Secret Power Players Pulling Strings In Wrestling Today

7. Ari Emmanuel

Ari Emanuel is the CEO of Endeavor. He controls WWE. He is definitially not a “secret power player”, but he might as well be. A lot of people don’t grasp how little, ultimately, a certain someone matters in relation to him. The extent to which Ari could wield his power is a fascinating thing to consider. 

Ari Emanuel, and nobody really knows this for sure, might get along with Paul Levesque, who for now oversees WWE creative. They might have struck up quite the rapport over the last year or so. 

This won’t matter; Ari has no sentimental reason to stay with Levesque when a wrestling company does what literally every wrestling company has done since the dawn of time: enter a period of decline or outright turmoil. Dana White has post-takeover persevered and thrived as CEO and President of UFC, granted, but WWE is a different entity entirely. Again: every wrestling promotion that has ever existed has suffered a fate Endeavor won’t tolerate for long. 

WWE is at long last a results business; it doesn’t feel that way for now because WWE is achieving those results. 

Paul Levesque, and this is heavily ironic, given where he was when CM Punk cut his infamous ‘Pipebomb’ promo, is no longer the heir apparent. It no longer matters how many years he spent working towards taking over a glorified mom n’ pop operation. It’s no longer his to take over. 

In 2024, as part of TKO, Paul Levesque is a spoke in the wheel.