10 WWE Nightmares That Thankfully Never Came True

4. Boy Wonder Blunder

Ultimate Warrior Steve Austin WrestleMania XV
WWE.com

After Brock Lesnar has gleefully left half of the contents of Randy Orton's skull on the SummerSlam 2016 canvas, he elected to extend the beatings to SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon.

'The Boy Wonder' had arrived at ringside to try and protect his investment. A month or so before the August supercard, WWE had reverted to the split brand format, with the Lesnar/Orton clash facilitating a Raw vs. SmackDown element to the pay-per-view as well as offering name value atop the card.

Standing up to the fearsome Lesnar (as just about nobody on the roster would ordinarily be permitted to do), Shane went nose to nose with 'The Beast' and ultimately took an F5 for his moxie.

Astonishingly, despite 'The Beast' being the most destructive and fearsome force the company has managed to promote for over a decade, this pedestrian beatdown of the boss' boy was designed to lead to a WrestleMania match between the pair.

Wrestling Observer doyen Dave Meltzer reported that only Bill Goldberg's October signing resulted in the bout being scrapped, so it's the former WCW Champion who should really be thanked for sparing an embarrassing scene.

As per rules of booking 'Shane-O-Mac', he'd have to look on par with Brock's hybrid style. And then perhaps even threaten to tap him out. Fortunately, the impending Goldberg feud spared viewers of such a ludicrous conceit.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett