WWE chairman Vince McMahon returned to company programming on last night's Survivor Series pay-per-view, and he'll appear on Monday Night Raw in a quest to solve an unsolved theft.
During a backstage segment with Universal Champion Roman Reigns, McMahon displayed a precious golden egg that he claimed was worth $100 million. This was presumably done as a way of advertising The Rock's Netflix film, Red Notice.
Later on in the show, McMahon briefly left his office and returned to see Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville waiting for him. A horrifed McMahon also noticed that his golden egg had been stolen, and he angrily demanded that Pearce and Deville find the culprit. As a result of the theft, all WWE superstars will be present for the post-Survivor Series of Raw as McMahon and company try to solve the crime.
On Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Sportskeeda Wrestling), Dave Meltzer suggested that WWE decided to bring in the WWE chairman as a way to help Raw's ratings.
"Well, I just thought it was like a way to get Vince on television to get a rating tomorrow, that's all," Meltzer said. "I mean, they probably have some storyline."
Furthermore, Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com reported that the McMahon-missing angle "is 100% a Netflix paid promotional partnership to push" the aforementioned Red Notice film. Johnson added the "storyline is expected to wrap up tonight", noting that WWE will have made the WWE "quite a nice payday."
McMahon rarely appears on WWE programming these days, but he tends to receive strong fan reactions whenever he shows up, so it's easy to understand the idea of bringing him in for a ratings boost. If the golden egg storyline leads to strong viewership numbers this week, McMahon may feel inclined to make several more TV apeparances down the road.
Needless to say, it'll be interesting to see how this stolen egg storyline plays out on Raw.
It's Worth A Try
Raw's declining ratings have been a long-term issue with no signs of a turnaround., and having to compete with ESPN's Monday Night Football from September to mid-January doesn't make things any easier. WWE has nothing to lose here in bringing back McMahon for a hopeful increase in viewership.