Hi Scott
Kevin Owen’s loss to John Cena at Battleground and his new position in the upper mid-card is one of the most disappointing missed opportunities. A real head-scratcher. Whenever a storyline or feud goes wrong, we like to say because Vince or “reasons” or it’s creative’s fault. But from what I’ve been reading on the guy lately, shouldn’t a lot of the blame fall on Kevin Dunn? It sounds like he’s the one who convinced Vince that Cena needed to win supposedly for the sake of merchandise sales but that he also has a beef with future boss Triple H. If so, who’s REALLY in charge of creative direction over there? I know Vince has the final say, but who’s truly next in line? I always thought it was Stephanie or Triple H but this makes it sound like Dunn has a bigger voice than theirs.
As always, I appreciate your time and input. Sure hope Owens can get past this backstage political maneuvering. Cena has done amazing work with the US title but Owens winning would’ve been fresh, different and entertaining.
Vince always has the final say on stuff, but for some reason he really values and appreciates the input of Kevin Dunn, even though almost literally everyone else in the business hates his guts. I don’t know if it’s a Vince Russo situation where Vinnie Mac is taking advice to the exclusion of others, but yeah, Dunn seems to be a really bad influence on the product being delivered. And as many have noted, HHH actually has made little secret of his intention to deliver Dunn’s pink slip when Vince is gone. At least HHH’s cronies will likely be guys like Nash and Waltman, who have watched wrestling once or twice in their lifetimes.