10 Things We Learned From WWE Photo Shoot: Shane McMahon

9. The Origin Of His Coast-To-Coast

Shane McMahon European Champion
WWE

Shane O’Mac’s high-flying coast-to-coast spot that sees him fly from one turnbuckle across to a fallen opponent on the other side of the ring is something many had presumed Shane had stolen from Rob Van Dam.

As was revealed during Photo Shoot, the reason for McMahon making this a signature spot of his is down to another icon of ECW: Paul Heyman.

Shane explained how he was in a warehouse somewhere, working out in a ring, when Heyman happened to walk by and bet him that he couldn’t perform Van Dam’s famed springboard manoeuvre.

Deciding that he’d need to start on the top turnbuckle rather than have a springboard start, McMahon tried and tried and tried to pull off the move, but constantly fell short. Everybody else would go home for the day, yet Shane stayed all night until he was able to successfully hit what is now known as his coast-to-coast spot.

Despite currently being 49 years of age, Shane McMahon proudly claimed that he can still hit the move any time he so wishes – for once he worked out how to do the manoeuvre, that muscle memory is still there for whenever he needs to pull this attack out of the bag.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.