With Vince McMahon gone, Paul “Triple H” Levesque is now in charge of WWE creative.
The fallout from McMahon’s retirement continued on Monday with WWE announcing that Levesque “will assume all responsibilities related to WWE’s creative, in addition to his regular duties.” Levesque is also WWE’s executive vice president of talent relations, a role that he assumed last week just hours before McMahon’s retirement was made public.
Bruce Prichard will remain part of WWE creative and report to Levesque.
The 52-year-old Levesque taking over creative is a monumental change for both WWE’s present and future. The company has been defined by McMahon’s creative vision for four decades. Even while being investigated for the scandal that led to his retirement, McMahon remained in charge of creative until retiring last Friday.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the WWE board of directors was investigating McMahon over a “secret” $3 million settlement that McMahon had agreed to pay a former WWE paralegal he allegedly had an affair with. The Wall Street Journal then published a follow-up report three weeks later uncovering that McMahon agreed to pay more than $12 million over the past 16 years to "suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity." The payments were made to four women who were formerly associated with WWE, including the former paralegal.
Levesque is McMahon’s son-in-law. Levesque’s wife Stephanie McMahon has been named WWE’s new chairwoman following her father’s retirement, and she’s also one of WWE's new co-CEOs alongside Nick Khan.
Levesque’s ascension to head of creative comes less than a year after he survived a life-threatening health scare. WWE announced in September 2021 that Levesque underwent a successful procedure after suffering a cardiac event.
While being announced as WWE’s new EVP of talent relations last Friday, Levesque said he’s “healthy, fired up, and ready to take charge.”
As Triple H, Levesque was one of WWE’s biggest stars of the last 25 years. Levesque announced his retirement as an in-ring competitor this March due to his heart issues.
Levesque was formerly in charge of the creative for WWE’s developmental brand NXT until September 2021.
