Shane McMahon made a shocking return on last night's WWE Monday on Raw from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit to seemingly "kickoff" WrestleMania 32 season. Shane, who has been absent from WWE for six years after stepping down as a CEO in 2010 interrupted his Father Vince McMahon presenting his Sister, Stephanie McMahon with the "Vincent J. McMahon Legacy of Excellence Award."
Shane revealed that a few years ago, he cut a deal with his father that allowed him to take time off and build some businesses but he never “lost his place in line” to the family business. He told his Father he wants control of Monday Night Raw and ultimately WWE. Vince said he is willing to give him what he wants if he wins one more match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 32 in a Hell in A Cell match. Vince actually made a botch when making the match, Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer radio clarifies that, if Undertaker wins, Vince gets back what's in the lockbox whereas if Shane wins, he controls Raw.
In a further update to the shocking events of last night, Dave Metlzer of Wrestling Observer Radio reports the storyline was originally supposed to take place two years ago with Triple H vs. an opponent of Vince McMahon's choosing, which would have ultimately been Steve Austin or The Rock. The match would have been for power and control of WWE but Vince nixed plans for the storyline because he wasn't keen on being on television at the time. The major storyline leading into that WrestleMania ended up being The Authority vs. Daniel Bryan, who went on to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Shane's return, this time around was reportedly agreed upon a few weeks ago and although he is playing for power on screen he does not hold a managerial position with the company at this stage, but that could always change.
In a twist of storyline meeting reality, Shane legitimately felt he would be the 4th generation McMahon to run the WWF/E but his Sister Stephanie had surpassed at the time due to her "product knowledge," something which a lot of people knew at the time but Shane. Vince had to inform his son at the time that Stephanie and Triple H would be running the company, which ultimately lead to a real-life family rift and Shane leaving his CEO position in 2010. There is said to be a "significant amount of life imitating art" in what Shane said during his promo. Apparently there's is also a belief that a real-life power struggle will occur if Shane's fully back in the picture backstage.
Meltzer also noted that while Shane might be well received on screen with fans hoping he takes "control" of WWE, in real life people wouldn't be as receptive to Shane if they knew about his booking ideas, this is why Vince went with Stephanie running the company and not him. He claims that "almost everybody that I know personally liked Shane over Stephanie but, when it came to ideas when it came to wrestling, when it came to wrestling angles, it was Stephanie and Paul (Triple H) are so far ahead of him that it's not even funny."
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