While Triple H rising up the ranks behind the scenes in WWE was likely inevitable, there are those who believe his marriage to Stephanie McMahon accelerated that. It's no secret that Shane McMahon has seemingly had his nose pushed out in recent years, and while he did return to the company, it appears his creative role was minimal and ultimately discounted (RAW Underground, for example).
Recently, veteran WWE referee Mike Chioda - who was released by WWE last year - opened up about the McMahon family dynamic and said it all started going downhill when The Game became romantically involved with Stephanie. That, he believes, led to Shane's extended absence from the company and, in Chioda's opinion, is why Vince's son doesn't have a top executive position.
"With Triple H out, you’re going to have Johnny Laurinaitis, Road Dogg, and Scott Armstrong running the f***ing business? You’re not going to have Shane McMahon there? Where’s he at? "A lot of heat there," he claimed. "It gets more interesting, believe me. It’s sad because when I started working for this company, there was Linda McMahon, Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon and now it seems to be all broken apart."
"All the money in the world probably can’t fix it. They have all the money in the world...the family is torn apart at this point I think. Maybe not torn apart all the way, which I hope not, but it’s torn apart," Chioda continued. "I love Shane. I can’t say anything bad about Shane McMahon. I love Stepanie too. She’s never done me wrong, but I’m sure she could have put a kibosh when they gave me the axe after WrestleMania a year and a half ago. I’m sure she could have put an end to it but she didn’t."
If this is accurate, then it's a real shame. It's been apparent all is not well for some time, of course, and interesting to think how much different WWE might look with Shane taking a more active role.
Check out the "Monday Mailbag with Mike Chioda" on AdFreeShows.com.