History ExecutiveMeddling / ProfessionalWrestling

** WCW would sell ad space on the canvas, ring skirts, etc... Not a big deal in itself (and not at all uncommon) but it would occasionally give us moments from Jim Ross on commentary like "Wrestling/Sting into the Coors Light ringpost."

** Still argued as a major factor of killing the company, Creator/DavidArquette was made the WCW champion to cross-promote ''Film/ReadyToRumble''. This was particularly stupid, as every other single person, including Arquette, warned Russo not to do it, but he didn’t listen to them.

** They also nixed at least one gimmick before it started; [[Wrestling/{{Goldust}} Seven]], a mysterious dream/SevenDeadlySins character, was introduced in promos the network felt uncomfortably close to child abduction (the gimmick itself was thought to be based on the 1995 movie ''Powder'', written and directed by a convicted child molester, and people confused the character with the director).

** "Foreign objects" (a pro wrestling term for weapons introduced into the match) were renamed to [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad "international objects"]] when a directive meant to apply to CNN was applied to all Turner Networks programming by mistake.

*** [=McMahon=] did pull off the same stunt again, though in a slightly different manner. In January 1988, the NWA tried its hand at pay-per-view again, this time with the Bunkhouse Stampede show. The WWF countered by airing the inaugural Wrestling/RoyalRumble at the same time on the USA Network, and again [=McMahon=] got away with it. The WWF did get a taste of their own medicine, however, as the NWA aired the first Clash of Champions on TBS to counter [=WrestleMania=] IV. In a sad twist, Jim Crockett got chewed out by the cable companies and took all the blame for [=WM4=] having a poorer buyrate than [=WM3=]. [[note]]Or, depending on who you ask, Crockett went to his television partner (and the man who he'd later sell the entire company to) Ted Turner and asked him to use his influence with the cable companies to put an end this silliness.[[/note]]

*** [=McMahon=] did pull off the same stunt again, though in a slightly different manner. In January 1988, the NWA tried its hand at pay-per-view again, this time with the Bunkhouse Stampede show. The WWF countered by airing the inaugural Wrestling/RoyalRumble at the same time on the USA Network, and again [=McMahon=] got away with it. The WWF did get a taste of their own medicine, however, as the NWA aired the first Clash of Champions on TBS to counter [=WrestleMania=] IV. In a sad twist, Jim Crockett got chewed out by the cable companies and took all the blame for [=WM4=] having a poorer buyrate than [=WM3=].

* Over the years, WWE pay-per-views tend to be held in top-drawing markets (Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, the NYC/NJ area, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Houston in particular, tend to each get a PPV every year) while ignoring lesser markets such as Seattle, Portland, Kansas City, Denver, and several others.

** It has been confirmed that Cena ''has'' wanted to turn heel at some points, considering the fact that he's been a face for ''years'' (the HeelFaceTurn essentially started at Survivor Series '03 and was solidified by ''[=WrestleMania XX=]'' - and he's never made a FaceHeelTurn since then, meaning he's been a face for almost a ''decade''). Whether he wants to ''now'' is possibly an entirely different story. Bret Hart noted this problem in a shoot interview. It isn't whether or not Cena has ever been capable of playing heel (because we all know he can), it's whether or not he can do it ''now''. Cena's character hinges on the kids and their dreams and being their hero and all that other good stuff. The question is whether or not he can handle the heartache of doing such a thing to said kids - much like Bret and his own FaceHeelTurn all those years ago. Unless the kids themselves start hating him too, and that's the majority of them, then he's stuck as a face. On the other hand, a press interview prior to [=WrestleMania 29=] had Cena make the inane insinuation that he can't turn heel because he's "not a bad guy in real life", which has UnfortunateImplications toward almost every single wrestler that's ever been around for more than a cup of coffee. He's also been rumored and accused of having bullied several wrestlers over the years. [[labelnote:i.e.]]Ruining both Kenny Dykstra's career and personal life by sleeping with his then-fiancee Wrestling/MickieJames (as well as cheating on his own wife in the process), killing Alex Riley's push when Riley refused to take some ribbing from him, stopping Tyler Reks from using his modified Burning Hammer finisher, etc.[[/labelnote]] Whether these particular rumors are true or not, his push as essentially being the WWE CreatorsPet has also led to the momentum of many hot acts being damaged if not killed just to make him look good, as the list of people who work with Cena over the years has actually helped at all since he's been cast as TheHero can be counted on one hand. Many of his detractors believe that not only does he has a certain degree of creative control which comes with being the face of the company, he either actively uses that stroke to protect himself at the expense of his co-workers or he ''doesn't'' use it to reign in Vince's dependency on him and help build the other talent around him as much as he should at this stage in his career.

