WWE Rumors on Vince McMahon, Triple H, Creative, Brian Pillman Jr. and The Dyad

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

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Triple H Reportedly Calling Shots Creatively Over McMahon

In the wake of WWE merging with UFC to form TKO Group Holdings, there is reportedly a belief within the company that Triple H has been responsible for the vast majority of key creative decisions.

According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider Elite (h/t WrestlingInc's Eric Mutter), it is rumored that Triple H has been "knighted" by TKO to guide the ship creatively and that he is making "99 percent" of the creative decisions.

Vince McMahon purchased WWE from his father in 1982 and was chiefly in charge of creative from then until the summer of 2022, when he stepped down from his roles as chairman, CEO and head of creative amid an investigation that found he paid millions of dollars to multiple women to remain silent about sexual encounters they had with him, as well as allegations of sexual misconduct in some cases.

At that point, Triple H was named head of creative and he seemingly thrived in that role, but McMahon was not out of the picture for long.

In January, McMahon used his influence as majority shareholder in WWE to return to the board of directors and his role as chairman to facilitate a sale of the company.

From that point forward, multiple rumors and reports surfaced regarding McMahon being back involved with the creative team and often making changes to the Raw and SmackDown scripts remotely.

When the merger between WWE and UFC officially took effect, McMahon was named executive chairman of the entire operation, leading to speculation that he would continue to have significant influence over WWE's direction.

Johnson reported that while there may still be a "tug-of-war" between Triple H and McMahon creatively at times, resulting in McMahon pushing some of his ideas through, the overall belief is that Triple H will make the bulk of the calls.

Fightful Select (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News) added to the report, noting that Endeavor Group Holdings, which owns TKO, has a "positive view" of Triple H.

It was also reported that morale is on the rise within WWE for several reasons, including the perception that Triple H is primarily in charge.

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Brian Pillman Jr. Reportedly Receiving New Name in NXT

Ahead of his anticipated NXT debut, Brian Pillman Jr. reportedly has a new ring name in place.

According to Johnson (h/t Upton), WWE recently filed a trademark for the name Lexis King, and sources within the WWE Performance Center have indicated that will be Pillman's name moving forward.

Per Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, the Lexis King name is a nod to Pillman's family, as his late sister was named Alexis Pillman, and he has another sister who is named Skylar King.

Also, Pillman's first ring name when he started wrestling independently in 2017 was Alex King, so the Lexis King moniker isn't far off from a name he already used.

Pillman, who is the son of late pro wrestling legend Brian Pillman, got his first big break in 2018 when he signed with MLW. He made his AEW debut the following year and eventually signed with the company.

While the 30-year-old Pillman was viewed as a performer with no shortage of potential, he was largely pigeonholed into a tag team role in AEW, teaming with Griff Garrison as The Varsity Blonds.

For the most part, The Varsity Blonds were an enhancement team that lost on television to tag teams that were higher up on the food chain, and did most of their winning on AEW Dark.

Pillman last wrestled for AEW in May, and his contract with the company reportedly expired in July.

In recent week's, NXT has been airing vignettes for a mystery Superstar, featuring images of WCW Saturday Night and the Cincinnati Bengals.

Pillman's father wrestled in WCW and played for the Bengals, so there is little doubt that WWE is preparing for Pillman's debut on NXT programming.

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The Dyad's WWE Contracts Set to Expire Soon

A notable tag team reportedly may depart NXT this week once their WWE contracts expire.

According to Fightful Select (h/t WrestlingInc's Daisy Ruth), The Dyad's WWE contracts are up on Oct. 14, meaning they could be free and clear to sign elsewhere after Saturday.

The Dyad is a team comprised of Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid, who joined Joe Gacy's Schism stable in the summer of 2022. Last month, Gacy seemed to indicate that Fowler and Reid were no longer part of the group in a backstage segment.

Fowler and Reid have not been seen on NXT TV since then, which could be an indication that they are on their way out.

The Dyad are perhaps better known as a team called Grizzled Young Veterans and by their individual names of Zack Gibson and James Drake.

They began teaming together as part of NXT UK in 2018, becoming the inaugural NXT UK tag team champions.

Gibson and Drake twice reached the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in NXT, losing each time, and although they had multiple title shots after making the full-time move to NXT in early 2021, they never won the championships.

As Grizzled Young Veterans, Gibson and Drake were known for putting on quality matches, but they became more of a gimmick once they joined Gacy's cult-like group.

It seems likely that Gibson and Drake will go back to their GYV personas if and when they leave NXT, and they figure to have plenty of interest from other wrestling promotions, such as AEW and Impact Wrestling.

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