Shane McMahon returns to WWE

[Lee]

I'm guessing Vince tells Taker that if he loses, he must retire. This will give Taker the incentive to win *and* potentially still make sense if they find their way into having Cena replace Shane.

 

That was going to be my suggestion, but it still gives you the audience essentially cheering for Vince & Stephanie's tyrannical rule/driving the company into the ground. It's such a weird angle.

[Slasher]

In reality and in kayfabe for the most part Taker is one of the most loyal guys to Vince. He's a guy that understands what Vince wants or needs from him and from everyone in the locker room he is a leader of. You don't need to add contrived stipulation for Taker. Vince is his boss and he actually likes and respects that boss. He isn't one to support a guy who they are presenting as a guy who quit on the WWE.

[Grimmas]

If they go through with Taker vs Shane with if Shane wins he gets control of Raw they have major issues. Shane is a babyface fighting to get rid of the authority. Undertaker is a babyface, because he is The Undertaker. There is no way Shane should beat Taker in a HIAC. There is no way they should tease Shane taking control of Raw without him taking control of Raw.

 

They have booked themselves into a corner again. Doing it once I can understand, but them seem to book themselves into corners multiple times a year.

[Loss]

It would be an interesting finish for Undertaker to have victory in hand, only for Vince to do something annoying to make Undertaker voluntarily lose to switch the balance of power in the company as his last act as he fades into the sunset. Not saying I am in love with that idea, but it's an interesting one.

[WingedEagle]

Do we know yet if Shane is back in some capacity beyond special attraction at Mania to plug the gap created by injuries?

[ButchReedMark]

Do we know yet if Shane is back in some capacity beyond special attraction at Mania to plug the gap created by injuries?

 

Well, this could mean something or, more likely, nothing.

 

http://m.ticketmaster.com/wwe-monday-night-raw-vs-wwe-baltimore-maryland-05-23-2016/event/15004F8AE1514B5C

[fakeplastictrees]

WWE has never been good at these types of company wide angles. I really hope this doesn't turn into the old generation vs. new generation thing with The McMahons as a focal point playing out a proxy war. It will be Invasion II with the same cast of characters are the front and in the back. The wrestlers are different and it may be NXT or Smackdown or, as noted, WWE instead of WCW/ECW, but its all the same. If this is the case then there is only going to be one ending and that's Vince, Big Show, Kane, Jericho, Dudley Boys, Orton, and other beyond stale acts that need to retire standing tall against Balor, Zayn, Styles, Owens, Ambrose, etc. while Reigns is positioned as the important piece to this puzzle and whichever side can convince Reigns to join will have the power advantage to win the war. Reigns is no Austin and this is going to suck so I hope this fantasy booking I just did remains exactly that....fantasy.

[Lee]

In reality and in kayfabe for the most part Taker is one of the most loyal guys to Vince. He's a guy that understands what Vince wants or needs from him and from everyone in the locker room he is a leader of. You don't need to add contrived stipulation for Taker. Vince is his boss and he actually likes and respects that boss. He isn't one to support a guy who they are presenting as a guy who quit on the WWE.

 

Which would be fine if Vince was the babyface and Shane was the heel. Instead, they're asking for a stadium full of fans in Texas to boo a home town hero for siding with Vince. It's WrestleMania 17 all over again.

[goc]

 

 

 

His pop tonight was huge but I think a big reason for it is the fans are so sick of the Stephanie character. If he is able to maintain those reactions then rightfully he should get some credit

There's also a meta thing were fans are pissed at WWE for giving them a shitty product. Shane has always been the defacto "good McMahon" for a lot of them, him coming back also gives them hope things can change.

 

The fact that Shane's comeback storyline as a face is "The WWE is shit, people don't want to watch it on TV and it's losing money" is odd. The fact they want the fans to agree with Shane when he points out how dreadful the product is means they must be aware of it, but do nothing about it. Like how CM Punk went from upper-midcarder to hottest act in the company by cutting a promo about how awful the WWE is.

 

I maintain that the fans, as in the crowds who boo Cena / Reigns etc., are just constantly being worked. Constantly.

