate this case.”

Federal investigators seized a phone from McMahon and have been trying to determine whether federal law was broken in the conduct surrounding Grant’s allegations, NBC News reported in February . WWE had disclosed last summer that investigators served McMahon with a federal grand jury subpoena and executed a search warrant in July.McMahon is cooperating with authorities, according to one of the people close to him. McMahon believes officials won’t bring any charges against him and that Grant’s civil case will be settled out of court, said a person close to the former wrestling executive.

Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, declined to comment.

A spokesperson for Grant’s attorneys said that there have been absolutely no settlement talks with McMahon.

While his legal battles persist, McMahon is often ferried by a private driver from his posh Connecticut home to Manhattan, according to one of the sources close to him. There, he eats with friends at restaurants such as the old-school Italian spot Il Tinello East on 46th Street, sees his longtime barber for biweekly haircuts and works with his personal trainer multiple times a week, the source said.  Two other sources, however, say McMahon has otherwise been “quite guarded” and often on the phone with his lawyers to map out plans since Grant’s lawsuit was made public.

Staying in touch

McMahon has also talked to Trump, according to two of the people close to the wrestling impresario. The two billionaires have been in touch regularly, according to a person close to McMahon, although it isn’t clear what they’ve discussed.

Trump and the McMahon family go way back: The former president hosted two WrestleMania events in Atlantic City in the late 1980s, engaged in a wrestling “feud” with McMahon in 2007 and is a member of the WWE Hall of Fame. Linda McMahon, McMahon’s wife, served as the Small Business Administration’s head in Trump’s Cabinet, led a pro-Trump super PAC and is now on the board of the publicly traded Trump Media and Technology Group.

In 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that McMahon paid $5 million in previously unrecorded expenses to the since-dissolved Donald J. Trump Foundation during two of the years Trump appeared on WWE programming.

Trump, who’s running for a second term as president, has also been accused of sexual assault and is facing his own costly pile of civil and criminal legal troubles, including four separate indictments. Trump has denied wrongdoing in his various cases, pleading not guilty in each criminal proceeding, including a New York trial that started Monday. Another person close to McMahon said that the two men don’t discuss their legal problems and that Trump doesn’t provide legal advice.

Hours after the publication of this story, a spokesperson for McMahon pushed back.

“Mr. McMahon has not been ‘staying in touch’ or ‘been in touch regularly’ with former President Trump. He has spoken with Mr. Trump once in the past several years and that was for about a minute or so after Mr. McMahon’s back surgery. Other than that, there have been no communications between the two,” the spokesperson said.

A representative for Trump declined to comment.

Since he resigned, McMahon has been in touch with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and John Cena, sources said. Johnson and Cena, both Hollywood superstars, are two of WWE’s biggest success stories.

Publicly, Johnson has thanked TKO and WWE executives regarding his addition to the TKO board earlier this year. In February, Cena told the radio host Howard Stern that “the whole thing is super unfortunate and it sucks,” while noting that he loves McMahon and has a “great relationship” with him. “But in the same breath,” he added at the time, “I’m also a big advocate of accountability.”

Cena and Johnson are both represented by the William Morris Endeavor agency, which is part of Endeavor Group — the majority owner of TKO.A spokesperson for Johnson declined to comment. A representative for Cena didn’t respond to requests for comment. 

WWE in transition

This isn’t the first time WWE has had to contend with controversy stemming from its former longtime leader. McMahon was acquitted of federal criminal charges in the early 1990s related to the steroid scandal that engulfed the wrestling world at the time. 

In 2022, he briefly stepped down as WWE’s leader after the Journal reported that he paid millions of dollars to multiple women to cover up his alleged extramarital affairs. The Journal also reported that other women had come forward with sexual misconduct allegations . WWE amended its financial reports to reflect the payments. McMahon denied all wrongdoing. 

His daughter helped take over leadership of the company in the interim, but McMahon-Levesque resigned when her father, who owned a controlling stake in WWE, returned in early 2023 . McMahon then engineered a deal to merge the company with Endeavor Group’s UFC to form TKO. Longtime Hollywood super agent Ari Emanuel is the CEO of both Endeavor and TKO. 

That deal, announced in April 2023 , made McMahon the executive chairman of the new company, and he gave up majority control of WWE. At the time, he told CNBC he wouldn’t be “in the weeds” with creative decisions but he would weigh in on big decisions. That marked a big shift for McMahon. His family has been in the business dating back to the early 20th century. After buying the company from his father, who was known as “Vince Sr.,” the younger McMahon then employed flamboyant superstars such as Hulk Hogan and the Rock, staging glitzy pay-per-view events like WrestleMania, to build it into an international sensation. And while WWE is still defined in part by the family, McMahon’s daughter and son-in-law are publicly attempting to push the brand into the future.  

At WrestleMania 40, held earlier this month in Philadelphia, McMahon-Levesque surprised the crowd with an appearance and hailed her husband’s leadership. “Every Wrestlemania is special for its own reason, but I think WrestleMania 40 might be the one I’m most proud of, because this is the first WrestleMania of the Paul Levesque era,” she said . (Linda McMahon joined her daughter backstage, according to an Instagram photo posted by wrestling star Charlotte Flair.) Levesque himself proclaimed a “new era” for WWE. 

It was a significant moment for the brand, coming during the first WrestleMania since the Grant lawsuit -- and it’s the first one under TKO’s management. Still, some rank-and-file WWE employees have griped that the company hasn’t done more to address the situation, according to an insider. After McMahon quit, Shapiro told a global town hall for both TKO and Endeavor employees “in no uncertain terms” that the former wrestling boss wouldn’t return, according to another insider. Shapiro also assured employees that Levesque and WWE President Nick Khan have his support, this person said. 

Otherwise, WWE is more relaxed since McMahon resigned in January, sources said. When McMahon was still running things, he would come in late in the afternoon and often stay until around midnight or beyond, two current employees said. (His office at WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, is unoccupied but otherwise intact, according to an executive, who called it “spooky.”) He had a reputation for being capricious and quick to fire employees, which generated fear and created a chilling effect, according to sources. 

Now there’s more levity and freedom to make a mistake or suggest an idea, some employees said.

The current leadership operates more conventionally, giving underperforming employees a standard progress report and opportunities to improve before taking action, they added. 

Some McMahon loyalists remain, but one employee said: “WWE is actually a really great place to work, and Vince distracted from that. It’s been much better since he left.” Another said: “People feel like they’re on steadier ground.”The company, meanwhile, is charting its post-McMahon course with the help of lucrative media rights deals. In September, WWE signed a $1.4 billion deal with NBC News’ parent company, NBCUniversal, for domestic rights to “Friday Night SmackDown.” In January, it inked a 10-year, $5 billion pact with Netflix to move its flagship “Raw” show and other programs to the streaming giant next year. WWE announced both agreements after it became part of TKO and McMahon ceded much of his official control over the brand.

There’s yet another sign suggesting that McMahon’s distance from WWE is more than temporary: He has sold hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of shares in TKO since November, a sizable chunk of those sales coming after he resigned in January. That’s different from when he briefly stepped down in 2022.  

“This time, it’s like, OK, now, it’s over -over,” one of the insiders said.

A version of this story was published on CNBC.com .

Chloe Melas is an entertainment correspondent for NBC News. 

Alex Sherman covers media for CNBC.