** If Wrestling/PaulHeyman is to be believed, [=McMahon=] stomped a wide mudhole in the 2006 December to Dismember Wrestling/{{ECW}} pay-per-view event, the last WWE event managed by Heyman. Heyman was constantly going to [=McMahon=], begging him to let him revise the direction of the show but [=McMahon=] kept insisting his booking would work. Even Wrestling/BigShow, who was the current champion at the time of the event, was eager to let Heyman's ideas flow (which primarily involved Wrestling/CMPunk being allowed to shine) but [=McMahon=] kept pushing his own agenda through the event. Unsurprisingly, bad booking and a weak card overall (capped off by a memorably mediocre installment of the Elimination Chamber match with an extreme gimmick bolted on) led to a massive backlash which [=McMahon=] [[NeverMyFault promptly turned back onto Heyman as the culprit]], dismissing him from further creative interactions with WWE. As an aside worth mentioning, to this day the event still stands as the worst-selling pay-per-view in WWE's entire history at roughly 96,000 verified purchases. To put that into perspective, ''[=WrestleMania=] III'' held the record for largest WWE live audience in history at over 93,000 seats sold. This show could only bring in about 3000 more views ''across an entire country'' than the number of tickets sold to a live event.

*** He has used his ExecutiveMeddling to benefit as well. He did such an efficient job filtering the ideas that Wrestling/VinceRusso and Ed Ferrera came up with that for years Russo was credited as the genius behind the Attitude Era boom. Russo had a pet gimmick called Beaver Cleavage (a hypersexual take on ''Series/LeaveItToBeaver') that he fought with the rest of Creative tooth and nail over to get on the air. When Beaver Cleavage got the negative reaction everyone not named Russo expected, [=McMahon=] himself pulled the plug and canned the character. This actually led to Russo leaving WWF for Wrestling/{{WCW}}.

*** There was Wrestling/MuhammadHassan. This could be looked at as executive meddling on both sides, as [=McMahon=] chose to still air Hassan's "terrorist attack" on Wrestling/TheUndertaker the same day that real terrorists bombed UsefulNotes/TheLondonUnderground (London's subway). Creator/{{UPN}}'s subsequent edict that Hassan would never appear on the network again forced Vince to not only remove the character but possibly re-book the main events at two pay-per-views. At ''WWE The Great American Bash 2005'', Taker defeated Hassan and even gave him [[FinishingMove the Last Ride]] ''through the stage'' to send him out of WWE and, in fact, into retirement.

*** [=McMahon=] hired Wrestling/UltimoDragon because Wrestling/{{Rey Mysterio|Jr}} became very popular, and he wanted another high-flying masked wrestler. However, he did not do the research and was unpleasantly surprised to see that Dragon wasn't a high-flyer. He then decided that Dragon's wrestling style was completely incompatible with ''anyone'' in [=WWE=], and went so far as to ''editing out the cheers Dragon got'' on the taped shows.[[note]]Editing the fan reactions on taped shows is nothing new or uncommon, however.[[/note]]

** For better or worse, Vince [=McMahon=] is well known for having a very hands-on style of managing Wrestling/{{WWE}}. He always has final say on everything that happens in the promotion. Unfortunately, as a businessman in his early 70s, [=McMahon=] doesn't always do a good job of keeping up with popular culture, and he's nixed a few gimmicks and angles because he personally didn't understand them. For example:

** Still argued as a major factor of killing the company, Creator/DavidArquette was made the WCW champion to cross-promote ''Film/ReadyToRumble''.

** Dunn was also the brains behind the Diva Search. It wouldn't be too far to believe that he and Johnny Ace are responsible for the greater emphasis the division has put on looks. In fact, according to most sources, how he views the Divas are so objectifying if not sexist that many are surprised he hasn't been arrested yet. Former WWE writer Alex Greenfield once recounted a story of being in the WWE corporate jet alongside several writers that were captained by Vince [=McMahon=], Dunn, and Michael Hayes. They were flying back from TV after taping one of the early shows of WWE's ECW brand, the one where Wrestling/KellyKelly has just been introduced as the exhibitionist girlfriend of Mike Knox. Hayes was telling [=McMahon=] that he felt that she wasn't connecting, [=McMahon=] agreed, saying that she needed to find her sensuality. Then Dunn, with sniggering laughter, was trying to get [=McMahon=] to pay attention to him. When [=McMahon=] turns to him, Dunn tells him, "She needs to find some '''''TITS'''''!" Dunn continued to snicker, eyes on [=McMahon=], begging for approval. [=McMahon's=] only reaction was to snort and continue the conversation with Hayes. However since late 2015, the WWE has pretty done away with the emphasis on the female talents' looks in favor of actual wrestling talent thanks in large part to the rise of the Four Horsewomen (Wrestling/SashaBanks, Wrestling/BeckyLynch, Wrestling/{{Charlotte}}, and Wrestling/{{Bayley}}), not to mention getting rid of the Divas moniker altogether in April of 2016.

