10 Most Selfish WrestleMania Performances

8. Shane McMahon - WrestleMania 32

vince mcmahon
WWE.com

To be fair, when Shane McMahon returned to Raw in February of 2016 and was announced as Undertaker's opponent for WrestleMania 32, fans were excited. Not only did Shane's return spike a Raw rating, but ticket sales for the show - which would ultimately become the largest event WWE ever ran - immediately sped up after the announcement.

Unfortunately, the build to the match was terrible (Undertaker was relegated to playing the role of Vince McMahon's patsy - which was pointed out with some colorful language), and the bout itself was possibly even worse.

The problem with the match - a Hell in a Cell contest in which Shane McMahon could win control of Raw with a victory - was twofold. First, a win by Shane was spun as the antidote to "business-as-usual" WWE programming, meaning that fans were divided on whom they should support. Secondly - and more egregiously - Shane, a 46-year-old non-wrestler, was portrayed as a physical threat to Undertaker. He went toe to toe with "The Phenom" and only lost after a dive from the top of the cell turned into a wipeout.

The match was ultimately a failure, derided by the fans who saw it as making pretty much everything look bad - except, of course, for Shane McMahon and the McMahon family name.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013