The WWE backstage role of Kevin Dunn has seen him become the second-longest tenured employee to have a powerful position, only behind Vince McMahon. Dunn’s father worked with Vince’s father in the previous era of WWE, and the two enjoyed working together on WWE’s evolution. The producing and directing gigs of Dunn saw him becoming a huge influence on McMahon’s mind.Recent years have seen Dunn becoming an enemy to the diehard fans after hearing numerous stories from talents and insiders about his preferences. WWE has witnessed Dunn gaining power while just about everyone else has been fired or filtered in and out backstage. The following things show how negative Dunn’s presence is in the WWE landscape.Updated On November 29, 2021, by Andrew Kelly: As time goes on, the disdain towards Kevin Dunn seems to raise higher and higher. Whether it be overproducing WWE’s TV shows, attempting to bury talent, or his views towards the world of professional wrestling, fans have countless criticisms towards WWE’s Executive Vice President of TV Production. WWE has many problems within its company, with lowering viewership and lesser quality of content seeing a downward spiral in terms of mainstream attention. Despite this, WWE is pulling in more profits than they ever have done before, but many fans believe WWE’s focus is in the wrong area. Many of the issues on TV stem from the man in control of TV, Kevin Dunn, and there are more ways than one in which he is helping to ruin the once popular product.
13 *Acting As A ‘Yes Man’
Despite the influence that people like Dunn have on the runnings of WWE, the decisions come directly from one man, and one man alone, Vince McMahon. A big issue in the company today is due to having just one stubborn, solitary individual making key choices on all aspects of both business and booking.
With Dunn being one of the more prominent members of WWE, he would have more of a chance than most at challenging some decisions made by the boss, especially when they’re questionable and ego-driven. However, it has been known for a long time that Vince McMahon is a huge fan of Dunn for that reason – he doesn’t challenge The Chairman. Allowing McMahon to have this full reign with no objection is likely a reason as to why the quality has dropped so much.
12 * Disrespecting Legends
In the last few years, WWE has experienced a lot of legendary names from their history leaving the company, with many veterans seeking out other homes in the wrestling world, such as AEW. Much of this is due to the outright disrespect and insulting treatment they received on television.
One name that sticks out is Jim Ross, who was the butt of many personal jokes and humiliations on live TV, and it’s alleged that many of those ideas came from Kevin Dunn. Some of the sickening segments that JR was a part of were truly horrific, and its likely that Dunn also played a part in several other similar scenarios too.
11 * He Doesn’t Like Wrestling
Above all the sports entertainment, glitz, and glamor, WWE is supposed to be wrestling at its core. However, Kevin Dunn is noted to be known as hating the word ‘wrestling’. This seems simply outrageous but looking at how infrequently that word is used on TV, it comes as no surprise.
With a roster full of some of the best workers in the world, and the best WWE shows in recent memory coming due to great wrestling which has the fans invested, trying to veer away from that is damaging for both wrestlers and the fans. Without an appreciation for the simplistic side of wrestling, it is likely that anything produced will lose a lot of its heart, which is true to see in modern-day WWE.
10 * NXT 2.0
Whilst this one isn’t down to just Dunn, but rather the team of higher-ups also including Vince McMahon and Bruce Pritchard, the NXT that fans knew and loved has been replaced with a more amateur feeling version which fans haven’t got on board with. Much of the beloved stars have been shoved to the shadows or else released, and the product feels like a mess.
With Dunn’s love of bigger wrestlers, it is of no surprise to see the new direction of talents who are being pushed to the top in this new NXT, over the smaller, more technical superstars that elevated NXT into becoming WWE’s third brand. Dunn has helped play a part in this new, disappointing era.
9 * Unwillingness To Change Anything About WWE
When watching any WWE show, besides Wrestlemania, fans will likely feel like they’re watching the same thing over and over. Kevin Dunn is a creature of habit, and if something ‘works’, the attitude is ‘why change it?’.
WWE has felt stale for quite some time, and this is partly due to the unwillingness to try anything new or make anything look different. Fans are notoriously huge fans of the unique PPV stages and sets, but that is a thing of the past, and that is largely due to Dunn.
