When Paul "Triple H' Levesque took complete control of WWE creative, there was a noticeable improvement in the quality of matches and storylines.
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon had previously had an iron grip over everything we saw on TV, and even after stepping away from the company in 2022, he continued to shape the product from the sidelines. In 2023, he pushed his way back into WWE to facilitate its eventual sale to TKO and was even responsible for deciding that Cody Rhodes should lose to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39.
McMahon's forced retirement—amid continued sexual misconduct and abuse allegations—finally allowed Triple H to fully take charge. However, while appearing on Rhodes' "What Do You Wanna Talk About?" podcast, he explained that there was no definitive moment of him being handed creative control from his predecessor.
"There was—and again, this is where I’m terrible with times, but it’s not like one day, 'Here, it’s yours,' and everything else went away," the WWE Hall of Famer explained. "There were so many aspects to that of, 'Hey, Vince is stepping away. You’re going to take this spot, but he’s chiming in.' And he [was] still meeting with me all the time and still, you know, directing traffic from the side."
"And there’s no real, it’s a weird, no real clear moment for me. But I would consider it that, yes," he said of WrestleMania 40 being the first time he was 100% in control of what we were seeing.
Triple H added, "The only thing that is difficult in that transition, you’re trying to, at the end of the day, when people are like, yeah, but it’s your decision, right? Yeah, sort of. You know what I mean? Like, you’re, yes, and you have to defend your position, and you have to be able to sell that to people and explain it to people if it’s a little bit not your position or a little bit, well, why did this happen?"
"And you don’t want to say, well, because, you know, it wasn’t totally my decision, or not because you don’t want to seem like you don’t have that power, but like, you have to position it that way. It’s just such a complex [thing]."
"There are so many aspects to what we do, even just on a regular, general daily basis, where you, you know, you’re putting something out there, and in some manner, you’re like, if in an ideal world, I would do this," WWE's Chief Content Officer concluded.
Given that he's talking about his father-in-law, it's hardly surprising to see Triple H choose his words carefully here. What's most interesting is that it wasn't until TKO had to force McMahon out of the company (because of the accusations) that The Game finally got to shape the product how he wanted, without any outside influence.
You can listen to the American Nightmare's full interview with Triple H in the player below.