Wrestling's BIG DUMB IDIOTS Who Thought They Were COOL! ?

9. Shane McMahon

Logan Paul Domink Mysterio
WWE

The "Shane McMahon: wrestler" character used to make so much sense.

Go back and look at when he first fluked his way to becoming European Champion at X-Pac's expense. A virtuoso pro wrestler had lost to the spoilt little rich kid with ample help from his heel friends, and was due an almighty battering in the rematch. That story was a trojan horse for Triple H turning on DX at WrestleMania XV, but 'The Money' took the promised beating all the same.

The win he got that night might have done something to his McMahonian Ego - he ended up retiring that title, and went on to fancy his chances against the likes of The Big Show and Kane in the years that followed. He did at least jump from high places, but even that was a case of diminishing returns after an insane SummerSlam 2000 original that holds up to this day.

Post-2016, the joke just wasn't funny anymore. McMahon had reason to think he was cool after the pop and buzz his return generated, but matches against The Undertaker and AJ Styles positioned the chancer as a man that could apparently subsume the skills of his opponent. It was neither believable nor entertaining, and the power apparently ran out in 2023 - McMahon couldn't copy The Miz' near-perfect injury record, blowing his quad on a leapfrog literally as Michael Cole was mid-sentence gushing about how he could still go.

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