People working for WWE have been more ready to speak with reporters about Vince McMahon since the former WWE CEO and Chairman left the company last Friday.
The latest McMahon report from Fightful Select provides a clearer picture of the creative scene under his direction.
Many people involved in the creative process that they spoke to claimed that many of the creative writer’s assistants actually needed to “filter” McMahon themselves in some respects because they frequently needed to be aware of what not to write for McMahon while collecting notes from him. The “minutes are heavily edited,” it was said.
For a very long period, it was claimed that this was generally true. Vince would often say things that would come out as insensitive or offensive, as well as plain kayfabe and “oh god, what did he just say?” situations.
The report stated, “some of the stories included McMahon constantly calling people the wrong names, or using terms that weren’t socially acceptable, and that even he himself would have never allowed on television.”
A former member of the production team was quoted saying, “if a live feed of Vince McMahon on a headset any given night ever made it out, that it would provide a picture of that production experience, especially for the announcers. There were plenty of times he was in a good mood, but he would blow up at the most ridiculous things and act like they ruined an angle far past its expiration date anyway.”
When asked about the anticipated changes from when McMahon was in control to now that Triple H is the head of creative, one person specifically stated, “recall of what we have and haven’t done repeatedly. There were so many things that Vince insisted on doing that I’m pretty sure he didn’t remember doing over and over again, even when people would tell him.”
As PWMania.com previously reported, the “secret $3 million settlement” that Vince made to the former paralegal who was recruited in 2019 was the subject of an investigation by the WWE Board of Directors, which was first made public on Wednesday, June 15. Laurinaitis’ role was also under investigation, and it was made known that the Board was also looking into other incidents involving former female employees. Following Vince’s voluntary resignation from his Chairman & CEO corporate responsibilities, it was announced on Friday, June 17 that Stephanie McMahon had returned from her leave of absence to serve as the Interim CEO & Interim Chairwoman. Vince, at least temporarily, continued his creative responsibilities. On Monday, June 20, it was made public that Bruce Prichard, Senior Vice President of WWE and Executive Producer of RAW/SmackDown, had been acting in Laurinaitis’ place as Interim Senior Vice President of Talent Relations while the inquiry was ongoing. On Friday, July 8, as further charges came to light, it was made public that McMahon had agreed to pay more than $12 million in “hush money” to four women, among them a former wrestler. As Triple H was named the new WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations on July 22, Prichard is no longer filling the interim position. Hours after Triple H’s new position was made public, Vince announced his retirement. Vince was the first to confirm that Stephanie, along with Co-CEO Nick Khan, is the new Chairwoman & Co-CEO. Laurinaitis is thought to be no longer with the company. On July 25, WWE announced Triple H to be the new creative director. Additionally, WWE stated that prior financial reports are being revised as a result of “certain unrecorded expenses” paid by Vince totaling $14.6 million, which were payments made to several women. It was also revealed that the federal government is looking into the payouts by McMahon.
Stay tuned to PWMania.com for more.
