A little over two months ago, WWE and UFC merged to form the new publicly traded company TKO Group Holdings. Following the merge, around one hundred employees were released from the WWE headquarters, and about thirty wrestlers were released from their contracts. Some of those let go included Mustafa Ali and Matt Riddle. Along with those big moves came one possibly even more significant: Vince McMahon losing the final say regarding WWE creative.
Ari Emanuel reportedly feels companies run best when the people hired to do their jobs are given the freedom to do so. With that in mind, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque was given new autonomy over the WWE creative process and decisions. Some of his changes have been noticeable in the weeks since, with an increased focus on in-ring wrestling on WWE Raw and several Japanese talents, like Shinsuke Nakamura and Kairi Sane, getting renewed pushes.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Levesque reflected on what it was like to work with and learn from McMahon before the big change.
“Vince taught me years ago, you put yourself in the seats and you’ll never go wrong,” he said. “You’ve always got to maintain that perspective. I started out as a fan. Book what people want to feel and see.”
“Writing this stuff is a feel,” he continued. “You can analyze stories and how they come together, but how does it make you feel? If you can make people feel those stories, they’re going to be invested in the product. That’s how we try to approach, find that ultimate emotional place for the talent and the characters and the stories they’re in.”
Levesque concluded by saying WWE does not take its fan base for granted. Furthermore, from his point of view, the current generation of talent operates differently than previous ones because they grew up with the WWE product. Because of that, the talent, like the fans, is connected to the product and motivated to put on the best shows possible.