Report: Vince McMahon Possibly Behind Late WWE Raw Changes

The go-home edition of Monday Night Raw before Night of Champions emanated from Hershey, Pennsylvania on May 22 and not everything on the show played out as originally planned.

According to Fightful Select, changes were made to Monday Night Raw and new rundowns were distributed shortly before the show went on the air at 8 pm ET. One talent within WWE speculated the changes were made by Vince McMahon but Fightful Select have not confirmed that was the case. 

Vince McMahon is the head of WWE creative and he has overseen plans remotely for the most part since he reasserted himself at the top of the creative process after WWE's merger with UFC was announced on Monday, April 3. He has made major changes to some shows, but his alterations have largely been minor, although McMahon retains the power to change anything he so desires. 

What plans were changed exactly is unknown but Fightful Select noted Paul Heyman was scheduled to appear on Raw in a segment where he would have been seated in the front row. Spoilers ahead of Raw also noted that JD McDonagh was scheduled to make his singles debut on the main roster but that didn't end up happening. Hints also suggested that Shinsuke Nakamura would be teaming with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in the main event of Raw against Imperium, while Matt Riddle would take on Finn Balor. Nakamura and Riddle ended up swapping roles when Raw went on the air.