Despite taking what sounded like an extended hiatus from WWE after spinal surgery (and an ongoing legal investigation), it's now being reported that Vince McMahon is back...and very much in charge of what we saw during last night's episode of RAW.
Endeavor has completed its acquisition of WWE and merged the company into TKO Holdings alongside UFC. As a result, Vince is expected to be hands-on in the company, and while Triple H will still run creative, the 78-year-old is going to have the final say when it comes to, well, everything.
On his final night as WWE's majority owner, it appears the WWE Chairman wanted to ensure he spearheaded the company's flagship show.
"He made multiple changes to the show tonight," Dave Meltzer reports. "There were also multiple changes made by [Paul] Levesque at the last minute. Vince is back. Vince made significant changes to the show. I don't know what the changes were. I'm sure that they will probably come out tomorrow."
"Going forward, he's the guy, he's the Chairman and he's running the wrestling company. When it comes to wrestling, Ari Emanuel is very willing to say, ‘I don't know wrestling.’ He knows wrestling. So it's Vince's baby. When it comes to the creative end, it's Vince's baby. When it comes to decision-making on the company and all that, Ari Emanuel, Nick Khan, and Mark Shapiro are going to be the guys who are handling the TV negotiations. That's it."
Fightful Select has since chimed in to say that Cody Rhodes' placement in the episode was among the changes, as was the impromptu tag team match which saw Kevin Owens and Jey Uso team up to face The Judgement Day.
Interestingly, Main Event may have undergone the biggest alterations. Natalya vs. Zoey Stark was completely scrapped, while a RAW match putting The Viking Raiders against Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin was relegated to the B-show.
When it comes to what Vince's role in WWE will be from here, it's hard to say. We're hearing he only attended RAW remotely last night, so the days of him being in Geurilla to change things on the fly are likely over. However, he still thinks he knows what fans want and should he get too involved, that will be bad news.
Ratings for RAW and SmackDown have increased since Triple H took over and we'd hope Emanuel will have the sense to put Vince in a position where he's little more than a figurehead...and someone it might be worth sending off into the sunset if those legal troubles don't go his way.
And yes, he's still rocking the 'tache...