WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations Paul “Triple H” Levesque is leading the WWE creative team once again, as announced earlier today by WWE.
A new report from Fightful Select notes that WWE Vice President of Creative Writing Ed Koskey and Senior Vice President & RAW/SmackDown Executive Director Bruce Prichard were largely in control of the direction of Friday’s SmackDown.
Producers at SmackDown were reportedly told that Triple H would at least be the “finish guy” for the show. Last week some higher-ups were told that Vince McMahon would still be available to some degree as he transitions away from the company following Friday’s retirement announcement.
WWE has confirmed that Prichard remains with the company, and will continue to work in creative.
A USA Network official reportedly responded to the creative change announcement and said, “this is an exciting change.”
Friday’s massive WWE corporate shake-up came after the WWE Board of Directors began investigation Vince and then-Talent Relations head John Laurinaitis over allegations of misconduct earlier this year. As we’ve noted, it was initially revealed on Wednesday, June 15 that WWE’s Board of Directors has been investigating Vince over the “secret $3 million settlement” he made to the former paralegal that was hired in 2019. Laurinaitis was also being investigated for his involvement, and it was revealed that the Board had been looking into other instances with former female employees as well. It was then announced on Friday, June 17 that Stephanie McMahon returned from her leave of absence to act as the Interim CEO & Interim Chairwoman after Vince voluntarily stepped away from his Chairman & CEO corporate duties, while still continuing his creative responsibilities, at least at that time. It was then revealed on Monday, June 20 that Prichard, WWE’s Senior Vice President and RAW/SmackDown Executive Producer, was working as the Interim Senior Vice President of Talent Relations, filling in for Laurinaitis during the investigation. It was then revealed on Friday, July 8, that McMahon agreed to pay more than $12 million in “hush money” to four women, including a former wrestler, as another round of allegations were made public. Prichard is no longer working the interim role as WWE announced on July 22 that Triple H is the new WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations. Vince’s retirement was announced hours after Triple H’s new role was revealed, and Vince was the first to confirm that Stephanie is the new Chairwoman & Co-CEO, along with Co-CEO Nick Khan. Laurinaitis is believed to be gone from the company. WWE announced today, July 25, that Triple H is also the new head of creative. WWE also announced today that previous financial statements are being revised due to “certain unrecorded expenses” by Vince, which are the payouts to various women. You can find full details at the links below, including statements from Vince and Stephanie, full details on the anonymous e-mails that led to the investigations, the “hush money” pacts, and more.
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