Report: Doubt Within WWE About Stephanie McMahon's Abilities As An Executive

Stephanie McMahon took a step back from WWE a couple of weeks ago and the Chief Brand Officer announced she would be taking a leave of absence from most of her duties. 

Among reasons for her decision, it was noted the past year being 'very rough on her family', Triple H's health issues, and her busy work schedule for many years were all factors. 

There are reportedly other reasons beyond those, though, and Andrew Zarian reported on We're Live Pal that there was doubt within WWE about Stephanie's abilities as an executive.

"[It was a] very bizarre conversation, I'll tell you that. I didn't expect that phone call. It was a phone call that kind of veered into a discussion about Steph. So I asked and I was like, 'Hey, anything I could add to this? What's going on?' And, you know, some of the comments, I was shocked. One being that people internally and this is coming from someone in the know in WWE. This wasn't like a guy in catering. The comment was that internally, there was doubt put on Steph [and] her abilities as an executive," Zarian said.

"A lot of this started after she absorbed some of Michelle Wilson's responsibilities after she left. One [responsibility] being ad sales and sponsorship. And the comment that I found interesting was that they mentioned that the investors were questioning why they weren't performing as well. And internally, there was some questioning as to why that wasn't performing. I think a month ago, [WWE's Head of Global Sales & Partnerships] Claudine Lilien...she went over to handle that and she was released a month ago and Nick [Khan] has taken over all these responsibilities," he continued.

"When the Shane issue happened at Royal Rumble, WWE was pretty quick to kind of say, yeah he got sent home for all the reasons that you heard, right? I was not expecting the words to be used for Steph because at the end of the day, the McMahons are the McMahons and they are the most protected people in that company."

Michelle Wilson was previously a Co-President in WWE but she was fired along with George Barrios in early 2020. 

When exactly Stephanie McMahon will be back in WWE is unknown beyond that it won't be anytime soon. 

H/T to WrestlingNews.co