If you're a die-hard WWE fan, you'll probably get the gist of what I'm driving at here.
On the December 17 Monday Night Raw, in the wake of the TLC event, Vince McMahon, accompanied by son Shane, daughter Stephanie, and Triple H, Steph's husband, made a declaration to the television audience and the fans at the arena that, in the face of record low television ratings caused by viewer apathy over creative complacency, coupled with the usual seasonal competition from Monday Night Football, they would listen to their fan base and attempt to create fresh matches.
Two months later, not much had changed. Instead, the seeds have been planted for a long-term story arc that would finally write off "Mr. McMahon", all so that Vince can focus his energies on reviving the XFL, set to return in February 2020. How, you might ask?
1. Women's Royal Rumble winner Becky Lynch, injured at the event, had been "suspended" in storyline by Stephanie for refusing a request to seek medical attention for her injured knee. A week later, Becky apologized for attacking Stephanie & Triple H, separately, on back-to-back nights. Apology accepted, but.....
Vince McMahon decided that the apology wasn't enough, citing the attacks as an affront on himself indirectly, and reinstated the suspension, making it 60 days, ensuring that Lynch would not face Raw women's champion Ronda Rousey at Wrestlemania next month. McMahon further threw a monkey wrench into things by anointing runner-up Charlotte Flair as Rousey's challenger on April 7.
Initially, my take was that while McMahon made his decisions based on technicalities, it seemed as though he was acting independently of the family with a hidden agenda.
2. Last week, in Atlanta, it was assumed by many that Lynch would crash a televised birthday party for Hall of Famer Ric Flair, Charlotte's father. There had been a surprise party in Flair's honor, attended by Charlotte and some of the same guests who were in attendance, three nights earlier. Charlotte was booked for a live event in Savannah on February 25, and thus when Lynch was "arrested" early on in the show, that opened the door for former World champion-turned-box office superstar Dave Bautista, aka "The Animal" Batista, to make an appearance, ambushing the elder Flair.
This attack had its roots in storyline in a Smackdown segment four months earlier:
This sets up Batista-HHH at Wrestlemania, and this arc will play out this month. However, what if it's also part of a larger arc, involving Vince McMahon?
The timing is curious to be sure, considering the CEO/Chairman was not on screen in Atlanta, but would show up in the heart of Flair country in Charlotte, North Carolina, the next night.
3. A week after Shane had anointed Kofi Kingston as the next challenger to WWE champion Daniel Bryan, along comes Vince to change that, claiming he felt the match needed a bigger box office draw. Thus, Kevin Owens, fresh off the injured list, was tabbed to replace a shocked Kingston. The stunned expressions on the faces of Kingston, Shane, & Stephanie were priceless. Owens & Kingston would team for the first time later in the show to defeat Bryan and his new aide, Erick Rowan.
Again, the issue is with Vince, and whether or not he's actually making these decisions, in the context of the story arc, in concert with the family (doubtful), or is acting on his own, making these moves willy nilly to screw with the same fans he'd paid lip service to two months earlier. And what role does Owens actually play in all this?
My take is this. Batista-HHH is meant to distract the "Cerebral Assassin" away from whatever his father-in-law is up to for the duration. That means Shane & Stephanie have to work together to bring their father back to reality (good luck with that) until HHH can rejoin them. With Smackdown shifting over to Fox in October, they will need to close the books on this story arc well before then. That means figuring out the best way to write off the elder McMahon, creating a scenario where HHH, the mastermind behind NXT's surge in popularity the last few years, Stephanie, & Shane can "run the show" without Vince "meddling" as a test to see if it really is time for Vince, who will be 74 after Summerslam, to, despite what he told ESPN's Jeremy Schaap 10 years ago this month, walk away from WWE. It's a move that many fans feel is way, way overdue in the face of seasonal ratings malaise devolving into a persistent problem.
Of course, I could be wrong.
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