 

I don't know to what end, or to what direction, but I don't see how this isn't self-evident.

 

I mean look at that stuff with John Stewart at Summerslam. He interfered EXPRESSLY to stop Cena tying for Flair's record and EXPRESSLY as a representative of the fan at home.

 

I don't see how anyone could view it any other way. It's an obvious work and has been for years.

 

Agreeing with you here. When I read what Shane's comeback was all about it seemed like a way to work the "Fuck WWE, worst Mania ever~!" people into blowing their loads.

[Slasher]

 

 

In reality and in kayfabe for the most part Taker is one of the most loyal guys to Vince. He's a guy that understands what Vince wants or needs from him and from everyone in the locker room he is a leader of. You don't need to add contrived stipulation for Taker. Vince is his boss and he actually likes and respects that boss. He isn't one to support a guy who they are presenting as a guy who quit on the WWE.

Which would be fine if Vince was the babyface and Shane was the heel. Instead, they're asking for a stadium full of fans in Texas to boo a home town hero for siding with Vince. It's WrestleMania 17 all over again.

I know the audience at Mania won't boo Taker or anything like that but I think Taker has kinda gone beyond being a babyface or heel. He acted like a heel dhring last summer vs Brock. He attacked Lesnar who was "turning" babyface and cost him a shot at Rollins's belt. Then he won at Summerslam under questionable circumstances. So Taker isn't quite a tweener but he's earned the ability to do whatever the hell he wants to do without worrying about fans turning on him. It's logical to have Undertaker serve as the Kane to Vince's Theodore Long.

[sek69]

Not that misogyny didn't play any part, but it shouldn't be forgotten that Shane was universally loved by everyone and it was a real morale blow to the people he worked with when he left. By most accounts Steph is seen as Female Vince with all the personality quirks that entails.

 

Plus there was a feeling at the time (if I'm remembering the Internet Vibe of the time correctly) that Steph was in over her head, and was like the Junior Executive put at the head of the table because Daddy said so. Also her filling the creative team with soap opera writers turned opinion against her as well.

[Strummer]

Dave said that almost everyone backstage thought Steph had a greater knowledge of the business than Shane. That was why she was named head of creative back in 2000. But he also said that most people on a personal level preferred Shane because he was more easy going. Remember the prevailing thought at the beginning of last decade was that Vince/Steph and Linda/Shane were from the same mold

[C.S.]

To me, Shane has always been an innovator and forward thinker, which naturally puts him at odds with out of touch Vince.

 

- Shane ran the New Media department of WWE and obviously saw the benefits and growth of the internet long before Pops, his yes men, and old yokels like J.R. who only associated apples with the shiny red fruits growing behind his woodshed.

 

- Shane wanted to get a foothold in MMA years before it had the major following it does now. I'm not sure if he had any interest in UFC specifically, but I do remember him wanting to buy PRIDE. Whether that would've been a good business move or not, who knows, but he clearly saw the future rise of MMA.

 

- Shane had the balls and backbone to break away from WWE and form his own company - a Netflix-like service in China - which he did before the WWE Network was ever a thing. Bet the Network was originally his brainchild too, because it sure as hell wasn't Vince's.

 

Creatively? Who knows. I have no idea how Shane fares in that dept. But I can say with some degree of confidence that he has a better sense of the bigger business picture than Steph might.

[Gregor]

I don't think that this is as surreal as when CM Punk's famous promo led to Kevin Nash sending a text message to himself and culminated in a Nash vs. Triple H ladder match. It's up there, though. The Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon in 2016, at WrestleMania - I really hope that this actually happens.

[JKWebb]

I think it's possible that Taker announces Monday he's not backing Vince, but in fact backing Shane. Says he's going to fight for Shane at Mania leaving Vince forced to find someone else. He gets his boy Cena to back him, since he's backed Cena all these years Cena is loyal to Vince. We end up heel Cena vs Taker with all the announced stips... Probably not happening.... But it's a thought

[Slasher]

Cena is not as loyal to Vince as Taker is though. So if you use that as a reason for Cena aligning with the Authority (which is a dumb thing to do if not leading to a heel turn) then you might as well just have Taker be Vince's guy. In fact I think it would make so much more sense if Cena aligned with Shane, as Cena cherishes the WWE and wants to see it in good hands instead of a bunch of heel authority figures.

