Why WWE Brought Shane McMahon Back To RAW

The Underground king's comeback had the desired impact.

by Andy H Murray
Shane McMahon
WWE

Shane McMahon returned to WWE programming for the first time since October 2019 this week, helping RAW to a moderate viewership rebound in this era of all-time-low ratings on a night that saw him debut the show's new Underground fight club.

Per Dave Meltzer in this week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Vince McMahon didn't come up with the idea for his son's comeback until last week. Shane's appearances and a Ric Flair/Randy Orton angle were all the WWE President had confirmed by the morning of the show, in fact, leading to another chaotic, disorganised day of shooting at the Performance Center.

It is noted that the 27 August episode of RAW performing so poorly in the ratings, negative critical responses to the show, and Vince "being grilled by investors" led to Vince making sweeping changes - including Shane's return.

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The wild marketing for this week's episode appeared to pay off. As well as Shane's comeback, WWE promised "chaos" with the debut of a new faction, who turned out to be a constant pest throughout the night. Whether this was just a one-off bump or a changing trend remains to be seen.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.