Following directly on the heels of WWE Payback, the ‘New Era’ continued on an episode of Raw that saw both Shane and Stephanie McMahon in equal control of the flagship show. The power struggle on top seemed emblematic of the chaos that ensued, as Raw veered wildly between segments containing quality wrestling and intriguing possibilities, and other parts of the show which had a dreaded aura of things we’d already grown tired of in the previous era. But with the Extreme Rules PPV only three weeks away (thanks, WWE schedule-makers!) there was very little time for reflection, and a whole bevy of (re-)matches to book. Overall, Raw was an uneven show that both offered hope for future success, and concern about some important things that just don’t seem to be changing. Let us explain in more detail…
10. Division of Labor
All right, so Shane and Stephanie are both in charge of Raw, with equal power and, presumably, equal levels of responsibility. However, that certainly didn’t happen for their first night in power. After the opening segment, in which Shane and Stephanie co-agreed to make Cesaro and Kevin Owens fight to become #1 contender to the Intercontinental Title (and bless them for that), Shane disappeared for the rest of the evening. Meanwhile, Stephanie was all over the show, making matches, cancelling beloved interview segments, pretending to be a nice person that we all know she isn’t, but the important thing is that she was visible. Meanwhile, where was Shane? Did he just wander off after the first commercial break? We’ve talked before about how Shane’s absentee authority figure would be a nice change, but if Stephanie’s showing up in every third segment without Shane counter-balancing her act, we might as well be back in the Authority era all over again.
http://pl.wwe.com/photos/2016/05/03/shane-and-stephanie-mcmahon-celebrate-raws-new-era-photos?r30_r1_r1:page=7 Source: pl.WWE.com