Shocking Report Alleges Doubt In Stephanie McMahon Abilities As Executive

WWE

A shocking story from a live from Las Vegas edition of a popular podcast where insiders discussed Stephanie McMahon and her leave from WWE.

During a live from Las Vegas edition of We’re Live Pal with Bryan Alvarez, Dave Meltzer and Andrew Zarian, a fascinating bit of information about Stephanie McMahon and her leave of absence from WWE.

Andrew Zarian was discussing what he knew regarding Stephanie McMahon and her sudden leave of absence when he shared that a source who is “high up” within WWE seemed to be using “buzzy” words in an effort to encourage Zarian to release the story.

Zarian said:

“[It was a] very bizarre conversation, I’ll tell you that. I didn’t expect that phone call. It was a phone call that kind of veered into a discussion about Steph. So I asked and I was like, ‘hey, anything I could add to this? What’s going on?’ And, you know, some of the comments, I was shocked. One being that people internally and this is coming from someone in the know in WWE. This wasn’t like a guy in catering.

“The comment was that internally, there was doubt put on Steph [and] her abilities as an executive. And a lot of this started after she absorbed some of Michelle Wilson’s responsibilities after she left. One [responsibility] being ad sales and sponsorship. And the comment that I found interesting was that they mentioned that the investors were questioning why they weren’t performing as well. And internally, there was some questioning as to why that wasn’t performing. I think a month ago, [WWE’s Head of Global Sales & Partnerships] Claudine Lilien…she went over to handle that and she was released a month ago and Nick [Khan] has taken over all these responsibilities. When the Shane issue happened at Royal Rumble, WWE was pretty quick to kind of say, yeah he got sent home for all the reasons that you heard, right? I was not expecting the words to be used for Steph because at the end of the day, the McMahons are the McMahons and they are the most protected people in that company.”

Fascinatingly, Dave Meltzer chimed in to share his intel, saying that ‘certain things were explained’ to him but he was explicitly told the opposite as Zarian in regards to whether or not the story was meant to be discussed publicly, saying:

“As far as Steph goes, like, if and when she comes back, and it won’t be soon, there’s a real good chance it won’t be in the same position… But it was interesting, because I talked to somebody about something similar and asked about Stephanie in that realm, and you know, certain things were explained that…there’s people who Stephanie dealt with that, but because Vince always had to answer, you know, she didn’t have the power. Nobody does. Vince has all the power. She’s someone who talks to Vince but at the end of the day, Vince is going to make those decisions. But the thing was, there’s some people who are saying stuff and a person told me – he’s like, ‘if anyone hears that, they’re gonna be gone. No one can say anything bad publicly about Steph.’ And it’s like, like a left hand and a right hand thing. Yeah. You (Zarian) were told, in a way, because they wanted it out.”

Zarian further explained how the comments being made to him utilizing certain “buzzy” terms was a major departure from a past public position to protect the McMahons, saying:

“So you could see that this is a big change. But now the big story is okay, so why would that comment be made? There’s a reason for it. You know, you can speculate all you want. Is it to disconnect the McMahons from the company a little bit so if there is a sale positioning, it’s easier on the audience, maybe? … Or it can easily be, you know, get the stories out there to make it easier to change that old guard in our company. I was really surprised, and I hear some wacky things from there from people like crazy, crazy things. I was really shocked to hear that this conversation would happen.”

There continues to be no official reason provided for Stephanie’s sudden departure however previous reports have indicated that she was not pushed out of her role with the company.

Transcription via WrestlingNews.co

To make sure you stay updated with all the latest wrestling news, add WrestleTalk.com to your Google Discover feed and follow us on Twitter!

• Andrew Zarian
• dave meltzer
• Stephanie McMahon
• wwe

Share this article with friends