Shane O Mac is Gone

[Tsurutagun]

A former World Cup winner is now a free agent. 

Expect Everton to sign him. 

[Perry]

Was that Raw Underground nonsense all Shane's idea too?  

[BomberPat]

12 hours ago, Liam O'Rourke said:

For what it's worth, Meltzer has written on the F4W Board that, "It wasn't because the match was bad. It was because of his behavior backstage on Saturday."

One of the stories going around has been that, because of Shane constantly rebooking the Rumble match, it meant that Bad Bunny's number kept getting changed. That, presumably, would have had a knock-on effect on what he was expected to do, who he'd be working with, and so on, which is a much bigger deal for a non-wrestler that would need time to prep and rehearse those spots, than it would be for anyone on the roster.

But, more significantly, it also meant it made WWE look unprofessional and disorganised in the eyes of one of their biggest celebrity partners and his people, and that sort of thing is definitely not going to fly in Nick Khan's project of pushing for mainstream acceptance and crossover appeal. Wouldn't be surprised if they've had Shane fall on his sword for that.

[mim731]

23 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

One of the stories going around has been that, because of Shane constantly rebooking the Rumble match, it meant that Bad Bunny's number kept getting changed. That, presumably, would have had a knock-on effect on what he was expected to do, who he'd be working with, and so on, which is a much bigger deal for a non-wrestler that would need time to prep and rehearse those spots, than it would be for anyone on the roster.

But, more significantly, it also meant it made WWE look unprofessional and disorganised in the eyes of one of their biggest celebrity partners and his people, and that sort of thing is definitely not going to fly in Nick Khan's project of pushing for mainstream acceptance and crossover appeal. Wouldn't be surprised if they've had Shane fall on his sword for that.

This seems like the most likely explanation in all honesty. Equally, much like the majority of corporate sacrificial lamb firings that happen, given Shane's surname I suspect he'll resurface in WWE again in the not-too-distant future. 

[Stop the pigeon]

Triple H, Shane and there pals should start a new company. Plenty of decent people who were let go, to fill the company.

[Merzbow]

I bet Jeff Jarrett is already on the phone to them.

[Lorne Malvo]

8 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

I bet Jeff Jarrett is already on the phone to them.

Why, has he got more gold to flog?

[Merzbow]

Well Trips always had a fetish for Big Gold..

It's more likely be has some Conrad bucks to invest.

[garynysmon]

The dynamic of that family is so fucked up isn't it?

[BomberPat]

Shane had a decent little legacy going for him before he came back - he had a few good high spot matches, people will remember the big dives and the Angle street fight, and how he was booked pretty well as a non-wrestler who could bust out the odd big move when he absolutely needed to, but mostly go by through craftiness and guts. It was a good dynamic, even with the underlying "son desperate to please his dad" aspect.

Behind the scenes, he had the best thing you can hope for as a wrestling mind - none of his ideas ever seemed to get used, which meant they all continued to sound great on paper, or else he could talk years after the fact about how he totally would have run the ECW brand exactly how you'd have liked it. Beyond criticism, because there's no actual content to criticise.

Then he came back, looking like Irish Uncle Matt LeBlanc and sweating his entire body weight, and wanted to look like a hard man in front of his kids, so was suddenly booked as an MMA-trained bad-ass who could go toe-to-toe with AJ Styles in the ring, and then when given any degree of creative input absolutely shat the bed with it.

Just an absolutely phenomenal midlife crisis.

[Thunderplex]

Irish Uncle Mat LeBlanc.  Fuck me that’s funny.

[Carbomb]

1 hour ago, BomberPat said:

Then he came back, looking like Irish Uncle Matt LeBlanc and sweating his entire body weight, and wanted to look like a hard man in front of his kids, so was suddenly booked as an MMA-trained bad-ass who could go toe-to-toe with AJ Styles in the ring, and then when given any degree of creative input absolutely shat the bed with it.

This has been going on a while, though. Remember when Kane first lost his mask and looked like the threat he first was for the first time in years? Was going around murdering people, setting JR on fire, Tombstoning Linda, and then a middle-aged, pudgy businessman comes in and goes toe-to-toe with supposedly the biggest, most psychotic monster they've ever had.

