WWE is set to produce tonight’s Saturday Night’s Main Event, but two of the company’s most vital backstage figures will not be in attendance. According to a new report from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select, neither WWE Chief Content Officer (COO) Paul “Triple H” Levesque nor Executive Director Bruce Prichard is backstage at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City for the show.
The absence of both men is described as a “rare” occurrence for a major event. As COO, Triple H typically “runs the ship” from the Gorilla Position, while Prichard oversees the creative for both Raw and SmackDown. The report notes that both men were present at the SmackDown taping last night, making their absence tonight noteworthy.
Despite the two top creative forces being missing, the show is expected to go on without issue. The report adds that “Road Dogg” Brian James, WWE’s Senior Vice President of Live Events and a creative lead for SmackDown, is present at the show, marking his first backstage appearance in several weeks. Sources indicated that WWE is a “well-oiled machine” and is fully equipped to “make things work with the people backstage” to run the event smoothly.
Tonight’s Saturday Night’s Main Event is a stacked card, set to be headlined by two major world championship matches: Cody Rhodes defends the Undisputed WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre, and a new World Heavyweight Champion will be crowned when CM Punk faces Jey Uso for the vacant title.