Some wrestling fans have not been too happy about the WWE product in recent months, including WrestleMania 42.
Night 1 of the showcase was full of commercial breaks and did not have that much wrestling. We also saw a number of celebrity appearances in the build-up and during the event, including from Pat McAfee in the match between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton.
However, while TKO may play a role in some of WWE’s big Premium Live Events, they are not thought to have any involvement in the weekly TV.
TKO not involved in weekly WWE TV despite what ‘the internet believes’
In their latest show on Fightful’s Patreon, WrestleVotes were asked: “Does TKO have a strong say in what’s going on with the WWE product? Fans have not been happy with Triple H.”
They responded to the fan question by saying, while ‘the internet believes’ TKO have a role in the weekly TV like Friday Night SmackDown, that is not the case.
However, the company does still have some say in the overall product, most notably around WrestleMania, SummerSlam and the Royal Rumble.
WrestleVotes explained: “Don, they can and they do at times and famously now that time was Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes for WrestleMania, but on a week-to-week basis, they don’t.
“That’s just the point. That’s just the fact. There are not people involved with TKO that come in on Friday night and say this is what we want Trick Williams doing. That just, that doesn’t happen. I know the internet believes it does, but it doesn’t.
“There are key events throughout the year that they are much more plugged in on other events. Your WrestleMania is one of them. Your SummerSlam’s another one of them. If they want a celebrity involved, they make it known. Royal Rumble is one of them. But weekly TV is not their, that’s not their lane. And they know that.”
That update would go a long way to explaining the mismatched booking we have been seeing play out over the last year or so.
It seems clear that Triple H has plans in place for how he wants to book shows and get to big PLEs like SummerSlam.
But it then feels like TKO come in and say they want something done at a major show, the Rhodes vs Orton clash at Mania being a prime example, which then throws off the booking from the previous few months.
SummerSlam is the next ‘big four’ PLE coming up, and it will be interesting to see if there are any reports of last-minute changes to the plans or more celebrity involvement in the two-night show.
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