More insight has been given regarding Kevin Dunn’s involvement in WWE.
Ever since it was announced that the sports entertainment titan was going to merge with the UFC and be under Endeavor ownership and no longer completely controlled by Vince McMahon, changes were gradually made behind the scenes. Unfortunately, as is the case with most mergers, job losses would occur with more than 100 WWE employees being let go when the merger was completed in September.
The structural changes would continue to take place right to the top of the company, with McMahon being given no creative power and Triple H granted full creative freedom. In an inevitable but still surprising move, it was reported during the holiday season that Kevin Dunn would be leaving WWE after more than 30 years with the company. WWE President Nick Khan confirmed this departure in a company-wide email on January 1st 2024.
More insight has been provided in regard to Dunn’s involvement in weekly TV production courtesy of Fightful Select. It is noted that Dunn was involved in “every part of the WWE broadcasts” including graphics, lighting and pyro. It is also reported that safety was a big priority for Dunn, with the delay in pyro for Cody Rhodes’ WrestleMania 38 entrance being used as a specific example.
Kevin Dunn Not A Part Of CM Punk’s Return
A frequent complaint that fans have had regarding Dunn’s production is that key moments are often missed live and have to be retroactively altered for on-demand broadcast, with AJ Styles’ Royal Rumble debut being a notable example. Fightful also notes that Dunn was not at Survivor Series 2023 when CM Punk made his shock return and that Triple H took charge of production for that segment. Dunn also took a regular amount of time away for vacations and NXT producers would take charge in his absence.
Although Dunn was very loyal to McMahon, going on record to say that he would not work for anyone else, the former Head of Production was said to have a positive relationship with Triple H and Bruce Prichard.