Vince McMahon has made changes to WWE creative and the on-screen product since WrestleMania 39, when it was announced that The Endeavor Group would acquire WWE with the intention of merging the promotion into a new company with the UFC later this year. In some weeks, he makes minor changes, while in others, he rewrites several segments hours before Raw or SmackDown goes live on television.
Last Monday on RAW, fans noticed that announcers Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves were leaning into several stars’ nicknames to the point of feeling forced. An example is Seth Rollins, who WWE insists on calling him Seth “Freakin” Rollins no matter what.
Vince McMahon stated publicly on the Pat McAfee Show last year that he enjoys buzzwords and coming up with marketing lines, fueling speculation that McMahon was behind the announcers’ strong use of the nicknames.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that it was a McMahon decision.
Meltzer wrote, “It was confirmed to us that all the alliterative nicknames on the 7/17 Raw were a directive from Vince McMahon. It wasn’t pushed nearly as hard on Smackdown on 7/21 or Raw on 7/24, so it looks like it was just an idea he had (and that most thought was bad), and he gave up on it after.”
WWE is still introducing new nicknames, but not as aggressively.
