Triple H Opens Up On WWE Creative Transition After Vince McMahon Exit

What was the WWE creative transition like for Paul "Triple H" Levesque?

The current Chief Content Officer of WWE became a key figure in the role several years ago when Vince McMahon first retired from the company in July 2022.

McMahon had stepped down previously as Chairman and CEO of WWE following a Wall Street Journal report regarding sexual misconduct allegations. He returned to WWE in January 2023.

It was recently revealed via text messages from another lawsuit involving TKO and its shareholders that there seemed to be hesitancy from Triple H as to McMahon's potential participation in creative.

Triple H speaks on taking over WWE creative

Levesque appeared on Cody Rhodes' What Do You Want To Talk About? podcast on Wednesday to discuss taking over WWE creative.

When asked by Rhodes about whether WrestleMania 40 in April 2024 was the first WrestleMania where he was the primary creative leader, Levesque shared that there wasn't a single moment that defined the transition from McMahon to him.

“I think so,” Levesque said. “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. There were so many aspects to that of, ‘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 directing traffic from the side. And there’s no real clear moment for me. But I would consider it that, yes.”

Levesque also opened up on some frustrations with the perception that decisions being made were all his during that transition period.

“When people are like, ‘Yeah, but it’s your decision, right?’ Levesque said. "Yeah, sort of. You know what I mean? 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 it wasn’t totally my decision.'”

WWE creative vs TKO a huge topic entering WrestleMania 42

There has been some pushback from WWE fans about recent on-screen decisions on the road to WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas.

Pat McAfee was revealed as the mystery caller for Randy Orton on last week's SmackDown, and it was later reported that inserting McAfee into Orton's rivalry with Rhodes was a decision made by TKO Chief Executive Officer Ari Emmanuel.

Rhodes and current World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk cut passionate promos on McAfee and TKO on Raw and SmackDown, respectively.

Orton vs. Rhodes will main event WrestleMania 42 Night One on April 18, while Roman Reigns vs. Punk will main event WrestleMania 42 Night Two on April 19.