8 Hurting NXT Talents
The miscommunication between the main roster booking and NXT has seen many wrestlers having their careers falling apart when called up. Kevin Dunn has been reported as one of the main people in Vince McMahon’s ear when it comes to “burying” new talents.
Most NXT stars have struggled to get acclimated to the main roster and have fallen by the wayside. Names like Finn Balor, Ricochet, Neville and Keith Lee had inconsistent booking, which hurt them, losing all their value built from previous NXT success.
7 Ridiculous Camera Cuts
The one job Kevin Dunn is objectively known to have his hands on is the WWE camera cuts, something which has forced fans into turning away from the TV.
The past decade or so of changes in WWE have become a major negative with the quick changes. Dunn is responsible for fans growing upset with the constant views changing from camera to camera. WWE is also now known for unnatural angles like the cameraperson rocking back and forth if they are filming a wrestler doing chair shots.
6 Against Wrestlers With Accents
A huge negative about Kevin Dunn’s reputation is his dislike for wrestlers who speak with an accent. Jim Cornette and Jim Ross have confirmed that Dunn more than backs up Vince McMahon’s dislike for any wrestler who speaks out of the ordinary.
Becky Lynch was once viewed to have her initial main roster push dying down due to Dunn burying her to Vince for the accent. Even the American wrestlers with Southern accents have a tougher time if Dunn has anything to say about it. Thankfully Lynch has overcome that, making herself into one of the biggest draws and stars WWE has to offer.
5 Against Managers
The ideology of Vince McMahon is seen as the ideology of Kevin Dunn since they worked together during the ups and downs of WWE’s changes throughout near four decades. Managers were phased out after some time due to both men thinking it was an outdated art form.
WWE’s peak of managers passed in the ‘80s and early ‘90s with Bobby Heenan, Lou Albano, and Mr. Fuji. The success of Paul Heyman inspired other manager characters in recent years, but WWE once again seems to be growing colder on the idea.
4 Wants Older Era Of WWE Stars
Former WWE writers Alex Greenfield and Court Bauer have spoken out against the writing process in the company. Vince McMahon is the one who makes the decisions, but Kevin Dunn often is the person talking him into or out of ideas.
Many of the pitches to push new stars in top roles were shut down by Dunn’s politicking. Dunn often tried to point out the flaws in talents who didn’t look like the typical stars. Vince is known for wanting “body guys” like of the Golden Era and that philosophy is shared by Dunn, but this has caused WWE to not push any of its current talents to stardom.
3 Business Over Respect Mentality
WWE is a cutthroat business where the talents can easily witness their life changing at the drop of a hat. The recent waves of releases saw WWE firing dozens of wrestlers during a pandemic to make an even sweeter profit.
Kevin Dunn was not responsible for the decision, but he is someone who shares that sentiment. WWE has done many terrible things to treat their employees or former employees wrong in the past. The idea of business winning out over morality or respect is viewed as a problem at the top with Vince McMahon and Dunn.
2 Doesn't Believe In Women's Wrestling
The biggest change to WWE throughout the past few decades came in the mid-2010s with the women’s evolution. Vince McMahon didn’t used to believe that women could draw by being treated equal to the men, but Triple H and Stephanie McMahon helped prove him wrong. Kevin Dunn was viewed to be on the same side as Vince, when it came to how he felt about women in wrestling.
Alex Greenfield shared a story about Dunn insulting the physical appearance of Kelly Kelly when she was a teenager trying to figure out wrestling early in her career. McMahon thankfully didn’t let Dunn’s thinking stop him from changing that. Dunn is still considered a negative presence backstage for the women’s division.
1 Political War Vs. Triple H
Kevin Dunn’s name started to become more prominent in online reports about the backstage side of WWE when Triple H gained power. Names like Dunn, Johnny Ace, and Bruce Prichard were considered to be outdated in Triple H’s mind since his approach to wrestling was different.
Dunn remained as the one “yes man” to Vince McMahon to not lose any power, but the speculation was that he and Triple H clashed. The idea of Triple H wanting to get rid of Dunn if he had power led to Dunn doing his part in hurting talents Triple H believed in. It unfortunately seems like Dunn is winning out with his presence in NXT growing.