** Dunn was also the brains behind the Diva Search. It wouldn't be too far to believe that he and Johnny Ace are responsible for the greater emphasis the division has put on looks. In fact, according to most sources, how he views the Divas are so objectifying if not sexist that many are surprised he hasn't been arrested yet. Former WWE writer Alex Greenfield once recounted a story of being in the WWE corporate jet alongside several writers that were captained by Vince [=McMahon=], Dunn, and Michael Hayes. They were flying back from TV after taping one of the early shows of WWE's ECW brand, the one where Wrestling/KellyKelly has just been introduced as the exhibitionist girlfriend of Mike Knox. Hayes was telling [=McMahon=] that he felt that she wasn't connecting, [=McMahon=] agreed, saying that she needed to find her sensuality. Then Dunn, with sniggering laughter, was trying to get [=McMahon=] to pay attention to him. When [=McMahon=] turns to him, Dunn tells him, "She needs to find some '''''TITS'''''!" Dunn continued to snicker, eyes on [=McMahon=], begging for approval. [=McMahon's=] only reaction was to snort and continue the conversation with Hayes. However since late 2015, the WWE has pretty done away with female talents' looks in favor of actual wrestling talent thanks in large part to the rise of the Four Horsewomen (Wrestling/SashaBanks, Wrestling/BeckyLynch, Wrestling/{{Charlotte}}, and Wrestling/{{Bayley}}), not to mention getting rid of the Divas moniker altogether in April of 2016.

*** Ultimately it didn't fully stop as while Reigns hasn't regained the title since he did go on to main-event at [=WrestleMania=] 33 and defeat and retire the Undertaker [[TenMinuteRetirement (for a year, at least)]], which is arguably the biggest rub of all time in WWE history. Finally, he was rumored to win the WWE Universal title from Brock Lesnar in the main event of [=WrestleMania=] 34, which strangely didn't happen, and he didn't win the title until [[=SummerSlam=]] later that year.

*** Ultimately it didn't fully stop as while Reigns hasn't regained the title since he did go on to main-event at [=WrestleMania=] 33 and defeat and retire the Undertaker [[TenMinuteRetirement (for a year, at least)]], which is arguably the biggest rub of all time in WWE history. Finally, he was rumored to win the WWE Universal title from Brock Lesnar in the main event of [=WrestleMania=] 34, which strangely didn't happen, and he didn't win the title until [[Wrestling/=SummerSlam=]] later that year.

*** Ultimately it didn't fully stop as while Reigns hasn't regained the title since he did go on to main-event at [=WrestleMania=] 33 and defeat and retire the Undertaker [[TenMinuteRetirement (for a year, at least)]], which is arguably the biggest rub of all time in WWE history. Finally, he was rumored to win the WWE Universal title from Brock Lesnar in the main event of [=WrestleMania=] 34, which strangely didn't happen, and he didn't win the title until [[Wrestling/SummerSlam]] later that year.

*** Ultimately it didn't fully stop as while Reigns hasn't regained the title since he did go on to main-event at [=WrestleMania=] 33 and defeat and retire the Undertaker [[TenMinuteRetirement (for a year, at least)]], which is arguably the biggest rub of all time in WWE history. Finally, he was rumored to win the WWE Universal title from Brock Lesnar in the main event of [=WrestleMania=] 34, which strangely didn't happen, and he didn't win the title until Wrestling/[=SummerSlam=] later that year.

** Reigns is currently being groomed by the WWE as the successor to Cena despite hatred from numerous wrestling fans due to the fact that Reigns "can't wrestle" while being pushed ahead of fan favorites Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Cesaro, among others. But Reigns has huge support from [=Vince McMahon=] and Kevin Dunn and to a lesser extent, Triple H due to Reigns' look and marketing ability. CM Punk mentioned on a Wrestling/ColtCabana podcast that the plan was for "Reigns to look strong" despite going over the Shield. That being said, it wasn't really the wrestling ability people had problems with later down the line, and Roman's wrestling ability improved leaps and bounds over time -- it was the character. After people started turning on Reigns, Vince personally stepped in and started taking over the direction of Roman's character...and turned him into a ''Wrestling/JohnCena'' clone. That's when everything went downhill for him, as it became very clear that the character did not fit him at all. When that didn't work out (to no one's surprise), Roman went through many character changes while the crowds kept having tepid reactions if not being outright hostile. The company continued to push him regardless even though business was suffering for it (RAW's ratings went through a noticeable dip during his title reign after WM 32 -- it was dangerously close to going under a 2.0). The madness didn't stop until Reigns violated the Wellness Policy, forcing the company to take the title off him and drop him down the card while the heat died down.

** Dunn was also the brains behind the Diva Search. It wouldn't be too far to believe that he and Johnny Ace are responsible for the greater emphasis the division has put on looks. In fact, according to most sources, how he views the Divas are so objectifying if not sexist that many are surprised he hasn't been arrested yet. Former WWE writer Alex Greenfield once recounted a story of being in the WWE corporate jet alongside several writers that were captained by Vince [=McMahon=], Dunn, and Michael Hayes. They were flying back from TV after taping one of the early shows of WWE's ECW brand, the one where Wrestling/KellyKelly has just been introduced as the exhibitionist girlfriend of Mike Knox. Hayes was telling [=McMahon=] that he felt that she wasn't connecting, [=McMahon=] agreed, saying that she needed to find her sensuality. Then Dunn, with sniggering laughter, was trying to get [=McMahon=] to pay attention to him. When [=McMahon=] turns to him, Dunn tells him, "She needs to find some '''''TITS'''''!" Dunn continued to snicker, eyes on [=McMahon=], begging for approval. [=McMahon's=] only reaction was to snort and continue the conversation with Hayes. However since late 2015, the WWE has pretty done away with female talents' looks in favor of actual wrestling talent thanks in large part to the rise of the Four Horsewomen (Wrestling/SashaBanks, Wrestling/BeckyLynch, Wrestling/{{Charlotte}} and Wrestling/{{Bayley}}), not to mention getting rid of the Divas moniker altogether in April of 2016.

