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THOUGHTS ON SHANE MCMAHON LEAVING WWE

As I am sure you have all heard by now, Shane McMahon will be leaving his position as Executive Vice President of Global Media for WWE as of January 1, 2010.  Provided that this isn't an insidious work by the company, I have to tell you that while I was a bit surprised that the news broke today, I can't say that I am shocked by it, for a few reasons.

At this point, I haven't gotten any more detailed information as to why Shane is leaving or what he is going to do after he leaves WWE.  I have talked to a number of people in WWE this morning and they had no idea that this was coming, so at this point not a whole lot is known about what led to Shane making this decision.

I do have my suspicions as to what led to this however.  I do know that, in my opinion, he has never been given the position of power, and possibly the respect, that he deserved in the company.

As we have talked about her on the site for years now, people in WWE have always described the McMahon family dynamic to me as being that Vince and Stephanie are very much alike while Shane and Linda saw things the same way.  Vince and Stephanie are described as being loud, bold, dominating, frenetic, sometimes "disrespectful in the heat of the moment", in-your-face types.  Shane and Linda are said to thoughtful, nice, reserved, more like professional business people in that they do things through channels and don't lash out at people, scream profanity when agitated or raise their voices.  It's pretty clear that Shane took after his mother, which is probably why his sister managed to seize control of the creative end of the company even though he is much older than her. Well as much as anyone can as long as Vince is around at least. 

There are other things that have gone on over the years which, if it were me, would have made me want to branch out on my own too if I were Shane.

• It's well known that Shane wanted to push ECW as its own brand, a real and different brand that didn't follow Vince and Steph's vision of the business, when the company was resurrected.  Vince and Stephanie had different ideas and we have all seen what the result was.
• Shane has wanted to move into martial arts for years now, only to be rebuked by his father.  It would not shock me to see him make a move in that direction now.  If he were to do so, he would have no choice but to cut ties with the "it's fake" WWE because the MMA community would never accept a WWE-backed company as being legitimate.
• His main ally, Linda, is currently off seeking the Republican Senate nomination from the state of Connecticut.  That puts him in a one-on-two situation in dealing with Steph and Vince.  That can't be a fun thing for him.
• And of course, there is Triple H, who a vast number of people have told me Vince treats as if he is his son, some say at Shane's expense.
• Plus, everything he does for WWE will be done in the shadow of his father.  If he doesn't agree with the way things are being done, that can be a bitter pill to swallow.

When you look at those factors, it makes Shane's decision less surprising.   Also, let's be real here.  He still owns a nice chunk of WWE stock, he has made a lot of money of the years and his wife comes from a wealthy family.  It's not like he is going to have to take shifts at the Home Depot any time soon.  He has financial security and that makes it easier to make a move like this. 

But still, him walking away from his own business tells me that for whatever reason, he has had enough of what is going on in WWE.  Maybe he doesn't like the creative direction of Raw.  Maybe he doesn't like dealing with his father and sister.  Maybe he just wants to try something outside of what has been his comfort zone all of the years.  Whatever the case, a member of the first family of wrestling has chosen to walk away from the family business.  I wish him the best in whatever he has planned.  Hey, maybe he wants to walk in his father's footsteps and start his own national wrestling company.  Wouldn't that be a kick in the grapefruits.

 

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