What if Shane McMahon never left WWE?

At the end of 2009, Shane McMahon left WWE. He’d already receded to a very occasional part-time role as an on-air personality, though disappearing altogether still left a hole in WWE’s roster, and removed him from the list of popular “surprise” stars to sprout back up for big shows and angles.

Shane abandoned his backstage executive role. It’s widely rumored that he was either outright told, or else could read the writing on the wall that his sister Stephanie, and his brother in law Triple H had usurped the role he once sought. Nonetheless, even if he wasn’t going to be the top executive in WWE, we have to assume he’d have still factored in as a corporate leader with significant stroke.

Shane did end up returning in 2016. As far as the public is concerned, this is a strictly on-air talent role, though given his family connections, it’s rumored he is a backstage power player, too, and may transition back into a formal executive role sooner than later.

In the meantime, it’s interesting to consider what things might have looked like for both Shane and the larger WWE organization had he never walked away from the company at all. This article looks at five potential outcomes.

#5 A division of power

Stephanie and Triple H might have remained in power, but Shane would have a piece of the pie.

The general consensus was that with or without Shane in the mix, Stephanie and Triple H were moving into top executive roles in WWE. Had Shane stayed the course, however, there’s plenty of reason to believe his father would have delegated significant responsibility to him.

In particular, Shane was reportedly a champion of WWE's international expansion as well as the ECW brand. It’s not too far out of reach to imagine he might have had the opportunity to head up ventures such as NXT or 205 Live had he continuously been in the mix, as opposed to Triple H getting the reigns.

Another possiblilty—Shane might have had a pronounced role in facilitating WWE’s more recent dealings with India, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and other international markets, and potentially have pushed along some of those negotiations sooner.