Shawn Michaels began coming out to his old music because they were planning to move him away from the straight babyface DX character and more toward an edgier tweener. They also didn't want fans anticipating Triple H every week coming to help Michaels, especially since they're not sure at this point what Hunter will be programmed to do when he returns. Being linked to Michaels is far from a lock.

Stephanie McMahon's job title was upgraded to Executive Vice President of Creative, and now John Laurenaitis reports directly to her rather than Vince McMahon. He always worked under Steph, but now she's officially his boss. Michael Hayes and Brian Gewirtz have been given V.P. titles as head writers of Smackdown and Raw, respectively.