Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon's much-anticipated appearance on Thursday's episode of The Pat McAfee Show resulted in the WWE chairman presenting Pat McAfee with an offer he couldn't refuse. 

When McAfee was attempting to wrap up the interview, McMahon stopped to offer the Friday Night SmackDown announcer a match at WrestleMania 38. 

There has been speculation that a match between McAfee and McMahon was at least being talked about for WWE's biggest show of the year. 

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that as of Feb. 25, McAfee vs. McMahon was listed on WWE's internal schedule for WrestleMania 38. 

WWE still has five episodes of SmackDown remaining, including tomorrow night, before WrestleMania. It's possible for the company to set up an angle for that match, though McMahon's age would seem to make it unlikely it's a straight wrestling match. 

McMahon is 76 years old and hasn't worked a match since losing to Bret Hart at WrestleMania 26 in 2010. 

One potential scenario could see Austin Theory, who has been a protege of sorts for McMahon for months, step in for McMahon to fight McAfee. 

WrestleMania will mark the third match for McAfee in WWE. He previously wrestled at two NXT Takeover events in 2020, losing both a singles match to Adam Cole and a WarGames match to the Undisputed Era. 

WWE now has eight matches on the card for the two-night WrestleMania. Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin, Rey and Dominik Mysterio vs. The Miz and Logan Paul, Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair for the Raw women's title and Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey for the SmackDown women's title have been announced for night one. 

WWE champion Brock Lesnar taking on WWE universal champion Roman Reigns in a winner-take-all unification match is the only bout that has been announced for night two.

McAfee's bout, Edge vs. AJ Styles and Carmella and Queen Zelina vs. Naomi and Sasha Banks for the women's tag team titles are on the card, but WWE has yet to announce which night those matches will happen. 

WrestleMania 38 is taking place from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on April 2-3.     

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from WWE and AEW. 

Pat McAfee, Vince McMahon Program Set for WrestleMania?

This really depends on which version of which report you want to read, but it's looking increasingly like Pat McAfee and Vince McMahon are set for some sort of program at WrestleMania 38. 

 Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reported McAfee vs. McMahon is currently on the internal cards, but it will be a "smoke and mirrors event," per Sai Mohan of Wrestling Inc. There are no plans for the 76-year-old McMahon to take any bumps in a potential match.

Which, whew. When the rumors first cropped up regarding McMahon potentially getting in the ring, alarm sirens were going off. Even in the world of modern medicine, there's no reason for a 76-year-old to be getting in a wrestling ring for a match—particularly against an NFL punter turned media personality/color commentator.

The most sensible scenario would see McMahon use Austin Theory as a stand-in—in large part because it's hard to see McAfee participating in a WrestleMania angle to be squashed by his aging boss. 

As for now, we'll have to see how the storyline plays out—with things likely getting underway when McMahon makes his Pat McAfee Show debut this week.

No Current Plans for Elias on WWE TV

Elias has not been seen on WWE programming since setting his guitar on fire and promising to remake his character last July.

It does not appear we'll be seeing a return anytime soon.

Ringside News reported WWE creative has no plans to bring Elias back to television, with him being described as being in "creative purgatory."

“I don’t remember the last time his name came up. It’s been so long," a member of WWE Creative told Ringside News.

Carmella Wants WrestleMania Moment

Carmella wants her moment in the spotlight.

While she's half of the women's tag team champions, she's yet to get a major moment at WrestleMania and wants that to change this year. She recently spoke of her desire to get into a major storyline ahead of Mania during an appearance on the After the Bell with Corey Graves show. 

“I am one-half of the tag team champions, although we haven’t really been doing much as of late,” Carmella said, per Wrestling Inc. “I have no idea what’s in the future for the tag team champions, I would really like to have a WrestleMania moment. I’ve never had a WrestleMania moment in my entire career and I’ve been here since 2016. You can say I won the WrestleMania women’s battle royal and that was great, but I’m talking, I want a moment.

“I want a prominent storyline, I want a championship match at WrestleMania, I’ve never had that in my career and I want that. I think some people may say I’ve had my time in my career, I won Money in the Bank, cashed in on Charlotte Flair but why is that the only thing that I have to be known for? I’m so much more than that and I want to be so much more than that, and I think that’s okay to want more than that.”

