10 Biggest Wrestling Controversies Of 2016

7. The Return Of Shane McMahon

Once a year, every year, WWE trots out at least one star from yesteryear to sell WrestleMania to the lapsed fans who are only ever going to tune in for one night only. This short-term approach has had a debilitating effect on the summer months, which suffer at the expense of a fleeting WrestleMania "moment", the returns of which are fast diminishing.

This year, in the absence of John Cena, WWE were compelled to install Shane McMahon as The Undertaker's 'Mania opponent, in a storyline which made zero sense. In order to assume control of RAW, babyface Shane was to do battle against The Undertaker. At WrestleMania. In Texas. The match, a spectacle at least, was only vaguely heated as a result of the conflicted stakes.

Was Shane's return a welcome retread of the stunt festivals of yore, or an indictment of WWE's star creation process?

It all depends on your perception of the man himself, but, in a year in which WWE made (or cemented) a star out of AJ Styles, McMahon's 'Mania participation, at least, wasn't as counterproductive as Brock Lesnar's. I could have done without the half an hour of tedium that was his Hell In A Cell match, but equally, he's a welcome departure from the passé heel authority figure.