WWE has a new head of creative, and it is Hall of Famer and multiple-time World Champion Triple H. Triple H was appointed to the role of head of talent relations on July 22, just a few hours before the shocking news broke that Vince McMahon would be retiring. The backstage shakeup has continued over the last few days, with Hunter assuming control as head of creative in addition to his duties as head of talent relations.
After stepping away from WWE to deal with health complications, Triple H is now one of the most powerful people in the company. While running NXT, Hunter showed a deft touch when it came to using personalities and building programs, and fans have to be excited to see what he can bring Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.
Fightful Select gave an update on Triple H taking over this new role for WWE: "The chips are starting to fall within WWE, and Triple H is working in creative again. Immediately after the WWE's PR report, Fightful clarified with WWE that Triple H would indeed be heading up creative in addition to accepting those roles." Fightful also reported that backstage reaction to the news was "general excitement" while adding that at least one source at USA Network felt that the change was exciting.
It's long been said that WWE programming only aims at entertaining one person. That person, of course, was Vince McMahon. He's been the end-all, be-all of the creative direction for everyone in the company for the better part of 40 years. If he liked you, there was no one who could stop your push. If he didn't, well, good luck changing his mind. With Vince no longer in the picture, the door could open for WWE shows to drift towards subject matter that more fans want to see.
Audiences hoping to witness Monday Night Raw turn into NXT 1.0 will likely be let down. The changes that Triple H could introduce will likely be more subtle and then add up to a different feeling show. Wrestlers could also see their general directions shift, depending on whether or not they were a project that only Vince was interested in pursuing. It's highly unlikely that Triple H is going to take a blowtorch to Raw and SmackDown's current trends. Both shows are doing pretty well in the ratings, indicating that fans are interested in the stories that are being told on the red and blue brands. There just might be different or better ways to approach creative. The general consensus among wrestling observers is that Triple H and Co.'s groupthink approach will likely produce stronger results than Vince McMahon was driving alone inside his creative Ivory Tower.
Source: Fightful Select