WWE’s plans for life after Bruce Prichard apparently aren’t as simple as handing his job to Shawn Michaels and calling it a day. A new report says there are several moving pieces involved, and changing one major position could cause a domino effect across WWE, NXT, Evolve and ID.
According to Fightful Select, Prichard does have a transition plan in mind, but the situation isn’t being described internally as a straight-up retirement. Instead, he’s expected to eventually work from home, with a roughly six-month transition period being discussed as he prepares for neck surgery.
“Fightful Select confirmed that Prichard does have a transition plan, but expects to work from home as opposed to retiring.”
The neck issue has already made traveling difficult for Prichard. Despite that, he remained heavily involved enough to fill in for Triple H for two weeks in October while Triple H was on vacation. Then there’s Shawn Michaels. His name immediately became the obvious candidate to replace Prichard, but Fightful says people within WWE have pushed back on the idea that those plans are already locked in.
“There was immediate speculation that Shawn Michaels would take over Prichard’s role, which some in WWE pushed back on, noting that most of the NXT news to emerge regarding the situation either wasn’t true or had been nowhere near solidified.”
And apparently there’s a pretty good reason WWE can’t just move Michaels into another job overnight. Any succession plan involving the NXT boss could force the company to start moving people around throughout several different parts of its developmental system.
“The sources in WWE that we spoke to claimed that a succession plan could be in order, but the ones outlined would create a domino effect across WWE, NXT, Evolve and ID, and the infrastructure would take a lot of adjustment that way.”
Michaels isn’t the only veteran whose backstage role could evolve either. AJ Styles is expected to continue gaining influence in scouting, while Bobby Roode has largely been discussed for a role similar to the ones held by Michael Hayes or Prichard. But WWE apparently isn’t ready to stamp Roode’s name on the office door just yet.
“Bobby Roode has largely been planned to assume a role similar to Michael Hayes or Bruce Prichard, but it should be noted that is far from set in stone.”
Fightful added that WWE expects those plans to become clearer over the coming months if the changes are ultimately needed. That also lines up with Dave Meltzer recently pumping the brakes on reports that Michaels replacing Prichard was basically a done deal. Meltzer said he had been told the Michaels talk was “way overblown,” with Roode and Ed Koskey among the first names mentioned when he started asking about possible replacements.
“We don’t know. I think that this, I was, I’ve been told by many people the Shawn stuff is way overblown. You know, I mean, when I first asked, it was, it was, I go like, who’s, who’s replacing him? And it was Robert Roode and Ed Koskey.”
So there may be a pretty big WWE backstage shuffle coming, but nobody should start printing new job titles just yet. Prichard’s transition could affect several parts of the company at once, and WWE apparently has the next few months to figure out where Michaels, Roode, Styles and everyone else ultimately fits into the puzzle.
Who do you think should take on a bigger backstage role once Bruce Prichard begins transitioning away from his current responsibilities? Let us know what you think in the comments.
