Is Shane McMahon underrated as a wrestler?

[punchline]

Just to be clear, I'm not saying he was an enormous talent who could put on 5 star matches at the drop of a hat. But i was talking to a few friends awhile back who said they get very frustrated when matches get wasted on non-wrestling talent like Vince, Shane, Vickie, and Cole to name a few.

Now, I agree for the most part. But when it comes to Shane McMahon, i can't help but respect what he does in the ring. He's the rich kid of a billionaire, and doesn't really need to get his hands dirty. But he's shown over the years that he's not afraid to take his bumps just like the actual wrestlers do. Just off the top of my head, i remember spots like the coast-to-coast, shooting star onto a trash can, jumping off the tron and through the stage, and diving from the turnbuckle through the announce table. and I know there are many more because the majority of his matches were no DQ or street fights. It just seemed like he was always willing to put his body on the line to entertain and make up for his lack of wrestling ability.

So, the basic question I'm trying to get at here is do you think Shane McMahon is underrated in the ring?

Also, despite not being an actual wrestler, did you enjoy his matches and do you think he deserved the ring time he was given over the years?

 

[Paralyzer Z]

Shane McMahon is someone that you would only want to watch in a match about once a year. His performances in all of his WWE matches have been excellent due to being very spaced out. He does the same awesome spots in every match that have "the WOW" factor due to not being done in lall of his matches because he is probably not trained to do anything else other that his hardcore high spots.

Is he underrated? No he is rated just fine my friend. Here comes the money, money!

 

[giblet55]

I posted a thread not too long ago about whether or not people missed Shane. Your post is the very reason I miss him. He did put on quality matches, very high for a non-wrestling talent in my opinion. Like you guys said, he didn't have to. He didn't have to do any of what he's done, but he did and it will stick with us forever.

When I think of Shane, I don't think of Vince McMahon's son...he stepped out of that shadow with his match against Angle, leaping from the top of the tron onto Blackman, and so many other spots Shane was money in.

If he didn't earn the respect from the guys in the back eventually, it's a travesty because I feel he really did a lot to get over, especially at a disadvantage if being a McMahon.

Although I can't say he's a truly a wrestler imo, he definitely pulled it off as a fighter. He definitely proved he could hang in a brawl situation...

 

[punchline]

Not exactly a never-seen-before crazy spot. But still, as the owners son he doesn't have to take these kinda bumps, but he's always willing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkqhyenIT58

 

[#hamler]

Neither overrated or underrated.

Shane McMahon usually relied heavily on ridiculous spots and weapons to deliver a successful match. Can anyone honestly name their favorite Shane McMahon match that didn't involve weapons? Shane McMahon is rated right where he's at. He isn't overrated by any means, but he isn't underrated at all. The fans pretty much knew that if Shane was involved in a match, they would pretty much get their money's worth and it was true. He was always fun to watch and people didn't really overrate him. Shane McMahon is a fine in ring worker but I definitely don't consider him over or underrated by any means.

 

[BK Styles]

You're damn right he is. He's had top quality matches with Angle, HBK and Orton, and came damn close in all of them. He does things that are just insane, like the tron-jump, the coast-to-coast and the announcer table elbow. He's even capable of a shooting star press (I think when he used it, it was the first time it was used in WWF, though could be wrong on that). Don't get me wrong, he isnt the best in the world; he's a brawler who can deliver a few well placed moves, but when he had a match, its usually top-quality.

Personally, I would have loved to see what would have happened if he had a full time run as a wrestler. either we would have been blessed with another guy who, week in, week out, can deliver 5* matches, or his work rate would have suffered. I do believe that zrise is on to something when he says that his match quality is down to his spaced-out appearances.

But to answer your question; yes, I do think he is underrated. He definitely deserved his ring-time, and I would have loved to see what would have happened had he become a full time wrestler, out of nothing else but pure curiosity. But yes, Shane McMahon + Ring = A (usually) very good match.

 

[Mr. HD]

Neither overrated or underrated.

Shane McMahon usually relied heavily on ridiculous spots and weapons to deliver a successful match. Can anyone honestly name their favorite Shane McMahon match that didn't involve weapons? Shane McMahon is rated right where he's at. He isn't overrated by any means, but he isn't underrated at all. The fans pretty much knew that if Shane was involved in a match, they would pretty much get their money's worth and it was true. He was always fun to watch and people didn't really overrate him. Shane McMahon is a fine in ring worker but I definitely don't consider him over or underrated by any means.

Shane McMahon vs X-Pac at WrestleMania 15 was quite entertaining

But I get where you're coming from. As someone said earlier, he provided the "WOW" factor in matches that people loved seeing and any time Shane is in a match, it's bound to be something entertaining. Shane's a great athlete for what he brings to the table. But like you said, he's rated fine. Not overrated, or underrated.

 

[poppycock]

I do not think SHane is underrated seeing as pretty much everybody I know who has watched his matches agrees he is very entertaining and give him lots of praise. I really enjoy all of his matches and yeah he used huge spots and weapons but so what, that's what he was about.

 

[harrythem]

I enjoyed Shane from late 98 through to his Mania match against Vince at WM17 but, after that, the novelty factor really wore off...I still can't really enjoy his match with Angle at KOTR 2001, and that's mainly due to the amount of crazy (or, as I like to call them, stupid) stunts in the match. Then there's the whole feud with Kane that made RVD look like a complete bitch. (Fully trained wrestler can't do him but the tubby mid-40s non-wrestler can. Throw in his disrespect on the Raw after Survivor Series 2001 (no-selling the fact he'd been done by every WWF wrestlers finishing move. Every other WCW talent that turned up did it, why not Shane) and the dreadful feud against Orton in early 2009 and, Shane's really not done much to be proud of for about 9 10 years now (we'll ignore the crap involving DX & Lashley too).

So, I'd say he is where he should be. The crapness of later years is evened out by the coolness in the attitude era...

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Shane isn't underrated as a wrestler. He wasn't a good wrestler, he relied upon the ridiculous spots to have a good match. Has he ever had a good match that didnt involve him throwing himself off something or using weapons? I can't think of one...

People love to see Shane in the ring, as he is always entertaining. You knew he was going to put his body on the line and pull of some crazy stunt. I personally am a big fan of his in-ring work. His match with Kurt Angle where he gets thrown through the glass is one of my favourite matches of all time, and I loved his WM match against Vince, his Greenwich Street Fight with X-Pac. I was never bored watching Shane

I respect what he did in WWE immensely. He did it because he wanted to, he was the son of a billionnaire, he didn't need to put his body through that, but he did it for the love of the business. He was great as both a face and heel, I loved his mic work and I hope to se him on WWE tv again soon

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