Kevin Dunn is one of the most influential and polarizing figures in WWE, despite never having an on-screen role. The term 'right hand man' has been used to describe Dunn, as a rare backstage employee to never once get released like Bruce Prichard. Dunn’s role as Executive Vice President of Television Productions has seen his input playing into the decisions of the company.
Many wrestlers have provided negative stories about Dunn with the online reports of his ideas often putting him over the top as a hated figure in wrestling. The stories range from his ideas that harm the product, to wrestlers he tried to harm and everything in between. Find out which things about Dunn make fans unable to stand him.
8 Tried To Bury Becky Lynch
The rise of Becky Lynch made her one of the biggest recent success stories for WWE, when she became "The Man" . Lynch had ups and downs for years trying to breakout, with the company seemingly not viewing her potential as high as some of her peers.
Kevin Dunn was reportedly a major reason why Becky's SmackDown Women's Championship reign ended so quickly. The reports indicated Dunn didn't like Lynch's promos and believed her accent held her back. Lynch posted a social media comment referencing this when making her message clear for those who didn't understand her accent.
7 Behind Various Ideas Picking On Jim Ross
Vince McMahon’s bizarre relationship with Jim Ross featured him going out of his way to bully the loyal employee on television multiple times. Ross implied Kevin Dunn was a major factor for those segments whenever discussing this topic on his podcasts.
The belief of JR is that others close to Vince would pitch the ideas, knowing it would get a rise out of Vince to make Ross look bad on television. Dunn appealing to Vince’s mind with ideas that made others look bad was something he often did, especially with JR.
6 Horrible Camera Cuts
Kevin Dunn is the person in charge of how WWE shows are filmed, mostly leading to negative results. WWE has been criticized for doing too much with their camera tricks, that end up just taking away from the organic feel of big moments during the broadcasts.
The fans often get camera shoots zoomed in on them, reacting to the moments in a match, rather than having the wrestlers’ emotions showcased. There are also complaints from those who suffer from motion sickness, when Dunn instructs the employees to shake the camera as if they were in a match at times.
5 Dislikes Triple H's Approach To Wrestling
The reputation of Triple H with wrestling fans is strong these days, when looking at his overall contributions in NXT. Triple H clearly has an approach that is different from the main roster when trying to play into the athletic side of realistic storytelling.
However, Kevin Dunn is viewed as one of Triple H’s biggest rivals backstage. Rumors indicate that Dunn getting fired would be an early move from Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Vince is the person with loyalty to Dunn, due to his family working with Vince’s dad before he even gained power of WWE.
4 Behind Poor Booking For NXT Stars
An accusation made towards Kevin Dunn by sources in the WWE is that he has tried to harm the careers of NXT stars due to his issues with Triple H. Many of the call-ups have huge plans due to their top-level success working under Triple H on the NXT brand.
There was an instance of WWE cameras cutting to signs mocking Kevin Owens’ weight when he was getting over. Finn Balor was viewed as someone Dunn didn’t understand, which played into how Vince McMahon ended up booking him on the main roster. Most NXT stars have a tough transition in their main roster run, partially because of Dunn’s presence making it hard.
3 Wanted To Stop Pushing Talents With Accents
WWE’s attempt to have an international roster with talents from all over the world goes against what Kevin Dunn reportedly wants in his talents. Wrestlers with accents are reportedly a huge negative to Dunn’s vision, since he feels it prevents them from connecting with the bigger audience.
Becky Lynch was already mentioned, but her country mate Sheamus also failed to win over Dunn during his first reign as WWE Champion. Jim Ross revealed the Southern accent from him and wrestlers who spoke with the same drawl were buried by both Dunn and Vince McMahon for something they couldn’t control.
2 Outdated Approach To Women's Wrestling
The changes in women’s wrestling have been arguably the biggest positive for WWE in recent years. New top tier superstars like Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch proved that the women could draw, if put in a position to succeed on equal footing to the men.
Kevin Dunn was rumored to be one of the people in Vince’s ear when it came to how WWE used to book women. A story leaked about Dunn making sexist comment about Kelly Kelly during a meeting about booking her to greater success. WWE building a successful women’s division with Dunn in a big role is a shocking scenario to watch unfold.
1 Ultimate "Yes Man" To Vince
The biggest complaint about Vince McMahon’s system in WWE is that he surrounds himself with “yes men” who follow his every word. Kevin Dunn is the most obvious example of this, with words from CM Punk, Jim Cornette and plenty of other former WWE employees defining him as such.
Talents like Jim Ross, Paul Heyman, Jim Cornette and even Bruce Prichard have been removed from important roles in the past for speaking against Vince too often. Dunn always sticking to appeasing Vince’s ego helps him keep power and gets Vince’s ideas on television, even when not best for business.