WWE: How Big Is the Conspiracy on Monday Night Raw?

It has mystery! Intrigue! Drama! John Laurinaitis texting people! Yes, the conspiracy storyline currently playing out on Monday Night Raw has captured and steadily held fan interest.

Since former NWO star Kevin Nash shockingly stormed in after the main event of WWE Summerslam and took out new champion CM Punk for unknown reasons, WWE Raw has been plunged into controversy, as this corporate power struggle unravels before the eyes of baffled and curious viewers. Embroiling every major name on the show, including Triple H and CM Punk, this has turned into the most fascinating wrestling storyline in quite some time as everyone desperately tries to figure out the solution.

There are several questions that require answers: Who is Kevin Nash working for? What is John Laurinaitis up to? Is Vince McMahon truly gone? Why did The Miz and R-Truth get involved in the main event between CM Punk and Triple H at Night of Champions and attack both competitors?

On-screen, things have dramatically played out: paranoia has ensued, fingers are being pointed in every direction, everyone is turning on each other and, to make matters worse, new COO Triple H may be cracking under the pressure, as he fires people left and right and challenges his employees to fights on PPV (not exactly Boss of the Year, is he?).

Forget Mulder and Scully; this is the real conspiracy. Someone call the Hardy boys to figure this out! (I mean, the teen detectives, not the crazed, drug-addled wrestlers.) 

So just big is this mystery, anyway? Is this an attempt at a corporate power grab by some unknown figure who simply wants more power and money? Does it have ramifications for the entire company?

The answer to both questions is probably yes. There have been plenty of hints that someone is eager to usurp HHH new found power and seize it for themselves.

As most fans are aware, Hunter took over WWE in July, dramatically entering the ring and relieving a devastated Vince of his duties, after the all-powerful WWE Board of Directions decided the unstable WWE owner had been acting far too erratically to remain in charge.

But since booting out his father-in-law, Hunter's tenure as boss have been plagued with in-fighting, lies, connivery and betrayal. CM Punk at first refused to believe Hunter's claim that he had no prior knowledge of Kevin Nash's involvement at Summerslam, and the two even came to blows on several occasions, culminating in a match on PPV last week.

HHH's good friend Kevin Nash has even turned on him, lying to Hunter about being in a serious car accident and attacking him at the PPV during.his match with Punk. No one is quite sure whose side Nash is on, although he seems to strongly aligned with WWE's Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, the duplicitous John Laurinaitis. Knowing Nash, he's probably only loyal to whoever is willing to pay him the most. 

To make matters worse, recently fired employees The Miz and R-Truth (who Triple H got rid of at the end of last week's Raw for viciously assaulting several referees at Night of Champions) have been doing run ins at recent house shows (attacking frequent foes Air Boom) and complaining in interviews that HHH is incompetent and unfit to run WWE. No doubt these two will end up worming their way back into the company in some way or other.

Poor Hunter; he's getting pressure from all sides these days.

This conspiracy to oust HHH has to be vast in its magnitude and stretching to every aspect of WWE, partly because of the power players involved. It's also had far too much airtime dedicated to it on WWE Raw to simply be a marginal and disposable main event angle.

What direction are the writing team going this angle? Well, no one can be sure, of course. But we can hazard a few guesses.

Notably, John Laurinaitis was closely affiliated with Vince when he was still in charge and, while Laurinaitis is publicly throwing his loyalty and support behind Hunter, no one really buys it, partly due to his actions of late (sneaking off for secret meetings to Nash, getting involved in the Punk/HHH at NOC and patently lying to HHH's face about Kevin Nash's phony car accident).

Laurinaitis, a master of self-preservation, isn't going to risk doing all this and making an enemy of HHH unless he feels he is carrying out the orders of someone far more powerful and dangerous than him.

Could this person possibly Vince McMahon? Perhaps Laurinaitis is still loyal to his old boss and his puzzling actions of late are all part of an elaborate attempt to sabotage Triple H and return his old boss to power.

Hey, it's not like Vince is any stranger to complicated and devious schemes. In 1999, he was sensationally revealed as The Higher Power, the person behind the actions of The Undertaker and his corporate ministry stable.

More interestingly, it was recently reported that a frustrated Vince threw a massive tantrum backstage at last week's Raw after Alberto Del Rio casually mentioned the WWE owner's name in a promo. Vince was irate because he felt this gave away to fans that he would shortly be returning to Raw, presumably as the pay-off to the current conspiracy angle.

Or, perhaps the WWE writing will be weary that this development is now far too obvious and go somewhere entirely different with the angle. Maybe the big twist will be that the McMahon family have nothing to do with it. Considering how fond the writing team have grown of swerves recently, this would hardly be a surprise either. Who knows how it will all end?

Either way, whenever the story behind this conspiracy is fully unveiled, expect it to be huge; the biggest WWE storyline in quite some time isn't going to have no pay-off whatsoever.