Shane McMahon Was Reportedly “Unprofessional” Ahead Of WWE Exit

A new report has claimed that Shane McMahon was “unprofessional” and “complained to a lot of people” after his ideas were vetoed at the 2022 Royal Rumble.

Shane McMahon made his surprising return to WWE TV at the Royal Rumble. He entered at number 28 and eliminated his old rival Kevin Owens before being thrown over the top rope by Brock Lesnar.

After the event, reports emerged claiming that McMahon had a “lot of heat” for his role in producing the match and that his planned matches at Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania had been dropped. It was then confirmed on February 2nd that he was out of WWE.

Now, a new report from Dave Meltzer has shed some light on the events which led to Shane McMahon’s departure, claiming that he acted unprofessionally after having many of his ideas for the Royal Rumble match vetoed by his father, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer added that Shane O’Mac “talked down to a lot of people”.

“He was let go, so that’s the major thing. It all stems from the Royal Rumble and there were a lot of people that said he was very unprofessional backstage. It was just a mess. They just kept changing the match, over and over again. He wanted to do it one way, then Vince would veto it, Brock Lesnar would push for other things. Brock got a lot of what he wanted, and Shane didn’t get a lot of what he wanted, and then Shane complained to a lot of people and I guess talked down to a lot of people.”

Meltzer went on to confirm that McMahon was set to have a feud with Seth Rollins and that he was fighting for him to be in the Royal Rumble, something that was vetoed by Vince McMahon. In addition, claims that Shane was meant to clash with Austin Theory were said to be untrue.

Additionally, Meltzer explained that Shane doesn’t hold an official title within the company and was only under contract as a talent. He finished by confirming that McMahon has “never been discussed” the “heir apparent” who would eventually take over the company.

Shane McMahon had a lot of different roles in his WWE career. His first on-screen role was as a referee named “Shane Stevens” (since his father Vince didn’t want people knowing it was his son) in the late 1980s/early 1990s. In 1998, he became a regular on-screen character, then he started wrestling in 1999 and wrestled consistently for the next decade.

In 2009, Shane left WWE to pursue other business interests. Shane returned ahead of WrestleMania 32 in 2016 and had a Hell in a Cell match with The Undertaker on that show. When WWE did another brand split in 2016, Shane became the Commissioner of Smackdown and remained a key figure in storylines for several years.

Other than his Royal Rumble appearance this past weekend, Shane’s last match in a WWE ring was at WrestleMania 37 last year when Braun Strowman defeated him in a Steel Cage Match.

H/T to Inside The Ropes for the above transcription