Vince McMahon Reportedly ‘Back On The Throne’ Of WWE Creative

Vince McMahon is back in WWE in more ways than one, taking on a bigger role in the company’s creative department.

After returning to WWE in January following his abrupt departure last year, McMahon is now reportedly reasserting himself as WWE’s booking head honcho. According to PWInsider (h/t SEScoops), McMahon was backstage at this week’s Monday Night Raw and WWE stars believe he’s “in charge” of the show once again: “There’s also an ‘unspoken understanding’ among talent that McMahon is ‘back on the throne,’ and that while he isn’t around every week, he is in charge and his desires will be met.”

McMahon first returned backstage in March but laid low and made it clear that Triple H was still running WWE’s creative process. However, word recently made its way around pro wrestling circles that McMahon was working remotely and making last-minute changes to WWE programming.

Of course, that raised red flags for wrestling fans who’d grown accustomed to a product booked by Triple H, McMahon’s real-life son-in-law. While Triple H’s booking has been far from perfect and he’s drawn criticisms for largely neglecting the women’s division, he has been a significant upgrade over McMahon as the leader of WWE’s creative process.

Now, McMahon could be here to revert things back to how they were for the past 30 years—and that could spell disaster.

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Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp (h/t RSN) has provided more details regarding McMahon’s presence at this week’s Raw: “For the June 5 show, however, Vince was in Gorilla Position himself, where he was WrestleMania weekend. Of late, McMahon has been calling in changes, sometimes very close to the show. This has caused late rundowns to be passed out and some segments and matches to be nixed.”

McMahon was notorious for ripping up scripts at the last second, a habit that often resulted in disjointed—and often downright bad—episodes of Raw and SmackDown. Even with McMahon’s 2022 departure and early 2023 return, that’s continued remotely despite McMahon assuring the WWE roster that Triple H was WWE’s head of creative.

Exactly how—or if—McMahon’s increased presence will change WWE’s booking as 2023 progresses will be one of the most buzzworthy topics among the Internet Wrestling Community moving forward.

Making minor remote changes is one thing. However, when McMahon is calling in last-second changes or doing so in person, that’s a whole different ball game. Since Triple H’s takeover in the summer of 2022, both Raw and SmackDown have benefitted greatly from having a clearer long-term direction, longer matches and more compelling storytelling.

But WWE’s sale to Endeavor was reportedly contingent, at least in part, on McMahon staying on as Executive Chairman. In other words, no McMahon may very well have equaled no sale. Though McMahon doesn’t have any official title related to creative, his presence alone will result in concerns that he’s a mere single decision away from fully taking over the creative reigns once again.

The good news, however, is that this week’s Raw was a strong show even with McMahon backstage, with PWInsider even noting that the atsomphere wasn’t “overly stressful” with McMahon around. That’s a promising sing of things to come, sure.

But if WWE’s TV ratings slide or if McMahon disagrees with a major storyline direction, WWE fans will rightfully fear that a full-blown McMahon takeover is coming.