A new report has stated that Shane McMahon is anything but popular backstage in WWE after rubbing people the wrong way as he “took charge” of producing the men’s Royal Rumble.
Shane McMahon made a surprise return to WWE screens as he entered the men’s Royal Rumble match at number 28. McMahon managed to eliminate old foe Kevin Owens en route to the final three, only to be dumped over the top rope by the eventual winner of the match, Brock Lesnar.
It has also emerged that as well as competing in the match, Shane McMahon was one of the masterminds that helped put the men’s Rumble match together. Earlier reports suggested backstage morale was low in the company due to repeated changes in both the men’s and women’s Rumble bouts.
Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio has discussed the “heat” on Shane McMahon who seemingly upset people with his way of trying to book the Rumble:
“There was a lot of heat on Shane [McMahon] because Shane was one of the producers, in fact, he was kinda the head producer of the Rumble. And then he had an idea of what the Rumble was gonna be and then a lot of that ended up being changed. I don’t know all of everything but I do know there were several people who kinda made off-handed remarks to me about Shane.”
“[Shane] has helped book the Rumble in the past. People are like ‘is he backstage doing any front office work?’ and the answer’s no, he’s not. But for whatever reason, Vince has allowed him to help do the Rumble the last couple of years. It was him and many other people and in this one, it was as well but he really took charge and rubbed some people the wrong way evidently.”
Meltzer also reported that McMahon has been pulled from planned appearances at Elimination Chamber and possibly WrestleMania as well. Shane McMahon was slated to be a part of the WWE Title match in Saudi Arabia with a match against Seth Rollins on the horizon at WrestleMania 38.
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