Full Career Retrospective and Greatest Moments for Shane McMahon

"Here comes the money!"

With that one sentence, fans inside arenas across the country would erupt for the arrival of Shane McMahon, the son of the billionaire owner of World Wrestling Entertainment, Vince McMahon. Once jeered with all the passion and hatred of an angry mob, the eldest of the McMahon children earned the fans' respect thanks to gutsy performances against established pro wrestlers in match after match.

Willing to take risks that trained Superstars would not dare attempt, Shane was concerned only with making sure that fans were entertained by his matches and that the wrestlers he shared the ring with understood that he respected them and the art of professional wrestling.

In the process, he compiled some truly outstanding matches with a number of stars, both main event level and midcarders. He played the role of cowardly villain, defiant brother and resilient and double-tough hero, proving to be as versatile in the ring as any of his opponents.

Unfortunately, Shane's departure from his father's company robbed today's fans of witnessing more of the fourth-generation businessman's gutsy and awe-inspiring performances.

In celebration of Shane's contributions to the ring and to WWE programming in general, here is a stroll down memory lane and a look back at some of his greatest matches and moments.

Odd Jobs

Longtime wrestling fans undoubtedly recognized Shane McMahon from his days working odd jobs for his father's company. Throughout the early 1990s, Shane can be spied refereeing the occasional match or serving as a road agent or WWE official tasked with separating some of the biggest, nastiest Superstars in the business.

One such instance was at WrestleMania VIII in 1992. He appeared at ringside and attempted to escort Miss Elizabeth away from the ring during the WWE Championship bout between Randy Savage and Ric Flair.

It was not until the advent of the Attitude Era and the success of the evil Mr. McMahon character that Shane became an on-screen talent. As the color commentator for Sunday Night Heat, a new one-hour program that was created solely to capitalize on the unprecedented popularity of the sport, he was full of boundless energy and ended up annoying more viewers than entertaining them.

Luckily for him, and the ears of fans across the country, bigger and better things awaited Shane-O-Mac.

The Corporation

In the fall of 1998, Shane revealed that, with his executive power, he had re-signed "Stone Cold" Steve Austin to a contract following his father's dismissal and termination of the Texas Rattlesnake. It was a decision that put him at odds with the boss and led to his demotion back to the ranks of the referees. It did not matter to Shane, who felt he was doing what was best for Austin and the company.

Or so fans thought.

At the 1998 Survivor Series, it was revealed that the entire ordeal was a charade, a way for the McMahons to further torment Austin. Shane, the referee for Austin's match against Mankind in the semifinals of the WWE Championship Tournament, screwed Stone Cold out of the match and revealed his alliance with his evil billionaire father.

Shane would be instrumental in screwing Mankind as well, revealing that he, Vince and The Rock had conspired to ensure that the third-generation Superstar left that night's event with the WWE Championship. It was a history-making night and one of the best-booked tournaments of all-time, thanks in large part to the big angle I just described.

With Vince, The Rock, Big Boss Man, Ken Shamrock and Test, Shane would be part of the Corporation faction that would make life a living hell for Austin, Mankind and a plethora of top babyfaces.

As it turned out, the Texas Rattlesnake and the sock-wielding psycho were not the only Superstars to be tormented by Shane.

Feud with X-Pac and the European Championship

On the February 15, 1999 episode of Monday Night Raw, Shane McMahon teamed with Kane to defeat Triple H and X-Pac in a tag team match. According to a pre-match stipulation, the win netted Shane his very first championship: the European title.

Fans hated the idea that the privileged son of the despised Mr. McMahon was able to run around the show acting as if he had done anything to actually deserve the title. Worse yet, he was claiming to be tough, a product of the "mean streets of Greenwich."

At WrestleMania XV, in one of the night's most anticipated bouts, Shane defended his title against former champion X-Pac, who was forced to contend with the Mean Street Posse (a group of Shane's closest childhood friends), interference from Test and a shocking betrayal by best friend Triple H.

In the end, it was all too much, and Shane defeated his rival on the biggest stage the sport has to offer. Shortly thereafter, he retired the European title rather than have to defend it anymore.

Love Her or Leave Her

As is the case with most overprotective brothers, Shane took exception to the fact that Test, a long-haired former bodyguard for the band Motley Crue, had begun dating his younger sister Stephanie in the spring and summer months of 1999. Having been associated with the big man during their days in the Corporation, he knew Test enough to know that he did not want him around his baby sister.

Test, though, proved to be the perfect gentleman, and it was only a matter of time before the couple fell in love. They were seemingly inseparable, but that did not stop Shane from trying to pull them apart. With free will proving problematic, Shane proposed a match for SummerSlam 1999.

If Shane were to beat Test in a Greenwich Street Fight, the surging young star would be forced to break up with Stephanie. If Test were to emerge victorious, Shane vowed to leave the couple alone. 

It was against that background that the two stars took to the ring at the summertime spectacular and delivered one of the best, most dramatic contests of the year. The passion and determination of the two was evident in the lengths they were willing to go, the risks they were willing to take, to win the match.

