Vince McMahon's status for WWE SmackDown revealed - Reports

Vince McMahon's status for tonight's edition of WWE SmackDown has been revealed.

The former CEO resigned from the company last July on social media while he was under investigation for alleged hush money payments made to former female employees. The 77-year-old was unanimously elected as Executive Chairman of the Board in January following his return and has since gained even more power following the company's merger with Endeavor after WrestleMania.

Many wrestling fans had a negative reaction to this past Monday's edition of WWE RAW and believed that Vince was back in control of creative for the company. According to a new report from PW Insider, Vince McMahon did not make the trip to Portland and will not be present for tonight's edition of SmackDown.

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Former WWE writer Vince Russo questions Vince McMahon's abilities

Wrestling veteran Vince Russo recently questioned Vince McMahon's ability to create new stars.

One of the criticisms the promotion has received in the past is that they struggle to generate fresh talent. Roman Reigns is the biggest star in professional wrestling, but it took years of him failing to connect with the crowd before he finally turned heel and aligned with Paul Heyman.

Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing with Russo show, Russo wondered if the company would have had the same success if McMahon was tasked with creating all of his own characters.

"He plucked wrestlers that already made a name for themselves through the promoters; through themselves. Bro, think about if that wasn't available to Vince, and he buys the company from his dad in 1982, and now he has to create all his own characters. We have seen what that looks like, bro. We have seen that. Look what would have happened to the WWE," said Vince Russo. [5:36 - 6:06]

You can check out the entire episode in the video below:

The future of the company will be fascinating following the promotion's merger with Endeavor. It will be interesting to see if Vince misses more shows moving forward or if tonight's episode of SmackDown becomes an outlier.

Would you rather Triple H or Vince McMahon run WWE's creative? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.