WWE Chairman Vince McMahon is not currently involved in the WWE NXT creative process.
Vince McMahon returned to the company a few weeks ago, and there has been much speculation about McMahon possibly regaining control of WWE creative from WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H. WWE and outside sources have insisted that Triple H will retain control, while Vince is focused on the company’s sale and media rights fees. Shawn Michaels, WWE’s Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative, hosted a Vengeance Day media call this week and was asked if McMahon has been involved with the NXT writing team, and if not, does Michaels anticipate McMahon becoming involved in the process.
“He has not,” Michaels confirmed. “I’d imagine Vince has probably got bigger fish to fry than us down here in NXT, but no. Again, I’ll say this – one of the things I enjoy about my job down here is the plausible deniability that I’m allowed to have, but I don’t ask a lot of questions because I don’t want to know the answers to some of them.”
Michaels went on to say that McMahon was still keeping his hands out of NXT creative in 2021, when Vince and Executive Director of CWT Bruce Prichard visited the brand following the NXT 2.0 reboot.
“But again, that’s what I love down here in NXT in Florida, but no, and I’ll say look, even back when we were here, he was very good with us down here, you know what I mean? They wanted us… they helped us in a certain way, they guided us in how they wanted it to go, but after that it was hands-off,” Michaels said of McMahon and Prichard in NXT. “And Hunter, the same thing. They’re very good with us down here in NXT, they understand it’s a different environment down here, so we’re very fortunate to sort of be independent. No matter who’s running the ship up there in Stamford, they allow us a great deal of freedom down here, which we appreciate.”
For those who missed it, click here to read Michaels’ thoughts on what WWE Vice President of Global Talent Development William Regal has been up to since his return, click here to read about Vengeance Day attendance and the mood in NXT, and click here to read about Mandy Rose’s departure.
