Every Impossible Wrestling Return Ranked From Worst To Best

9. Shane McMahon

Edge CM Punk
WWE

Ranking Shane McMahon above Bret Hart is sacrilegious and comes with it a deep sense of guilt, but if nothing else, Shane's bump at WrestleMania 37 was very dumb, very painful-looking and thus very funny

A lot of people objectively loved the match with AJ Styles at WrestleMania 33, even if, subjectively, it made zero sense that Shane, a rich brat part-time stuntman, had somehow developed the technical skill with which to take AJ Styles to his limit across nearly 20 minutes. As a dramatic match in and of itself, it worked, but it was profoundly unconvincing as a story, if you care enough to think about it for longer than a minute. The same logic applies to celebrity matches, which are almost always great, but at least a complete novice knows how to throw something resembling a working punch.

Shane was almost objectively great in his logical, natural role as a scared pissant heel in the Graveyard Dogs match that rescued the Undertaker's in-ring legacy.

Elsewhere, he punched people like a jumped-up little toddler enchanted into mimicry by their first glimpse of a boxing match and laboured through terrible, terrible matches in which he drenched himself in sweat and breathed like a pensioner in a high-rise.

Still, it was an impossible return. It was thought for seven "oh sick that's so sick" years that he'd never come back.

 
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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!