Last week, it was reported that longtime WWE producer Bruce Prichard is serving as the interim Head of Talent Relations.
As previously noted, Head of Talent relations John Laurinaitis is on administrative leave as WWE continues to investigate allegations that chairman Vince McMahon paid an employee money to stay silent on an affair they had. McMahon has since stepped aside as the chairman and CEO of WWE. His daughter, Stephanie McMahon, was named the interim chairwoman and CEO.
Laurinaitis was named the WWE Head of Talent Relations last year. His long-term future with the company is unknown as WWE investigates his involvement in McMahon's alleged affair/hush money situation.
According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com, WWE's decision to name Prichard the interim Head of Talent relations wasn't exactly surprising, as several employees essentially responded with "who else were they going to choose". Johnson noted that it's due to "the level of trust Prichard has in the company from the McMahon family."
Vince appeared briefly on last week's episode of WWE SmackDown to fire up the crowd. He also made an appearance on this week's episode of WWE Raw. He did not address the allegations or anything related to his WWE future on either occasion.
Prichard Is McMahon's Go-To Guy
Vince's trust and confidence in Prichard has been well-documented throughout the years. In Oct. 2019, WWE removed Eric Bischoff from his brand new role as the Executive Director of WWE SmackDown, and Prichard was named his replacement. And in a surprise, WWE announced in June 2020 that Paul Heyman had been removed from the Raw Executive Director position. Prichard was also named Heyman's replacement, and the former has held the position for both Raw and SmackDown ever since.
In these two instances, McMahon didn't exactly have to spend much time searching for a replacement. He was clearly sold on Prichard right away, and the veteran WWE producer was obviously the best option in the eyes of Vince to temporarily replace Laurinaitis.
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