The only son of WWE CEO Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon has created his own legacy in professional wrestling, both as a character and as an in-ring competitor. Despite limited training, when he eventually stepped foot in the ring, Shane showed an aptitude for the business in which he’d grown up, and actually became fairly respected for his abilities. Shane also became well-known for his tendency to perform crazy, occasionally death-defying stunts as part of his matches, with some of his most famous living in WWE highlight reels for years. With that in mind, we’ve combed through Shane’s time in WWE and picked out some of the biggest highlights of what has been one of the most unexpectedly successful wrestling careers in history.
10. Shane Screws Austin
In one of the best-written stories of the Attitude Era, Vince McMahon had finally had enough and fired “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, only to see him re-hired by his son Shane, who said it was better for WWE’s bottom line to keep Austin on TV. As part of his new contract, Austin was guaranteed a shot at the WWE Title. An irate Vince busted Shane down to his old job as referee, and that’s where things stood going into Survivor Series 1998 and the “Deadly Game” tournament for the vacant WWE Title. Austin was facing tournament favorite Mankind (who had been “adopted” as Vince’s surrogate son) in the semi-finals of the tournament. As the match progressed, everything was going Austin’s way, until a ref bump occurred. Austin hit a Stunner and went for what looked like the decisive pin, as Shane ran in to replace the downed referee. Shane counted to two, then flipped Austin the bird, revealing that it had all been a set-up to screw Austin over yet again. Austin was eliminated from the tournament and was once again unable to win back the WWE Title that was rightfully his.