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MAJOR WWE CREATIVE SHAKE-UP

In what I am told was a "scary scene" backstage at Raw about an hour ago, Vince McMahon pretty much told the WWE Creative team that he wanted to see things change and that no one's job was safe if they didn't.

Perhaps to illustrate his point, Bryan Gewirtz, who has been the top writer for the company for a long time and especially oversaw the Raw side of things (Dave Kapoor wrote the show but everything went through Gewirtz, then Stephanie and Vince McMahon), has been dropped from the creative team.

Gewirtz' official position was Senior Vice President of Creative Writing. Technically, he is still with the company as of this writing. Gewirtz being sent home was described as shocking to me and something that no one saw coming. One person told me they believed that he "fell on the sword" to show everyone else they can be replaced.

McMahon's declaration to the creative team comes just a week after the lowest rated Raw (non holiday, non taped) in 15 years last week. Since expanding to three hours, the flagship WWE series' ratings have slipped considerably, especially in the third hour.

As we noted in the Elite section of PWInsider.com last Monday, McMahon was visibly angry prior to Raw going on the air last week, although his mood lightened as the evening went on. The belief is that the pressure of getting ratings back up to where he and NBC Universal want them has been stressing.

Gewirtz has been working for WWE for over a decade.

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