[69MeDon]

This is worth reading. Contains some choice lines like "Shane was willing to put Brock over" (good guy Shane) and "concerning levels of perspiration":

Quote

Wade Keller posted an audio update on Shane McMahon on PWTorch.com. Keller noted that things got really bad between Shane and his father Vince McMahon at the Royal Rumble but there were issues before the pay-per-view.

"Things really unraveled with him and his dad on Saturday," Keller said. "Things were not good, according to what I heard."

Keller continued, "If you've been listening carefully to me in the last month or two, you would have gotten the impression there was little chance Shane would have been at the Royal Rumble this weekend, or in WWE's plans. I was pretty surprised when he showed up and then there were reports that he was going to be in a storyline that would weave itself all the way to Wrestlemania because of what I've been hearing about Shane's status in the company, and his relationship with his dad in particular."

Keller said, "This was almost a last straw for a lot of people in WWE when it comes to Shane [and] his dad, of course, being the final decision maker on that front. So the story is for the third year in a row he was brought in to help produce the Royal Rumble. It's sort of a dad doing a favor to his son...Shane's creative ideas over the decades have been laughed at behind his back. I've reported that for decades. He was never seen as having a good creative wrestling mind. That has carried over even into his 50s when trying to help produce the Royal Rumble."

"This was an ... unexpected, sharp increase in disruptiveness in bad ideas on Saturday," Keller said. "From what I'm told directly from people there, he was really self-centered. It was all about him [and] his ideas, and he didn't get caught up on what the plans were for the match. He didn't know was going on TV that was building to certain moments. And he just pulled the McMahon card with the match producers wanting things to be done his way because why else would Shane-O-Mac be brought in, if not to basically dictate something, a major chapter involving him in the match. And so he did. And it got to the point where there were heated arguments with people who felt that they could push back and a lot of stress and strife and distractions with everybody else because it was just chaos. There was a plan for the match. Shane was pushing back against producers who were simply trying to follow through on what Vince McMahon told them should be done in the match. And Shane just went way overboard. If you look at the people that Shane was fighting in the ring during the Rumble, that was his doing. That's who he wanted to be in the ring with looking good against. I mean two of the legit kind of badass guys in WWE -- Otis with his background and Riddle with his background, and Shane punched away at them. Then Kevin Owens super kicked him twice and tried to toss him out but Shane reversed him and tossed him out over the top row to eliminate him."

Keller added, "While all this is going on, Shane is sweating, profusely [and] this has been a thing for him recently, more than recently where there's a concerning level of perspiration. It's almost like just droplets are shooting out of his head and face."

Keller added that Shane was willing to put over Brock Lesnar but things between Shane and Vince got really bad backstage.

"So when it came time to put someone over, Shane was willing to put over Brock Lesnar," Keller said. "But the issue with Shane really got to the next level with Vince when it came to what was planned for Raw and that Shane had real problems with how he was going to be framed as he was going to be in the Elimination Chamber. And so, Shane disagreed with what Vince wanted to do and how he wanted to do it. It was laid out to Shane what the plans were and he did like it, and he pushed back and that led to Vince just finally having enough and canceling all plans with Shane, everything that they have planned with him."

At this point, it's not clear if he was released from his talent contract or if he was simply sent home. Keller said, "I haven't been able to confirm that it's an actual firing because I'm not quite sure what Shane's status is with the company in the sense that if there's an employee or relationship that could be canceled in a traditional way firing happens. But the idea now is from what I'm hearing is he is not going to be part of WWE in any way on or off camera for the foreseeable future, which could span a long, long time. Like years. It's father, son, it's a family situation, who knows, right? But...because this has been festering for a while and it's been an issue for a while, this isn't something that just surprised everybody and it came out of nowhere on Saturday. The feeling is that this really could be the last straw. And there could be a level of professional estrangement between Vince and Shane...I haven't found anybody who will defend Shane, in terms of how he acted on Saturday."

 

[The King Of Swing]

Just imagine Shane and Brock stinking out the joint. 

Instead of Brock chucking the belt at Vince backstage it would be Shane's severed head.

[Statto]

The line in there about Shane's ideas being laughed at into his 50's stirred a thought in me that links in to Pat's earlier assessment of Shane.

For some reason, Jerry Lawler exclaiming "He's FIFTY-THREE years old!" as Austin did something unpleasant to Vince during the ladder match at KOTR 99 has always stuck in my head. As in, how dare Stone Cold be treating this older gentleman who has no business being in the ring at his age this way.

Shane just turned 52...