In case you somehow missed it, Shane McMahon made a shocking return to WWE television last night when he interrupted his sister Stephanie’s acceptance speech for the Vincent J. McMahon Legacy of Excellence Award. To double down on the surprises, not only is Shane O Mac back, but he’s also wrestling The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania for the right to have control of the company.
McMahon has been gone from WWE for six years, so his return was one of the more surprising in recent memory. For a non-wrestler, Shane has had some pretty memorable moments both in the ring and outside of it during his run with the company, so with the elder McMahon child back in the fold, let’s take a look back at some of Shane’s career highlights over the years.
Shane Screws Austin And Joins The Corporation
The Deadly Games 1998 Survivor Series tournament is one of the most fascinating pay-per-views to re-watch. It has everything good and bad about the attitude era in one show. Compelling characters and surprise twists, but tremendous over-booking and short matches that end in weird ways.
Shane McMahon started his career as a ref and announcer, but by 1998, he was a full part of the storyline. He originally went against his father by signing Stone Cold to a contract, but during his Deadly Games semifinal match, referee Shane refused to count the three, allowing the other corporation goons to hit Austin with a chair and eliminate him from the tournament.
This would, of course, be followed later by a double-swerve, where it was revealed The Rock was in cahoots with The Corporation all along (evil laugh).
Shane Trains Vince For The Royal Rumble With A Chicken
Undoubtedly the greatest part of the build up to the 1999 Royal Rumble was Mr. McMahon’s “Rocky” inspired training montages. Shane also played an infamous part in these vignettes, forcing his father to run after a limo, punch raw meat, and most hilariously of all, chase after a live chicken.
If WWE has any sense at all, they will show a vignette of Shane training for his match with The Undertaker with, like, Dolph Ziggler or something, where he is running after live poultry. This is a tried and true method of wrestling training.
Shane Wins The European Championship
Shane McMahon has actually had two championship reigns over the course of his WWE career, winning the Hardcore title once, and also having a run with the European Championship in 1999.
With help from Triple H and Chyna, Shane beat X-Pac on Raw on February 15, 1999 to win his first singles gold. He would go on to retain the title at WrestleMania with help from The Mean Street Posse, and then “retire” the belt only for Mideon to find the title in a duffel bag and be declared champion because sometimes wrestling doesn’t have to make any sense.
Shane vs. Test In A “Lover Her Or Leave Her” Match At SummerSlam 1999
Shane may be feuding with his sister Stephanie now, but back in 1999, he was trying to help his younger sister get away from her douchey boyfriend, Test.
The two fought in the poorly named “Love her or leave her Greenwich Street Fight” and it was at that moment that people really started turning their heads and realizing that Vince McMahon’s son was a worthy competitor in his own right.
Shane Jumps Off Of Really, Really High Things
Shane McMahon, to my knowledge, does not have much, if any formal wrestling training. What he does have, though, is absolutely no fear, and a willingness to do literally anything to entertain a crowd.
As an example of this, both of his most famous moments come when he does two of the most insane spots in the history of WWE by jumping/falling off of the top of the damn stage, somehow not dying on impact. The first came in a hardcore championship match against Steve Blackman in 2000, and the second came in 2001 when he faced The Big Show in a Last Man Standing match.
People are making jokes about Shane jumping off the Jerryworld massive scoreboard at Cowboys Stadium, but honestly, would anyone be that surprised if he actually did it?
Shane Buys WCW
One of the most famous moments in the history of Monday Night Raw is when Vince McMahon announced that he had bought WCW after years of a gruelling back-and-forth battle between two companies.
However, not one to let an opportunity for a swerve pass them by, the McMahons had another surprise in store, when it was revealed that it was actually Shane McMahon (complete with an awesome turtleneck), not Vince, who bought out WWE’s chief competitor.
This, of course, ended the angle entirely and there was no invasion of WCW or ECW wrestlers on WWE programming, and nothing you ever say will convince me otherwise.
Kurt Angle Gives Shane O Mac A Suplex Through A Glass Sign
At the 2001 King of the Ring, Shane fought in another hardcore match, this time against the Olympic gold medalist, Kurt Angle.
The whole match was another showcase for how well Shane could hang in there with legit talent, and once again it was his willingness to put his body on the line that earned him the respect of the fans.
After the two brawled up to the stage, Angle gave McMahon a belly-to-belly suplex that sent him flying through a glass stage design, because once again: Shane McMahon is a crazy person (I mean that in the best possible way).
Shane Delivers A Coast To Coast To His Father At WrestleMania X7
WrestleMania X7 is such a memorable show that you can be forgiven if you forgot that Shane vs. Vince McMahon in a street fight was actually also on that card.
The match is probably most memorable for Shane’s mom Linda McMahon somehow rising from her coma to kick her husband in the balls (because, the attitude era), but the other highlight was Shane delivering a coast to coast to his father, which is something that, like, 75 percent of WWE wrestlers at the time would not be able to accomplish.
He would then repeat the spot six years later, at WrestleMania 23.
Shane Kicks Kane Into A Fire
Shane McMahon feuded with Kane in 2003, and while it’s largely forgettable, there was this insane moment where Shane kicked Kane into a fire pit and told him to “burn in hell, you son of a bitch.”
To get revenge, Kane would electrocute Shane’s testicles with a car battery, because Kane is involved in 90 of the 100 most ridiculous angles in WWE history.
Shane Returns To Help Fight Off Legacy
Shane did some less memorable stuff in the mid-2000s, like feuding with his father against DX, and attempting to aid his dad in the battle of the billionaires match, but it wasn’t until 2009 that he really made a significant impact again.
During the feud between Triple H and Randy Orton, where Orton had resorted to punting Vince and being really creepy towards Stephanie, Shane returned alongside his father and Triple H to fight off Orton and his legacy members Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr.
Shane is about the only guy who can make that long sleeve shirt under a polo look work, but he rocked it.
Shane Returns To Raw And Gets A Match With The Deadman
And that brings us to Monday night. After being gone for six years, Shane O Mac will now face off against The Undertaker inside a Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania 32 in Dallas.
With half the roster injured, this was probably the best possible result we could get out of Undertaker’s Mania match, and even though it’s been quite a while since Shane has competed, if his history is any indicator, he will do whatever is necessary to ensure the fans walk away happy.
Got any more great Shane moments we left out? Let us know in the comments.
