Stephanie McMahon recently decided to step away from her duties at WWE, and it doesn't sound like the company will be replacing her with anyone internally. The reasons behind her taking a leave of absence from the duties of Cheif Brand Officer are still unclear, with her initial public statement declaring that she needed to take time away to be with her family. Beyond that, the move is being called a private matter.
McMahon, as the Chief Brand Officer, undertook a variety of hard-to-replace and visible duties for the company. The daughter of Vince McMahon, Stephanie spearheaded numerous forward-facing projects that impact how the public views WWE on the whole. She had been in the role since December of 2013 when she took on the function as WWE's face for business ventures and advertisers alike.
Although Nick Kahn has been working in this position over the last few weeks, the belief is that this is a temporary setup and that WWE will look to replace McMahon with another full-time worker. That seems to have been confirmed by a recent job listing from the company. On WWE's corporate careers page, an opening for Director, Brand and Marketing was posted on May 24. The job's key responsibilities include things such as "(l)ead promotional planning for WWE Premium Live Events and internal milestones" and qualifications such as the "(a)bility to create cohesive 360 marketing programs." Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com gave the following reason for McMahon stepping down in the first place, writing that she "is taking her extended leave due to the last year being very rough on her family for all the obvious reasons and that she's taking time to focus on her family."
The "obvious reasons" Johnson is referencing would be her husband, Triple H, dealing with heart issues that forced him to step back from his role within WWE. He officially retired from in-ring action during WrestleMania 38, leaving his boots in the middle of the squared circle for the final time. It's been reported that he's back to working with WWE once again, but in a role that is significantly different than the one he was in before he left. Triple H's vision for NXT has obviously been overhauled, as Vince McMahon now views the show as a way to take raw, high-end athletes with no wrestling experience and teach them how to work there.
WWE has reiterated that Stephanie McMahon will be welcome back into the fold whenever she decides to return and that there has been no bad blood here. A timeline for how long she intends to be gone isn't known at the time of this writing, and no names beyond Nick Kahn—who has received much praise for his behind-the-scenes work—have been connected to the open position with WWE.
Sources: WWE, PWInsider.com