Triple H Reportedly Missed Friday's WWE SmackDown For Unknown Reasons

WWE's Chief Content Officer, Paul "Triple H" Levesque, was reportedly absent from this past Friday's "WWE SmackDown." In a report from PWInsider Elite, it was noted that Levesque was not backstage at "SmackDown" for reasons that are currently unknown. It was also reported that Bruce Prichard was in control of the taping in Levesque's absence. Whether or not he will be absent again for tonight's "WWE Raw" is unknown. Levesque has been WWE's CCO for nearly one year now, as he took control of creative responsibilities for the company after Vince McMahon retired from all duties with WWE last July.

Levesque's absence shouldn't raise too many alarm bells, but only a month ago this scenario would have resulted in a much stronger reaction from wrestling fans when speculation ran wild that McMahon could be retaking control of creative.

While he isn't back in WWE's creative, McMahon did make his return to the company in January to help facilitate a sale of WWE. The ultimate result of a sale came forward during WrestleMania weekend, in the form of the announcement of the WWE-UFC merger. The merger has McMahon taking position as executive chairman of the board within the new company, while WWE CEO Nick Khan will remain firmly in charge of the WWE side of things.

As for how Levesque's position as CCO is affected by the merger, the short of it is that he's not going anywhere anytime soon. Khan has reassured that Levesque alone remains firmly in charge of creative, and that it will remain that way going forward.