Five years ago this week, Shane McMahon announced his resignation from WWE. It was a shocking move for the son of Vince McMahon to depart the company. There was speculation that he would get into MMA or even gather investors to buy a stake in TNA. Neither was not the case, as he moved into the non-wrestling sphere and has quietly run his own businesses. The following is a look back to reaction to Shane's resignation five years ago...

PWTorch Newsletter Flashback
Shane McMahon resigns from WWE, shocking the company
Originally Published October 2009
Report by Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

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WWE executive Shane McMahon announced he will resign from his WWE executive position effective January 1, 2010.

Shane, the son of WWE CEO Vince McMahon and fourth generation McMahon to promote ring attractions, was head of Global Media, which meant negotiating TV, merchandising, and live events deals with international markets.

Shane's departure from WWE follows Linda McMahon's resignation as CEO to run for Senator in Connecticut.

The move blindsided WWE staff and wrestlers, as it was assumed Shane would be a prominent executive and shareholder in his business for life.

WWE executive Shane McMahon said in a released statement that he "never even considered a future outside the walls" of WWE, but says he has an outside venture that he wants to pursue. Shane did not specify what the next venture is.

McMahon said his decision to leave his executive position for his father's WWE promotion was a surprise even to himself. "However, sometimes life takes an unexpected turn and while it is the most difficult decision I have ever made, it is time for me to move on," Shane said.

Shane thanked his father for giving him an opportunity to help build WWE into a "global phenomenon." He also thanked the pro wrestlers who he has worked with and shared a ring with as a semi-active competitor.

"Thank you for the privilege of sharing the stage with you and for allowing me to become but a momentary member of your elite brotherhood," he said. "I have so much appreciation for the many sacrifices you endure, both physically and personally, to make this business the success that it is. The respect I have for each of you is immeasurable."

Shane said he feels now is the time to pursue outside ventures after being associated with his father's promotion the majority of his life. "I feel this is the opportune time in my career to pursue outside ventures," Shane said.

WWE announcer and former WWE executive Jim Ross called Shane's announced resignation "major surprise" within the WWE organization. "No one knows why Shane seemingly abruptly decided to leave the family business and I don't feel that any one will know the reason until he declares what his next venture will be," Ross said on jrsbarbq.com. "This comes as a major surprise to many including me. Shane is a proud, fourth generation wrestling person who has worked with WWE essentially his entire life starting on the ring crew."

Because of Shane's expressed interest in the sport of mixed martial arts, there has been speculation Shane's venture is related to MMA. Competing with the firmly entrenched no. 1 promotion UFC would be a challenge, especially with Strikeforce already playing the role of challenger with a TV deal in place with CBS and Showtime.

So far there have been no credible leaks regarding the circumstances of Shane's departure. Comments by his father Vince McMahon indicate, at face-value, that he was surprised and disappointed with his decision.

He said he is "personally saddened" that his son Shane is leaving WWE effective the beginning of 2010.

Vince said in a prepared statement that he is "proud of the enormous contributions" Shane made to WWE. "He will unquestionably bring passion, commitment, and extensive business experience to any endeavor he pursues," Vince said in a press release.

Paul Heyman told the Wrestling Observer radio show he believes this could be the biggest story of the decade once all of the ramifications play out.

Heyman also talked about how Shane was disappointed two proposed situations involving Shane running ECW were shot down by Vince, once in 2000 and again in 2006 with the ECW re-launch. There had been talk of Shane being the head of a separate corporation that would have operated ECW as an online-only entity at first. There had also been talk of WWE purchasing UFC and Shane operating it when it was near going out of business nearly ten years ago, but that also fell through.

Shane is the same age, 39, that Vince McMahon was when he promoted WrestleMania I and was well into making history as the most influential and powerful pro wrestling promoter in the cable and pay-per-view era.

A former WWE production assistant Mike Witt, who worked closely with Stephanie but saw Shane, tells PWTorch: "As for Shane, although he was not around much, he definitely was the louder of the two. He was one of the boys and wanted everyone to sense that. Almost to the point where it was quite degrading to Stephanie." He says he saw Shane as a "salesman through and through," while Stephanie is "down to earth and says what's on her mind."

