Evaluating Vince McMahon's Impact on WWE Since December Return

Vince McMahon cut a promo on the March 21 edition of Monday Night Raw in which he threatened that WrestleMania would be The Undertaker's last match if he falls to Shane McMahon. That announcement alone should have drawn a massive response from fans, as it was a surprise to everyone.

But that was not the case. It seems even the boss himself can't save the somewhat lackluster product WWE has been of late. However, this was surely not what the company expected when Vince came back in December.

Any time Vince is on TV, it's a big deal.

He's not the constant presence he once was on WWE programming; he's rarely featured on TV anymore. Thus, his appearances mean more. He doesn't waste time on TV, as he is there to serve a greater purpose.

That greater purpose was renewed on December 14, 2015, when McMahon came back to Raw and confronted Roman Reigns. Reigns' path to the top has been a tumultuous one from the very beginning, as every time he seems close to getting over, he loses a step.

Despite what WWE has done to help him, Reigns has just not been able to get a foothold. Fans don't care about him, and they especially don't care about him competing for the company's top championship. But that night on Raw, everything changed, thanks to Vince.

Reigns' credibility had risen the night before at Tables, Ladders & Chairs when he attacked Triple H with a steel chair, and he brought that momentum with him to Raw. Fans were still not on board with him, but at least he had gotten their attention.

Vince made sure he kept it.

Booking Reigns against the hated Sheamus was a great move, but it took McMahon getting hit with a Superman Punch to really bring it home. Reigns won the title that night and received perhaps the best response he's ever gotten from a WWE crowd.

Fans had apparently bought in, and Reigns appeared to finally be over.

But then McMahon got involved again on December 28, when he confronted Reigns once again on Raw. This time, the segment did not end with Vince getting knocked out. Instead, it ended with him being arrested by police in what many fans likely felt was a forced segment.

WWE's usual practice of using the McMahon family to get a babyface Superstar over worked. But pursuing it surely led fans to consider that it was possibly a bad move.

McMahon's involvement with Reigns eventually led to the latter losing the belt to Triple H at the Royal Rumble, squashing any momentum the Samoan star had built. The Game reclaimed the throne, and McMahon was left celebrating as he had so many times in the past.

Now Vince has moved on to his son Shane, and Shane's match with Undertaker at WrestleMania. He's become the Paul Heyman of the storyline, hyping the match and selling it to the masses. McMahon continues to do the work he's always done in terms of using his charisma on TV to enhance the program, but is it enough?

The past few weeks of Raw have arguably not laid out The Road to WrestleMania that fans expected. Instead of impatiently awaiting April 3 and looking forward to the excitement it brings, the crowds have instead seemed disinterested at times. 

Many of the company's top stars, including John Cena, Seth Rollins, and Randy Orton, are still on the shelf, and WWE itself is still struggling because of it. Stephanie McMahon and Triple H continue to mock fans on TV and try to make everyone hate them, but many fans are likely booing out of boredom more than anything else.

Now fans are left wondering if even Vince can save the day as he's done before.

It just seems like a hard sell now. What more can the McMahon family do to heel out? Vince's character has committed every crime imaginable, and The Authority has followed in his footsteps. Holding down Reigns has become a full-time job, and now taking The Deadman's career from him should he lose at 'Mania has become just as important.

The McMahon family must call the shots, not just backstage but on stage as well. Vince is a huge part of that, but if fans are not responding as needed, then what becomes of him and the impact he could potentially have on the product?

This is about more than fans being bored with WWE's direction. This is about WWE's time-honored storyline moves and plot devices not getting over like they have in the past. WWE is losing momentum heading into its biggest night of the year, and Vince McMahon could perhaps change all of that.

Whether or not he will remains to be seen.

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