A shakeup among the WWE creative team.
According to Mike Johnson at PWInsider, WWE creative team member Robert Evans was released by the company due to a Hall of Fame speech he produced. According to the report, the speech produced by Evans had a reference to Vince McMahon, which is a no-no at the Hall of Fame. Evans reportedly took the blame as the writer and producer of the segment after Vince's name was mentioned. One source told PWInsider that the firing took place at gorilla position while the Hall of Fame was still going on. However, Fightful has learned that Evans actually quit the company, contrary to reports.
There is no word on which speech Evans helped produce. Bret Hart's speech made reference to Vince and the first time he saw the Hart Foundation in action. The D-Generation X speech had multiple references to Vince and the running joke that you're not allowed to mention Vince during your speech.
Evans posted the following statement on social media:
On the latest episode of his X-PAC 1,2,360 podcast, Sean Waltman referenced that someone was fired for producing Bret's speech that mentioned Vince McMahon.
Since the reports emerged of RD Evans, Fightful has heard from two members of the WWE roster, and another source that Evans did actually quit on his own. D-Generation X's mentioning of Vince McMahon later in the night was seen by many as a way to "lighten the mood," but whether or not that was the intent is hardly known. We're told that when Evans found out that McMahon was upset that he was mentioned, he walked into Gorilla position, shook Vince's hand and quit.
Throughout the week, several employees have reached out about Vince McMahon being "on edge." From fighting back on questionable booking decisions, to fining referees, to "being on everyone's back" at Tuesday's Smackdown.
It's been a busy day in the WWE creative world as earlier today it was reported that Brian "Road Dogg" James has stepped down as lead writer of SmackDown.