Why Shane McMahon vs. Undertaker Match at WWE WrestleMania 32 Is Huge Mistake

The only time Shane McMahon and Undertaker should battle inside Hell in a Cell is in a WWE 2K video game.

That is not a match that belongs on the WrestleMania 32 card. A narrative rife with plot holes, the ages of the two combatants and the missed opportunity it promises to be make it a blunder waiting to happen.

The massive buzz Shane-O-Mac created when he returned on Monday's Raw to confront his father is undeniable. Having Shane then make Vince McMahon squirm on TV, stepping up to his father (shades of 2001) was thrilling. 

Still, booking him to face Undertaker inside the steel cage that The Deadman made famous is the wrong move. Having him play a major role at WrestleMania is one thing, but to have him step into the ring for the first time since 2009 is an error born of desperation.

Kenny Herzog of Rolling Stone called the move "a mighty Hail Mary to help rescue WWE's signature event."

Some will believe WWE made the right call, that the Hail Mary will result in success and celebration, but it won't. There are too many issues to overcome. Whereas pitting Dean Ambrose against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania feels like two perfectly matched puzzle pieces locking, Shane vs. Undertaker is a baffling pairing.

PWTorch's Benjamin Tucker has every right to be confused:

The spot opposite Undertaker at WrestleMania has become just as important as a place in the WWE title match in recent years. It's a marquee matchup that has seen future Hall of Famers step up to The Phenom to craft instant classics.

Don't expect that with Shane. His star power is undeniable, and the hype will certainly be big en route to The Show of Shows, but how much can this match really deliver?

As Kevin Berge of Questionable Critics pointed out, age is likely to get in the way:

Shane's biggest asset has always been his willingness to put his body on the line. His matches weren't so much fights, but mini-action movies punctuated by "Did he just do that?" stunts.

Will he be willing to take those kinds of bumps at this age? Will WWE let him? Will that be enough to make up for his lack of wrestling ability in this big of a match?

Jason Powell of ProWrestling.net wrote, "Middle-aged father of three Shane would be a better fit on my beer league softball team than he is in a Hell in a Cell match against Undertaker."

The story is troublesome, too. The idea is that Shane is looking take over control of Raw from Vince. If he wins this battle, he will hold the reins to Raw. Undertaker winning is a victory for Vince, letting him maintain ownership of Raw and gaining access to some mysterious lockbox Shane has stashed away.

Bleacher Report's Dan Pecoraro wondered about how logical it is that Undertaker would be willing to do Vince's dirty work:

Pecoraro is higher on the concept than I am, though. All the change and power the result of this contest could bring is exciting, but it will be hard for WWE to pull off getting to that point. Undertaker taking on Shane puts the company into a booking corner it will not be able to squeeze out of.

If Undertaker wins, then Shane doesn't take over, nullifying the excitement created about him turning back. We're back to more of The Authority, the tired narrative that just won't die.

If Shane wins, he will become only the second man to defeat Undertaker at WrestleMania. To swallow that takes a hell of an ability to suspend disbelief. Even with all kinds of cheating, an executive taking down Undertaker is far-fetched. The power of The Streak would be diminished as a result.

An immortal would be reduced to a pawn in the McMahon's power play.

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This WrestleMania showdown also uses up one of Undertaker's last matches without benefiting an emerging star or giving a current wrestler another milestone to brag about. Shane doesn't need the rub. He may not even be here in five months.

Even the ill-advised Braun Strowman-Deadman match that has long been speculated about would have helped build a new monster.

Kevin Owens would have made one hell of an opponent for Undertaker. Even just hanging in there with The Deadman would have catapulted Owens.

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The same goes for Roman Reigns. Had Ambrose won at Fastlane to take on Triple H, Bray Wyatt would have likely stepped up to face Lesnar, leaving Reigns free to have a career-defining match.

None of that will happen. WWE will have let the immensely powerful tool that is a WrestleMania with Undertaker go to a non-wrestler.

This whole scenario only makes sense if Shane ends up having a proxy fight for him. Put John Cena into this same narrative, and it's suddenly more believable. The matchup would go from circus to classic. Put one of the best big-match performers in WWE history inside that cage rather than Shane, and it promises to be light-years better.

Cena, though, must be too far away in his recovery from shoulder surgery to make it back in time. Otherwise, WWE wouldn't have panicked and booked one of the most bizarre WrestleMania matches in the event's history.