WWE References Vince McMahon's Retirement Several Times On Raw
Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman reference ongoing Vince McMahon situation in lengthy promo.
WWE directly referenced Vince McMahon's exit from the promotion on last night's Raw, with Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman dropping references to the situation during their segment early in the show.
Reigns, Heyman, and The Usos hit the ring after The Miz and Logan Paul had been cleared out following their show-opening brawl. After their entrance and Reigns' customary "acknowledge me" bit, Paul took the microphone, though it promptly cut out on him. When it came back on, Heyman looked to the technical area, telling a poor soul:-
"We have a sound guy who must be from New Jersey or something. I want your name written down. You're the next one out the door."
This follows McMahon announced his retirement as WWE Chairman and CEO last Friday.
Later, when Vince's hand-picked prodigy, Theory, hit the ring to disrupt the Bloodline, Roman told Mr. Money in the Bank to look around and take stock of his situation. "Your daddy's not here anymore," he said, intimidating the would-be cash-in artist ahead of SummerSlam 2022 (30 July).
A reported favourite of McMahon's behind the scenes, Theory was featured in a lengthy series of on-air "mentoring" segments with the 76-year-old earlier this year. This culminated in Theory wrestling (and losing to) Pat McAfee at WrestleMania 38.
The Miz/Paul brawl and retirement references aside, Raw was largely indistinguishable from other recent episodes, despite Triple H assuming lead creative duties in WWE. It'll likely take longer for bigger, more impactful changes to come into play.