The big news today is that Shane McMahon–son of Vince McMahon–has resigned from the WWE. Here’s his statement from the WWE website and then we’ll tell you what this all means for you, the MMA fan:

It is with great sadness that I announce my resignation from the WWE, effective January 1, 2010.

I have never even considered a future outside the walls of the WWE. However, sometimes life takes an unexpected turn and while it is the most difficult decision I have ever made, it is time for me to move on.

First and foremost, I would like to thank my father for the incredible education working with him has provided and for giving me the opportunity to play a role in building WWE into the global phenomenon that it is today. I am extremely proud to have been the 4th generation in this business, and I am grateful for everyday I was able to work along side not only my own, but the entire WWE family.

Thank you to all of the WWE Superstars both past and present for your passion, pride and dedication. You are truly the engine of the organization and it has been a pleasure to work with, learn from and get to know all of you. Thank you for the privilege of sharing the stage with you and for allowing me to become but a momentary member of your elite brotherhood. I have so much appreciation for the many sacrifices you endure, both physically and personally, to make this business the success that it is. The respect I have for each of you is immeasurable.

Finally, there are no words to express my gratitude to WWE fans the world over for supporting this company through good times and bad and for your unbridled passion that fuels the Superstars’ performances. I am profoundly grateful to have been able to entertain you both in front of the camera and from behind the scenes. You are the greatest fans in the world.

I will always love this business and will remain a fan forever.

Shane McMahon resigns at WWE.com

Shane is sharp as a tack, and is well known as the big MMA fan within the WWE operations. Before the UFC finally bought (and bungled the purchase of) PRIDE FC in 2007, Shane attempted to broker a deal for the WWE to buy them out and get into the MMA business. Reportedly, his dad (that would be Vince McMahon) isn’t sold on the longterm viability of MMA and views it as something of a ‘fad’. Vinny Mac also has questions about a business that is promoted the same way as pro wrestling but that you can’t ‘work’ to make sure fight outcomes go the way you want them to.

Anyway, Shane has remained a MMA fan and has been known to have misgivings about the direction the WWE product is going in. More specifically, he doesn’t like the move to a product more geared for the ‘18 and younger’ demographic and is a fan of more stiff, realistic wrestling and actual fighting. He’s young, rich, has worked around the wrestling business since he was a kid and is a sharp guy with great contacts.

So here’s my hunch–and its just a hunch at this point: he’s going to get into the MMA business in some capacity. Clearly, he won’t go to work for TNA or ROH–if he wanted to have a role building a smaller wrestling promotion he would have been able to facilitate that within the WWE. Plus, he’s still a major WWE stockholder and I’m sure he’s not going to do anything that would directly compete with the company his family built.

Vince McMahon did an interview earlier this week that has been lampooned by many of the more thin skinned types within the MMA fan and media base where he called the WWE ‘a more sophisticated product’ than the UFC/MMA. My take is that this was misconstrued by the people who got their panties in a wad, and what he meant is that from a business standpoint promoting pro wrestling is more nuanced and multifaceted than promoting ’shoot’ fights and you can make a good case that this is true. The more interesting component relative to today’s announcement by Shane O’Mac is that he went out of his way to clarify that he didn’t view MMA as competition for the WWE product and that the two had different fanbases.

With the Ultimate Fighting Championship and mixed martial arts becoming more popular as competitors, it made little sense for the WWE to ramp up the attitude with violence and sexuality, McMahon said.

“You really can’t compete with that,” he said. “Why not deliver a more sophisticated product and not go to those extremes? If the audience wants those extremes, they know where to go and how to get it.”

Going PG has helped the company draw advertisers who might have looked away before. Pepsi, 7-Eleven stores, Mattel toys and the Army National Guard are among the sponsors that have signed up since the shift, the company said.

Vinny Mac has said similar things in the past and by and large I disagree with much of his take on the demographics–you can make a good case (and Dave Meltzer at The Wrestling Observer has done that) that the UFC/MMA has really sucked away much of the adult fan base of pro wrestling. That’s as much at the root of the WWE ‘going PG’ as advertisers and cleaning up the product for Linda McMahon’s Senate campaign. Instead of chasing a fanbase that was flocking to MMA, why not go after the fans that were still there? Still, the timing could be seen as dad giving his ‘blessings’ to son’s future career path.

Some have speculated that McMahon could go to work for the UFC, but that’s very unlikely. What is more likely is that he’ll choose to compete with the UFC in some fashion–either by creating his own promotion or going to work for a competitor. When you’ve been in the situation he’s been in all his life–where the name on the big office has alternately been his grandfather, father or mother–becoming just another employee who’d be well down the chain of command from the Fertittas and Dana White, if not others, just doesn’t have its appeal. Taking f-bomb laden orders from The Dana may be a dream job for ‘Zuffa Zombies’ but not for a guy who has been in McMahon’s position. He’s definitely not going to go to work for a guy who has been called by many as the next Vince McMahon–Dana’s not, for a number of reasons but Google ‘Vince McMahon Dana White’ and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Now, Shane could sidestep all of this and become a film producer or televangelist, but that’s hard to see. Here’s my educated guess having followed Shane’s career from when he first appeared on WWE TV–he’ll be in the MMA business in some capacity. Here’s my wildcard scenario: he’ll become the public face and a top executive of STRIKEFORCE, and perhaps take an ownership interest. Strikeforce is even less of a competitor to his family’s business than the UFC since they’re not in the PPV business at the moment. He’s knowledgable of Japanese MMA and no doubt sees a lot of potential in the promotion’s working relationship with DREAM and understands that they’ve got a lot of talent already in the fold. Most importantly, he could see the value of their TV relationships with CBS and Showtime. And lest we forget, Shane’s primary role in the WWE was ‘Executive Vice President of WWE Global Media’ responsible for among other things “International Television Distribution, Live Event bookings, Digital Media, Consumer products, and Publishing”. Unlike his sister Stephanie, who has routinely been criticized her handling of the creative end of the product, Shane has received high marks from everyone for his work in his gig. He’s got the contacts and smarts to potentially take an existing company to the next level, perhaps making Strikeforce the circa late 1990’s WCW to the UFC’s WWE.

Of course, he could just start a company from scratch but that seems unlikely for a number of reasons, not the least of which would be his experience with the WWE. He’d have to attract talent, build a brand, secure TV deals, get PPV clearances, worry about building revenue, so on and so forth. My hunch–and again, its only a hunch–is that he’s much more interested in taking an established product to ‘the next level’. He could end up being a Dana White toady, but don’t be surprised if he becomes part of Team Strikeforce early next year after he officially leaves the WWE. From a lot of perspectives, its the best fit and most compelling challenge for him.