The April 3rd, 2023, edition of Monday Night Raw will not be forgotten in a hurry.
The show came against a backdrop of upheaval and uncertainty within the company, while fans around the world were still recovering from the marathon that has become WrestleMania weekend.
The went live just hours after it was announced that WWE had struck a deal with Endeavor that will see it merge with UFC. Furthermore, Vince McMahon will serve as Executive Chairman of the new publicly listed company.
As a result Triple H opened Raw with a defiant message for fans, that WWE “isn’t going anywhere.” The Chief Content Officer also paid tribute to everyone who made WrestleMania 39 possible.
However, fans were quickly criticising the show, noting that no female performers were involved for much of the taping, while others hit out at the lack of surprises. The ‘Raw of WrestleMania’ has become famous returns and debuts of WWE stars.
The show went off the air with Brock Lesnar surveying the damage after destroying Cody Rhodes, despite agreeing to team with him early in the night.
The bad feeling online only increased after the episode ended as it was reported that Vince McMahon was pulling the strings backstage, and had essentially taken over running the taping.
According to Cagematch.net, the show is currently the worst-rated episode of Monday Night Raw in history.
WWE Morale Plummets As Vince McMahon Returns
Vince McMahon returned to WWE tapings on March 6th and was backstage at WrestleMania 39. However, by April 3rd, the controversial Executive Chairman was backing running the show.
In the aftermath of the show, it has been reported that McMahon is “firmly back in control,” and was making changes to the show while it was in progress. McMahon’s influence reportedly grew as the episode went on.
The same report noted that there was a “huge negative shift in morale” as a result, while another source added that “the place felt nuked.”