WWE Locker Room Reportedly Has ‘Bubbling Paranoia’ After Vince McMahon Return

WWE is fresh off a record-breaking WrestleMania 39, but the return of Vince McMahon is overshadowing the company’s recent success.

Although McMahon—who is back in WWE after briefly retiring last year—recently sent out a company-wide email ensuring that Triple H is the “sole” head of WWE’s creative team, that hasn’t calmed the pockets of panic backstage. In fact, PWInsider Elite (h/t SEScoops), concerns around McMahon’s effect on WWE are starting to spread: “‘There has also been a slightly bubbling paranoia among talents in the last few weeks,’ mainly with wrestlers who were brought back by Triple H last summer who are not currently in the mix or getting pushes.”

WWE CEO Nick Khan recently indicated that the company could make $50 million or more in cuts with WWE being sold to Endeavor and merging with UFC to form a sports entertainment super company. Even though McMahon has insisted that he is not going to be involved, at least consistently, in the creative process, he has reportedly already been changing creative plans, including backstage segments and the wording of promos.

And WWE’s stars have every right to be worried.

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Wrestling fans need not look any further than the widely-panned “Raw after Mania” episode of Monday Night Raw that resulted in a “Fire Vince” movement across social media. McMahon, of course, has been famous—or perhaps infamous for—last-minute changes to booking plans, which were widespread on the aforementioned episode of Raw that was arguably the worst post-WrestleMania show in recent memory.

Under Triple H’s guidance since the summer of 2022, WWE’s booking had been significantly improved heading into WrestleMania 39 earlier this month. The booking of Roman Reigns, The Bloodline and stars like Rey Mysterio and The Judgment Day, in particular, gave fans a reason to be hopeful about WWE’s future with a new creative head honcho.

But McMahon has recently been tipping his toe back into the WWE waters, and that was never more apparent than it was the night after Raw. It could also be a sign of things to come.

Triple H brought back a plethora of stars who had recently been fired under McMahon’s regime, a long list that includes former world champions like Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt as well as lower card workers like Hit Row and NXT stars such as Karrion Kross and Bronson Reed. Some of those talents have had a decent amount of success since returning, but McMahon’s WWE is much different than that of Triple H.

It didn’t take long for Triple H to significantly bolster the roster and make substantial changes to the booking of Raw and SmackDown once he took the reigns from McMahon. Long-term storytelling became more common, superstars clearly have had more freedom in their promos, and lengthy TV matches have become commonplace.

But numerous signs, as insignificant as they may seem, clearly point toward McMahon having substantial influence in WWE, despite any assurances to the contrary. It might be something as simple as WWE in-storyline once again sending injured superstars to a “local medical facility” rather than a “hospital,” the latter of which is a word McMahon had banned in the past.

Now that McMahon is back, regardless in what capacity, his influence is going to be felt across the product. Maybe we won’t see a full-fledged return to peak McMahon creative, but WrestleMania feuds like Omos vs. Brock Lesnar reeked of the stench of McMahon-esque booking.

And WWE, in the midst of a sale process to Endeavor, is hitting its superstars with a double whammy: Potentially cutting costs and feeling the effects of McMahon’s ever so minor influence on the creative side of the product.

During WrestleMania week, PWInsider (h/t TJRWrestling) reported that there was a “huge negative shift in morale” with fear among superstars that McMahon’s return would send them “exactly where they were” when he was last there. All it takes is a quick scan of WWE’s roster to determine which stars could or should be concerned.

The company’s top talents, ranging from Roman Reigns to Seth Rollins to Bianca Belair, appear to have nothing to worry about. They are consistently pushed at or near the top of the card and have likely secured their spot there.

But the vast majority of the roster? Nothing is set in stone for them, and no matter how minimal of an impact McMahon’s return will have, they will be the ones who feel it the most.