Why "The Authority" must not regain control of WWE Raw

Vince McMahon will be at WWE Payback on Sunday, May 1. The owner of the world’s largest pro wrestling company will decide the fate of Monday Night Raw, and the only question is, which sibling will get control?

Shane McMahon has been in charge of Raw since the night after WrestleMania 32, but Stephanie McMahon wants back in. However, she and Triple H must be kept away from the reins of Monday Night Raw; The Authority must not regain control.

It’s been like a breath of fresh air for fans since Shane took over. He’s been given credit for the booking, which has seen newer stars like Enzo and Big Cass get air time. He’s also been credited for unique match-ups like Sami Zayn versus AJ Styles. It’s not that WWE wasn’t capable of this sort of booking from the beginning; but why not use it to get Shane over?

The fact is a new day has dawned in WWE, and Raw needed a makeover. Fans have been screaming for something different for so long now, and it’s been a welcome change of pace to finally see it happen. Shane has benefited from this, and he has really never been more popular.

Of course none of this would perhaps have even been possible had it not been for WWE’s injury situation. Indeed, much of the new crop have found a foothold because of the void left by Superstars shelved in the months leading to WrestleMania.

Shane McMahon has been running Raw since WrestleMania 32

Daniel Bryan and Sting both retired. Cesaro, Randy Orton, Tyson Kidd, and John Cena were all hurt, and the company compensated by throwing everything it had at Mania. When the event received mixed reviews, the overall vibe was that something had to happen. Now it has, and there is a chance it could all be taken away.

The fact that Shane is babyface is not the issue here. The fact that Triple H and Stephanie are heels is not the issue either. None of that is a problem, at least not on the surface. The real issue here is that when The Authority is in control, it’s all about them.

There is literally no room for anyone else to get ahead or to even get over. Whether it’s by design or by coincidence, the fact is babyface Superstars are consistently under the gun every time Hunter and Stephanie are calling the shots on Raw.

WWE obviously wants it this way, otherwise why would it keep happening? Why would nearly every fan favorite always find a roadblock every Monday night, unless it had something to do with The Authority being in power?

The truth is that every storyline, every match, every move made on Raw is all in an effort to get The Authority over. It’s become the number one priority for Raw, an agenda that simply cannot be denied any longer. This has gone far beyond a simple angle to generate heat; this has become a real problem for fans that are sick of Raw’s repetitive nature.

Not only must The Authority be over, they must be indestructible. This is the second edict that was apparently handed down when The Authority took over back in 2013, and it has continued since that time. CM Punk couldn’t stop Triple H in the beginning. Daniel Bryan’s WrestleMania 30 win over Hunter wasn’t enough to bring them down.

Daniel Bryan brought the fight but he could not defeat The Authority

Roman Reigns can’t get it done, Dean Ambrose can’t touch them, and even Sting himself was unable to topple The Authority. Shots have been fired, and they’ve all missed. The Authority is undoubtedly the most powerful heel faction that the industry has ever known, because no one and nothing can stop them.

They do not exist to get other talents over, and when it does happen, it’s only for a short time. The Authority always wins, and they always will. This is what fans can’t stomach anymore, and this is what has caused so many of those same fans to embrace Shane McMahon.

But could WWE actually reverse direction once again? Has all of the talk of WWE’s new era been for nothing? Has the Shane McMahon storyline all been nothing but a bump in the road back to the return of The Authority? Many are speculating that this is leading to a Shane versus Authority angle, and that may very well be true.

However if it is, then once again fans will see the McMahon family putting itself over. At the end of the day, that is the real agenda and it’s one that fans have seen repeated for years. There are so many new faces and dynamic talents both on Raw and in NXT, yet every single one of them will only go as far as WWE allows them to go.

It’s been said that if a guy wants it, he has to go for it. But in the world of WWE, a McMahon will always be standing in front of him. It may be a McMahon in character on TV, but it will happen nonetheless. If The Authority regains control of Monday Night Raw, then stars like Zayn, Styles, Apollo Crews, Enzo and Cass, will all bow down to them every time they begin to get some fire under them.

This is how WWE believes babyfaces should be put over; at the hands of The Authority. But there will never be a true payoff for any of them, and no in WWE seems to even realize it. Sadly, that may never change despite which family member sits on the throne of Raw.

Tom Clark can regularly be found on Sportskeeda. His podcast, Tom Clark’s Main Event, is available on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Android, Windows Phone and online here