It appears Carmella and Queen Zelina are heading into a feud with Sasha Banks and Naomi, who suddenly became a tag team Friday on SmackDown. WWE hasn't done much to prioritize the women's tag titles, but Banks' name alone might be enough to get Carmella on the card. 

Vince McMahon may be 76 years old, but he may not be willing to sit out WWE's biggest show of the year. 

Per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, a match between McMahon and SmackDown commentator Pat McAfee was listed on the internal schedule for WrestleMania 38 as of Friday night. 

WWE previously announced that McMahon will appear on McAfee's radio show on Thursday. 

McMahon's last official match was a no-holds-barred lumberjack contest against Bret Hart at WrestleMania XXVI in 2010. He was going to wrestle CM Punk on an episode of Raw in October 2012, but it never officially started after the two got into a brawl before the bell rang.

McAfee, who has worked for WWE as an analyst and commentator since 2018, had a feud with Adam Cole in 2020 that resulted in him having two matches. He lost a one-on-one match against Adam Cole at NXT: TakeOver: XXX.

McAfee, Pete Dunne, Danny Burch, and Oney Lorcan teamed up to take on the Undisputed Era (Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O'Reilly, and Roderick Strong) in a WarGames match at NXT Takeover on Dec. 6. 

O'Reilly pinned Lorcan to give the Undisputed Era the victory. 

WWE looks to be teasing Steve Austin's first match since 2003, with Kevin Owens going on television and social media in recent weeks to berate Texas. WrestleMania 38 is being held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. 

WWE currently has five matches for the two-night WrestleMania. Charlotte Flair will defend the SmackDown women's title against Ronda Rousey on night one. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns in a winner-take-all championship unification match will take place on night two. 

Other matches include Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair for the Raw women's title, Rey and Dominik Mysterio vs. Logan Paul and The Miz in a tag match and Edge taking on an unknown opponent. 

McMahon has had four matches at WrestleMania in his career. He has lost to Shane McMahon (WrestleMania X7), Hulk Hogan (WrestleMania XIX), Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania 22) and Hart. 

WWE superstar Brock Lesnar sat down for a rare interview on Monday. During his chat with Pat McAfee, Lesnar discussed his relationships with his boss Vince McMahon and his former boss, UFC president Dana White.

"I really can't compare the two guys," Lesnar said. "Honestly my relationship with Vince is so different than it is with Dana, over the years."

Lesnar has worked with McMahon for the better part of 20 years since his WWE debut in 2002. He competed for the UFC from 2008-11 and again briefly in 2016, winning the heavyweight title in his first run. When asked about White, Lesnar took a veiled shot at the issue of pay disparity among fighters.

"Dana's alright, I've gotten a lot of money from him. ... I probably should've gotten paid more, maybe," he said.

It's no surprise that having so much history with McMahon has led them to overcome some ups and downs before their relationship could get to what it is today. When it comes to White, it's more of a business relationship than anything else.

"Vince and I have had a love/hate relationship for the last 20 years, but it's been good, we've got a lot of water under the bridge," Lesnar said. "I've got a lot of respect for both men. But dealing with Dana, it's a totally different business approach."

Lesnar further explained that his relationship with McMahon goes deeper because he was a taught a lot of lessons that he was able to use even when he wasn't in WWE.

"I met Vince when I was younger," he said. "I look at Vince more as a father figure, actually, because I've learned a lot of things from him, and I was able to carry those things over and handle business with Dana."

Lesnar will be a part of the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE championship at this Saturday's pay-per-view event.

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from WWE and AEW.

Jericho, Owens Go Back and Forth on Social Media

Sunday marked the five-year anniversary of the "Festival of Friendship," the instant-classic segment that saw Kevin Owens turn on Chris Jericho to build their WrestleMania 33 feud. 

Owens commemorated the anniversary by changing his Twitter profile picture to the moment Jericho realized his name was on The List, with Jericho responding with an ominous threat:

Out of all the talent that left WWE for AEW, Jericho seems the most likely to eventually find his way back in WWE. The future Hall of Famer has kept a strong relationship with most people in the company, most notably Vince McMahon.

