If I Can Be Serious For A Moment 10.22.09: Which Way Will He Go?

Posted by Chris Lansdell on 10.22.2009

Analyzing Shane's sudden departure from WWE

Hey yo. Welcome back to If I Can Be Serious for a Moment, your weekly dose of intelligent wrestling discourse with me, Chris Lansdell. Some interesting thoughts last week on the Serious Round Table, and they were split in many different directions. There are a few people who dislike the conversation format, which is why I restrict these Round Tables to every few months. This week was supposed to be about social media in wrestling, but the events of Friday shoved that idea firmly to the back burner. We'll delve into that right after the

BANNER!

There Goes The Money

WWE, and before it Titan Sports and WWF, has always been a family-run business. Even after their IPO the McMahon family has retained the majority of voting stocks and with them, control of the company. On a more intimate level the family has always seemed close-knit and "in it for the long haul" – even Shane's wife Marissa has appeared on WWF programming. There have been clashes and minor conflicts, and it was widely speculated that Stephanie and HHH would take over when/if Vince stepped down/died, which might have precipitated the departure of Shane McMahon from the company. He and Stephanie have often not seen eye to eye on the direction of the WWE product, and without Vince there to hold them together the feeling has been that Shane would move on.

Of course this Friday's announcement put paid to that belief. As of January 1 2010, a full-blooded McMahon will walk away for the family business for the first time in a long time. What's really surprising is that the reaction has been one of shock both externally and internally. Literally nobody saw this coming, or if they did they aren't saying so. So that leaves us to ask, why is he leaving? What's next? Why is this such a shock anyway?

Starting At The Bottom

One thing that must be said about Vince McMahon: he didn't let either of his children walk into executive roles in his company. Although in his home life Shane may well be said to have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, the only spoon in his mouth in terms of his professional life is one he mined, shaped, detailed and buffed himself. Shane's first job with the WWF was on the ring crew. He worked his way up through referee and road agent and eventually became executive vice president in charge of Global Media. On his way to this role he secured major TV deals in mexico, India and Brazil, as well as created WWF.com.

As we are all no doubt aware, Shane has also had roles on air with WWE programming. He's been his father's lackey, his sister's partner, his mother's partner and the enemy of all three. He's been a face, he's been a heel. He's been involved in some of the most memorable segments in WWE history. Who could ever forget this moment?



That day has to go down as one of the craziest days of my wrestling fandom. I never thought I would see a McMahon's name on a WCW background, or better yet a McMahon in a WCW ring. However, Shane's most memorable moments have come in the ring. Yes, the son of a multi-millionaire, in all likelihood a multi-millionaire in his own right without ever having to do so, has competed in matches. Not just any matches mind you, but matches containing some of the most memorable spots of the post-Attitude era.



Some IWC members have spoken against Shane doing these things in the past, saying that it's easy for him because he can take a year off after doing them, and it puts unreasonable pressure on the other guys on the roster to do crazy things to match up. They also say that if he wasn't Vince's son, he would never have got the chance to do much of what he's done. Funnily enough, the former argument is almost never echoed by people who leave WWE. You hear complaints about HHH, about Stephanie and Vince, about Randy Orton and Undertaker and JBL. Shane seems to avoid the criticism for the most part, to the extent that I can't think of anyone who had anything bad to say about the guy. The latter point is fairly ridiculous. Wrestling is full of people who would never have got where they are had they not had family connections. One could even make the argument that The Rock is among them, though I don't really agree with that opinion either. The fact is that no, Shane probably wouldn't be on national TV and pay per views throwing himself off giant screens if he was Joe Blow's son. But he isn't, he's Vince McMahon's son. Unlike his father, the man has a bucket load of athletic ability and up until recently could put on a good match. He cuts a decent promo too.

What this all boils down to is that, unless he was delivering papers in Stamford when he was 12, Shane has only ever worked for his father. He has given the proverbial blood, sweat and tears to the business and, possibly moreso than any McMahon, paid his dues. He's popular with the talent, over with the fans and seemed to have his finger more on the pulse than anyone else in management. None of this adds up to his resignation. Who leaves a job for life in the family business to which they have given everything for years, through the ranks of which they have risen? Apparently, Shane O'Mac does, but why?

