Court Bauer Discusses McMahon Family WWE Succession Structure
People cannot get enough of the HBO hit show "Succession" and its bevy of enthralling characters like Logan, Kendall, Connor, Shiv, Roman, Tom, and even that tall weirdo Cousin Greg.
Former WWE creative team member and MLW founder Court Bauer was recently on AdFreeShow's "The Insiders" podcast and discussed pro wrestling's own version of the Roy family: The McMahons. Bauer was asked if it was clear to him during his tenure with the company that co-CEO Stephanie McMahon would ascend to her father's place in the company, as well as her husband Triple H.
"Day 1...if this was a season of Succession, she was in the go position. She was up next," Bauer said. "Hunter was primarily talent. He would sit in on some meetings... but he was just kind of absorbing at this point, and kind of watching. Wasn't really contributing too much selectively." Bauer went on to describe Stephanie's older brother Shane McMahon as being on "the outside looking in" when it came to the power structure of WWE.
"When I was there," Bauer explained, "and then we learned that [Shane] moved from the fourth floor – which is where all the C-suite executives were – to basically the basement or the parking garage level, which is next to the mailroom and was running [WWE.com]. I remember seeing Dusty in the cafeteria that day and him saying 'well I think you know who's been demoted,' and word was out. Shane was running [WWE.com] but now he was in the basement. Vince was on the fourth floor, Linda was on the fourth floor, Stephanie was on the fourth floor, everyone was on the fourth floor...except for Shane." Bauer said Shane would still pitch from time to time, mostly big, over-the-top concepts like Great Khali.
Bauer transitioned to another famous fictional family to compare the Shane and Stephanie McMahon: The Corleone Family. Court compared Shane to the hot-headed, impulsive Sonny, while Stephanie is more akin to the cooler, poker-faced Michael, who ultimately inherited his father's responsibilities.