WWE: Seth Rollins on Feud with Cody Rhodes, Shawn Michaels Given Promotion, New Executive Hirings

Sep 9, 2022

Seth Rollins Comments on His WrestleMania 38 Build & Match with Cody Rhodes

A recent episode of the Out of Character with Ryan Satin podcast had Seth Rollins as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Rollins revealing that his WrestleMania 38 match against Cody Rhodes this past April was only finalized three weeks before the event itself.

“I knew like — for sure, I would say less than a month out from WrestleMania [is when I found out concrete plans about the match with Cody Rhodes]. I was really left out of WrestleMania until — he ended up being a Godsend, but we’re talking — it was finalized I wanna say three weeks before WrestleMania. Even as we were starting to build the story towards that, it was not quite sure. There was conversations being had and all this stuff that I wasn’t really privy to and I was kind of trying to poke around and be like, ‘Hey, is this gonna happen or do I need to start thinking about something else? Because I’m really not interested in getting left off WrestleMania, two nights and I don’t wanna be thrown into a match that means nothing.’ Both the titles were being held up in the one match so I’m like… I gotta have something here… I had been doing so much good work. I was like, I’m doing great work. If I was sucking, then yeah, I get it but I’m not. I’m 35 at that time, in my prime. I’m like, I don’t know what else you want from me, you know what I’m saying? I was very, ‘This is awful.’ Had some real strong conversations — I’ll put it that way — with Vince [McMahon] leading up to that but once we got rolling, everything was set in stone, like I said, I think it was three weeks, four weeks, somewhere in that time frame where I finally was like, texted Cody… I didn’t want to text him because I was having the conversations with Bruce [Prichard] and Vince so I was like they’re handling negotiations. I don’t wanna say something. I don’t know what they’ve told him or I don’t know what the heck is going on so I was just waiting to see, okay, am I gonna get some sort of confirmation and finally, we were getting too close and I was like, yeah, I need to know. I gotta text him so I was like, ‘We doing this thing or what?’ And he’s like, ‘Think so. Pretty sure.’ I’m like, ‘All right, well that’s good enough for me. If you’re committed then I guess we’re going so…’”

Rollins also gave his thoughts about the build to his WrestleMania match that led to Rhodes being revealed as his mystery opponent.

“I thought it was fun [build to the match with Cody Rhodes]. One of the things about our story was — or my story I should say was that it was a culmination to the match at WrestleMania whereas most of the other stories, the matches were made and they had to work to get the story, you know? So that was one of the interesting parts is we got to kind of tell the story and the payoff was the match which is fun so, it was fun. I got to do weird stuff like jump on Vince’s desk and go nuts and I got to have good matches Kevin [Owens] and I think AJ [Styles] as well and help other stories kind of move along so, I enjoyed the process and the payoff was worth it so, you know, I’m glad we waited. I remember a lot of online build-up being like, ‘Why don’t they just bring him in and then build it?’ I’m like, ah, just get on the ride man. Don’t watch the ride and be like, it shouldn’t go this way, that way. Just pay the money, get on the ride, get off and go, oh, that ride rocked… I get it, I get it, I understand. I watch wrestling the same way sometimes. Sometimes I find myself going, ‘Oh, why didn’t they do that? They should have done this.’ But at the end of the day, if it’s good, it’s good and I go, ‘Okay, cool, it’s good,’ you know? I like to watch and at least try to separate myself from watching it so analytically but, I understand it but just as a piece of advice, you get a lot more happiness if you just pay the ticket and get on the ride.”

Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com

WWE Reportedly Promoted Shawn Michaels to New High Level Executive Creative Role

WWE reportedly recently promoted Shawn Michaels as their newest Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative, according to CBS Sports.

It was reported that Michaels will be continuing his role in overseeing WWE’s NXT brand’s creative division and will also be in charge of developing talent for the company’s developmental system.

It was also reported that Michaels will also be overseeing WWE’s global expansion of NXT including their upcoming new NXT Europe brand.

Two New WWE Executive Hirings

WWE announced that they have recently hired Dan Ventrelle and Maurice F. Edelson to high level executive jobs in the company. It was announced that Ventrelle will be taking over as their new Executive Vice President of Talent and Edelson will be taking over as their new Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer.

Official press release:

WWE^® NAMES DAN VENTRELLE EVP, TALENT; MAURICE F. EDELSON EVP, CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER
STAMFORD, Conn. – September 8, 2022 – WWE^® (NYSE: WWE) today announced that Dan Ventrelle will join the company as EVP, Talent, and Maurice F. Edelson will join as EVP, Chief Legal Officer.
Ventrelle was most recently with the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, where he served as the team’s President. An integral part of the Raiders’ successful move from Oakland to Las Vegas and the opening of the world-class Allegiant Stadium, Ventrelle oversaw all business operations for the team while also serving as lead negotiator for player and coach contracts and as the primary liaison with the NFL. He began his tenure with the Raiders as an attorney in 2004 before expanding into broader business roles. Ventrelle holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.
As EVP, Talent, Ventrelle will oversee the company’s talent department and report to Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque.
“As a lifelong fan, it is an honor to join the world’s premier sports entertainment company,” said Ventrelle. “I am inspired by the vision that Stephanie, Nick and Paul have for the future and excited to further the commitment to deliver exceptional talent to the WWE Universe.”
“Working with Dan during SummerSlam at Allegiant Stadium last year, we were impressed by his expertise across a number of business and personnel areas,” said Levesque. “We’re excited to welcome him to the company.”
Edelson brings to WWE nearly 25 years of legal and business experience within the media, arts and entertainment industries. He joins the company from The Juilliard School, where he served as General Counsel since 2015. Previously, Edelson was EVP & General Counsel of Time Inc., where he also directed Corporate Strategy and M&A during his 16-year tenure. Edelson has also held roles at Time Warner Inc. and Viacom Inc. He began his law career at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, after receiving his J.D. from Columbia Law School, his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and his B.A. from Vassar College.
As Chief Legal Officer, Edelson will report to Chairwoman & co-CEO Stephanie McMahon.
“I could not be more delighted to be joining the WWE team at this moment,” said Edelson. “I look forward to contributing to the ongoing success and expansion of the WWE business.”
“Maurice brings to WWE a tremendous legal and business acumen within the media, arts and entertainment sectors,” said McMahon. “We look forward to his contributions to the organization.”

Prior to their hirings, Ventrelle previously worked for the Las Vegas Raiders from 2004 to 2022 and as the President of the team before his release this past May. Edelson previously worked for Time Inc. from 2006 to 2022 and as the EVP & General Counsel of the company.