Shane Douglas has become increasingly candid since shifting his full focus to podcasting, and fan questions are now driving many of his most revealing conversations.

In a recent video, Douglas was asked directly whether he believes TKO is actively destroying WWE. Rather than offering a short or inflammatory answer, The Franchise delivered a detailed explanation rooted in history, influence, and long term habits inside the company.

“The problem I think is that even though Vince is supposedly gone, who did Hunter learn from? Vince. Who did Stephanie learn from? Vince. So them still being involved in it, they’re probably going to keep getting Vince, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least, in fact, it would be my expectation that Hunter’s probably talking to him quite a lot,” Douglas said.

Douglas framed his argument less as an attack and more as an unavoidable reality of mentorship and institutional thinking. In his view, removing Vince McMahon from the public facing side of WWE does not automatically erase decades of influence that shaped the current leadership.

The Franchise expanded on that point by comparing wrestling philosophy to learning under a trainer or promo coach, explaining how style and approach naturally carry over.

“That’s not to say that Hunter’s not creating his own ideas or putting his own stamp on it, but if you learn from Dominic DeNucci, you’re probably going to deliver like Dominic DeNucci. If you learn from Shane Douglas to do a promo, you’re probably going to sound like Shane Douglas doing a promo. That’s no criticism of Hunter. I mean, it’s pretty d**n successful on a business level.”

Douglas was careful to note that his comments were not dismissing Triple H’s success or WWE’s financial strength under TKO. Instead, he suggested that fans expecting a completely different creative identity may be underestimating how deeply ingrained Vince McMahon’s philosophy remains within the system.

Since the TKO merger, WWE has made a noticeable effort to distance itself from Vince McMahon publicly. References to him have largely been scrubbed from programming and promotional material. His only recent on screen presence came via an archived video clip that aired following John Cena’s final match.