Could Dixie Carter Possibly Appear On WWE Raw Next Week?
An op-ed insight into an unanswerable question.
Kurt Angle’s mystery phone shenanigans were more or less telegraphed from the first text message he received. Who sent it?
The language was conspicuously, depressingly, that of one Stephanie McMahon. Angle, much like Mick Foley - really, anybody on the RAW roster over the last four years, babyfaces, heels, prospects and also-rans alike - was described as a “disgrace” and an “embarrassment”. Cynical senses were triggered immediately. The prospect of another tedious and overplayed management dispute loomed, yet again, over the flagship.
The scene had been set: Kurt Angle is a terrible General Manager blamed for the ills of a show by a figure who has far more real-life influence over in a plot supposedly based on reality. Adding to the temple-pressing fury of this foreshadowed Angle angle was another unanswerable question: why did WWE throughout the Foley rivalry advertise the flagship show and the running of it as this total disaster? Why are they doing it again?
More evidence, more cynicism, undermined the intrigue of the mystery. Stephanie’s offscreen husband and onscreen ally, Triple H, has a documented tendency to insert himself into any and all programmes of note since transitioning into a part-time role. He allowed himself two cracks at the Undertaker’s WrestleMania Streak. He almost tarnished the aura of Brock Lesnar by leading him through an underwhelming and unanticipated pay-per-view trilogy. Lesnar had to treat John Cena like Barry Horowitz just to get his heat back. Triple H casually found himself in subsequent feuds with Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. If the future is now, it looks a hell of a lot like the past.
He was always going to be Kurt Angle’s first (perhaps only) WWE opponent following his 2017 return to the family fold. In fairness to the man, there’s rich and beloved Attitude Era history to mine. Trips and his trademark Methodical Match also represents the safest opponent for a man ravaged through serious injury and decades removed from his physical prime. That one text message seemed to telegraph both Angle’s SummerSlam or WrestleMania opponent (Triple H) and the narrative road to it (protracted emasculation and dreaded performance evaluation segments, perhaps followed by a barrage of slaps).
Those first text messages were drafted using patented Stephanie-isms, the use of “besmirched” aside. That felt like yet another troll move on WWE’s part designed to dangle a William Regal-shaped red herring in front of the mystery plot.
But has WWE changed tack? Or was Angle’s performance as RAW GM not the cause of this mystery person’s irritation? The Stephanie/Foley business dragged on so much that WWE can hardly blame fans for dreading a retread more than becoming absorbed in a mystery.
The clues are thus: Angle didn’t enjoy Father’s Day. The secret threatens Angle’s job security and PR cache as an Olympic gold medallist. Corey Graves is involved in this because there is “something about him”. On this week’s RAW, Angle again fretted over this secret “getting out”. He then took ownership. “I’m going to have to go public over this. Oh God, I’m going to lose my family over this.” Angle then phoned up another unseen character in this plot. “Why don’t you come here next week, and we’ll both do it together. Neither one of us has anything to be ashamed of. I’m proud of you, and I hope you feel the same way about me. I love you.”
Rumours are running rampant that this person might be former TNA President and Angle’s former boss Dixie Carter. Certainly, there’s no chance in hell that Stephanie McMahon is about to come out as Angle’s secret lover.
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