Jericho seems more than happy where he's at with AEW at the moment, but it would be a surprise if he didn't wind up doing one last retirement run in WWE when his name gets called for a Hall induction.

It's worth noting that Jericho's contract with AEW was set to expire in January, but the company had a one-year option to keep him until 2023. There has been no announcement of Jericho signing an extension, so the soonest we could see the two in the ring together is a year from now—especially now that Owens is inked to a long-term deal in WWE.

Vince McMahon Happy With Current Product

Well, that makes one of us.

While the overwhelming majority of fans would say WWE has qualitatively struggled in recent years—especially amid the emergence of AEW—Vince McMahon, the most important internal voice, doesn't seem to agree.

“In his mind, he doesn’t think anything is wrong,” Mike Johnson of PW Insider wrote (via Wrestling Inc). “The company made a billion dollars last year, so there’s a billion reasons for him to shrug off any criticisms. We are told he pushes and presents what he likes and wants and nothing else makes a dent in that vision. That’s why the shows are presented the way they are and that’s why nothing is going to change anytime soon, if ever.”

WWE does, indeed, continue to rake in record revenue—a move that's made it a massive success for Wall Street investors.

Those consuming the product won't assess quality by dollars and cents, but they've continued to watch WWE programming despite growing frustrations. The Royal Rumble live event was one of the lowest-rated in history among fans despite being the most-watched event since WWE moved to Peacock.

There's a disconnect WWE needs to fix.

Lita Talks Becky Lynch Match

Lita has not had a proper one-on-one match in WWE since dropping the women's championship to Mickie James at the 2006 Survivor Series pay-per-view. While she's made occasional appearances in a ring since then, her match against Becky Lynch at the upcoming Elimination Chamber match will be the first time she's been responsible for carrying 50 percent of the workload in over 15 years.

Lita recently sat down with Denise Salcedo and spoke about WWE approaching her for an in-ring return. 

“They hit me at a great time, right after the match,” Lita said, per Wrestling Inc. “Literally like, sweaty, like right coming out, ‘what do you think about facing Becky in a couple of weeks?’ And I was like, ‘what? Yes. Oh s--t, did I say yes?’ I didn’t have a chance to doubt or think about all the reasons I shouldn’t face Becky, or all of the reasons I wouldn’t be ready or what could possibly go wrong. All I thought of is what could possibly go right, committed to that and haven’t looked back. Like, ever since, 'yes,' I wasn’t like, ‘oh wait, what am I doing?’ No, I’m just like, ‘no, no, no. That time has passed. The time now is to think about how it’s going to go good.'”

It's likely that Lita will be one-and-done against Lynch, especially given her appearance is mainly because she's a relic of the Attitude Era and Saudi officials have long pushed WWE to bring back legends for their events in the country. 

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Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Vince McMahon Adding Brock Lesnar to MSG House Show

Vince McMahon took notice of the low attendance for WWE's last house show at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 26. 

Per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of RingsideNews.com), McMahon has added Brock Lesnar to the upcoming MSG house show on March 5 to boost ticket sales:

"It’s pretty clear Vince McMahon wasn’t taking that last Madison Square Garden show doing one of the lowest crowds in the last 80 years in the building lying down. Not only did he add Lesnar to the show, and every Lesnar appearance is very expensive and hardly cost-effective for a house show, particularly in a building where you need a huge number just to break even and really running the building itself with the crowd they drew the last time would be tough."

Lesnar is scheduled to face Bobby Lashley on the show. Lashley is the WWE champion, but he will defend the title against Lesnar, Seth "Freakin" Rollins, Austin Theory, Riddle and AJ Styles in an Elimination Chamber match on the Feb. 19 event in Saudi Arabia. 

The Beast is one of the few proven attendance-movers in WWE right now. Ticket sales for the Day 1 show on New Year's Day increased after the announcement Lesnar would challenge Roman Reigns for the WWE universal title. 

