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WHY STEPH AND NOT SHANE, WHY WOULDN'T HHH BE TAPPED AS INTERIM CEO, JOHNNY ACE & MORE VINCE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE

By Mike Johnson on 2022-06-17 10:00:00

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Why do you think Stephanie McMahon was named the interim CEO and not Shane McMahon?

A number of reasons.  One, Stephanie has been working for the company full-time in recent years, has been in the middle of everything, knows their vision and was who the Board obviously wanted in the role.  They want the message to be that there's a seamless pivot to Steph and they are running smooth.  Whether you think he should have been tapped or not, the reality is Shane has not been an company employee for many years and had mostly been a performer with very few behind the scenes responsibilities.  The last time he was working behind the scenes was the 2022 Royal Rumble and that went so well, he hasn't worked for the company since.  Is it possible he could return in some fashion?  Sure, but it's not going to be to run the company for his Dad when his Dad is under investigation.  Stephanie has been groomed and prepared for that role for many years and even though Nick Khan is President and in many regards, the internal side of the company has been shaped by him in recent years, they need a McMahon at the helm for public appearances as much as anything else and she's the right choice in my eyes.  

Why Stephanie and not HHH?

I don't see Paul Levesque as being the person to put into what will obviously be a stressful situation given his heart issues.  The man is still recovering.  If Vince McMahon is eventually removed from creative duties, Levesque makes a lot of sense but given his health issues, I don't think putting him into that CEO role would be the best short-term ideas for him or the company.    WWE is still in the middle of chaos here.  As someone who is watching his father currently recover from a quadruple bypass, I can tell you firsthand that Levesque's health should not be sacrificed to that chaos in my opinion.

Any update on John Laurinaitis?

As of this morning, he is still internally listed as with the company.  If and whether that changes remains to be seen.  This is all unfolding in real time.  I don't think anyone would be stunned to hear this doesn't end well for his status with the company.

Why was Stephanie referred to as Ms. and not Mrs. in that press release?  Did I miss something?

Good question and you are not alone asking that this morning.  It's also not one that WWE is going to publicly address, especially right now.  I honestly don't know if we've missed something but there's been eyebrows raised by some in the company this morning and it's the last thing WWE is going to comment on with all else going on.  It could just be they used Ms. and that's all.  It's not unusual for that title to be used in business circles.

Did Vince McMahon really just stated he will do whatever the Board wants him to do?  Come on, this is like The Emperor in Star Wars listening to the Senate when, as he says, "I AM THE SENATE!"  That has to be a work right?

He did.  It's a publicly traded company.   He's going to have to answer to the Board of Directors' investigation.  You aren't working public statements by an officer of  - AGAIN - a publicly traded company in the middle of that officer being investigated publicly by an outside third party, especially when you have no idea what could be potentially uncovered..  No matter what happens here, the idea that this company is and always will be Vince McMahon's fiefdom is over.  We are looking at a situation that could very well be the beginning of the end of the Vince McMahon saga.  We will see, but I expect there will be a lot of cultural changes made in the days and weeks to come internally.

What happens to the Vince McMahon book. Netflix documentary and the People vs. Vince McMahon TV series?

I am going to place the safe bet and say all of those are on hold until they see how this unfolds.  Whatever is already written or edited will likely never see the light of day because with these allegations, the prism of how it will all be seen will have changed.  Production never kicked off on the fictional People vs. Vince series, so it's entirely possible it, like a lot of other Hollywood projects, disappears into the mists of time, never to be seen.

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