Well, what does the departure of Shane McMahon from his father's controversial company World Wrestling Entertainment mean to the millions of fans, both rabid & casual, who follow the hijinks of what WWE says is wrestling in 2009?

The Internet is agog with speculation & stories. Bloggers are going goofy. Everybody has an opinion, well at least among the die-hard followers.  Casual fans, which make up the bulk of the TV ratings & the majority of the PPV buys, have no idea and could not care less. Nonetheless, I guess I might as well venture a thought as to what Shane leaving (and apparently he won't be gone until the end of the year anyway) will mean to the product on television & PPV.

Truthfully?

Nothing.

Not a doggone thing.

WWE is Vince McMahon, and Vince is still in command, and full of spit & fire. A few might have some influence, perhaps daughter Stephanie or her husband Triple H (who, like most wrestlers, is probably more concerned about his angles & his position). Maybe the creative crew makes Vince pause to consider.

Pat Patterson used to have Vince's ear more than most. Does Michael Hayes today? According to a Newsweek article, Bonnie Hammer, the head of the USA Network, definitely has some input.

How Vince is approached and by whom apparently makes a difference in just how seriously wrestling's monarch might consider an idea.

But, in the end, WWE is Vince McMahon. His fingerprints are everywhere. Nobody, believe me...nobody...considers anyone other than Vince to be the boss, the person who makes the final decision (and usually the first decision as well, although he is famous for changing his mind!).

What you see is what Vince has decided wrestling -- or, yuck, sports-entertainment -- is today.

As to the inner dynamics of the family McMahon, bluntly nobody knows. No matter what any source might claim, nobody knows except the players themselves -- father, mother, son, daughter. And, make no mistake, nobody else has a right to know. What happens behind closed doors is the business of families, not fans.

While Vince has played out some acts in public, please understand those plots are no more real than is reality television, which is scripted and produced to the hilt. While there may be parts of the personalities of particularly Vince, and maybe Shane, Stephanie, & Linda (let's hope not, because she want to be a senator), on display for a fleeting moment, what we see on television are characters, not the real people.

I wrote in my new book Drawing Heat The Hard Way: How Wrestling Works about what the future could hold for wrestling depending upon Vince's children. I also compared Vince’s kids to the offspring of Sam Muchnick, who essentially guided the business of wrestling from the late 1940's until almost 1980. I looked at Vince & Sam, how they were the same & how they were different.

Now part of Vince's family legacy might be playing out, but it is private, and it should be just as what happens in your home is private, and it should be. 

The real dangers for wrestling in 2009 -- growth of MMA/UFC, dwindling talent base from which to develop talent, no new charismatic stars, lack of quality action, too many grade school skits, dumbed-down booking, dangerous reliance on fickle television executives -- are much more meaningful than whether or not Shane McMahon stays...or goes.

Unless Shane is a genius and has other plans! 

For now, though, despite all the hoopla & rumor, nothing changes in what wrestling fans see.

(Larry Matysik has just released his third book, "Drawing Heat The Hard Way: How Wrestling Works" through ECW Press. He learned wrestling from Sam Muchnick in St. Louis, where he eventually was the television announcer, booker, & publicity man for the sport's most unique promotion; then Larry spent a decade with the World Wrestling Federation, and has also promoted numerous independent shows. Contact Larry with any thoughts, comments, or feedback at the MNM/Sizzlin' Sauces inbox, or via the program's official Facebook & MySpace pages.)