What is being said about TKO’s Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro having “the final say” in WWE creative

While speaking at a University of Alabama class, TKO President Mark Shapiro stated that the company has “complete control” over WWE’s creative decisions. In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com noted the following about Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel and Shapiro’s power…

“It was noted to us that in the end, Emanuel and Shapiro do have the final say in creative, but they almost never use it. It was said that in this situation, they used it at the most inopportune time. There was a ton of chaos regarding those on the wrestling side who didn’t want the McAfee and Jelly Roll involvement in a world title match they had been slowly building for months and how the celebrities took the focus away.”

Meltzer added that one source told him they had been anticipating a power struggle between TKO executives and WWE’s creative team for about a year. According to that source, there has been significant internal jockeying, which was encouraged by Emanuel and Shapiro. It was also said that while everyone understands the executives ultimately have full control, they rarely exercise it and the main complaint this year is that when they do step in, it tends to come at the worst possible time.