[Johnny Sorrow]

Since Taker didn't appear and accept doing the match, I'd wait for the other shoe to drop before everyone flips out. 😄

[goc]

I think that Shane coming back, even if it's just as an on-screen character with no backstage responsibilities is something that probably has HHH feeling paranoid. Even taking a backstage power struggle out of the equation, it messes with the idea of "HHH as the savior of wrestling" that he's been working so hard on creating.

 

The narrative from a lot of the "ugh why can't Vince just retire/die already!" crowd has already turned into "Shane is back to save the company from Vince & Stephanie!" so if Shane sticks around for a while I could see that doing a lot to hurt HHH's smark cred as the future "savior" of WWE without anything even changing except Shane being on TV.

[JerryvonKramer]

HHH fears becoming "Ultimate John Ringley"

[RCS1988]

Taker returns on RAW this Monday on the first leap year episode of RAW. Following the tradition of other leap year shows: WWF Prime Time Wrestling 2/29/88, WWF Superstars 2/29/92, WCW Pro 2/29/92, WCW World Wide 2/29/92, WCW World Championship Wrestling 2/29/92, WCW Superbrawl 92, & Friday Night Smackdown 2/29/08.

[C.S.]

I watched the entire speech on Hulu last night, and one point that dawned on me: Shane went out of his way to mention the 5th, 6th, 7th generations - specifically his three boys, who he then named. Steph and Trips have only girls, right? I wonder if Shane-O going out of his way to mention his sons was somehow meant to appeal to Vince's old world viewpoints and future wishes. I could easily see Vince being the type of guy who would want to keep WWE in the family - the male family.

[SteveJRogers]

I watched the entire speech on Hulu last night, and one point that dawned on me: Shane went out of his way to mention the 5th, 6th, 7th generations - specifically his three boys, who he then named. Steph and Trips have only girls, right? I wonder if Shane-O going out of his way to mention his sons was somehow meant to appeal to Vince's old world viewpoints and future wishes. I could easily see Vince being the type of guy who would want to keep WWE in the family - the male family.

Could be, also a nice reminder of that WM XX opening with Vince holding Shane's son and Shane behind them.

 

The idea that even though the Levesque girls (also you are assuming Steph and Paul want this life for them) are McMahons, it would feel weird to have a Capitol Wrestling/WWWF/WWF/WWE without the name "McMahon" around it on top.

[RCS1988]

"Shane's punches looked bad blooo blooo blooo"

 

God I love the IWC.

 

The smarky IWC people know nothing.

[Slasher]

 

I watched the entire speech on Hulu last night, and one point that dawned on me: Shane went out of his way to mention the 5th, 6th, 7th generations - specifically his three boys, who he then named. Steph and Trips have only girls, right? I wonder if Shane-O going out of his way to mention his sons was somehow meant to appeal to Vince's old world viewpoints and future wishes. I could easily see Vince being the type of guy who would want to keep WWE in the family - the male family.

Could be, also a nice reminder of that WM XX opening with Vince holding Shane's son and Shane behind them.

 

The idea that even though the Levesque girls (also you are assuming Steph and Paul want this life for them) are McMahons, it would feel weird to have a Capitol Wrestling/WWWF/WWF/WWE without the name "McMahon" around it on top.

I've been playing along with the idea of a power struggle or whatever but in reality why does it have to be one or other? I am sure if both kids wanted to work in the WWE after Vince goes, they will work together. I could very easily see Shane coming back in the fold to help run the business side of things while Stephanie did a bit of both business and creative ends and Triple H being the main guy in the creative department.

[Jingus]

When Shane left, did he sell off his share of the company's stock, or did he keep it? I'm wondering how much backstage power he could possibly have now besides just his name.