Report: TKO Executives Have Final Say Over WWE Creative

TKO president and COO Mark Shapiro’s recent comments that TKO has “complete control” of WWE creative were addressed by Dave Meltzer in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Meltzer reports that Ari Emanuel and Shapiro do have the final say but rarely use it; when they did intervene at WrestleMania 42—pushing celebrity involvement from Pat McAfee and Jelly Roll into a world title match—it reportedly caused chaos and distracted from a months-long storyline buildup.

Sources told Meltzer the tug-of-war between TKO executives and WWE’s creative team had been visible for about a year, with internal jockeying allegedly encouraged by Emanuel and Shapiro. The common complaint remains that TKO maintains ultimate control but tends to exercise it at the worst possible moments.

Originally reported by Wrestling Observer: https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/update-on-tko-having-complete-control-of-wwe-creative-exclusive/.