Backstage Details On Vince McMahon's Most Recent Creative Involvement In WWE
The "WWE Raw" before the company and UFC officially merged to form TKO Group Holdings on Tuesday saw several changes moments before the show went on air. Vince McMahon, who is now the executive chairman of TKO reportedly was the reason behind the various changes on the show, according to Fightful Select. There were late changes to the "WWE Main Event" tapings as well.
Per the report, Fightful talked to staff and talent and concluded it was both McMahon and Paul "Triple H" Levesque who made the changes to the September 11 episode. Also, McMahon was not present in person at last night's show. He's been making changes remotely.
Some of the changes to "Raw" and "Main Event," included the Cody Rhodes' segment being moved later on "Raw," the Viking Raiders versus Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin match being moved to the "Main Event" tapings, and Natalya versus Zoey Stark, which was set for "Main Event," was scrapped. Instead, Natalya was used in a backstage segment on "Raw." Due to her stepping up at last Friday's Superstar Spectacle, after Becky Lynch couldn't fly to India, it was "felt" that Natalya should be given something to do and that it would be disrespectful if she wasn't used.
There were also reportedly time adjustments for last night's "Raw' main event between WWE Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley and Raquel Rodriguez. Ripley successfully defended her title against Rodriguez. The closing segment of the show also saw Nia Jax return to the company and attack both women. One WWE talent also spoke to Fightful about McMahon's overall involvement with the different branded shows. The source said that McMahon started making changes as recently as last Friday's "SmackDown," where he changed minor details to the script.