I Don't Know Why You Say Goodbye…

Despite the shock that most of us have felt at his departure, there are a couple of reasons to which we can point that might have caused or influenced Young Simba's decision. Some are really rather plausible, while a couple are just plain out there. The one that's receiving the most play is that he's leaving to work on his mother's senatorial campaign. Linda stepping down after announcing her candidacy made perfect sense, but now Shane is doing so to work on the campaign instead of taking a leave of absence. I think a lot of that has to do with their respective duties. Shane is always on the move, visiting several countries a year and looking for business deals and new TV deals. His job requires constant movement and study, as the internet is a fluid medium. Shane also contributes to the creative team and in that capacity is often required at tapings and live events. Linda's work duties I am less familiar with, but you rarely hear about her jetsetting to Brazil, India, Mexico…I also don't think she is at as many events as Shane is, but I'm open to correction on that point.



One conspiracy theory revolves around the recent efforts by Linda's opponents in the Senate race to paint her in a negative light by using clips from WWE's less-than-clean-cut past. Videos of the Scott Steiner/Stephanie McMahon simulated rape, the Katie Vick debacle and the Edge/Lita live sex celebertation were uploaded to YouTube by Democrat Chris Dodd's campaign team, along withwith the following quote from Democrat spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan:

As WWE Chief Operating Officer, Linda McMahon presided over programming that showed simulated rape, public sex and necrophilia, and now she wants to be our U.S. Senator? People across this state, not to mention the millions of women who are the victims of sexual violence every year, would be horrified and embarrassed to know that the person who seeks to represent them condones this kind of behavior. That kind of programming has no place in our society, and Linda McMahon has no place in the U.S. Senate.

The videos were then quickly removed by YouTube admin due to copyright claims by WWE. As anyone who's looked for WWE stuff online will tell you, this is hardly a rare ccurrence, so WWE had plausible deniability in requesting removal of the clips. If it could be shown that they had requested the removal to protect Linda's campaign, they could have been subject to penalties under election law. What is being floated is that Shane stepping down gives them an extra layer of insulation against such a claim, as it would have been his department that sent the request. Perhaps the request was even signed by Shane himself. Unlikely, but possible.

There's also the possibility of a fallout with his sister, his father or both. Shane and Stephanie have often disagreed about the direction of a storyline, and they have clashed several times backstage. Another argument could have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. The problem here is that none of the previous arguments have been enough to prompt such a drastic move, and you have to believe that a fight of this magnitude would have been overheard by somebody else. The fact that the inside reaction to the announcement has been universal shock rather discredits this notion. Always before, Vince has smoothed over any sibling disputes in the interest of having the best possible product. On its own, this theory isn't too likely and doesn't make a lot of sense, but Vince recently turned 64. Many people are retired by this age, and very few work past 65. Even family businesses are normally turned over to the next generation by this time. Maybe he's finally told the kids that he is stepping down, and as a result Shane is getting out while the getting's good. Despite being the elder of the two it has long been thought that Stephanie and her husband would gain the majority of control in the running of WWE, and with no Vince around to bridge the gaps that might be difficult for Shane to swallow. This makes even more sense if there had been an argument (or multiple arguments) between Shane and Steph around the time of Vince's hypothetical revelation, thus spurring Shane to walk away. My big problem with this is that Shane just does not seem like the kind of guy to leave a six-figure salary on the table because his sister got more than he did. I can see him being hurt and upset, but to leave the company entirely is drastic. Even if he tried to work something out with Steph and HHH before deciding to leave, you have to think that the level of animosity between them would have to be a lot higher than we ever though if this was the only solution.

Where Does He Go From Here?

Related to the Why of this news is the What Next. Once again, rumours have been swirling. We've already addressed the possibility that he will be working on Linda's campaign, which right now seems the most likely scenario. What else is out there?

A popular rumour has been that Shane is going to either start or buy into a mixed martial arts company. It has long been said that Shane is a big MMA fan, and he has been spotted in attendance at PRIDE shows in the past before it was purchased by UFC's parent company. In fact the rumours were that Shane had negotiated with the owners of PRIDE to have WWE buy them out, as they were struggling at the time. It seems odd, given that rumour, that Shane would need to step away from WWE to make this investment. Three possible reasons present themselves:

He wants to do it alone. Shane has spent his whole life working with and improving the product that his father created, and it's not beyond the realms of possibility that he wants to do something on his own, just to show that he can. Vince has made some rather unflattering remarks about MMA in the past, and Shane would be wise to distance himself from that if he wants this to succeed. There are also a lot of MMA fighters who would resent the idea of working for a "fake fight promoter".

