Details On Who Is Leading WWE Creative After Vince McMahon’s Retirement

As previously reported, Vince McMahon announced his retirement from WWE, with Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan taking over as co-CEOs. This has resulted in a lot of upheaval in the company, as McMahon is also stepping down as head of creative.

Fightful Select reports that Bruce Prichard is currently leading creative as of last night’s Smackdown, with Ed Koskey also taking point. Triple H helped “direct traffic” at last night’s taping. The producers were told that while Prichard is taking over many of Vince’s duties right now, nothing permanent has been announced.

Talent is said to be curious about who will be in charge permanently and were looking at possible creative challenges in the future. They believe their future will depend on who is ultimately in control. If Prichard taes over, it’s believed that not much will change. If it’s someone else, they may have more opportunities for advancement. One change that is expected is fewer rematches, as sometimes Vince would put together a match after forgetting they’d already done it several times. There are some who said McMahon also had trouble remembering names at times. Some felt that while the next head of creative may not change from Vince’s vision due to respect, there may be small changes that make a “big difference.”

In addition to the changes to the show made regarding Brock Lesnar, the original script for last night’s show also included more time for the Maximum Male Models segment and the Ronda Rousey/Liv Morgan segment. Overall it was said to be a “looser” show production-wise, and people backstage think that will be true for the future.

Talent were said to be shocked, and several longtime talent were put off by the fact that a talent meeting was held at Money in the Bank in which it was said McMahon wasn’t going anywhere. Several top stars were said to be bothered and had no idea it was happening. Other talent are curious about who will be the next to leave, particularly those in Vince’s inner circle, with Kevin Dunn being the one people think will leave next. Another talent suggested Vince may eventually come back as they don’t believe he can stay away.

A lot of the talent also didn’t know what Vince would do now, as he didn’t really have much spare time prior to this.