The Lesnar-Reigns bout wound up being canceled after Reigns tested positive for COVID-19. Lesnar was added to the Fatal Five-Way match for the WWE title. He pinned Big E after an F-5 to win the championship. 

McMahon Issues New Day Edict

Despite putting Big E on SmackDown to reunite with Kofi Kingston, McMahon isn't allowing the duo to use the New Day moniker. 

Per Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select (h/t Marc Middleton of Wrestling Inc.), McMahon is "adamant" that Kingston and Big E not be billed as the New Day. 

Middleton, citing Sapp, also noted McMahon has wavered back and forth multiple times in recent years about splitting the entire trio, which also includes Xavier Woods,: 

"Furthermore, it was noted that Vince was also adamant at one point about putting The New Day back together as a trio because he 'missed the magic that they created together.' However, Vince also preferred that the group split up in the last two WWE Drafts, with the idea that a top babyface like Big E should be on their own in most situations. There were numerous draft pitches made to keep The New Day together despite Vince’s idea, but it didn’t do much good."

Kingston and Woods were moved to Raw in the 2020 draft, while Big E stayed on SmackDown. 

The following year, Big E was drafted to Raw when he was WWE champion and Kingston and Woods, who were still billed as the New Day at that point, were moved from the red brand to the blue brand. 

After Big E lost the WWE title to Lesnar at Day 1, he was officially moved to SmackDown on a full-time basis on Jan. 28. He has been teaming up with Kingston in a feud with Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss while Woods has been out of action with a torn plantaris. 

It's unclear if McMahon's edict only applies to the team of Kingston and Big E. Perhaps when Woods returns to action, they will be allowed to go by the name that fans know them by. 

The feud between Kingston, Big E, Corbin and Moss likely ended with Drew McIntyre's return at the Royal Rumble. Corbin is now involved in a program with McIntyre. 

Breaking up the New Day didn't seem to make a lot of sense when it happened. They have been one of the most popular acts in WWE since becoming a group in 2014. The trio has combined to win the Raw and SmackDown tag-team titles eight times. 

Rok-C Reportedly Receives WWE Offer

With Ring of Honor undergoing significant changes to its business model, many of its top stars figure to show up in new promotions all over the world. 

Former ROH women's world champion Rok-C has reportedly drawn attention from WWE. 

Per Meltzer (h/t Ethan Renner of WrestlingObserver.com), Rok-C received a contract offer from WWE after taking part in a tryout camp recently. 

According to Meltzer, she also participated in a tryout camp with WWE in December. 

It's unclear if Rok-C has signed with the promotion at this point. The 20-year-old made her ROH debut in April and took part in the women's world championship tournament last summer. She defeated Miranda Alize in the final to win the title at Death Before Dishonor XVIII. 

Ring of Honor announced in October that after the Final Battle event, the company would take the first quarter of 2022 to "internally reimagine ROH" going forward. 

Per Bryan Alvarez of WrestlingObserver.com, ROH wasn't renewing contracts for any of its current talent, and they would be allowed to work for other promotions immediately. 

Rok-C made a couple of appearances on Impact Wrestling in January. She was in attendance at Hard to Kill on Jan. 8 and lost the ROH women's title to AAA Reina de Reinas champion Deonna Purrazzo in a winner-take-all match on Jan. 13. 

Given her age and potential, Rok-C would seem to be an ideal fit for WWE. The promotion is using NXT 2.0 to start developing young stars for the future, including Bron Breaker, Andre Chase and Cora Jade. 

Rok-C would fit in with the current crop of NXT superstars, but she's also proved that she's capable of handling herself on a bigger stage if WWE wanted to put her on the main roster immediately. 

All of this is contingent on Rok-C signing a WWE contract, of course. 

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Big WrestleMania Match Was Reportedly Planned for Shane McMahon

WWE has reportedly been forced to make a big change to the WrestleMania 38 card following Shane McMahon's departure.

According to WrestleVotes, original plans called for McMahon to be "positioned near the top" of the WrestleMania card. With Shane reportedly out of the picture, WWE is in search of a new "major attraction" and the WrestleMania card is in "complete flux."