*** He has used his ExecutiveMeddling to benefit as well. He did such an efficient job filtering the ideas that Wrestling/VinceRusso and Ed Ferrera came up with that for years Russo was credited as the genius behind the Attitude Era boom. Russo had a pet gimmick called Beaver Cleavage (a hypersexual take on ''Series/LeaveItToBeaver') that he fought with the rest of Creative tooth and nail over to get on the air. When Beaver Cleavage got the negative reaction everyone not named Russo expected, [=McMahon=] himself pulled the plug and canned the character. This actually lead to Russo leaving WWF for Wrestling/{{WCW}}.

*** Vince called off Wrestling/BoDallas' push because he thought that Dallas' gimmick, that of an insincere and delusional motivational speaker, was too confusing.

*** Rival promoter Jim Crockett at the time owned the flagship company in the [[Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance NWA]], which was the forerunner to WCW. In 1987, Crockett had scheduled the [=NWA=]'s equivalent of Wrestling/WrestleMania, Starrcade, on Thanksgiving weekend, and had this year pulled out all the stops to make it as widespread and successful as a [=WrestleMania=] event. [=McMahon=] knew that Crockett was banking his company's future on Starrcade being a huge success and so he announced his own pay-per-view, Wrestling/SurvivorSeries, to air on the same day. Crockett offered to reschedule Starrcade for a different time slot so that the two didn't run head to head, confident that if fans bought both events, they'd see that his was the superior product. All well and good, except [=McMahon=] put the word out that any cable company who wanted to air Survivor Series would have to agree not to run any other wrestling pay-per-views for a month beforehand or for three months after. On top of that, any companies that ''did'' decide to run Starrcade rather than Survivor Series would not be allowed to run [=WrestleMania=] the following year. Out of over 200 national and local cable companies that had interest in carrying Starrcade, only five ended up doing so. The amazing thing is that he [[RefugeInAudacity got away with it]], especially after having laid down conditions that would have any decent anti-trust lawyer chomping at the bit. Afterwards, the cable companies asked the promotions involved never to do this kind of thing again.

*** There was Wrestling/MuhammadHassan. This could be looked at as executive meddling on both sides, as [=McMahon=] chose to still air Hassan's "terrorist attack" on Wrestling/TheUndertaker the same day that real terrorists bombed UsefulNotes/TheLondonUnderground (London's subway). Creator/{{UPN}}'s subsequent edict that Hassan would never appear on the network again forced Vince to not only remove the character, but possibly re-book the main events at two pay-per-views. At ''WWE The Great American Bash 2005'', Taker defeated Hassan and even gave him [[FinishingMove the Last Ride]] ''through the stage'' to send him out of WWE and, in fact, into retirement.

* One rumor floating around about WWE is not so much executive meddling as much as ''tenured'' meddling. Some are arguing that younger talent is being buried so the older wrestlers (Wrestling/TheUndertaker and Wrestling/TripleH especially and most recently, [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] and Wrestling/BrockLesnar) can milk the last few years of their careers for all they're worth (as evidence from ''[=WrestleMania=] 29'' in which the three main events featured four of its part-time talent). Some of it is minor (no one on the roster can have gear that looks like The Undertaker's). However, some of it's more serious, like the claim some have argued that Triple H forced Chris Masters to keep doing the Masterlock Challenge, long after it stopped being entertaining, making Masters universally loathed by fans, and possibly torpedoing his career before it could get off the ground, and the claim that The Undertaker has also helped hold back talent in the ''women's'' division by having WWE keep that belt on his then girlfriend, now wife, Wrestling/MichelleMcCool. This might be even more JustForFun/{{egregious}} because it buried the much more talented, popular and ''experienced'' Wrestling/MickieJames. Wrestling/BethPhoenix might have been spared this only due to her ACL injury, so they'd taken to burying Wrestling/{{Melina}}. It is believed that The Undertaker gets little flak for using his pull in the company because of the many stories of him keeping other wrestlers in check. People are wondering why guys like Wrestling/EvanBourne and [[Wrestling/TheWorldsGreatestTagTeam Shelton Benjamin]] got nowhere fast in WWE, and many think it's this. The reason it seems that part-time talent such as The Rock can draw, while most of the younger full-time talent do not.

