This week on WWE Monday Night RAW the prodigal son doth return, as Shane McMahon made a shocking appearance on WWE television for the first time in almost a decade. What was looking to be a predictable segment, with Stephanie McMahon expectedly receiving the Vincent J. McMahon Legacy Of Excellence Award, became a 30-minute shock-fest in the best way possible. Normally when a show starts off with any combination of McMahons it’s a snoozer, a bathroom break, time to grab a snack before the real content begins. It was different this week. It was obvious that somebody was going to interrupt, but it was out of the blue to see who did.

When Vince McMahon said that WWE was going to get creative with WrestleMania this year and that the opponent for The Undertaker would be somebody unexpected — later reported to be somebody not even on the active roster — Shane McMahon was more than likely not a name that popped into anybody’s consciousness. Lo and behold, here indeed comes the money, and what a way to return.

Here’s the thing, though — there is trouble brewing. Suddenly there are reports that WWE has been discussing renewing the brand extension. Shane ‘O Mac would run RAW while The Authority would helm Smackdown. It’s interesting timing for reports to crop up that there have been talks of bringing back the split. Did the talk only just start overnight on Monday? Was nobody reporting it because they felt like sitting on big news?

Nah, it’s just speculation. That’s usually the case, but there have been many speculatory educated guesses that have become reality. This is not the time for that.

WWE has a singular world title, and they made a very big deal about uniting their much less meaningful pair of world titles to bring a proper top-tier championship back into the mix. If there’s a new split, eventually they will create a new top title for one of the brands, because they don’t know how to elevate a current title. Look at the United States Championship. It was a big deal when John Cena was holding it, but as soon as he lost the belt it became just another colorful prop amidst the shuffle.

More importantly, if they go with Shane running RAW while Stephanie and Triple H helm the blue brand, nothing will actually change. For a few months things will be different and they will provide us with the illusion of change, but there is no precedent to believe that it will be a long-term solution. Before we know it there will be heel authority figures feuding with the top babyfaces and McMahon family power struggles eating up precious time. If Shane defeats The Undertaker and grabs control of RAW, expect him to be challenged for it by midsummer. He will lose to Triple H at SummerSlam and everything will revert to exactly how it is today.

There are so many variables, and things will take form even further next Monday when The Undertaker returns to RAW. WWE did a heck of a lot this week to make it feel like we have truly entered WrestleMania season and it really is about to get very interesting.