“It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s strictly business.” -Micheal Corleone
Ironically, professional wrestling, similarly to the mafia, which may or may not actually exist, (shhh) had its own codes of conduct. Both business ventures were, in their golden eras, shrouded in mystery. The original National Wrestling Alliance, with its network of promoters, actually had a mob-type stranglehold on the industry for a few decades. At the end of the day, positive or negative, the name of the game in professional wrestling is to make the cash. Granted, the sports entertainment genre has dozens of examples of when personal agendas or egos were the primary objective, and that’s why Vince McMahon is the king of sports entertainment. Through the national expansion of the 80s, the steroid scandal of the early-90s, the wrestling war of the late-90s, and any other turbulence, Vince survived when other promoters went out of business. Say what you want about him now, but McMahon won against the federal government and kept his company afloat to eventually become a billionaire today. In an industry where animosity and vendettas ruined deals, McMahon never let grudges get in the way of good business. Sable sued the company in 1999 and returned to television in 2003. Warrior demanded more money before he would go to the ring in 1991, but his return to the company for the Hall of Fame sold a lot of merchandise in 2014. Bret Hart legitimately KO’ed Vince backstage, and years later “The Hitman” is a two-time WWE Hall of Fame.
Maybe that’s why it shouldn’t be, but somehow it’s still very surprising that Vince’s son, Shane was released from the company just a few days after the Royal Rumble, an event where the rumor mill suggested that Shane’s role as a producer for the signature match caused major problems backstage. Obviously, internet gossip usually has to be taken with a grain of salt, but considering that Shane was in the Rumble and there was seemingly no follow-up on Raw, it’s very possible that the speculation that he attempted to book the Rumble around himself is accurate.
Again, Vince giving his own son his walking papers might be shocking, but a closer look at the McMahon family dynamic shows it shouldn’t be that surprising. Furthermore, this creates a lot of question about the direction of the organization in the future, particularly based on if McMahon looks to sell the company.
It goes without saying that almost every family has disagreements or heat over Thanksgiving dinner. There’s always a crazy uncle at dinner or those cousins that you only see at funerals because you simply wouldn’t associate with them otherwise. I would guess that those traditional family dynamics are amplified in the McMahon family. Vince was a ruthless businessman that took a regional group all the way to a global company that is publicly traded on the stock market. Since Vince bought the WWWF from his dad in 1983, many assumed that the tradition would continue and eventually Shane would be the next McMahon to run the WWE, but for whatever reason, several years ago, it became obvious that he wasn’t the heir to the sports entertainment empire. In the early-2000s, Shane exited WWE programming for almost two years before he had a semi-regular role on-screen during various stints on television until he abruptly resigned from the company in early-2010. He did media work in China and also established pay-per-view deals for different content. While nobody from the family has stated it publicly, it’s thought that Shane’s initial departure was because it became apparent that Stephanie and Triple H were put in line by Vince to eventually run the company. Why Shane wasn’t given the keys to the castle is anyone’s guess, but his recent release seems to add validity to the notion that there was always tension within the family as their involvement in the company became more official during the past two decades.
On one hand, the ripple effect of this is rather moot. Of course, social media speculated what Shane’s next move might be, specifically because he was reportedly scheduled to feud with Seth Rollins for a Wrestlemania match after the Rumble so it appears that he wants to wrestle again. So would he actually sign with another wrestling organization other than WWE? In short, no, even with the McMahon family tension, Shane isn’t going to ink a deal with another sports entertainment group. You won’t see Shane vs. Orange Cassidy on TBS. There’s way less sizzle to the story, but if I had to guess, I would say that Shane will probably just pursue other business interest outside of the scope of wrestling, which is the same thing he did when he left the organization in 2009. It’s known that before the Zuffa group rescued the UFC from the brink of collapse that Shane pitched a deal to buy the organization to his dad so I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets involved as an executive of an MMA group.
On the other hand, if Shane can get fired, nobody is safe from getting the future endeavor notice except Vince himself. The past two years of the entire world seem like the Twilight Zone because of the pandemic, but the amount of people that the organization released due to “budget cuts” just seems odds and it makes you wonder what are the long-term plans for the company? Some of the former WWE talent have said in interviews that there wasn’t much job security when a few dozen releases became a common headline, but for those on the roster now, it has to be concerning if even Shane can get released from the company.
As much as I don’t put any “stock” in the sale rumors of the company, it still must be taken into account as at least a possibility. Is the office trying to trim the budget as much as possible to pad already record-setting profits to make the numbers look even better for a potential buyer? As I’ve written before, I seriously doubt that the organization will ever be sold as long as Vince is around because when you’re already a billionaire, the money just becomes a number on a page. Vince took his organization from just the north east to a global entity, it’s very doubtful he would put what he built into someone else’s hands. That being said, Vince is 76 and while he will probably outlive us all, who would takeover the company? Triple H’s ideas were largely dismantled in recent months, and Shane just got the axe so who would run the company? Sure, Stephanie is an option, but obviously, some of her plans would include Triple H and if his concepts were going to be a part of the future then NXT 2.0 wouldn’t exist. Maybe Nick Khan was hired to eventually sell the company?
Aside from the next CEO of WWE, Shane’s release, from purely an on-screen perspective, probably isn’t a major letdown. Keep in mind, his most recent full-time tenure on television in 2018 was stale and often seemed shoehorned into the product. Don’t get me wrong, Shane always worked hard in the ring and was willing to take big risks to compensate for not being the next Lou Thez, but stunt show matches by nature yield diminishing returns. Instead of occasional thrilling matches, Shane’s last stint on television appeared to be more self-severing than anything else because he got more TV time than most of the roster. For example, Shane vs. AJ Styles was booked for WM 33 so that Shane could have a decent match at WM, not necessarily what might be the best use of Styles on the show. The same could be said for the planned feud with Seth Rollins for WM this year, is a Shane McMahon match the best way to book Rollins at the biggest show of the year? As mentioned, I think Shane will continue to work outside of professional wrestling and this story will probably fade from the headlines since he won’t end up working for other wrestling company, but it certainly makes you wonder about the management structure and the future of the company.
What do you think? Comment below with your thoughts, opinions, feedback and anything else that was raised.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Twitter @jimlamotta
