There have been plenty of rumors and debates about exactly what the creative process in WWE is like since Vince McMahon returned to the company earlier this year. Paul “Triple H” Levesque remains the nominal head of creative, and from all accounts is running things on that end on a day-to-day basis. But McMahon is involved too; it’s just a matter of how often and how much.
A report this week from Fightful Select (subscription required) may shed some light on those questions. Their sources suggest that McMahon hasn’t made himself a regular presence backstage since WrestleMania, but has “been making regular changes to WWE shows remotely.”
(Insert your joke about the time-honored pro wrestling tradition of an on-screen authority figure on the phone with someone off-screen here.)
The sources suggest that when McMahon was at shows in person, “changes were a lot heavier and had less reason to them.” However, even remotely, he’s still said to be making “heavy alterations” to some show plans.
This should come as a surprise to absolutely no one. It was never likely that McMahon was going to return to power in WWE and plays a hands-off role with the product — that’s simply not the way he’s done things throughout his career.
Still, perhaps this arrangement reflects a happy medium of sorts. Levesque is clearly more popular with the talent, and having him as the face of the team steering Raw and SmackDown is good for morale (for WWE fans as well, in many cases, though there are those who prefer McMahon as head booker too).
If McMahon is calling in changes from home, there’s not much the wrestlers can do about that, but at least this way they’re not seeing him do it in person. With Endeavor merging WWE and UFC into a new company that will keep McMahon on as executive chairman, this status quo is almost certainly going to continue for the foreseeable future, so adjusting to it is in everyone’s best interest.