** WCW was so desperate to get Hogan working for them that they gave him ''carte blanche'' over the entire company. His contract gave him ''complete creative control over every aspect of the show that his character was even tangentially involved in'', and even aside from that nobody ever stood up to him because they didn't want to get on his bad side for fear of reprisal from higher in the Turner hierarchy. It was a normal thing for an episode of ''Wrestling/WCWMondayNitro'' to be rewritten from scratch according to Hogan's whims. The low point of Hogan's meddling with WCW booking was ''Starrcade 1997''. After an incredibly hot slow burn of a feud between Hogan and Wrestling/{{Sting}}, Starrcade was set as the stage where Sting would finally get the revenge he'd been seeking for a year and a half. Instead, Hogan demanded that he would get a pinfall over Sting. A heat killing scenario was concocted in which Hogan would hit his leg drop on Sting and a biased referee would do a fast count, leading to Wrestling/BretHart coming out to restart the match. The referee, Nick Patrick, did a normal count instead. Allegedly, Hogan privately insisted that Patrick should do a normal count, although other sources claim Patrick simply forgot to do a fast count. This was one of admittedly many things that lead to WCW's demise.

** In a rare positive example, Hogan changed the finish of Bound for Glory 2011 so that the champion, Wrestling/KurtAngle, won instead of the heavily pushed Wrestling/BobbyRoode. The Internet erupted in outrage. According to Wrestling/ScottSteiner, so did Roode himself. Three weeks later, however, Roode turned heel as a result of the loss and then proceeded to become a breakout star and the longest reigning champion in Wrestling/{{TNA}}'s history. Apparently, the reason why he did that was so Roode wouldn't outshine him, as in the event Hogan did a HeelFaceTurn after having being a heel for a year (no surprise there considering Hogan's ego). TNA had no choice due to the outrage but to give Roode the belt. On the downside, it wasn't all positive, as the angle absolutely destroyed any momentum that Wrestling/JamesStorm had, as he won the belt from Angle, lost it two weeks later to Roode after giving a whole speech about how [[{{Irony}} he didn't have to be an ass kisser to be champ]], and when the payoff match against Roode came at ''next year's'' Bound for Glory, Roode was no longer champion.
* WCW, which was broadcast on Turner Networks, was occasionally forced by the higher ups to include ProductPlacement in their shows:
** Rick Steiner was forced to debate [[Film/ChildsPlay Chucky]], who shilled the then upcoming ''Film/BrideOfChucky'' movie. Later, Robert Wuhl, the star of ''Series/{{Arliss}}'', had a guest commentary spot, in-character as Arliss, which was made even worse by his commentary being non-stop burial of the match he was calling (Wrestling/RandySavage vs. Wrestling/BillyKidman) and pro wrestling in general.

* Turner Networks also forced WCW to keep their shows at a PG level, which made it difficult for WCW to compete with the more risqué WWF. This was in theory not a bad idea as they were counting on WWF's programming alienating their sponsors and putting WCW at a more advantageous position. However, some of the changes were somewhat silly. For example:

** Depending on who you listen to, some say that John Cena is going through a situation similar to what Hogan claims he did; he ''wants'' to branch out of his InvincibleHero gimmick, he ''wants'' to do more than his FiveMovesOfDoom, he ''wants'' to [[FaceHeelTurn go back to being an arrogant]]. He's just so popular (at least among the target demographic) and merchandise-worthy as "this generation's Hulk Hogan" that the writers simply won't let him, just giving him a RoaringRampageOfRevenge once in a while. This is backed up by some "insiders" and called absolute bunk by others, so it's difficult to pinpoint.
** It has been confirmed that Cena ''has'' wanted to turn heel at some points, considering the fact that he's been a face for ''years'' (the HeelFaceTurn essentially started at Survivor Series '03 and was solidified by ''[=WrestleMania XX=]'' - and he's never made a FaceHeelTurn since then, meaning he's been a face for almost a ''decade''). Whether he wants to ''now'' is possibly an entirely different story. Bret Hart noted this problem in a shoot interview. It isn't whether or not Cena has ever been capable of playing heel (because we all know he can), it's whether or not he can do it ''now''. Cena's character hinges on the kids and their dreams and being their hero and all that other good stuff. The question is whether or not he can handle the heartache of doing such a thing to said kids - much like Bret and his own FaceHeelTurn all those years ago. Unless the kids themselves start hating him too, and that's the majority of them, then he's stuck as a face. On the other hand, a press interview prior to [=WrestleMania 29=] had Cena make the inane insinuation that he can't turn heel because he's "not a bad guy in real life", which has UnfortunateImplications toward almost every single wrestler that's ever been around for more than a cup of coffee. He's also been rumored and accused of having bullied several wrestlers over the years. [[labelnote:i.e.]]Ruining both Kenny Dykstra's career and personal life by sleeping with his then-fiancee Wrestling/MickieJames (as well as cheating on his own wife in the process), killing Alex Riley's push when Riley refused to take some ribbing from him, stopping Tyler Reks from using his modified Burning Hammer finisher, etc.[[/labelnote]] Whether these particular rumors are true or not, his push as essentially being the WWE CreatorsPet has also led to the momentum of many hot acts being damaged if not killed just to make him look good, as the list of people who working with Cena over the years has actually helped at all since he's been cast as TheHero can be counted on one hand. Many of his detractors believe that not only does he has a certain degree of creative control which comes with being the face of the company, he either actively uses that stroke to protect himself at the expense of his co-workers or he ''doesn't'' use it to reign in Vince's dependency on him and help build other talent around him as much as he should at this stage in his career.

