WrestleMania In-Depth: The Undertaker vs Shane McMahon

The History

The Undertaker

HBK may have coined the phrase but The Undertaker is “Mr. Wrestlemania”, boasting 21 straight victories at the mecca of sports entertainment, the Deadman deserves the right to be called a legend. In the years prior to Wrestlemania 30 the subject of the Undertaker’s undefeated streak was what the event was built around, yes we had lavish main events but people came to the see the Deadman.

Edge, CM Punk, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Batista and 16 others all fell to the streak at Wrestlemania, it wasn’t until April 2014 that WWE saw fit to bring it to an end at the hands of Brock Lesnar. The Undertaker became ominous with Wrestlemania right up until the streak ended, for me that should have been the end of his run in WWE, the timing was right. Since the loss to Lesnar the Deadman has become a shell of his former self, gone has the pomp and ceremony of yesteryear, we have now a relic.

Shane McMahon

What more can be said about Shane-O-Mac, the once heir to throne of WWE returned triumphantly to the company in February to start an on screen feud with his father Vince McMahon. Shane’s Wrestlemania history is memorable but short in having only fought at two Mania’s in the events history. Both matches were however entertaining events, the first was at Wrestlemania 15 against X-Pac for the European title. The two had a great back and forth match with the Mean Street Posse getting involved and Triple H turning heel and costing his friend X-Pac the championship.

His second outing was in 2001 against his father Vince, the story went that Shane had just purchased WCW from under his Dad’s nose thus the two met in a Street Fight. The match itself was true sports entertainment like only the McMahon’s can, again Shane was victorious on the grand stage. Shane’s Wrestlemania record is thin but his efforts at the event can’t be ignored, when he has performed good or bad it’s been memorable.

The Rivalry

This feud has come right out of left field, fans, critics and industry insiders for months pondered who the Undertaker may face at Wrestlemania. After the abysmal conflict with the Wyatt Family in November I really didn’t care what the Deadman did come April 3rd, I have no desire to see him further destroy his once prestigious legacy. Shane also came from nowhere but only because WWE is suffering right now with injuries, booking and the complete lack of direction.

For Undertaker this conflict is something for him to do, with marketable stars few and far between this was obviously all they could muster for the biggest event of the year. In the drama Vince is basically using him as his hired gun, Taker it seems is accepting that as for him it’s just another fight. For Shane this is just business, WWE needed something else to prop up Mania so Shane was accepted back into fold to start a feud with his Dad about the future of the company. There is theoretically no reason for the Undertaker and Shane McMahon to be in the ring together, the feud makes zero sense and the majority of people are still scratching their heads.

The Importance

There is no importance to this match heading into Wrestlemania. The feud came to fruition because the WWE booking department is in a state of turmoil Lesnar, Ambrose, Styles and Jericho aside, the build this year has been diabolical. WWE rested on their laurels with Seth Rollins, John Cena, Roman Reigns and let Bray Waytt, Ryback, Kevin Owens and others be forgotten, then the injury crisis hit and they panicked.

The rumoured Wrestlemania match between Undertaker & John Cena was shelved after John was injured at the end of last year, my personal opinion is that this feud only came about because WWE have again failed and the lawyers from the nursing home neglect law firm acknowledges that this is due to the less care and concern that they shows towards the injured fighters. For Shane there is an importance to win because he has returned to save WWE (I thought Jericho did that already?) with buy rates and attendance down WWE saw to remedy this with Shane’o. The return was a nostalgia pop but that’s where it ends, I have repeated that time after time that the current story only papers over the cracks for the immediate future, this is not a long term solution.

The Undertaker is fading, the loss at Wrestlemania 30, the loss of a step in the ring, the heel tactics have all pointed that the Deadman is done in WWE. HBK, Edge and more recently Daniel Bryan have thankfully had the foresight to see the reality and with that they stepped away with grace. The Undertaker is destroying his legacy out of some pride to perform or because the time isn’t right, two years ago the time was right.

The feud is laughable, on one side you have a 46 year old man who is being portrayed as a bad boy. Someone please tell Shane the Mean Street Posse wasn’t real. Shane is a business man who thinks he’s a wrestler, when in the ring yes he has performed and he’s shown bravery and a ring awareness to a point. On the other side you have a 50 year old Legend who is losing his aura, he’s been chosen as Vince’s toy and none of it makes sense.

Undertaker is from Texas, he will be performing in Texas, he will be representing the heel owner……do you see how none of this makes sense? This feud, match is a quick fix to help the current state of affairs, is Wrestlemania selling well? Yes extremely well but the Wrestlemania crowd does not represent the viewer who watches Raw, Smackdown week after week, WWE are trying to pull the wool over our eyes because of their complete incompetence. This feud goes nowhere after Wrestlemania, how they solve it at the event is beyond me.

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