Shane McMahon Reportedly Tried To Return To WWE Years Ago, Triple H And Stephanie McMahon's Reaction
Ian Frisch has a great feature at Vice Sports about WWE business, the inner workings of the company, working for Vince McMahon and more. The article also discussed Shane McMahon's WWE departure and a secret meeting he had with Vince McMahon years later in 2012.
It was noted that Shane left WWE in 2009 because of a real-life power struggle with Vince and Stephanie McMahon, with a senior-level executive saying that there "was always tension between Shane and Stephanie."
It was revealed in the piece that Shane met with Vince at the WWE production office in Stamford, CT, which is separate from WWE headquarters, in March of 2012. At the time, Paul "Triple H" Levesque – who has yet to appear with Shane on WWE television since his return to WWE last February – was working on launching NXT and Vince was reportedly stressed because ratings were down.
"When Stephanie found out Shane was going to be there, she went white in the face," a source told Frisch. "And Paul freaked out."
Shane was at the meeting with his friend James Frey, who was the CEO of Full Fathom Five. Shane said that he wanted to take over creative and the writer's room, while Frey and his Full Fathom Five team would serve as consultants. The meeting was set up through WWE Executive Vice President of Production Kevin Dunn.
"Kevin Dunn is very close to Shane," the source said. "And there's tremendous tension between Kevin, and Paul and Stephanie. They feel like the company is theirs, but they don't have power to control Kevin."
It was noted that Dunn would have had even more influence with Vince if Shane was back with the company in a top position, and Shane would also be back in control of a piece of the family's legacy. Vince ultimately turned down Shane's offer.
Source: Vice Sports