** As a man of aesthetics, Dunn tends to favor a certain look. He's a big fan of Cena, explaining partly why he has a near perpetual push. He's also reportedly a huge fan of Wrestling/RomanReigns due to the fact that Dunn, like [=McMahon=], loves Reigns' look and wrestling pedigree. He's not so high on Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}, which explains his inconsistent booking considering Sheamus's ties to Hunter. Dunn was also reportedly responsible for the infamous 18-second squash match between Sheamus and [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] (which both wrestlers hated), owing to the fact that he didn't like both of them.
** Dunn was also the brains behind the Diva Search. It wouldn't be too far to believe that he and Johnny Ace are responsible for the greater emphasis the division has put on looks. In fact, according to most sources, how he views the Divas are so objectifying if not sexist that many are surprised he hasn't been arrested yet. Former WWE writer Alex Greenfield once recounted a story of being in the WWE corporate jet alongside several writers that were captained by Vince [=McMahon=], Dunn, and Michael Hayes. They were flying back from TV after taping one of the early shows of WWE's ECW brand, the one where Wrestling/KellyKelly has just been introduced as the exhibicionist girlfriend of Mike Knox. Hayes was telling [=McMahon=] that he felt that she wasn't connecting, [=McMahon=] agreed saying that she needed to find her sensuality. Then Dunn, with sniggering laughter, was trying to get [=McMahon=] to pay attention to him. When [=McMahon=] turns to him, Dunn tells him, "She needs to find some '''''TITS'''''!" Dunn continued to snicker, eyes on [=McMahon=], begging for approval. [=McMahon's=] only reaction was to snort and continue the conversation with Hayes. However since late 2015, the WWE has pretty done away with female talents' looks in favor of actual wrestling talent thanks in large part to the rise of the Four Horsewomen (Wrestling/SashaBanks, Wrestling/BeckyLynch, Wrestling/{{Charlotte}} and Wrestling/{{Bayley}}), not to mention getting rid of the Divas monker altogether in April of 2016.
** However, Dunn's greatest "achievement" is Katie Vick. It was an idea that only him and [=McMahon=] liked. Even Hunter, a ProfessionalButtKisser at the time, hated it and questioned [=McMahon=] about it. Kane, being the company man that he is, hated it too but did what he was told. If there was ''any'' reason that Hunter, or, hell, any wrestling fan, had to hate Dunn, that would be it.

*** Ultimately it didn't fully stop as while Reigns hasn't regained the title since he did go on to main event [=WrestleMania=] 33, defeat and retire the Undertaker [[TenMinuteRetirement (for a year, at least)]], which is arguably the biggest rub of all time in WWE history. Finally he was rumored to win the WWE Universal title from Brock Lesnar in the main event of [=WrestleMania=] 34, which strangely didn't happen, and he didn't win the title until Wrestling/[=SummerSlam=] later that year.
* Over the years, WWE pay-per-views tend to be held in top-drawing markets (Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, the NYC/NJ area, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Dallas and Houston in particular, tend to each get a PPV every year) while ignoring lesser markets such as Seattle, Portland, Kansas City, Denver and several others.
* In 1988, a conglomerate of independent promotions led by Verne Gagne's Wrestling/AmericanWrestlingAssociation, Fritz Wrestling/{{Von Erich|family}}'s World Class Championship Wrestling and Jerry Jarrett's Continental Wrestling co produced the ''Superclash III'' PPV that was supposed to make them all a major competitor to Vince [=McMahon=]... and it was one of wrestling's biggest disasters because of the egos and meddling of those promoters. The main event was AWA champion Wrestling/JerryLawler vs WCCW champion Kerry Von Erich to unify their titles... in a match the promotions had already given away multiple times in the months prior, always with controversial finishes. And on the day of Superclash itself, mere minutes before the main event was to start, they still didn't have a finish because neither promoter was willing to put over the other guy. What made this dumber is how Fritz Von Erich was unwilling to have Kerry put over Lawler clean despite the fact that he was secretly selling WCCW to Lawler and Jarrett knowing they would merge it with the AWA and make Lawler champion anyway. After they finally agreed to a finish that had Lawler walk out with both belts while not looking particularly good and the sale of WCCW was complete... then Gagne screwed over everything by backing out of the merger, refusing to pay Lawler for working the match after Superclash failed to make money (Only about 1500 showed up to the event) and expecting Lawler to still hand over the AWA belt (Which Lawler did not). All major promotions involved with the event were out of business within a few years after.

