10 Times WWE Made MASSIVE Changes That You Didn’t Even See
5. Michelle Wilson & George Barrios Sacked In 2020
It'd be too easy to brush off corporate changes - no matter how high up the chain - as unrelated to the weekly product, but consider what that weekly product became while WWE's big business fell largely under the stewardship of Michelle Wilson and George Barrios.
Arriving in 2009 and 2008 respectively, Wilson and Barrios rose through the ranks rapidly, solidifying their places on the management team as Vice Presidents and the only ones at that level other than Kevin Dunn not part of the McMahon Family.
Ask yourself if you've really enjoyed the bulk of WWE's main roster televised output since then, but then ask yourself if WWE have given much of a sh*t. In 2012, Raw went three hours on USA Network, and just four years later SmackDown went live on Tuesdays on the same network to rebuild and reimagine that brand as a relevant entity again. Three years after that, it'd debut on Fox in deal worth a billion dollars, while Raw generated similar revenue despite sliding ratings way beyond the norm.
Wall Street believed the company worked best with them at the wheel - within a day of their January firing, WWE's stock price fell over 23% to $47.95 per share. As of this writing four months later, it's struggled to make it out that slump.
These figures matter most of all. WWE ensured that in 2000...