As Paul Heyman suggested in a recent interview, perhaps Shane is moving away from WWE to do this, but it will still be indirectly funded by WWE through his severance pay or "retirement package". Why do this? So that if it pulls an XFL, Vince and the WWE are not associated with another white elephant that could damage their reputation.

The idea that the average person will stay away from anything WWE-branded unless they are already wrestling fans. This has become more prevalent since Benoit.

Each of these ideas has merit, but I do wonder why Vince is afraid the venture would fail. If a WWE-branded MMA company did flounder, it would be totally different from the XFL. When the XFL failed it just looked bad on Vince because he was trying to come into the market controlled by arguably the biggest league in terms of fanbase in the country. Despite not being in direct competition with the NFL, people still stayed away. With WWE MMA, a failure could be played up by Vince and company as "proof that MMA is a fad, that wrestling has superior staying power" or something along those lines. With that said, how much better would that gloating look if Shane "left" WWE, set up a company and got "crushed" by dad, only to come crawling back for a job?

Of course it's also possible that he will leave for a "regular" job. Shane McMahon is nearly 40, has been at the executive level of a multi-billion -dollar company for over 10 years, has successfully pioneered several initiatives and has grown tbhe business with which he is associated. He also has charisma and is experienced in speaking to large groups, making successful sales pitches and dealing with international markets. In other words, he is exactly what most companies are looking for. As good as Shane's WWE salary is (I couldn't find any numbers, but his mother makes just over half a million in salary and you KNOW he makes less), he could get far more by moving to a General Motors or a GE and working in the same sort of role. He also gets out from under his father's considerable shadow and gets a chance to prove that he can run a company on his own. Who knows? Maybe if he can do that, Vince will reconsider and give Shane a bigger role in WWE when he steps down...if Shane wants it by then.

I had not even considered this last possibility until I got it tweeted to me over the weekend. I will spare the tweeter the ignominy of being named, but here is the tweet in its entirety:

Do u think shane will by tNA now?

Ummm...no. Ignoring the likelihood that it's not for sale, why would Shane want to do that? He's seen what happens to people who try and compete directly with his father, and you have to imagine that a family member doing so would be roughly treated. Even if Shane had found a way to avoid that, believe me when I say that he cannot possibly afford to buy out Panda Energy. Although their net revenue is a fraction of WWE's (2008 revenue of $14.8 million as compared with WWE's $200+ million), it's large enough to make this a poison pill acquisition. Even if you consider that the TNA (or even RoH) purchase would be along the lines of the above MMA idea with WWE indirectly funding it, it's still unlikely. A work of this magnitude, with official press releases being made by WWE, would cause investigations by the SEC if it turned out to be fake. So no, he isn't going to "by" TNA.

Curiouser and Curiouser

There are still a lot of questions around this decision by Shane McMahon. For example, if he really is moving to a larger company to make more money, how does that reconcile with his love for the business of professional wrestling? Everyone involved with wrestling will publicly say they love it, but with Shane you can tell. Nobody who didn't love wrestling would do what he's done in the ring when they don't have to in order to make a living. Who is going to take his place? Like his father, Shane wears a lot of hats right now and wears them all well. He has had a lot of success in bringing the WWE to other countries AND in making WWE.com a HUGE performer in monthly hits. He's not someone you can easily replace with one person and then move on. Also, what about his stock? Unless I'm mistaken, each McMahon has an equal share of 70% of the voting shares in the company. Will Shane be required to sell his shares? Can Vince, Steph and Linda buy them from him or does that open up some SEC worm cans? Can it be converted to non-voting stock, or does that cause problems by raising the value of the 30% they don't own?

We'll know more in the coming months, but in the meantime we can only speculate, try to close our mouths from the shock and play that TitanTron dive over and over again.

Moment over. TWITTER BREAK!

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And on that note, I'm out of here. Thanks to Stephen Randle for his help on this column, and of course to you for reading. Next week we really will get to the social media column, unless something crazy happens like RoH buying TNA.

Stay Cool, Rock Hard. Lansdellicious – Out.