WWE is rapidly transitioning into a new era under the leadership of WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque, a shift that began at WrestleMania 40. Previously, WWE was steered by former Chairman Vince McMahon, who was notorious for his habit of making last-minute changes to various shows.
In a recent video on his YouTube channel, former WWE broadcaster Matt Camp discussed the challenges faced when taping weekend specials of The Bump, designed to preview or supplement WWE’s monthly premium live events. Camp revealed that the crew frequently had to adapt to McMahon’s last-minute changes, necessitating alterations to pre-taped editions of The Bump.
Camp explained the process, noting that they would tape the pay-per-view episodes on Fridays, armed with drafts or preliminary information about SmackDown. These episodes were scheduled to air on Sundays. However, the team often found themselves at the mercy of McMahon’s unpredictable decisions, as they were not always privy to the final plans for SmackDown.
“When we had the pay-per-view episodes that aired before the show, we would tape those on Friday with, maybe, a draft or two of SmackDown, and they wouldn’t air until Sunday. We would have to hope that Vince [Vince McMahon] didn’t change his mind based on what we knew was supposed to happen on SmackDown, because they didn’t key us in a lot, and what I had to do, and it happened more than a few times,” Camp shared.
The challenges didn’t end there. Camp further explained that once SmackDown concluded on Friday nights, they often had to modify or remove content due to changes in plans. This process required a makeshift voice-over booth where Camp recorded new audio segments, which were then overlaid with B-roll footage. This highlighted the dedication and adaptability of their team to keep up with McMahon’s spontaneous decisions.
“As soon as SmackDown ended on Friday night, ‘Well, we said this, this, and this. That has to get taken out.’ I had a makeshift VO [voice over] booth and I would sit in the booth and re-VO stuff we said on the show, and they would cover it with B-roll. That’s how hard our team had to work to put this together because Vince would change his mind,” Camp elaborated.
Despite McMahon’s departure from WWE, he remains in the headlines due to an ongoing sex-trafficking lawsuit involving WWE personnel Janel Grant. The case has been temporarily put on hold following the filing of a notice of appearance.
Under Triple H’s leadership, the era of last-minute changes seems to have ended, bringing a new stability to WWE’s operations. However, it remains to be seen how this will hold up in future unforeseen situations.