When Vince McMahon retired from his post as the CEO of the WWE, there were many questions about the company. The biggest one amongst fans, of course, is how much of the programming will change? Vinny Mac has been known to be pretty hands-on with his creative approach. More often than not, it has been a bad thing for the product.
Major script changes a few hours before a show starts. The nonsensical heel/face turns. The indiscriminate burying of talents in favor of the “face” of the company. A heavily scripted commentary booth. All of these moves were trademarks of the Vince McMahon era in WWE. It certainly made money for the company, but fans were starting to get tired of the product.
These reasons are why fans were extremely hyped up when it was announced that Paul Levesque (FKA Triple H) would take over as the head of creative in WWE. Triple H may have been a beneficiary of Vince McMahon's creative style as a wrestler, but he was nothing like his father-in-law in running a show. His work as the head of the NXT was lauded by fans, as it brought fans the WWE they all wanted to see from the “main” shows.
Wrestling fans were eager to see what Triple H would bring to the table as the new head of creative of WWE. Of course, it was foolish to think that a drastic change to the programming would happen so soon. Many expected a shift in tone after the SummerSlam pay-per-view. However, much to the delight of fans, it seems like Triple H already has made his mark last night.
The major change to WWE's SummerSlam booking by Triple H
The first match of SummerSlam saw two of the biggest names in the women's division put on a brilliant show. Becky Lynch challenged reigning RAW Women's Champion Bianca Belair on Saturday night. The two women had a wonderful match, and it ended with Belair retaining her title over Lynch. Shortly after that, Bayley would make her triumphant return, flanked by Io Shirai and Dakota Kai.
Already, this was a major surprise to hardcore fans. Dakota Kai's release in April this year left a sour note amongst fans. Reportedly, Kai told the Vince-led management that she wasn't interested in renewing her contract. It seems, though, that Triple H's presence as the head of creative encouraged the two-time NXT Women's champ to come back and form a new stable with Bayley and Shirai.
The biggest surprise, though, was yet to come. Bayley was still a heel when she returned to WWE during SummerSlam. Naturally, she and her stablemates confronted Belair, the babyface champion. It was a tense moment, meant to build up a potential feud between the two stars.
Suddenly… Becky Lynch stood beside Bianca Belair, seemingly daring Bayley and her crew to attack. Bayley and her crew backed off, and the WWE fans in attendance cheered. They immediately realized what was happening: we're getting face Becky back.
Apparently, this was not the original planned ending for this match. According to a report by Wade Keller, the initial plans for this match pre-McMahon retirement was for Becky Lynch to remain as a heel. Clearly, though, the new WWE creative board thought that a change needed to happen, and they did. (via Wrestling News)
“I can now confirm Becky was not gonna turn if Vince McMahon was still in control. That was a Paul Levesque call. I just got confirmation on that. She would have been a heel as we're talking right now if McMahon was still running things. So, one big change early on there.”
Lynch's heel turn in 2021 had WWE fans screaming at Vince McMahon . Prior to that year's SummerSlam event, the Irish woman had been one of the most over faces in the company. Her “The Man” gimmick won over many fans, who appreciated Lynch's spunk and charisma. Many felt that turning her heel was a bad move, a heel turn just for the sake of it. The heel-he
Now, Triple H is rectifying the mistakes of years past in returning Becky Lynch to her original role. The timing of her face turn also makes sense: the heel-heavy women's division would gain yet another top-tier heel in Bayley. Having Lynch return to her classic babyface role will help balance out the stacked women's division of the WWE.
Aside from this face turn from Lynch, there were other notable signs that the WWE is moving away from the McMahon-style programming it was once confined in. The most notable, of course, was Michael Cole's commentary during the pay-per-view. Cole's commentary has long been blasted by fans for sounding too “canned”. It was widely known that Vince would micromanage the commentary booth during shows, and it was obvious.
Well, we got a taste of an unhinged, unfiltered Michael Cole last night during SummerSlam. Compared to his previous work, Cole was more loose, with his commentary not sounding like corporate nonsense. He referred to the audience as “fans” rather than the “WWE Universe”. He screamed at the top of his lungs when Brock Lesnar lifted up the entire damn ring (yeah, that happened). Best of all, Cole cracked a couple of jokes, and even seemed to take a potshot at McMahon.
Michael Cole on commentary last night was wild, made this match even better imo. pic.twitter.com/8vjE4eE9EN
— Fiending For Followers ‼️ (@Fiend4FolIows) July 31, 2022
Michael Cole has been sending out subtle little things on commentary tonight but this was my favorite
Corey Graves: "I liked you better when you weren't allowed to have an opinion"
Cole: "That's changed. A lot has changed…"
— Rob Lopez (@r0bato) July 31, 2022
Triple H may not have had much time to tinker SummerSlam to his liking. But based on the few snippets we saw last night, it seems like the WWE is headed in a better director with him at the helm.
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