McMahon was a surprise entrant in the men's Royal Rumble match last month, and there were reportedly additional plans in place for him for both Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania.

PWInsider's Mike Johnson later reported that there was heat on Shane for his actions as a producer for the Rumble match. Johnson noted that Shane was frustrated that his father, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, shot down many of his ideas as well.

Shane was reportedly removed from the internal roster and the decision was made to go in a different direction with him no longer factoring into Elimination Chamber or WrestleMania plans.

It isn't clear who Shane was supposed to face at WrestleMania, but given that he was reportedly slated to be on Raw, some of the potential options were Austin Theory, Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley and Kevin Owens.

Theory may have made the most sense due to the fact that Theory and Vince have been interacting on screen for the past several weeks with Vince trying to get the most out of Theory.

Regardless of what the plans may have been, Shane is always in fairly significant and memorable matches when he competes at WrestleMania, so his absence would leave a hole on the card if he was indeed supposed to be part of the event.

RVD Talks Possibly Making WWE In-Ring Return

WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam said Tuesday that he is open to a WWE in-ring return if the opportunity presents itself.

During an interview with SportsKeeda (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Van Dam suggested he would consider any offer that comes his way whether its from WWE or another promotion: "I really do not have any plans for it, but you know, I would consider any situation from any company. I would definitely consider it. If it's right, it's right."

Van Dam also said he was ready to be a surprise entrant in the men's Royal Rumble match if called upon: "I let the WWE know that I was available if they needed me for Royal Rumble, and I was on standby, with a brand new outfit feeling great, you know, in a great condition. In the end, they did not call me in, but it could happen anytime."

The 51-year-old veteran's most recent match for a major promotion was back in September 2020 when he was working for Impact Wrestling.

After Van Dam's Impact contract expired, he reached a deal with WWE that allowed him to be part of the Hall of Fame last year and also includes merchandising opportunities.

RVD would have been a fun surprise for the Rumble, especially since it was largely lacking in that area aside from Shane McMahon, Bad Bunny and Drew McIntyre, who returned from injury.

While Van Dam may not be able to wrestle at the same level he once did, especially from a high-flying perspective, he remains hugely popular and has plenty of credibility as a former WWE champion.

Since WWE doesn't hesitate to bring back stars of yesteryear when it makes sense to do so, it stands to reason that RVD still has a chance for one last run with the company.

Styles Lauds The Miz's Heel Work

AJ Styles is one of the most beloved and respected wrestlers in the business today, which causes people to take notice when he praises one of his peers.

The Phenomenal One did precisely that during an appearance on Out of Character with Fox Sports' Ryan Satin this week.

During the interview (h/t Mukherjee), Styles had nothing but great things to say about The Miz and his work as a heel in WWE:

To me, there's no one who understands what a heel's supposed to be like [better] than The Miz. That's what I wanted to be. I'm just not as good as him. That's what I wanna be, and that's what heels should wanna be, they should not wanna be liked. They should wanna be spit on and all this stuff.

That's what we should strive for because with that emotion that you bring as a heel, [it] just makes whoever you're working that much better. When you got a heel and you got a babyface, it's easy. When you got a great storyline, it's easy, everything's gonna work out.

The Miz has faced criticism for as long as he has been in the wrestling business.

Many of his detractors didn't like the fact that he came to WWE from the world of reality television, while others have criticized his in-ring work.

Miz has won over a fair amount of fans, though, thanks to his promo ability, heel work and improved wrestling skills.

Styles is on the other end of the spectrum in that he has always been considered one of the best in the ring, but wasn't necessarily viewed as a great talker or someone with a ton of charisma.

That has changed during his WWE run, as Styles has shown the ability to connect with the fans on the microphone as both a heel and a face.

Styles and Miz are both on the Raw roster currently with Styles as a face and Miz as a heel, so it is entirely possible that they could work together again in the near future.

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AJ Styles Talks Relationship with Vince McMahon

It's become increasingly clear in recent years that some wrestlers hate the WWE structure. The scripted promos, characters who aren't necessarily in line with their vision, and aborted pushes have led to several stars seeking employment elsewhere.

