In a stunning turn of events on Friday, Vince McMahon announced his retirement from WWE.
In a press release that was issued regarding the news of McMahon’s retirement, it was announced that Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan will be taking over the company as co-CEOs. McMahon has also stepped down as head of WWE creative.
According to a report from Fightful, Bruce Prichard was in charge of the creative team at Friday night’s WWE SmackDown TV tapings. Ed Koskey was also involved in some of the creative aspects of the show.
WWE’s new Head of Talent Relations, Triple H, also helped “direct traffic” at the TV tapings. Several backstage producers in the company were told that while Prichard has taken over many of Vince’s duties for the time being, nothing is permanent.
As far as the talent is concerned, they are wondering who will be in charge permanently as the transition continues to take place. Some of them questioned whether there could be some creative challenges in the future. Of course, that’s all going to depend on who winds up with the most power and control in the end.
If Prichard remains in his current position, it’s believed that fans and talent won’t see much change in the product. If it’s someone else, that could be a different story. In the end, Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan will have the final say.
There are some who are under the impression that we’ll see fewer rematches in the coming months. There have been numerous instances in the past where Vince would put together a match and would forget that it’s been done multiple times. Additionally, it is said that McMahon had trouble remembering names at times. While the next head of creative may not change from Vince’s vision out of respect for the former CEO and Chairman, it’s possible there will be some small changes that could make a “big difference.”
As far as the original script for last night’s episode of WWE SmackDown is concerned, there was more time planned for a segment involving the Maximum Male Models, as well as the Ronda Rousey/Liv Morgan segment. One source said it was a “looser” show in terms of production. There are some who believe that will be the case moving forward.
As you’d expect, many of the talent were said to have been shocked when the announcement was made public. They found out through an internal memo that was sent out just minutes before the rest of the world saw Vince’s tweet. Several talents in WWE who have been there for many years were confused when a talent meeting was held at Money in the Bank in which it was announced that McMahon wasn’t going anywhere. Several top WWE talents said they had no idea this was coming. Several others have openly questioned who may be the next to leave, and whether some of those people could include Vince’s inner circle. There are some who believe Kevin Dunn could be the next person to leave the company. One WWE talent suggested that they wouldn’t put it past Vince to eventually return because they don’t believe he’ll be able to stay away.
And finally, several talents said they have no idea what Vince will do next, as WWE has been his life and he never had much spare time.
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