10 Wrestlers Who Were HUGE Marks For Themselves

5. Shane McMahon

Shane McMahon Thumb II
WWE.com

Shane McMahon was good once. Shane McMahon was good when he played a d*ckhead stooge heel who only won matches with the help of the Mean Street Posse. The delusion that he was a tough guy was crucial to his act. He was detestable in the role. 

His match against Kurt Angle at King Of The Ring 2001 was too good for its own good. Shane took such a gutsy and impressive ass-kicking that, forever after, he deemed himself a badass. 

When he abandoned the all-important delusion, he became the least credible wrestler of all-time. 

Babyface hard-man Shane McMahon - a sweat-soaked disgrace with the cardiovascular conditioning of a flatworm - thought he was Haku or something. The hubris was absolutely outrageous. He didn’t just think he was a great, tough wrestler; with his pathetic punches, he thought he was a combat athlete in the wrong job. 

So convinced of his credentials, he once squared up to Brock Lesnar backstage. He was lucky that Lesnar laughed in his face. 

Worse still: at the 2022 Royal Rumble, he out Hogan’d Hulk Hogan by booking himself to look harder than 29 other men. 

Terry thought he could only take eight!

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!