As you should all know by now Shane McMahon faces The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 32 in a Hell in a Cell match for control of Monday Night RAW. The pop Shane received from the crowd at RAW was amazing and visibly effected him emotionally. His suit and Air Jordan combination was phenomenal as was his entrance, presence in the ring and on the mic making it clear that he hasn’t missed a step. We don’t get many surprises in wresting anymore so the fact his appearance was kept such a secret was a refreshing moment. The reaction to this booking from the wrestling community has been mixed ranging from good to bad and interesting to desperate lets take a look why.
The Good
Shane will always be remembered as taking insane bumps and doing crazy moves throughout his WWF/E career and get him in (or on top of) the cell with The Undertaker we have got ourselves a recipe for one hell of an exciting spot filled match. One other thing that Shane will bring to the match will be his size and speed. He will be able to perform and sell moves much better that Taker’s last two mania opponents. Brock at Wrestlemania 30 was only memorable for the breaking of the streak and Wyatt at Wrestlemania 31 was just plain forgettable. So Shane will be an entirely different match for Taker and could give him his best Wrestlemania match since Shawn Michaels.
The Bad
Shane is 46 years old, he hasn’t been seen in a ring a either wrestler or personality in seven years and he walks in and gets one of the biggest spots on the Wrestlemania card. There are many great and criminally under-utilised talents on the roster that deserve this spot so much more than Shane. Any opponent of The Undertaker would receive a much needed rub to elevate them to the next level. Someone like Ambrose or Owens, hell even Wyatt again would prosper greatly in being in match against Taker and get them past that glass ceiling. But this is why we are in this predicament because the Wrestlemania spots, the Wrestlemania moments are being given to returning part-timers and keeping the future headliners to pick up the pieces when they go back to Hollywood, this is the main reason CM Punk quit three years ago.
The Ugly
The surprise revelation that Shane was announced as The Undertaker’s Wrestlemania 32 opponent just shows how desperate the WWE is to make Wrestlemania the show that it should be. There is a remarkable lack of star power at year’s show as many of the big names are all out injured. So we now have two mid-forties non-wrestlers (HHH & Shane) taking part in two of the main event matches on the card. We have Reigns in his second Wrestlemania main event title match in as many years because they are determined to make him the next Cena whether we like it or not, which only proves WWE’s failure to elevate any new stars for nearly 10 years.