Vice Sports recently published an article about WWE and some of its backstage operations. The report mentioned that there was backstage heat between Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, and Triple H in 2012. In 2012, Shane had been gone for over two years. However, ratings were declining, and Vince McMahon was on edge.
This was also the phase wherein Triple H began to get control and was set to relaunch NXT. Shane McMahon took notice of the declining ratings, came in and proposed that he take creative control.
The report stated that WWE called a surprise meeting at the production office. Shane returned with a friend named James Frey, CEO of Full Fathom Five and also a critically acclaimed writer.
The report also noted that when talking to a WWE spokesperson, he denied Shane’s involvement with the company from 2009 to 2016, but had then confirmed about the specific meeting between Shane and WWE when asked later on.
The article also described Stephanie McMahon and Triple H’s reaction upon hearing that Shane had returned. The report stated that Stephanie “went white in the face”, while Triple H freaked out. Shane had apparently set up a meeting through Kevin Dunn, WWE’s Executive Vice President of Production.
He is second in the hierarchy of WWE and the second most paid person in the company, behind only Vince McMahon himself.
Shane’s proposal, according to the report, was that he take over creative, including the writer’s room with Frey and his team at Full Fathom Five as consultants.
As it turned out, that did not happen. After that, Shane was not involved with the company till 2016, where he returned as an on-air personality. He was said to be a “replacement” for The Undertaker’s opponent at Wrestlemania 32. The Undertaker was initially rumoured to face John Cena in what may have been his final match.
Shane then returned as an on-air personality, which he still is. He is currently not involved in any of the backstage operations and is just the on-screen Commissioner of SmackDown Live who appears only when necessary.
Shane McMahon and Triple H are rumoured to have an extremely rocky relationship. This was further confirmed when he was on Mick Foley’s podcast on the WWE Network earlier this year, and gave an evasive answer when asked about his relationship with Triple H:
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