The WORST Wrestling Moment Every Year (1989 - 2025)
10. 2016 | WrestleMania Doesn’t Matter
At a certain point, an army of worms invaded Vince McMahon’s brain and wrote WWE television on his behalf, daubing the pages with their most, soil-coloured castings. This was particularly apparent between 2018 and 2022, but 2016 was the year in which the worms initiated the takeover.
The storyline leading to the Undertaker Vs. Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 32 was nonsensical. You could question almost every single plot point.
Vince decreed that Shane would take over Raw if he defeated ‘Taker. Vince, and this was barely spoken about afterwards, said he’d reveal the contents of a “lockbox” containing various bits of dirt on him if Shane won (this aspect of the storyline has dated horrendously). In addition to that, the Undertaker would never again work at WrestleMania in the event that he lost.
Ignoring the idea that Shane wasn’t a worthy opponent, why would the Undertaker go along with this? Why was he Vince’s personal instrument? ‘Taker was a babyface. This might have made sense if he was strapped for cash, but he wasn’t doing his terrible podcast and one man shows at this point. He was still meant to be a living part-time legend. The match itself was overlong and rubbish, performed like two overgrown children who wanted to dibs playing UFC guys.
Shane lost. Shane McMahon lost the match.
24 hours, Shane McMahon was handed control of Raw regardless.
This was barely explained as Shane impressing Vince with his intestinal fortitude or whatever. In an eerie and grim echo of their fraught real-life relationship, Shane risked seriously hurting himself purely to gain his father’s love.