Shane McMahon Exits WWE After Being "Upset" At His Royal Rumble 2022 Role

More details emerge on why Shane O'Mac is departing WWE.

by Andrew Pollard
Shane McMahon
WWE.com

Following earlier reports that Shane McMahon has departed WWE, these stories have been backed up by both Dave Meltzer at the Wrestling Observer and Mike Johnson at PWInsider.

For Meltzer, he simply took to Twitter to confirm that, yes, Shane O'Mac is out of WWE.

As for Mike Johnson, he dug a little deeper on this story, delving into the reasons why the former European Champion has exited WWE.

According to Johnson, Shane was today internally removed from the Raw roster due to a change in direction. In terms of what was lined up for McMahon, he himself wanted to work with Austin Theory at WrestleMania 38, whilst others in the company were pushing for Shane to face off against Seth Rollins.

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Following on from previous rumblings that McMahon had major heat on him backstage for how things played out at the Royal Rumble, the PWInsider story says Shane was frustrated that some of his ideas were shot down by Vince McMahon at this past weekend's premium live event. Shane O' was also said to be upset that "he wasn't being allowed to do what he wanted" in the men's Rumble match.

Considering that the one-time SmackDown Tag Team Champion no sold a superkick, eliminated former Universal Champion Kevin Owens, out-punched former UFC fighter Riddle, and was only eliminated himself by the all-dominant Brock Lesnar, one has to wonder what plans Shane had in mind for his involvement in the Rumble...

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The belief backstage is that McMahon bore the brunt of the negative reaction the men's Rumble match received from many quarters, with him serving as the lead writer and main producer for that contest. There is also a belief that once the heat of this dies down, he could well return to the company further down the line.

For those wondering, Shane McMahon does not hold any form of executive role within WWE, and thus, for now at least, Shane's involvement with the promotion is finished up.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.