"I don’t think Vince McMahon trusts talent" - Former WWE manager opens up on micromanagement in WWE (Exclusive)

Vince McMahon has been known to micromanage talent in WWE
Vince McMahon has been known to micromanage talent in WWE

On the latest episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk, former WWE manager Dutch Mantell spoke about how Vince McMahon has a stronghold over the company's creative process.

WWE RAW is fast losing ground to AEW Dynamite when it comes to television ratings. Fueled by the momentum of prominent stars such as CM Punk, Adam Cole, and Bryan Danielson jumping ship, the Tony Khan-led promotion is now bigger than ever.

Dutch Mantell recently spoke about former WWE stars moving the needle for AEW. He mentioned how ex-WWE names are showing just how good they could be if higher-ups in the company backed them to trust their abilities. The former WWE manager stated that Vince McMahon may not trust his superstars and has everything written down to the letter.

Mantell said McMahon will probably let some top talent have a certain amount of creative leeway, but for everyone else, there could be a lot of micromanagement. The veteran added that during his time in WWE, he was often told what to do and had to deal with a rigid creative process.

“All these ex-WWE guys are coming in. I don’t know because if it’s all ex-WWE guys, they can still have great shows. They showed you what they could do in WWE if they let them go with it." Mantell continued, "But I don’t think Vince (McMahon) trusts talent. I mean he will probably let top talent say what they want to say, but he doesn't trust, you know, the underneath brand. Because there's no telling what they'll say. I never liked the micromanaging when I was there. I dealt with it because I had no choice. You deal with it and try to get with it the best you can.”

You can watch the full video here:

youtube-cover

Fans have been critical of Vince McMahon's booking decisions

Whether it be the superstar releases, NXT rebranding, or Goldberg beating The Fiend, fans have not been in favor of Vince McMahon's recent decisions.

The AEW Dynamite episode after this year's All Out pay-per-view garnered 681,000 viewers in the 18-to-49 age demographic, beating that week's RAW, which managed only 678,000 viewers in the same demographic.

The onus is on Vince McMahon and co. to make changes to the product in an attempt to woo back some of the viewers that WWE has lost over the years.


Please embed the video and H/T Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use the quote from this article.

2 more stars coming from AEW to WWE? More details right here