WWE News: Plans For Stephanie & Shane McMahon Feud To Begin Taking Shape

Though The Authority is no longer presiding over the WWE roster, Shane and Stephanie McMahon are providing an authoritative reign as a collective unit on Monday Night RAW. Vince McMahon made the “groundbreaking” announcement at Payback, forcing his two children to coexist with equal power. From a storyline perspective, Shane’s shocking return the night after Royal Rumble sparked rage and jealousy out of Stephanie and helped light the fuse on two WrestleMania main events.

Stephanie’s husband, Triple H, was to defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns, while Shane battled the Undertaker inside Hell in a Cell. While Triple H had his title and pride on the line, Shane was supposedly putting his time with WWE on the line. Vince decreed that Shane could run RAW if he won, and subsequently, the Undertaker would never be allowed to wrestle at WrestleMania again with the loss. The Deadman won, yet Shane remained in charge, creating one of the more bizarre storylines in recent memory. Reports have since surfaced that Vince asked Undertaker to lose to Shane, but the Phenom refused which has resulted in a strained relationship with the chairman.

Skip ahead to the present where we find Shane and Stephanie a little more than a month into their reigns as co-heads of RAW. Things have been relatively cordial between the two, and many expected it to remain that way as WWE was attempting to turn babyface amid news of an autobiography and her grooming to replace her father on the business side of things. However, that all appears to be changing. According to a report from Daily Wrestling News, the Shane and Stephanie sibling rivalry is about to heat back up and should have major ramifications on the upcoming brand split and draft.

Shane and Stephanie were the ones who initially announced the rehashing of the brand extension on all of WWE’s social media platforms. They even jokingly argued over who would run RAW and who would be in charge of the new and improved live Smackdown. Many assumed that Stephanie would remain in power on Mondays, while Shane and his vision would oversee the new era on Tuesdays. That still may be the case, but it looks as if the two will not be separated peacefully. This certainly wouldn’t be the first time the two clashed, as WWE has showcased every possible version of McMahon family drama on our television screens, and it usually sells. This time, things might be even more interesting, however.

When Shane first came back, in shocking fashion, reports began to surface that there was real-life tension backstage between the key figureheads of Vince, Shane, Stephanie, and Triple H. For the last seven years, Steph and Hunter have been operating under the impression that they were being molded into Vince McMahon’s successors. Shane’s return may have thrown a monkey wrench into those plans, but publicly, Vince has maintained that Shane’s role is only that of an on-screen performer with a contract to support it. But if Shane intends on sticking around, some of that tension may end up on TV, which would certainly create some compelling segments.

The other elephant in the room since Shane’s return has been the fact that he and Triple H have yet to appear on camera together. In fact, HHH only mentioned Shane once in a backstage segment with Stephanie. Whether that was by storyline design or otherwise will have to play itself out. But the natural progression of this story would see Shane and Steph feud over the draft and subsequent brand extension, leading to Triple H’s return to challenge Shane to a match at SummerSlam. Regardless, be on the lookout for things to get increasingly more heated between brother and sister over the next several weeks.

[Image via WWE]