Why Kevin Dunn Decided to Leave WWE Unveiled

WWE saw a big shake-up when Kevin Dunn departed from the company. There was a reason for this departure, and it was not a spur-of-the-moment deciaion.

Budget cuts played a role in Kevin Dunn leaving his position at WWE after over three decades with the company. Dunn’s departure was reported on December 30th, 2023, and that immediately broke the pro wrestling world open.

In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer detailed the timeline and rationale behind Dunn’s departure. One source stated that Dunn was preparing this exit for months.

“It was Dunn’s decision to leave, which one source said dated back about two months, when Endeavor started wanting to make budget cuts to improve profitability in the department and started making decisions on the production side without relying on his opinions.”

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Dave Meltzer went on to discuss a replacement for the role, with Chris Kaiser, WWE’s Executive Vice President of Television, as a top candidate. They obviously need someone with a lot of experience too, which brought Mike Mansury’s name into the conversation, too.

“As far as a replacement as Executive Producer of all the shows goes, I was told not to presume anything and multiple people in the company even mentioned Mike Mansury, who at one point was groomed to replace Dunn until he quit the company, as someone Levesque would want.“

“I would presume Mansury is under a long-term deal with AEW.”

“Marty Miller’s name was mentioned. He’s the Director but that’s something completely different and, in particular, the aspect of Dunn’s job dealing with budgets.“

“At one point the attempt was to make Chris Kaiser the Executive Producer who would handle the budgets and Dunn as the guy handling the shows and making the final decisions.“

“It could end up with Miller running the truck and Kaiser handling the budgets but that’s all speculation at this point.”

Throughout Kevin Dunn’s extensive tenure at the company, he had served as WWE Executive Producer & Chief, Global Television Distribution. Many considered him Vince McMahon’s right-hand man in production, and his exit was the end of an era for the company.

We will keep an eye on this story, and so many more, from all over the pro wrestling world. You never know what could break next, because this is certainly an interesting time to be a pro wrestling fan.

What’s your take on WWE replacing Kevin Dunn? What qualities should they look for in a replacement? Let us know what you think in the comments section!