** Back in 1990, the ''Capital Combat'' [=PPV=] was done specifically to shill the movie ''Film/{{RoboCop 2}}'', complete with a guy dressed as [=RoboCop=] appearing on the show. Sting, who had suffered a major knee injury earlier that year while trying to attack the Wrestling/TheFourHorsemen in the main event cage match at ''Clash of the Champions X'' came out for an interview and the Horsemen attacked him and locked him in the cage at ringside.[[note]]This came right after the match where the Midnight Express had defeated [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-us-t.html NWA/WCW United States Tag Team Champions]] Wrestling/BrianPillman and Wrestling/TomZenk for the titles with the Midnights' manager Wrestling/JimCornette locked in a cage at ringside.[[/note]] Now, a ''reasonable'' promotion would have a bunch of {{Face}}s run out to rescue Sting, but, well, this was WCW, so they had the guy in the [=RoboCop=] suit come down and rescue Sting, with the Horsemen just sort of walking away. It was incidents such as this, among others, that led to Ole Anderson, the booker at the time, later titling his [[{{Biography}} autobiography]] ''Inside Out: How Corporate America Destroyed Professional Wrestling''.

** Still argued as a major factor of killing the company, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Arquette David Arquette]] was made the WCW champion to cross-promote ''Film/ReadyToRumble''.

** Both of those pale in comparison to a mind-boggling cameo by [[WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot Lord Ruber]] on ''Thunder''. As a refresher, Ruber is a cartoon character. On a post-nWo WCW.

*** Soon before [=WWE=]'s [=ECW=] brand got underway, there were Internet reports that the [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci-Fi Channel]] had been trying to shoehorn sci-fi elements into this wrestling show. Cue "The Zombie" and other characters [[CurbStompBattle being soundly beaten]] [[WriterRevolt by the Sandman]] upon the show's airing.

* One rumor floating around about WWE is not so much executive meddling as much as ''tenured'' meddling. Some are arguing that younger talent is being buried so the older wrestlers (Wrestling/TheUndertaker and Wrestling/TripleH especially and most recently, [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] and Wrestling/BrockLesnar) can milk the last few years of their careers for all they're worth (as evidence from ''[=WrestleMania=] 29'' in which the three main events featured four of its part-time talent). Some of it is minor (no one on the roster can have gear that looks like The Undertaker's). However, some of it's more serious, like the claim some have argued that Triple H forced Chris Masters to keep doing the Masterlock Challenge, long after it stopped being entertaining, making Masters universally loathed by fans, and possibly torpedoing his career before it could get off the ground, and the claim that The Undertaker has also helped hold back talent in the ''women's'' division by having WWE keep that belt on his then girlfriend, now wife, Wrestling/MichelleMcCool. This might be even more JustForFun/{{egregious}} because it buried the much more talented, popular and ''experienced'' Wrestling/MickieJames. Wrestling/BethPhoenix might have been spared this only due to her ACL injury, so they'd taken to burying Wrestling/{{Melina}}. It is believed that The Undertaker gets little flak for using his pull in the company because of the many stories of him keeping other wrestlers in check. People are wondering why guys like Wrestling/EvanBourne and Shelton Benjamin got nowhere fast in WWE, and many think it's this. The reason it seems that part-time talent such as The Rock can draw, while most of the younger full-time talent do not.

** Back in 1990, the ''Capital Combat'' [=PPV=] was done specifically to shill the movie ''Film/{{RoboCop 2}}'', complete with a guy dressed as [=RoboCop=] appearing on the show. Sting, who had suffered a major knee injury earlier that year while trying to attack the Wrestling/FourHorsemen in the main event cage match at ''Clash of the Champions X'' came out for an interview and the Horsemen attacked him and locked him in the cage at ringside.[[note]]This came right after the match where the Midnight Express had defeated [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-us-t.html NWA/WCW United States Tag Team Champions]] Wrestling/BrianPillman and Wrestling/TomZenk for the titles with the Midnights' manager Wrestling/JimCornette locked in a cage at ringside.[[/note]] Now, a ''reasonable'' promotion would have a bunch of {{Face}}s run out to rescue Sting, but, well, this was WCW, so they had the guy in the [=RoboCop=] suit come down and rescue Sting, with the Horsemen just sort of walking away. It was incidents such as this, among others, that led to Ole Anderson, the booker at the time, later titling his [[{{Biography}} autobiography]] ''Inside Out: How Corporate America Destroyed Professional Wrestling''.

** However, Dunn's greatest "achievement" is Katie Vick. It was an idea that only him and [=McMahon=] liked. Even Hunter, a ProfessionalButtKisser at the time, hated it and questioned [=McMahon=] about it. Kane, being the company man that he is, hated it too but did what he was told. If there was ''any'' reason for Hunter, or, hell, any wrestling fan, had to hate Dunn, that would be it.

