WrestleMania 33 Review: 10 Major Talking Points
8. Shane McMahon Is The Best Technical Wrestler On The Planet
At last year's WrestleMania, Shane McMahon went strike for strike with a man we have been conditioned to accept as the greatest pure striker in WWE history. Last night, he went hold for hold with AJ Styles, a man universally perceived as the best pure wrestler on the WWE roster.
The match layout was as incoherent as it was insulting. Styles didn't merely wrestle Styles at his own game; he was positioned as his superior. He handily out-grappled him in the opening sequences, and found mat-based counters for his devastating aerial game throughout. Styles had to resort to weaponry to snatch the advantage, and only won as a result of the widely expected ref bump.
Essentially, McMahon were it not for incompetent officiating would have emerged as the victor. He can do everything everybody on the roster can. If Shane were to wrestle Shinsuke Nakamura, he'd kick his face in. If he wrestled Braun Strowman, he'd slam him around the canvas with ease. Is there anything he cannot do? Maintain his position as a babyface, on this evidence.
John Cena received much warranted criticism for his SuperCena schtick, but Shane is even more powerful; he is Sylar from Heroes, even if we were somehow expected to receive him as Peter Petrelli.
Shockingly, Shane was the more selfish McMahon sibling on the night…