Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard the news that Vince McMahon, the creative mastermind behind WWF and now WWE since he purchased the company from his father, Vincent J. McMahon, all the way back in the early 1980s, is officially out of creative power within the company, with his son-in-law, Paul “Triple H” Levesque fully taking command of the company's proceedings as its CCO.

But how did this happen? How did Mr. McMahon, who held power tight with an iron fist for decades despite the increasing declarations of him being out of touch by fans of the product, suddenly find him out of power at 72, which, considering his mom lived to be 101, is relatively young for a McMahon?

Well, according to Dave Meltzer on his Wrestling Observer podcast, it all comes down to the decision of the man in charge of it all: Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel.

“Well, he’s out of creative. It’s a big story because Ari Emanuel, when they were on the verge of closing the deal, and had actually closed the deal in April, did media rounds and (said), ‘Vince will be in charge of the company (WWE), and if me and Vince have a disagreement, it goes the way Vince wants because Vince is the guy’. So then the deal went through, it only really went through about a month ago, and already, Vince is out of creative because of Ari Emanuel. So this is a real interesting thing because it is the first time – Vince is now in the position that his father was in in ‘84 when his father had run the company for years and years and years, and (then) he was just an employee of Vince Jr… although he hates that term – Vincent Kennedy McMahon,” Dave Meltzer said via WrestleTalk. 

“Vincent Kennedy McMahon was the guy making all the decisions, and now, Vince was in fact overruled, even though when he merged the company he was told this would not happen. It did happen. And it’s a really interesting thing. And that statement when Ari Emanuel was talking about the reasons the stock is down, and he mentioned Vince’s name. So, it is very interesting I think what is going to happen. “But Vince’s power’s clearly marginalized, there’s no way around that.”

Whoa, shocking, right? You bet, especially when you consider what Emanuel said all the way back on April 3rd, on the day the deal was initially announced, mere hours after Roman Reigns recorded the three count on Cody Rhodes at SoFi Stadium in Englewood, California.

“On the creative front, when asked if McMahon would be involved, the executive chairman replied, ‘Yes and no.' He would be involved at a ‘higher level' but not ‘in the weeds,' and he can’t do that,” John Pollock wrote for Post Wrestling. “It is worth noting, McMahon used the same phrasing in 2019 during an earnings call after the appointments of Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman as executive directors of SmackDown & Raw, with McMahon also stating he wouldn’t be getting ‘in the weeds.'”

Well, as it turns out, Emanuel's words to Mr. McMahon proved about as truthful as Vince's own words to his father, as he now has no ability to force any of his decisions into fruition, as his son-in-law has the final say alongside the Endeavor CEO.

Justin Barrasso backs up Dave Meltzer's reporting on Vince McMahon.

While Dave Meltzer may be considered one of the true luminaries of wrestling journalism, as he's been in the game longer than many writers have been alive, he isn't alone in reporting on the changes Vince McMahon's creative control, with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated delivering similar information in his own reporting.

“Multiple contacts within the WWE and UFC have confirmed that Ari Emanuel, who wields power as the Endeavor CEO, is behind the change,” Justin Barrasso wrote. “Emanuel has long been a firm believer that, in order for an organization to be as effective as possible, people need to do the job they are assigned. In this case, that approach has empowered Levesque to exert his full influence in the company’s creative sphere.”

Though this entire situation could prove fluid, as Mr. McMahon could work his way back into power one way or another, depending on how things shake out, it is noteworthy that multiple reporters are all hearing the same thing, with the product on WWE television clearly still featuring “The Game's” stamp of approval. After four decades of the same, this change still takes some getting used to.