Hours before WWE Monday Night Raw went live on the USA Network, word broke that Vince McMahon was backstage at the show.
The word going backstage was he was there just to visit John Cena, who returned to set up his WrestleMania Goes Hollywood Match with Austin Theory. McMahon is also sporting a mustache.
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While speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted McMahon was in the Gorilla position (where the wrestlers enter from the backstage area to the stage) all night during Raw.
“He was in Gorilla all night. What does that tell you? He wasn’t barking orders at people or anything like that but he was in Gorilla all night. I was told that they tell you that he’s only there to visit John Cena, that’s the story, but there’s more to it than that.”
Bryan Alvarez brought the announcers calling Johnny Gargano ‘small’ and Chad Gable ‘the little ugly guy.’
Meltzer added, “That’s not necessarily Vince, but I can’t say that’s not Vince either. Omos is wrestling Brock Lesnar on the pay-per-view. He’s going to be killing people. That would be the case whether Vince is there or not. The Omos presentation is exactly what I thought it would be.”
Meltzer noted that the announcers called Gable, which would fit into Shorty Gable, a gimmick that Vince came up with for Gable a few years ago.
“He’s doing more than they’re letting on,” Meltzer said. “The person who was in control tonight was Levesque, so it’s not like he [Vince] was in charge and doing stuff but it’s not like he was just visiting John Cena and saying hi to a few people and left. That didn’t happen, either. So the truth is a little bit in the middle, most likely. For sure it is, actually.”
Triple H is still in charge of creative. WrestleVotes noted that McMahon being in Gorilla didn’t impact what was planned for Raw:
While Vince McMahon was in gorilla the entire show, and said to be in a pleasant mood, I’m told his presence backstage didn’t impact anything ‘script wise’ last night.
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) March 7, 2023
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