There was a major corporate restructuring of WWE’s official website last week as Brian Kalinowski, the Executive Vice President of Digital Media and Mark Keys, the Vice President of Digital and Interactive Content Production and Social Media, were both let go. WWE.com is now part of a new division called WWE Creative, led by Stephanie McMahon-Levesque. There will be other changes and restructuring as part of her vision and concept.
Kalinowski spearheaded the website’s recent overhaul, with the notable addition of more video content. He was also responsible for the restructuring of WWEShop.com. Many people were initially critical of Kalinowski since he was recruited from outside of the professional wrestling industry and didn’t understand its uniqueness. However, he grew to learn the business and was considered a strong leader by colleagues. Many people feel he was dismissed due to Stephanie taking control of the website, rather than his job performance.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that a bigger power struggle is ongoing, between Stephanie and Kevin Dunn, WWE’s Executive Vice President of Television Production. Unlike her father, Vince McMahon, Stephanie is not fond of Dunn. Those close to the situation indicate that Dunn is aware that he will ultimately lose the power struggle, but he should be fine as long as Vince is around. Dunn is one of the few people Vince listens to and values the opinion of.
The digital media department was unhappy with Kalinowski’s departure from the organization, but morale had already sunk; they were previously informed that Stephanie would be in charge of department and everything going forward would be coordinated through her office.
source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