** Reigns is currently being groomed by the WWE as the successor to Cena despite hatred from numerous wrestling fans due to the fact that Reigns "can't wrestle" while being pushed ahead of IWC favorites Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Cesaro, among others. But Reigns has huge support from [=Vince McMahon=] and Kevin Dunn and to a lesser extent, Triple H due to Reigns' look and marketing ability. CM Punk mentioned on the Colt Cabana podcast that the plan was for "Reigns to look strong" despite going over the Shield. That being said, it wasn't really the wrestling ability people had problems with later down the line, and Roman's wrestling ability improved leaps and bounds over time -- it was the character. After people started turning on Reigns, Vince personally stepped in and started taking over the direction of Roman's character...and turned him into a ''Wrestling/JohnCena'' clone. That's when everything went downhill for him, as it became very clear that the character did not fit him at all. When that didn't work out (to no one's surprise), Roman went through many character changes while the crowds kept having tepid reactions if not being outright hostile. The company continued to push him regardless even though business was suffering for it (RAW's ratings went through a noticeable dip during his title reign after WM 32 -- it was dangerously close to going under a 2.0). The madness didn't stop until Reigns violated the Wellness Policy, forcing the company to take the title off him and drop him down the card while the heat died down.

* In 1988, a conglomerate of independent promotions led by Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association, Fritz Von Erich's World Class Championship Wrestling and Jerry Jarrett's Continental Wrestling co produced the Superclash III PPV that was supposed to make them all a major competitor to Vince [=McMahon=]... and it was one of wrestling's biggest disasters because of the egos and meddling of those promoters. The main event was AWA champion Jerry Lawler vs WCCW champion Kerry Von Erich to unify their titles... in a match the promotions had already given away multiple times in the months prior, always with controversial finishes. And on the day of Superclash itself, mere minutes before the main event was to start, they still didn't have a finish because neither promoter was willing to put over the other guy. What made this dumber is how Fritz Von Erich was unwilling to have Kerry put over Lawler clean despite the fact that he was secretly selling WCCW to Lawler and Jarrett knowing they would merge it with the AWA and make Lawler champion anyway. After they finally agreed to a finish that had Lawler walk out with both belts while not looking particularly good and the sale of WCCW was complete... then Gagne screwed over everything by backing out of the merger, refusing to pay Lawler for working the match after Superclash failed to make money (Only about 1500 showed up to the event) and expecting Lawler to still hand over the AWA belt (Which Lawler did not). All major promotions involved with the event were out of business within a few years after.

** Back in 1990, the ''Capital Combat'' [=PPV=] was done specifically to shill the movie ''Film/{{RoboCop 2}}'', complete with a guy dressed as [=RoboCop=] appearing on the show. Sting, who had suffered a major knee injury earlier that year while trying to attack the Wrestling/FourHorsemen in the main event cage match at ''Clash of the Champions X'' came out for an interview and the Horsemen attacked him and locked him in the cage at ringside.[[note]]This came right after the match where the Midnight Express had defeated [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-us-t.html NWA/WCW United States Tag Team Champions]] Wrestling/BrianPillman and Tom Zenk for the titles with the Midnights' manager Wrestling/JimCornette locked in a cage at ringside.[[/note]] Now, a ''reasonable'' promotion would have a bunch of {{Face}}s run out to rescue Sting, but, well, this was WCW, so they had the guy in the [=RoboCop=] suit come down and rescue Sting, with the Horsemen just sort of walking away. It was incidents such as this, among others, that led to Ole Anderson, the booker at the time, later titling his [[{{Biography}} autobiography]] ''Inside Out: How Corporate America Destroyed Professional Wrestling''.

** Depending on who you listen to, some say that John Cena is going through a situation similar to what Hogan claims he did; he ''wants'' to branch out of his [[InvincibleHero boring invincible hero]] gimmick, he ''wants'' to do more than his FiveMovesOfDoom, he ''wants'' to [[FaceHeelTurn go back to being an arrogant]]. He's just so popular (at least among the target demographic) and merchandise-worthy as "this generation's Hulk Hogan" that the writers simply won't let him, just giving him a RoaringRampageOfRevenge once in a while. This is backed up by some "insiders" and called absolute bunk by others, so it's difficult to pinpoint.

** If Wrestling/PaulHeyman is to be believed, [=McMahon=] stomped a wide mudhole in the 2006 December to Dismember Wrestling/{{ECW}} pay-per-view event, the last WWE event managed by Heyman. Heyman was constantly going to [=McMahon=], begging him to let him revise the direction of the show but [=McMahon=] kept insisting his booking would work. Even Wrestling/TheBigShow, who was the current champion at the time of the event, was eager to let Heyman's ideas flow (which primarily involved Wrestling/CMPunk being allowed to shine) but [=McMahon=] kept pushing his own agenda through the event. Unsurprisingly, bad booking and a weak card overall (capped off by a memorably mediocre installment of the Elimination Chamber match with an extreme gimmick bolted on) led to a massive backlash which [=McMahon=] [[NeverMyFault promptly turned back onto Heyman as the culprit]], dismissing him from further creative interactions with WWE. As an aside worth mentioning, to this day the event still stands as the worst-selling pay-per-view in WWE's entire history at roughly 96,000 verified purchases. To put that into perspective, ''[=WrestleMania=] III'' held the record for largest WWE live audience in history at over 93,000 seats sold. This show could only bring in about 3000 more views ''across an entire country'' than the number of tickets sold to a live event.