Who Will Replace Stephanie McMahon During Her WWE Absence?

Stephanie McMahon announced last Thursday that she would be temporarily stepping away from her executive roles at WWE effective immediately, writing on Twitter, "As of tomorrow, I am taking a leave of absence from the majority of my responsibilities at WWE. WWE is a lifelong legacy for me and I look forward to returning to the company that I love after taking this time to focus on my family." Not much has been confirmed since then about why she was making this decision, though there has been plenty of speculation. 

As for her executive role as the company's Chief Brand Officer, it was reported shortly after her announcement that WWE president Nick Khan would be stepping in during her absence. PWInsider's Mike Johnson followed that up on Monday, saying that WWE is expected to make a new hire to oversee the company's brand management.

"While WWE President Nick Khan is working with several of WWE's partners in McMahon's absence, the belief is that eventually, the company will bring someone in to handle Brand Management on an Executive level full-time," Johnson wrote. He also noted that WWE has been telling its employees internally that McMahon's decision was due to her wanting to spend more time with her family after a rough year, which included Triple H's near-fatal cardiac event. 

"I had viral pneumonia. My lungs were inflamed, and as the next couple of days went on and I got home, it got increasingly worse. My wife [WWE executive Stephanie McMahon] saw some blood and stuff that I was coughing up, and I went and got checked, and it was coming from the viral pneumonia, but I had fluid in my lungs. I had some fluid around my heart so they followed up on it and did an EKG and Echo and everything. Basically, the way your heart pumps out 55-60 percent of your ejection fraction is a good number. I was at 30 percent. I got a quick text message saying don't take time, pack a bag real quick and head to the emergency room and I'll fill you in on the way. So, by the time I got to the emergency room, my ejection fraction had gone down to 22 percent, which, ya know, I was in heart failure," Triple H told ESPN's Stephen A. Smith back in March, adding that he was officially retired from in-ring competition but would continue to work for the company full-time.