Did Shane McMahon Try To Take Over WWE Creative In 2012?
"The Boy Wonder" made his father a secret offer...
When Shane McMahon returned to WWE television in February to challenge his father for control of Raw, it was hyped as "The Boy Wonder's" first contact with the company since resigning in 2009. A new article from VICE, however, reveals that the accepted narrative isn't actually true.
According to an anonymous spokesperson at WWE, in March of 2012, Shane went through executive vice president of production Kevin Dunn to set up a meeting with his father and other top brass. The reason? He was extending an offer to take full control over WWE creative and the writers' room. Shane proposed to use Full Fathom Five - a content creation company helmed by disgraced A Million Little Pieces author James Frey - for consulting purposes.
Needless to say, the meeting rubbed some the wrong way - according to the source, "When Stephanie found out Shane was going to be there, she went white in the face... and [Triple H] freaked out." Their concern was partially founded in the fact that Dunn, Vince's right-hand man, was a longtime friend of Shane's, and Shane's return could until set up a war for succession between the McMahon siblings.
Ultimately, Vince turned down Shane's offer, and the company continued in the direction it was heading. Shane wouldn't deal with WWE again until his return earlier this year. Still, the creative problems haven't been addressed - as one former executive quoted in the article said of Vince McMahon, "The product, without question, is struggling. But he can't fix the problem because it's him - he's the problem."