Stephanie now has a clear path to taking over WWE if Vince McMahon steps down before she reaches retirement age. Triple H also now moves up the influential depth chart.

***

Keller's End Notes Reaction
Published October 2009

Shane McMahon has always been portrayed by people with experience inside WWE as being "his mother's son," whereas younger sister Stephanie McMahon was always considered "her father's daughter." Eric Bischoff reiterated that in his "Torch Talk" a few weeks ago talking about working with Stephanie McMahon.

Jerry Jarrett said in a "Torch Talk" years ago that he remembers a time where he had dinner with the entire McMahon family when Shane and Steph were teenagers. A comment was made about Shane taking over the family business some day and Stephanie interjecting, with a sense of entitlement and determination, that she, not Shane, would run WWE some day. I've heard similar stories over the years from others.

In other words, even when they were teenagers, Stephanie had her eye on running WWE some day. Shane has always known he'd have competition for being the "next McMahon" to run WWE. Whenever that time comes, and it could be next month or in 2025, maybe Shane doesn't want to be around only to be officially passed over. Maybe Vince McMahon, who's said to be even more erratic and temperamental than ever, blew up at his son one too many times.

Shane might simply be at a point where he wants to get out from under the shadow of his father and sister. With his mother leaving WWE to pursue a seat in the Senate, it trailblazed the path for Shane to also leave without being branded disloyal to the family business.

Almost 20 years ago during a tour of the new WWE headquarters, Shane McMahon and I were introduced to each other. Being similar in age, there was a little buzz afterward among other reporters on the tour that it was the first meeting of a long relationship that would develop, with me covering him decades later as he ran WWE. Instead, twenty years later he's barely on the map of wrestling influence, "relegated" to New Media and lower profile generic corporate positions within the company.

Let's not forget, either, that Shane was a hideous embarrassment on air recently in the Super Shane-o-Mac storylines where he was beating up heel wrestlers 15-plus years younger than him. It was ridiculous and unbelievable. It showed a lack of instinct and judgment on Shane's part to even agree to participate in something as silly. It showed a disconnect from reality, a lack of any sense of internal logic regarding what made sense in the WWE Universe. Maybe Shane has finally realized he doesn't have a knack for pro wrestling, or even a passion for it, given the total lack of good judgment and the internal and external ridicule that resulted.

Maybe Shane wasn't pleased with Stephanie calling him out as being irresponsible, more interested in a night on the town than running WWE, as she recently did on Raw. As has been well-established over the years, a lot of what is said on WWE TV on any given week is an expression of Vince McMahon's feelings at that particular moment. Maybe Vince was sending Shane a message.

People who have known the family over the years have told me that Shane craved his dad's approval, but always felt he came up short. He has never been a gym rat, seeming more pudgy than chiseled over the years. While he's shown signs of being ambitious, he's never been someone who matched his father's strengths as both a visionary, having attention to detail, and having a firm and defined creative philosophy

As Shane approached the big-four-ohh, it's no surprise that he'd like to live independently, not under the scrutiny and expectations of his father and in the shadow of Stephanie's rise to power. He might put himself in a situation where he can find out once and for all how much of any success and riches he's acquired had to do with preferential treatment. He can now fend for himself, with an admitted head start of millions of dollars and a guaranteed soft landing, in the real world outside of pro wrestling. It could be politics, it could be MMA, it could be a kite or envelope company, or maybe he just wants to be a stay-at-home dad.

Whatever path he takes, he's stepping into a new chapter of his life that many doubted he would ever be brave enough to do. It's so surprising to some that there are people considering that he's leaving only temporarily to get involved in, say, an MMA start-up company. If it works, he folds it into WWE. If it doesn't, it's not a black mark on WWE or Vince McMahon. The most tantalizing scenario is that he is getting investors together to buy TNA and run opposite of his father after a falling out.

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