Did Vince McMahon Hint at Passing Down the WWE on Raw?

The WWE Chairman hinted he may soon hand off the company to his children on this week’s Monday Night RAW.

The ending of  the July 11 episode of Monday Night RAW may not have been an exciting one to most. No fighting, no dramatic heel or face turns, no chaotic fade out that left us waiting to see what happens next week. But in all that, the WWE may have set forth a storyline over two decades in the making.

Vince McMahon announced that Shane McMahon would be taking over SmackDown, while Stephanie McMahon would go back to controlling Monday Night RAW. Nothing unexpected came from that decision – it was widely assumed Shane would be taking over SmackDown with a wealth of fresh talent from the new generation once the WWE brand split officially happened after the draft. However, it was Vince’s closing message to both his children on last night’s episode of RAW that foreshadowed one of the biggest storylines in the famed company’s history: Who takes over the WWE when Vince McMahon is gone?

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The WWE Chairman called for his two children to create competition between the two brands, something that he claimed was lacking from WWE television over the past two months. Not only that, but Vince said that he wanted to see

“I want the two of you to compete and I really mean compete,” Vince told them in the ring. “One of you just might inherit the keys to the kingdom.”

In one sentence, Vince McMahon may have launched a nine-month build up to the biggest match in WrestleMania history: the one that determines who gets control of not just Monday Night RAW and SmackDown, but the entire WWE.

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The WWE typically begins to drop seeds for its major WrestleMania storylines in the late summer the year before, giving them months and months to bloom into the major matches they need for their biggest pay-per-view of the year. By introducing the idea that Vince McMahon will one day hand down the WWE to either Shane or Stephanie, we get to see them compete for their father’s approval and his ultimate reward by pitting their brands against one another leading up to WrestleMania 33 next April.

Vince McMahon will be 71 years old at the time of WrestleMania 33, already two years older than when his father Vince McMahon Sr. passed away at 69. It’s an unsettling fact that Vince McMahon, the God of professional wrestling, will one day no longer be with us. It’s one that makes my skin crawl. But it’s also one that means Vince has to undoubtedly be thinking of who will carry on his legacy and take control of the WWE, in reality and kayfabe.

Already having tried to remove himself from on-screen duties back in 2007 with a kayfabe death before being forced to return due to the Chris Benoit tragedy, Vince is aware that he needs to tie up the loose end of his kayfabe character sooner rather than later. It seems now that Wrestlemania 33 might be the right time, in the eyes of the WWE Chairman.

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The match and the buildup – if Monday’s ending to RAW is any indication that it will finally happen – will carry the burden of being the biggest storyline in WWE’s history and potentially professional wrestling’s. And I, for one, cannot wait to see it unfold: Who gets control of the greatest professional wrestling company of all time once the God of Sports Entertainment leaves it all behind – the ruthless daughter who carries all of her father’s every backhanded trait, yet still vies for his approval? Or the prodigal son who returned home, ready to carry on his father’s legacy? The story is ready to unfold, but only when He is ready to let it happen.