When Test finally delivered the flying elbow drop to Shane and won the match, the crowd in Minneapolis came unglued. Stephanie ran to the ring to embrace her conquering hero, and fans had the rare happy ending.

SummerSlam 2000 and the Lethal Weapon

In the summer of 2000, Shane McMahon captured the WWE Hardcore Championship and, much as he did for the European title, he wore it as if he had done a great deal to win it in the first place. By defeating "The Lethal Weapon" Steve Blackman with outside assistance, all he really managed to do was infuriate one of the toughest and most dangerous men in all of sports-entertainment.

At SummerSlam 2000, Shane would be forced to defend his title against Blackman in one of the more anticipated midcard bouts of that year's card.

Never one to disappoint, Shane climbed the scaffolding attached to the stage then caught a cane shot to the back and fell some 50 feet to the arena floor. It was a breathtaking bump that had many concerned for Shane's safety and his sanity.

After all, why would a billionaire-in-waiting take such a risk?

"I Now Own WCW!"

WWE's acquisition of World Championship Wrestling in March 2001 came right in the heart of a heated, tremendously personal rivalry between Shane and Vince McMahon that was slated to culminate in a Street Fight at WrestleMania X-Seven.

Months of Vince disrespecting wife Linda, Shane's mother, had eaten away at the young man and brought him back to WWE television to confront his father. In the process, he had the opportunity to make a personal rivalry professional as well, and he seized it.

On the March 26 episode of Raw, Shane appeared from Panama City Beach, Florida, home of the final episode of WCW Nitro. It was there that he revealed to the world that a McMahon did, in fact, purchase WCW, but it was he, not Vince.

The revelation sent Mr. McMahon over the edge, igniting a rage and fury in him that only served to intensify the rivalry between he and Shane and add further heat to their impending WrestleMania contest.

At the Showcase of the Immortals, Shane defeated his father in one of the finest examples of sports-entertainment at its best. Interference from Trish Stratus. Mick Foley, Linda and Stephanie McMahon led to booking perfection and a triumphant moment for Shane.

King of the Ring 2001

With the war between WWE and WCW intensifying, Shane McMahon found himself opposed by some of the top stars in WWE, most notably those men closest to his father. One such man was Kurt Angle, who had engaged Shane in a rivalry that climaxed at King of the Ring 2001 in one of the most violent and brutal Street Fights in the history of professional wrestling.

Angle had already wrestled two other matches by the time he took to the ring for the match against Shane, who was hell-bent on proving that he could hang against the best wrestler in the world. 

For nearly a half-hour, Shane and Angle battled it out. Glass was shattered, bodies bloodied and bones broken. In the end, it was Angle catching Shane with an Olympic Slam from the top rope that ended the resilient young competitor's night on a disappointing note.

Shane would get the last laugh, leading the invasion of WWE by WCW and ECW stars that would last through November and give father Vince a number of sleepless nights.

Feuding with the Demon

The summer and fall of 2003 featured a lengthy rivalry between Shane McMahon and Kane, born of the latter's brutal and violent Tombstone Piledriver on Linda McMahon.

The lengths to which both men would go to rid WWE of the other were ludicrous. Kane electrified Shane's testicles with the assistance of a car battery and some jumper cables, and Shane responded by blowing Kane up in a dumpster.

At Unforgiven in September 2003, the two met in a hard-hitting Last Man Standing match that was won when Shane missed a 30-foot elbow drop from the top of the stage and crashed to the ground below.

He recovered and would meet Kane again at Survivor Series in an Ambulance match. Again, despite a gutsy performance, Shane was unable to defeat Kane, who ended his rival's latest run with a loss.

The Feud with D-Generation X

In 2006, Shane interjected himself in Vince's rivalry with Shawn Michaels, becoming a key figure in the feud between the McMahon family and a reunited D-Generation X.

Shane attempted to aid Vince in his match with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 22, but it backfired, and he wound up with his face shoved in his father's backside. It was about as pretty a scene as it sounds.

A month later, the father and son duo avenged their humiliation and defeat from WrestleMania by defeating Michaels and "God" in a huge tag team match at Backlash. In reality, it was a glorified handicap match that saw Michaels punished and pummeled en route to a McMahon family win.

The constant assaults endured by Michaels led to a reunion with friend and former partner Triple H, and fans were treated to the reemergence of DX.

Together, the degenerates took a great deal of pride in tormenting the McMahons, disgracing them on television on a seemingly weekly basis. 

At SummerSlam in 2006, DX defeated the McMahons in a basic tag team match. Weeks later, at Unforgiven, the war came to a definitive end when Michaels and Triple H defeated Shane, Vince and The Big Show in a Handicap Hell in a Cell match.

Defending His Family's Honor

Randy Orton's reign of terror of WWE in the first half of 2009 involved two physical assaults of Stephanie McMahon, a brutal and vile punt of Vince and countless attacks on Triple H. So when Shane McMahon returned to the ring that year, it was clear that revenge was his only motivation.

Shane and Orton wrestled numerous times, both on pay-per-view and free television, but it was The Viper who emerged victorious most of the time.

The feud, ultimately won by the dastardly Orton, would be the final one for Shane McMahon, who disappeared from television and wound up leaving his father's company to go achieve success on his own.