Former Raiders interim president Ventrelle hired by WWE
Former Raiders interim President Dan Ventrelle has joined the WWE in an executive role.
Ventrelle, who exited the Raiders organization after being fired in early May, will be the WWE’s chief executive, talent, the professional wrestling organization announced Thursday.
“As a lifelong fan, it is an honor to join the world’s premier sports entertainment company,” Ventrelle said in a statement. “I am inspired by the vision that Stephanie (McMahon, chairwoman and CEO), Nick (Kahn, co-CEO) and Paul (Levesque, chief content officer) have for the future and excited to further the commitment to deliver exceptional talent to the WWE Universe.”
Ventrelle will report to Levesque, better known by his wrestling moniker, Triple H. The former wrestling superstar said Ventrelle caught the company’s attention when the two sides worked together for an event in Las Vegas.
“Working with Dan during SummerSlam at Allegiant Stadium last year, we were impressed by his expertise across a number of business and personnel areas,” said Levesque. “We’re excited to welcome him to the company.”
Ventrelle claimed he was fired after 18 years with the Raiders for raising concerns regarding team owner Mark Davis creating a hostile work environment. Ventrelle noted after the claims he brought up were ignored by Davis, he alerted the NFL, which led to his firing.
A June Review-Journal investigative story on the Raiders’ work culture raised other issues outside of Ventrelle’s claims.
The Raiders in July hired Sandra Douglass Morgan as president of the team, making her the first Black woman to hold the role in the NFL. During her hiring news conference, Morgan said she wouldn’t turn a blind eye to the reported issues within the organization.
Davis said just after that news conference that the team investigated claims of a hostile work environment and that necessary changes were being made.
“The culture of this organization for me is so important,” Davis said in July. “Since the articles that came out, not only in the New York Times, but the RJ … I take those very seriously. So we did an investigation into all those things and we listened to the people who work in the organization and I believe we started to make those changes that are necessary to get the culture back to where we feel we can all be positive.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.