Clarification On Stephanie McMahon's Decision To Step Away From WWE

By Dominic DeAngelo

Contrary to a recent Business Insider report, Stephanie McMahon taking a leave of absence from her position as WWE Chief Branding Officer was on her own terms, states a new report from "Fightful Select."

BI's recent report made waves as it seemed to imply to many fans that Vince McMahon himself was pushing his daughter out of her role. The new Fightful report, echoing what Dave Meltzer stated yesterday, disputes that being the case. It sounds as if prior to the news breaking, Nick Khan was already telling those around him that Stephanie had made the decision on her own and was not being pushed out. There were some employees that made comments about how there had been performance issues but that was not directly related to her decision to take a hiatus. Sources from both the Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan camps have reaffirmed that the decision was her's.

Fightful also offered clarification on the initial Business Insider report regarding the exit of another employee, WWE Head of Global Sales & Partnerships Claudine Lilien. While BI states that Lilien was leaving her post, Fightful reports that she was let go by McMahon who didn't believe she was the right fit for the position. It was noted that this was looked upon as not a great hire by Stephanie.

The news got out about Stephanie taking a leave from the company on May 19.

"As of tomorrow, I am taking a leave of absence from the majority of my responsibilities at WWE," McMahon tweeted. "WWE is a lifelong legacy for me and I look forward to returning to the company that I love after taking this time to focus on my family."

As mentioned before, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer has provided more insight on his website's message board, including what he perceived as the intention of some of those in WWE wanting to bury Stephanie.

"Her leaving was 100% her choice," Meltzer said. "She had been talking about it to close friends from when Paul (Triple H) had his heart issues. That said, key people in the company once she was gone did want to bury her on the way out. That shocked a lot of people including me and those close to her. When I noted to someone very high in the food chain about the burial starting, they told me that if they did that publicly it would be career suicide, only to find out they had already started and the burial was going to come from the top."

"The company outright wanted to bury her here. Something happened after she left clearly. The company did a total 180 on her about two weeks after she left. They never even did that for Barrios & Wilson."

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