Shane McMahon is back. WWE announced that Shane-O-Mac would appear on Raw tonight as the road to SummerSlam begins. And while fans love to see McMahon back in the fold, the question is, why is he making an appearance?
“Shane-O-Mac is back! But what exactly does he have in store for the red brand?” WWE wrote in a release. This appearance could be a way to boost ratings, which have been a challenge for WWE since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bringing back McMahon likely won’t solve all its problems, but Vince McMahon believes things will turn around sooner than later.
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“We have a 30-plus year track record of creating compelling characters and engaging a variety of audiences, and we obviously remain confident we can continue that with our collective ability, even in the most challenging environments with no live audience,” Vince McMahon said at the company’s shareholders meeting last week, via ComicBook.com. “The media echo system obviously has changed. We change with it. Our engagement metrics across platforms are understandably, and obviously — however, the importance of linear programming is paramount in all of our businesses — we consistently have seen year-over-year increases in a variety of digital metrics and engagement. And positive trends have continued, even during COVID.”
Shane McMahon, 50, hasn’t been on WWE TV since October of last year but has been working as a producer. Along with being a producer for WWE, he’s also a minority owner. McMahon started his WWE career in 1988 as a referee. From there, he moved on to become a regular on-air character in 1998 and is known for taking risks in the ring. McMahon was even named Rookie of the Year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated in 1999 and has won three different titles – the European Championship, the Hardcore Championship, and the SmackDown Tag Team Championship (with The Miz).
McMahon got to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania 32, which was a Hell In a Cell Match. “I just remember my adrenaline was pumping so high at the start that I jumped high and kicked him right in the chest, really hard, to set the tone,” McMahon wrote in a column for ESPN back in May. “Because he’s my friend, and you take more liberties with your friend than you would anyone else. So I waffled him.”
