WWE
Stevie Richards has delivered a scathing assessment of Stephanie McMahon’s return promo on WWE Raw, sparing nothing in his critique of the segment that saw McMahon interrupt Cody Rhodes and ultimately slap The American Nightmare. Speaking on The Stevie Richards Show, the former WWE star struggled to reconcile Stephanie’s lifelong immersion in the wrestling business with what he saw on screen.
“How can I say it? There’s a part of me that just can’t compute that this is basically Vince McMahon’s daughter. This is a McMahon. This is somebody that was born into the business, that surrounded herself in the business for her entire life. And she sucks. She’s terrible,” Richards said.
Stevie Richards Says Stephanie McMahon’s Promo Felt Flat and Condescending Against Cody Rhodes
Richards broke down specific elements of the segment that he found particularly problematic. The heel promo built around both McMahon and Rhodes being multi-generational talents fell flat for him, and he described the overall tone as condescending. He also took issue with the closing sequence. “The fact that Cody grabbed her by the arm is like, ‘Oh, Cody put his hands on her.’ He got over. But then he said, ‘Thank you.’ So the whole scope of this — the theme of the promo is you have no idea what type of Randy Orton you’re dealing with going into WrestleMania.” Richards suggested the segment may have been driven by a desire to give the WrestleMania 42 ticket sales a boost rather than a purely creative motivation, questioning whether the McMahons’ return was more self-serving than storyline-driven.
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