Mike Mansury talks joining AEW, his decision to leave WWE, Kevin Dunn relationship

In his first interview since joining AEW as a senior vice president and co-executive producer, new AEW senior vice president and co-executive producer Mike Mansury talked to Renee Paquette on The Sessions about why AEW was the right choice for him while also detailing why it was time for him to leave WWE several years ago.

The main reason Mansury wanted to come to AEW was that he sees similarities with the early days of NXT and to him, AEW is "like finding an amazing gem that isn't fully polished." He was excited by being able to help further build a brand that has only been around a few years.

He initially talked to AEW around the time he was talking to Singapore-based MMA promotion ONE which followed a one-year stint with The Pat McAfee Show. 

He and his fiance eventually moved to Singapore for the ONE position which he said was an incredible experience. While he enjoyed it, there was something missing.

"Even after I left WWE, I had always felt I had unfinished business with professional wrestling," he said, adding that he didn't feel like he left the business fulfilled. 

He started talking with AEW in the early part of this past summer after some people had reached out, and credited Tony Khan and Megha Parekh as being inviting about the opportunity that was available. They wanted to gauge his interest and that even though he was with ONE, returning to wrestling occupied his thoughts.

They finalized on what he would do right up to the point where he and his fiance were set to return to the U.S.

Mansury opened up about his decision to leave WWE in March 2020, saying that he got to "a certain point in my career there where I wasn't really being developed any further."

He detailed his schedule near the end of his tenure which saw him working six-day weeks and traveling all over the country for all three brands.

He also addressed the notion that he would be the next in line to take over for Kevin Dunn if he ever retired. 

He felt that while he could do TVs and PPVs easily, he couldn't perform the full role Dunn currently has, specifically "the business end, the non-TV side of what that role is. There is more to what Kevin does than just sit in a truck and line produce Raw, SmackDown, whatever it is."

He also said he grew tired of hearing that they couldn't figure out his future until they knew about Dunn's future.

"I knew there was more I was capable of, but I had already excelled in everything they had allowed me to do. I was looking for that new challenge even if it was something outside of the scope of what people would define as my potential. It would have been nice to be able to spread wings a little bit and take on a new challenge. Once I realized I was in the lane that I was in and the path to the destination wasn't really going to change or even going to progress that much, I knew it was time to make a change."

He gave praise to Dunn, saying he noticed him at a very young age as a PA in WWE and their relationship grew from there. He said their relationship extended beyond work and that Dunn always made sure Mansury could walk before he ran professionally. He credited him with being a "massive part" of the position that he is in right now.

Mansury will be part of the team putting a new look in place for AEW Dynamite, beginning with the Wednesday, January 4th show.