TRIPLE H has taken over from Vince McMahon as on-screen figurehead of Raw - amid rumours that the same thing is about to happen in real life.The Game appeared at the end of Raw for the first time since the night after Wrestlemania to deliver the message to his father-in-law that, in the storyline, the board of directors had declared a 'vote of no confidence' in the Chairman and that Hunter would take over immediately.
This announcement came at the end of a Raw which struggled to live up to the previous night's standout Money in the Bank PPV.
They were never going to be able to deliver such an amazing night of action again, but it still felt like some of the momentum from the previous evening did not carry across.
Vince McMahon started the show by announcing a one-night, eight-man tournament to determine a new WWE Champion.
The fact that he was about to create a new champ, just 24 hours after CM Punk won the belt and disappeared, seemed to undercut his major fears about what would happen if Punk took the belt elsewhere. If he can make a new champion just like that, why was he afraid of the consequences of Punk's victory?
Speaking of Punk, he did not appear on Raw and was sparingly mentioned, with McMahon stating that his name would not be uttered. This was to build up the realism that his departure is legitimate, although John Cena would mention Punk towards the end of the show.
The tournament progressed to leave Rey Mysterio and The Miz in the final but, with little time left on the show, Vince interrupted and aid the final was postponed. He had declared that John Cena was to face serious consequences for not beating Punk and wanted to deliver on that.
Cena cut a fierce promo on the mic, with WWE again sailing as close to the wind in terms of worked shoot comments as they ever have done.
After briefly addressing 'Kevin' (Dunn, WWE producer) Cena tore into Vince. He then turned to the hard camera and said to Punk: "If you are out there watching, it was a hell of a match last night, son. Thank you so much."
He then made the first ever allusion to TNA on a WWE show. Addressing the possibility of McMahon firing him, Cena said: "I love the WWE and I truly believe I belong here. And man, I hate saying this, but if you're about to tell me that I'm not welcome here, if you're about to tell me that I have no other option. ....I love this. This is what I do.
"But if you make me walk tonight, then I will walk on someone else's television show and keep doing this, brother!"
As Vince was about to fire Cena, Triple H emerged in a suit, and delivered his speech to Vince. It was a little corny at times - Hunter saying "I love you, Pop" made the crowd groan - but Vince did a great job of crying in the moment, and this is a most intriguing storyline twist.
This was obviously a scripted angle, but rumours are gathering that Vince may well take a step back in the near future.
Former WWE star Sean 'X-Pac' Waltman tweeted on Sunday night, referring to Triple H, saying: "The text he sent me today makes much more sense now. That was the real deal, that last five or however many minutes".
He later said: "To clarify my tweet last night. Raw last night was on a symbolic level."
Jason Powell of ProWrestling.net reported that he spoke to Waltman, who told him the comments were "more a case of the Hunter and Vince segment playing on the real life situation of Triple H shadowing Vince for the last year and being groomed to take over the position someday."
For now, the change is on the TV show. The hope is that WWE continues to provide the quality of the last months or so, with focus on wrestlers and titles, and not simply yet another wrestling power struggle.
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