Ari Emanuel behind recent change in WWE creative

On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer gave an update on Vince McMahon being out of WWE’s creative process.

Meltzer reported last week that Paul “Triple H” Levesque is the person making all of the key decisions in creative right now. Meltzer noted that McMahon is out of the process at the moment.

Meltzer stated on WOR that the decision was made by Endeavor/TKO Group Holdings CEO Ari Emanuel.

“Vincent Kennedy McMahon was the guy making all the decisions, and now, Vince was in fact overruled, even though when he merged the company he was told that this would not happen. It did happen. And it’s a really interesting thing. And that statement when Ari Emanuel was talking about the reasons the stock is down and he mentioned Vince’s name. So it is very interesting I think what is going to happen,” Meltzer said.

“Vince’s power is clearly marginalized. There’s no way around that.”

Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated also reported last Friday that Emanuel was behind the change.

“Multiple contacts within the WWE and UFC have confirmed that Ari Emanuel, who wields power as the Endeavor CEO, is behind the change,” Barrasso wrote. “Emanuel has long been a firm believer that, in order for an organization to be as effective as possible, people need to do the job they are assigned. In this case, that approach has empowered Levesque to exert his full influence in the company’s creative sphere.”

Endeavor’s acquisition of WWE became official last month. WWE and the UFC have been merged into one publicly traded company named TKO Group Holdings.

McMahon has the job title of executive chairman of the board in TKO. Levesque is WWE’s chief content officer.