"Can you believe this has happened?" - 2-time champion on backstage reaction to Vince McMahon's retirement from WWE
WWE SmackDown star Butch (FKA Pete Dunne) has commented on how the locker room reacted to Vince McMahon's retirement on the day of the show.
The former Chairman of WWE took to Twitter several weeks ago to declare his retirement before an episode of the blue brand. This came after the Wall Street Journal reported that the board of directors was investigating him for sexual misconduct.
His daughter Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan became the new co-CEOs of the sports entertainment giant.
During a recent interview with Stephanie Chase of Digital Spy, Butch described the atmosphere on SmackDown on the day of Vince McMahon's retirement as "strangely normal."
"To be honest, up till now, it all feels strangely normal. Even the day when we were at SmackDown and we got notified that Vince had retired, obviously there's that second of people looking around like, 'Did you see that? Can you believe this has happened?' But then after that, everyone's so focused on the job that's at hand it kind of feels strangely normal but exciting at the same time," he said.
Thank you for everything you've done for the Business, Mr. McMahon!
Then. Now. Forever. Together. ❤️
#WWE #VinceMcMahon #SmackDown #WWERaw https://t.co/Dm9IJg8DBt
Butch discusses the transition from Vince McMahon to Triple H as WWE's head of creative
The Cerebral Assassin was promoted to the head of the creative after Vince McMahon's departure. The Game also serves as the EVP of Talent Relations in the company.
In the same interview, Butch claimed that the show would improve with Triple H in charge while adding that he's excited about the future.
"One thing everyone will say about [Triple H] is, he is extremely approachable and he's excited to put out the best content we possibly can and that's what NXT was always about... So I'm sure he's going to transition over just fine and from what we've seen already just off the back of the shows [RAW] and on Saturday [SummerSlam], I think there's already an excitement around it. Just watching those shows, they feel slightly different and as a fan I'm excited to see what the future holds and obviously, as a performer it's the same," said Butch.
A new era!
A new regime!
A new game!
The only question left to ask: Are you ready?
Or like @TripleH would ask.. "ARE YOU READYYYYYY?"
#WWE #SummerSlam https://t.co/QtzFXvgMZs
Vince McMahon will undoubtedly go down as one of the most important figures in the history of professional wrestling. He single-handedly turned WWE into the global phenomenon of today and created many iconic stars such as The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and John Cena.
It remains to be seen how WWE will perform under the new regime and whether the talent will benefit from this new era in the Stamford-based promotion.
Do you think Butch will thrive on the main roster under Triple H? Sound off in the comments below!