10 Most Important Off-Screen WWE Personnel
It's the suits, not the superstars, who mean the most.
Vince McMahon is, and always will be, the most important man in WWE - on or off-screen. The Chairman forgoes sleep and sanity to ensure that his tortuous tendrils are all over the business, micromanaging each and every aspect right down to the very words which come out of his employees mouths. He doesn't just run WWE; he is WWE.
Should the seemingly immortal Vincster ever pop his clogs, his daughter is waiting eagerly in the wings to fill them. Husband Paul Levesque is not far behind. WWE, for all its global reach and multi-million deals with shady governments, is at heart a family business. Which means the quickest way to the top is nepotism.
The trouble with nepotism is that it values blood over competence. Vince's pedigree speaks for itself, but the jury's still out on his heiress. Just as well, then, that the McMahon family has extended to include a massive army of suited execs hired to impart their expertise - and then agree with it when it's echoed back to them. You rarely hear about them, let alone see them, but these are the real superstars of WWE.
10. John Alicastro/Mike Lauri
Since the record lid on Jim Johnston's tenure as WWE's chief musician was quietly closed, John Alicastro and Mike Lauri - collectively known under the peculiar cognomen CF0$ - have assumed the mantle of the company's composers in residence.
Over the past few years, WWE have finally broken free of their emo-phase, and the never ending slew of interchangeable alt-rock whines have gradually been replaced with theme tunes you can actually remember. That's largely down to the efforts of Alicastro and Lauri, who got their break with the promotion after their track The Night was used as Raw 1000's official theme.
The duo have returned to first principles with their compositions, which emphasise character over chasing current trends, resulting in memorable bangers such as those for AJ Styles, Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens, and Rusev. Shinsuke Nakamura's belting theme even made #1 in the iTunes chart!