Frustration Mounts As Vince McMahon’s Last-Minute Changes Cause Backstage Turmoil
Vince McMahon’s limited physical presence at WWE shows since his return in January hasn’t stopped him from exerting significant influence over the events, leading to growing frustration among the backstage crew.
During the June 19th episode of Raw, McMahon completely overhauled the opening segment, resulting in the cancellation of a internally planned match between Seth Rollins and Tommaso Ciampa. In a similar vein, the subsequent episode of SmackDown witnessed a near-complete rewrite, with several advertised matches unexpectedly dropped from the lineup.
In a discussion on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer shed light on the prevailing situation, revealing that individuals are apprehensive about challenging McMahon’s last-minute alterations. Meltzer further mentioned ongoing attempts to find a way to curb the Executive Chairman’s frequent changes shortly before the shows go on air. He explained:
“He re-did the entire show (SmackDown). I’ve heard a lot about this, and I know that there’s rumors that… everyone’s gotta be, like, treading on water. Because I am sure, logic will tell you, that there are many unhappy people. And Paul Levesque has to be one of them.
These are matches that were built up with promos, they’ve been promoted for a week, they did the angles last week, and then just take them away like nothing.
So, it’s gotta be frustrating for the writers, it’s gotta be frustrating for Paul Levesque. But the thing is, it’s Vince, right? And you can’t say anything.
That’s what somebody brought up to me, if you’re a writer, you can’t say anything to Vince. Even if you’re Paul Levesque you can’t say anything to Vince because you’re f**ked if you say anything to Vince. So, you can’t say anything.”
Meltzer added that efforts are underway to devise strategies that would prevent McMahon from making these abrupt changes. Some have suggested that alterations be made a day or two before the show rather than on the day itself. He revealed:
“They’re trying to figure out a way to have him not do this. One person noted to me like, it would be a lot better if you did it the day before, or two days before. But he’s doing it the day of the show.
“Last Monday wasn’t bad, it was only he dumped the Seth Rollins and Ciampa match, and I knew a lot of people who thought it was for the better, because the Finn Balor attacking Seth Rollins, it adds more heat to the pay-per-view.”
Meltzer also highlighted McMahon’s distinct priorities when it comes to WWE television, which have influenced the decision to drop matches such as Rollins vs. Ciampa in favor of running different angles. He said:
“Yeah, you missed out on Seth Rollins and Ciampa, would have probably had a really good match. Ciampa would have lost but it would have been… I think he would have benefited a lot more losing to Seth than he would beating Miz. He didn’t get anything out of beating Miz. But he’s not Vince’s priority.”
The recent instance involving the unfulfilled match between Shotzi and Bayley further exemplifies this pattern.
“Just like this week, whatever they were gonna do with Shotzi and Bayley, Shotzi and Bayley aren’t Vince’s priority. Cameron Grimes and Baron Corbin aren’t Vince’s priority.
They added that Rey Mysterio/LA Knight match for LA Knight to get a win, so obviously Vince has gotta be somewhat high on LA Knight, and in Vince’s eyes, Rey is a guy that you always beat because people will always get into his matches and he’s bulletproof and all that.”
Meltzer added that while there’s frustration, as everyone is scared to confront McMahon over the issue, he’s essentially able to do whatever he wants. He elaborated:
“When I saw that unadvertised match when I was watching it, before I had even heard, it was like ‘This is Vince. I know Vince’s MO with Rey’.
All these things that are advertised that don’t happen in the last couple of weeks, they’re always, or 90% of the time or more, they’re Vince.”
While frustration persists among the backstage crew, fear of confronting McMahon over the issue hinders any significant pushback, granting McMahon the freedom to make decisions as he pleases. Meltzer concluded,
“But this one was the most because it was three matches advertised all pulled hours before the show. So, there was a lot of frustration. But it’s Vince.”
I’m sure there’s gonna be people who are gonna try to ask him nicely, but it’s Vince, he’s gonna do what he’s gonna do.”
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