Zoey Stark signed with WWE in January 2021, and within weeks, she was already wrestling alongside now-AEW star Marina Shafir on 205 Live. Having notched several years under her belt on the independent scene, Stark was ready to go, and the company did not hold her back. The following month, she officially joined the NXT brand, and over the next two years, had memorable matches with talents like now-AEW star Toni Storm, Indi Hartwell, and Io Sky, with whom she also captured the WWE NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships.
Stark was called up to the main roster earlier this year as part of the WWE Draft and has since aligned herself with WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus. Most of her tenure in NXT was spent under the creative direction of WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque, and as part of the Raw brand, she is continuing to take direction from him. In an exclusive Haus of Wrestling interview conducted during SummerSlam week, I asked Stark what it is like to work with Levesque.
“Hunter’s very hands-on,” she said. “He’s amazing to work with. He’s there at every Raw, and he’s available for questions, and he’s available to just help and mentor you, and he’s great. He’s amazing.”
Vince McMahon retired from his WWE roles last year amid a flurry of allegations regarding hush money payments and inappropriate behavior toward former female WWE employees. Following that news, Levesque was appointed WWE CCO and was formally handed the creative torch from the eccentric billionaire. Now, McMahon is fully back in the WWE fold, as Endeavor has appointed him Executive Chairman of TKO Group Holdings, the new publicly traded company that will encompass both WWE and AEW.
“Have you had a chance to talk with Vince McMahon at all?” I asked Stark. “I know he’s back in the creative fold.”
“I don’t know if he is or isn’t,” she replied.
“He is, they’ve confirmed he’s working remotely,” I clarified.
“The man that I work with is Hunter,” she shot back. “I met Vince once; it was very nice meeting him, you know? But Hunter is the guy. At least he is for me. He’s the only person I see.”
McMahon did not attend WWE SummerSlam in Detroit as he is recovering from major spinal surgery. He was also hit with a federal grand jury subpoena earlier this month and had a federal search warrant executed on his home. The subpoena and search warrant appear to be tied to the SEC’s investigation into how he and WWE handled hush money payments to various women.
My full conversation with Stark can be found on the Haus of Wrestling YouTube channel and podcast feed
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