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Shane McMahon On Raw: Is It Best For Business?

When a boisterous crowd of thousands packed into the American Airlines Center comes together in one voice, someone is bound to listen. The Post-Mania Monday Night Raw audience in Dallas welcomed Mr. McMahon with “let him run it” chants in reference to his son.

Accepting his heartbreaking loss to The Undertaker inside Hell in a Cell at WrestleMania, Shane McMahon came out to bid adieu to the fans. He didn’t gain control of Raw and had no future plan of return. In reality, we didn’t know what would happen to Shane O’Mac. However, with a sudden change of heart, Mr. McMahon gave into the commotion and let his son take the reins for the evening.

Raw would turn out to be one of its finest booked shows in some time. The fans were introduced to new characters and witnessed the stock rise for a few well-deserved superstars. The fatal-four-way main event featured Cesaro, Kevin Owens, and AJ Styles in an ‘indy’ wrestling fan’s dream and had many of the Dallas faithful rooting against the fourth combatant, Chris Jericho . Styles took the ‘W’ and is on his way to face Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WWE Payback.

Now, Vincent K. McMahon, Kevin Dunn and company could’ve stuck to their fictional stipulation. From a creative standpoint, it only made sense to give the fans what they wanted for one night – that night being an always eventful Raw following WrestleMania. The show didn’t need Shane McMahon to be successful, because it’s the most highly anticipated Raw of the year. Whether we expect big debuts, shocking returns, and/or possible title changes, the fans were going to tune in from beginning to end. Basically, Shane was given a ‘meatball right down the middle.’ There was no way he could fail.

In the eyes of the puppet masters behind the scenes, Shane McMahon delivered as GM. Therefore, the decision was made that Shane would run the succeeding Raw at the Staples Center, despite not being previously advertised for the show. Once again, Raw was a gem seeing a first-time ever contest between AJ Styles and Sami Zayn and the debuts of Bullet Club ‘mates Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows (technically, a return for the latter).

The recent Raw programs were both received positively by pro-wrestling writers and fanatics, alike. It was recently announced that Shane McMahon would be featured during the current European tour which poses an argumentative question: Was the WrestleMania match between The Undertaker and Shane McMahon even necessary?

When the stipulations added up against Shane to lose at WrestleMania, we didn’t want to believe he would just disappear following the “Show of Shows” nor would The Undertaker leave Dallas with an all-time record of 22-2. It served as a no-win situation for the WWE Universe.

Needless to say, the hype leading up to the match was very inconsistent, but the bout didn’t execute in telling a story to the viewer. Highlighted by Shane’s suicidal leap off the Hell in a Cell, it served more as a “spot-fest” between two older and energy-drained athletes. The rumored interferences were just rumors, and the match concluded in a ‘clean’ finish, disappointing many.

Logically, the entire storyline was redundant. The match was overrated, the hype didn’t feel authentic, and the stipulation has been ignored by the company. If the WWE wants to follow up the WrestleMania result, Shane McMahon must be kept off television, indefinitely.

As a WWE fan, you can’t hate Shane McMahon being in charge. The Authority angle ran its course, thus a new controlling body was in order. When Shane made his shocking return in February, the fans knew something was up and that it wasn’t just a onetime deal. It served as a beacon of hope that a refreshing change of pace in the television product was coming.

Shane is great for the product, but keeping him on television after his ‘Mania loss does not make any booking sense. Whether Vinny Mac plans to sic a backstage assault on his son or Triple H returns to Raw to claim control of the show, Shane can’t be in the current mix.

Personally as a Shane O’Mac fan, it would be a tough pill to swallow but it’s for the greater good. A bigger storyline (which has been needed in WWE for quite some time) can begin – who will gain future control of the company? It would have the booking potential to carry WWE all the way to WrestleMania 33 in Orlando. However, in order to plant the seeds, Shane McMahon must be kept off Raw until SummerSlam season begins. This “power trip” saga will involve the entire McMahon family, a divided roster, and a shocking twist to end next year’s WrestleMania.

How KIRS will book this story is another article for another time. Stay tuned..

Rich Rivera will turn heads claiming to be a "baseball historian" (jokingly, of course) but the Staten Island native certainly knows his stuff. Since opening up his first pack of 2003 Upper Deck Baseball cards, Rich has been in love with the game. He is an avid fan of the New York Yankees and considers Mariano Rivera (whose unfortunately a non-relative) his all-time favorite athlete. Rich is a graduate of St. John's University, earning his degree in Communication Arts with dreams of becoming an on-air broadcaster for MLB. Currently, Rich serves as the Show Day Coordinator for "CenterStage with Michael Kay" (where he's even made a few brief cameos) at YES Network. He can be heard on the It's Your Radio variety program, "Hit Talkers" every Tuesday night from 8PM to 10PM EST. Rich is also a professional wrestling enthusiast, a theater junkie, and enjoys his weekend mornings as a player-manager for his softball team. Follow Rich on Twitter and Instagram: @RichJRivera

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