AJ Styles, who would have his pick of anywhere in the world if he chose to leave WWE, is happy just where he is. Styles said he's extremely happy with his working relationship with Vince McMahon in an interview with Nick Hausman of WrestlingInc. 

“I love it,” Styles said. “So many things I had heard about him in the past, and then I go and meet this man, and we get along great. It’s one of those things if you go up to him and you’re honest, and you’re professional, you have no problems.”

Styles said he has the freedom to tweak some of his scripted promos to better fit his voice, which is helpful for him staying within his character.

Of course, Styles spent most of his career propping up TNA's at-times nonsensical creative, so WWE is likely a walk in the park by comparison. 

More AEW-Jeff Hardy Teases

It's looking increasingly like Jeff Hardy will be coming to AEW—perhaps as soon as Wednesday's Dynamite. Company president Tony Khan teased the opening of the Forbidden Door for a match between Isiah Kassidy and an unknown opponent, and it's looking increasingly like that person will be Hardy.

The Young Bucks changed their Twitter bio to "bring us Jeff Harvey," which is a reference to a mistake made by WWE ring announcer Mike Adamle in 2008. The Bucks previously had a picture of Hardy in their Twitter header.

Kassidy also seems conspicuously unable to get a hold of Matt Hardy, who took Private Party under his wing as part of the HFO.

What's interesting about the potential Jeff Hardy signing is that his 90-day clause in his WWE contract is not up. WWE released Hardy in December, and he would not be eligible to compete until March under the normal noncompete.

It's possible Hardy forced the issue after WWE accused him—seemingly falsely—of being under the influence while performing and asked him to go to rehab. There's a nonzero chance WWE would have faced a wrongful termination lawsuit if Hardy wanted to pursue that route.

It's clear there was an attempt at mending fences, with WWE offering Hardy a Hall of Fame induction and a return to the ring that he declined—all but guaranteeing he'll show up in AEW eventually.

Update on Goldberg's Contract Status

Goldberg's contract with WWE is set to expire soon, but don't expect him to trounce off into retirement after his Elimination Chamber match on Feb. 19 against Roman Reigns. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer said he expects the two sides to reach a new agreement, though no contract has been completed yet. 

"I have not heard him re-signing," Meltzer said (6:15 mark). "I would expect that they would re-sign him. ... I could see the argument because of the number being so high not to re-sign him. But I just sense that they probably will. One, to keep him away from the opposition. And the other because they can afford to do it."

Goldberg turned 55 in December but was the universal champion as recently as two years ago. While most modern fans have gotten over the nostalgia pop and have become disenchanted with Goldberg's continued presence, Meltzer noted he brings a ton of value to the Saudi Arabia shows.

WWE is under contract to bring two shows per year to Saudi through 2027. It doesn't seem likely that Goldberg will continue wrestling into his 60s, but it's not as if his matches have ever been particularly labor-intensive.

Since returning to the company in 2016, Goldberg has spent less than an hour total competing in a WWE ring. 

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Brock Lesnar and Vince McMahon were reportedly the most vocal in pushing back against Shane McMahon's attempt at booking the 2022 Royal Rumble.

Fightful Select reported Shane McMahon "specifically wanted to go on in a spot that would highlight him." He suggested himself for the No. 1 spot in the Rumble, which went to AJ Styles, and made several other suggestions that were poorly received backstage.

Vince McMahon and Lesnar, the eventual winner of the Rumble, stepped in several times to overrule McMahon's ideas. The younger McMahon was reportedly "insistent" on his vision, which did not come to fruition.

Once the booking settled down, Shane McMahon was reportedly set to go into the match at No. 29, but that was switched to No. 28 at the last minute. McMahon "reacted hastily" to the switch but eventually went out when Randy Orton told him that he would not be entering the match to Shane O'Mac's music. 

Shane McMahon, who was booked to be a regular on Raw through WrestleMania, was quietly fired in the fallout of the Rumble fiasco. The men's Royal Rumble was one of the worst-received in history, with only 2015's Rumble ranking worse on Cagematch fan voting. Several reports indicated Shane McMahon's presence and attempts to produce the Rumble was among the reasons the match booking seemed scattershot. 

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