The highly respected website THE SAVAGE SCIENCE has posted a fantastic article on the future of Shane McMahon,
with some wild theories that actually make a ton of
sense.
Massive kudos to reporter Jim Murphy for his well
done story. We give this story our highest recommendation.
Key excerpt:
Some have speculated that McMahon could
go to work for the UFC, but that’s very unlikely. What is more likely is that
he’ll choose to compete with the UFC in some fashion–either by creating his own
promotion or going to work for a competitor.
When you’ve been in the situation
he’s been in all his life–where the name on the big office has alternately been
his grandfather, father or mother–becoming just another employee who’d be well
down the chain of command from the Fertittas and Dana White, if not others, just
doesn’t have its appeal. Taking f-bomb laden orders from The Dana may be a dream
job for ‘Zuffa Zombies’ but not for a guy who has been in McMahon’s position.
He’s definitely not going to go to work for a guy who has been called by many as
the next Vince McMahon–Dana’s not, for a number of reasons but Google ‘Vince
McMahon Dana White’ and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Now, Shane could sidestep all of this and become a film producer or
televangelist, but that’s hard to see. Here’s my educated guess having followed
Shane’s career from when he first appeared on WWE TV–he’ll be in the MMA
business in some capacity. Here’s my wildcard scenario: he’ll become the public
face and a top executive of STRIKEFORCE, and perhaps take an ownership interest.
Strikeforce is even less of a competitor to his family’s business than the UFC
since they’re not in the PPV business at the moment.
He’s knowledgable of
Japanese MMA and no doubt sees a lot of potential in the promotion’s working
relationship with DREAM and understands that they’ve got a lot of talent already
in the fold. Most importantly, he could see the value of their TV relationships
with CBS and Showtime. And lest we forget, Shane’s primary role in the WWE was
‘Executive Vice President of WWE Global Media’ responsible for among other
things “International Television Distribution, Live Event bookings, Digital
Media, Consumer products, and Publishing”. Unlike his sister Stephanie, who has
routinely been criticized her handling of the creative end of the product, Shane
has received high marks from everyone for his work in his gig. He’s got the
contacts and smarts to potentially take an existing company to the next level,
perhaps making Strikeforce the circa late 1990’s WCW to the UFC’s
WWE.
Of course, he could just start a company from scratch but that seems
unlikely for a number of reasons, not the least of which would be his experience
with the WWE. He’d have to attract talent, build a brand, secure TV deals, get
PPV clearances, worry about building revenue, so on and so forth. My hunch–and
again, its only a hunch–is that he’s much more interested in taking an
established product to ‘the next level’. He could end up being a Dana White
toady, but don’t be surprised if he becomes part of Team Strikeforce early next
year after he officially leaves the WWE. From a lot of perspectives, its the
best fit and most compelling challenge for him.
