WWE News: Shane McMahon says he doesn't watch Raw
Shane McMahon returned in February this year to one of the biggest pops of the year. The red-hot Detroit crowd, along with all of us, were absolutely thrilled to see the prodigal son back on WWE television after nearly 7 years. In fact, Shane McMahon was gone through the entirety of Daniel Bryan’s career, which is ironic given that Bryan is now the General Manager of Smackdown Live, under Shane McMahon.
Despite losing his Wrestlemania match against The Undertaker, where the stipulation was that if he won, he would gain control of Monday Night Raw, Shane ended up running the next four episodes of Raw after that. At Payback, Vince McMahon announced that Shane and Stephanie McMahon both would be in control of Monday Night Raw. Not too long after, the brand split was announced, and the next month was all about the siblings proving to each other and Vince McMahon who would be better for controlling Smackdown Live after the draft (while under the assumption that they’d still control Raw).
One week before the draft, Vince named Shane as commissioner of Smackdown Live, and Stephanie as commissioner of Raw. It is no secret that since the draft, Smackdown Live has been doing considerably better than Raw oeverall. In fact, most people consider Smackdown Live to be 5-2 up in the scoreboard post-draft.
Another key thing that people absolutely love about Smackdown Live is Talking Smack, the post-game show, hosted by Renee Young and Daniel Bryan. On Talking Smack, they usually have a few guests each week as well.
In the latest edition of Talking Smack, Shane McMahon came in to talk about the status of Chad Gable’s “injury” and more. He stated that he was very pleased with the progress of Smackdown Live and the rising ratings as well. When Renee asked Shane what he thought of Raw, Shane stated that he does not watch Raw but simply checks the results online. Presumably not what Renee was expecting for an answer, she quickly changed topics, clearly not wanting to make a big deal or create a buzz about that comment.
Smackdown Live has their first brand-exclusive pay-per-view this Sunday, BackLash. The main event of Backlash is Dean Ambrose vs AJ Styles for the WWE World Championship. Though Smackdown Live were not able to have much of a build up towards the Pay-Per-View, it will be interesting to see if they knock the ball out of the park with it.