3) Update On Roman Reigns’ Current Status
On his Youtube channel, Tom Colohue provided a backstage update on Roman Reigns. Colohue says that WWE’s creative team has been told that they shouldn’t expect Reigns back anytime soon and to keep that in mind when writing storylines.
Here is what Colohue said (via Sportskeeda):
My final note will be on Roman Reigns and it’s a bit of an addition to what I’ve been reporting on the podcast regularly. After he chose not to return to the company and compete at WrestleMania, and of course, the weeks advancing, the WWE has since then have been creating storylines without factoring him in at all. I have been told and I quote, ‘The WWE is preparing for a future without Roman Reigns.’
This doesn’t mean he is leaving the company. This doesn’t mean he has been released. It just means that for the foreseeable future, the creative team have been told, ‘don’t expect Roman Reigns back’, and as such, they are writing storylines with that in mind. Doesn’t mean they can’t make a sudden change as they have done in the past, but it does mean, at least for a little while, we can expect to not see Roman Reigns on our TV screens.
My Take:
- It makes sense. Roman is likely going to ride things out until he feels that it is safe enough to return. I am not going to fault him for doing what is best for his health and family.
2) More On Longtime WWE Employee Leaving The Company
News broke this week that WWE’s Vice President of Global Television Production, Michael Mansury, is leaving WWE. This came as a surprise as he was dubbed backstage as Kevin Dunn’s eventual replacement and worked very closely with Triple H.
In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer provided some more details about Mansury’s departure:
Michael Mansury, the Vice President of Global Television Production, who was believed to be the heir apparent of Kevin Dunn, has left the company. This happened back in April. Mansury directed a number of episodes of Raw and Smackdown if Dunn didn’t attend the show. One person close to the situation compared his plight with David Sahadi, who works for Impact now. Everyone that is seen as a potential successor to Dunn has their life made difficult and they get constantly criticized to Vince McMahon, who would then hear people talk negatively about the person in the spot. Mansury had also reportedly gotten impatient regarding upward mobility. Mansury had been in the company for 11 years and one person told us they were shocked because they thought he was a lifer. He got his current title four years ago and directed a ton of television shows and some PPV shows
My Take:
- Meltzer’s wording makes it sound like Kevin Dunn was throwing Mansury under the bus to Vince McMahon. That would make sense as he was being considered as Dunn’s replacement one day.
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