Is Shane as WWE Champion a money move?

3 reasons why Vince McMahon will make Shane WWE Champion and 3 he won't

By now, you've probably heard the rumours - WWE is reportedly planning for a Shane McMahon WWE Championship run. While there was no specific timeline given, one can assume that SummerSlam is the period for them to make the change.

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Since Shane McMahon is now busy in a rivalry with Roman Reigns, it'll likely play out longer (and we'll get to that part later). If Shane McMahon does dethrone Kofi Kingston as WWE Champion, then it'll soften the blow a bit because fans can't complain that Kofi Kingston hasn't gotten a steady run.

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From the look of things, Kingston will be champion for a while longer as there isn't anyone else who seems like a legit contender to take the title off him.

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Not that Shane McMahon is a legit contender, but this isn't about whether we want Shane to become WWE Champion or not. Either way, here are a few reasons why Vince McMahon will put the WWE Championship on Shane McMahon and a few why he won't!

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#3. Why he will: To cement him as the next Mr. McMahon

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Is Shane McMahon being primed for the spot?
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You may have noticed that Shane McMahon has been getting increasingly pushed since his heel turn. When he was a babyface, he was an ideal authority figure in that he would only appear when absolutely necessary. Except for the annual WrestleMania match, he wasn't usually involved in other storylines throughout the year. He was merely a prop to further other superstars' stories.

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That's changed and it's likely for a good reason. Since Shane McMahon is exclusively an on-screen figure and not a backstage one, Vince McMahon probably feels that by putting the WWE title on Shane, it'll cement him as the next "Mr. McMahon".

#3. Why he won't: Doesn't want an authority figure to be WWE Champion

Vince McMahon is a former WWE Champion
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Which other authority figure in WWE history became World Champion? Vince McMahon himself. And mind you, it wasn't just the one time - it was twice, technically speaking. He won the WWF Championship during the Attitude Era and also won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship in 2007 during his rivalry against Bobby Lashley.

Of course, the whole objective of the latter title reign was to put Lashley over (something that Vince McMahon has undeniably been selfless in for many years), but he likely wasn't a fan of the idea of being champion himself.

Of course, the title reigns were short but he knows from experience that having an authority figure as World Champion doesn't really help the product very much. However, that doesn't mean he won't do it, but he does know from experience.

#2. Why he will: Not a fan of Kofi Kingston's WWE Championship reign

Is Kofi Kingston better chasing the title?
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Now that his WWE Championship reign has settled in, there have been quite a few critics of Kofi Kingston's WWE Championship run. Some have said that it has been underwhelming and they're not completely wrong.

However, what they are wrong about is blaming Kingston for having a poor reign. He's had about two main challengers so far (excluding the title defences against Daniel Bryan and the triple threat against AJ Styles and Sami Zayn).

Looking at the main feuds, he hasn't been given much, but we all know how Vince McMahon tends to think at times. The Rey Mysterio title reign in 2006 was an example. He constantly set him up to look bad and blamed Mysterio for it. He may not have been a fan of Kofi Kingston as WWE Champion before so he probably felt a four-month token run would be good.

#2. Why he won't: He's invested too much into Kofi Kingston already

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Kofi Kingston has earned his way to the top

Now here's looking at the other side of the coin from the previous point. Even if Vince McMahon wasn't a fan of putting the WWE title on Kofi Kingston in the first place, Kingston certainly earned his respect and won him over in those two months.

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We often accuse Vince for having our voices fall on deaf ears (and more often than not, it's true), but in this case, we can only acknowledge and appreciate the fact that McMahon and WWE fully listened to the audience and pushed Kingston to the pinnacle of his career.

Given that he's already invested so much in Kofi Kingston, he may feel as though there's a better way to end his WWE Championship reign than by having Shane McMahon, of all people, be the one to dethrone him.

#2. Why he will: To put the title on Roman Reigns around October

WWE has handled Reigns well since his return
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Another place where we'll give WWE credit where its due is their handling of Roman Reigns since his return. It's been around four months now since The Big Dog returned from his battle against leukemia, but fans are yet to fully turn on him.

If anything, they've done a really good job in making him remain popular. Due to Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston taking up the main spots, they've allowed Reigns to take his time to rise up again, involving him in upper mid-card feuds.

With that said, his move to SmackDown was no random one. WWE knows that he's going to be a central figure on SmackDown when the FOX deal begins around October and that's the perfect time for a title change. It'll allow Shane McMahon to have a transitional run and just before or maybe even on the FOX debut, WWE can have a title change and finally make Reigns champion again.

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#1. Why he won't: Shane McMahon isn't WWE Championship material

It would be the worst title change since Jinder Mahal
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Not that WWE hasn't put the WWE Championship on an unworthy superstar before, but the simple fact of the matter is that Shane McMahon is not WWE Champion material. Now you're probably thinking "Well, they did put the title on Jinder Mahal two years ago" and you're absolutely right.

However, the reason for Mahal's push was different. It was to try and secure the Indian market. Perhaps they could have done it, but the way they handled Mahal and turned him from jobber to main eventer in one week prevented anyone from ever taking him or his WWE title reign seriously.

At least with Mahal, you can consider the possibility that had WWE built him up over the course of 2-3 years, he may have been a legitimate WWE title holder. With Shane McMahon, you can't even say that. He is 100% not WWE Championship material.

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Edited by
Arvind Sriram
 
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