What did Vince McMahon do at WWE SmackDown in MSG? Analyzing the reports

Vince McMahon has been around for WWE SmackDown and RAW since returning to the company in June. The boss was reportedly in Madison Square Garden for the July 7, 2023, edition of the blue brand.

According to Fightful Select, Vince McMahon was on WWE SmackDown this week. The Executive Chairman spent the day in his office. He has been watching WWE sell out the world’s most famous arena for years, and this week was no different.

"Vince McMahon was at WWE Smackdown, which was expected by most of the roster. He spent the day in his office."

The report didn’t mention anything about Vince making last-minute changes to the show. The 77-year-old billionaire was allegedly back to his old habits of rewriting final drafts at the last minute, and that had reportedly made Triple H and Nick Khan unhappy to the extent they wanted to take it up in a meeting.

It was later reported that the initial rumors about the meeting were probably not true at all. While there were possibilities, no such meeting ended up taking place between Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, and Triple H.

Did Vince McMahon trim segments on WWE SmackDown this week?

There were reports of several segments and matches cut down due to time constraints on SmackDown.

Reliable WWE insider BWE confirmed the rumors and said the opening Tribal Court segment forced the company to trim matches and segments, including AJ Styles's match against Karrion Kross.

“I literally said no time to fill all of this in two hours. 20 mins went to 40,"the noted WWE insider said. "Opening ate a lot of time. Things will get squeezed and women’s segment might get called off. Will update." [H/T Ringside News]

Here's the entire segment in four photos:

There was no word on whether Vince was responsible for the changes to SmackDown this week. We can only assume the changes were necessary, and the higher-ups had no choice but to respond the way they did.