Shane McMahon was reportedly pushing for a WrestleMania 38 match with Austin Theory.
As noted, it was revealed this morning that McMahon has been “quietly let go” from WWE due to the significant heat he received for his role as a producer and writer of the Men’s Royal Rumble Match this past Saturday. Shane competed in the match, but was reportedly heavily criticized for how he took charge of the booking and tried to make the match about himself. You can click here for the most recent report on Shane’s heat from the Rumble debacle, and click here for the report on WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon making the decision to let his son go. You can also click here for another update on the Shane situation and why people were concerned with one entrant in the Men’s Rumble.
In an update, PWInsider now reports that Shane had been pushing for a WrestleMania 38 match with Theory. The idea was that the Shane vs. Theory feud would play off Theory’s recent RAW storyline with Vince, but nothing was 100% locked in place.
There were other people in WWE pushing for Shane vs. Seth Rollins at WrestleMania. At one point there was a planned Royal Rumble Match sequence to set up a Shane vs. Seth feud, but that was nixed when the many pre-Rumble changes were made and Rollins was pulled from the 30-Man Rumble.
It was recently reported that WWE had plans for Shane to work as a heel on the RAW brand moving forward. This new update from PWInsider notes that Shane was pulled from the internal RAW roster this afternoon, and word going around is that “the direction has changed.”
Shane was also not at Monday’s RAW in Cincinnati.
Regarding Shane picking up heat on the day of The Rumble, word going around is that he was obviously frustrated that day. It was believed by some that his frustration had to do with Vince shooting down some of his ideas for the match. The talk was that Shane was upset over the fact that “he wasn’t being allowed to do what he wanted” and that he was “greatly pre-occupied” by his own spot in the Men’s Rumble.
There was also a feeling among some that Shane is taking the brunt of the heat for the poor reception to the Men’s Royal Rumble Match, and that when the heat for that blows over, eventually Shane will return in some capacity down the line.
This WWE run for Shane is already over, at least for the time being, he does not hold any executive position or responsibilities with the company. It was announced in August 2021 that Shane was appointed to the role of Executive Chairman with Ideanomics, a company that recently got into the Electric Vehicle market, and he has been focusing his energy on that job as of late. Shane has been involved with the company since 2010, and served as Vice Chairman before being appointed to Executive Chairman last year.
There is no word on what WWE had planned for Shane at Elimination Chamber, or how he has reacted to being “quietly let go,” but we will keep you updated.
Stay tuned for more.
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