In what is (according to F4WOnline.com) apparently is reflecting reality more than Triple H's acting ability indicated, tonight's Monday Night Raw ended with Triple H (or Paul Levesque if you prefer to put it that way) replacing the "fired" Vince McMahon as...I guess Chairman (in storyline, in real life Vince is probably keeping that title until he dies but I suppose we'll learn a lot more in the next day or two) of WWE.
The show started with McMahon declaring that CM Punk was an ingrate and announcing a one night, eight man tournament for the WWE Championship tonight. The tournament took up most of the show, which had very little in the way of promos. In the final segment, McMahon postponed the Miz vs Rey Mysterio finals until next week to get his meeting/firing with John Cena underway. Cena cut an excellent promo about his love for WWE where he resolved to leave if he really did get fired.
Before that could happen, Triple H (in a much more normal business suit than Vince's ensemble, which included a ridiculous pink sports coat) came out. He said he just flew back from Stamford after flying there from Chicago. The board of directors is worried about Vince, so they got an injunction "with a vote of no confidence" removing Vince from power and winserting Triple H himself as replacement. Triple H was not portrayed as a white knight babyface saving Cena. He was sad to be retiring his father in law, who he called "pops," and talked about putting the business first. The crowd starting singing the chorus to "Kiss Him Goodbye" but then Vince started crying (much more convincingly than Triple H) and turned the crowd, evoking a "thank you Vince!" chant.
Watching it, I thought Triple H's acting meant that it wasn't a segment meant to signal his real life takeover of the wrestling end of the company, but the sheer weirdness of the segment and seeing Vince cry befuddled me. I guess weirdness is the watchword, as the linked post on F4WOnline.com (no byline but presumably by Dave Meltzer) said this:
Vince fired; HHH takes over
So is the storyline that ended Raw tonight, which at least to an extent mirrored real life since HHH has been groomed all year to be taking over for Vince to head the company.
More later tonight.
It had been known that Triple H was being groomed and getting a lot more active in his official behind the scenes executive role (producer the announcers on some nights, signing and grooming Sin Cara, taking over the developmental system, etc.) but everyone figured it would be a lot more gradual since Vince would never step down. And now...this.
If this is really happening, then I'm speechless on that topic. If we just saw the end of Vince McMahon as a booker and wrestling promoter, then what in the hell is going on?