Last night’s WWE Monday Night Raw was held in Hartford, Connecticut’s XL Center just a few miles from the front door of Vince McMahon. PWInsider was the first to report yesterday that McMahon was spotted on-site for last night’s Raw sometime after 6:30 pm. Their report stated that McMahon was not in the Gorilla Position but was very active when it came to re-working the show, changing the order of segments and matches to fit his vision.
Fightful shared a similar report, noting that by 6 pm many talents had heard that McMahon would be in attendance, and a workroom was being prepared. That room turned out to be for McMahon, who many expected to be at the show anyway, due to how close it was to his home. Unlike PWInsider’s report, Fightful says that McMahon was indeed in the Gorilla Position throughout the show, which is the same place he sat for the Raw after WrestleMania 39.
McMahon’s presence at the Raw after WrestleMania this year reportedly caused a lot of confusion and stress among talent backstage. Many had become accustomed to the more lowkey atmosphere Paul “Triple H” Levesque had curated following McMahon’s retirement, and when the former boss popped up again it caused a blow to locker room morale. The same does not appear to be the same this time around as both reports indicate things were not as hectic, and talent seemed to be less resentful of the situation.
PWInsider noted that many talents were likely more at peace with the situation this time around because the band-aid had already been ripped off in regard to McMahon’s return. At this point, it seems to be common knowledge among the roster that McMahon has returned to WWE’s creative throne. Even though he is not on-site every week for all the major shows, he is still working remotely and is sending in decrees that will be followed through.
Despite the Succession-esque story playing out backstage, WWE’s creative is putting butts in seats in front of the curtain. Fightful notes that internal records indicate that last night’s show in Hartford was WWE’s highest-grossing Raw or Smackdown event ever for the market.