Smark Out Moment

On this sixteenth edition of SUPERSTAR SCORES, we take a look at Shane McMahon—the son of the owner of World Wrestling Entertainment, Vince McMahon. Shane could have easily just been someone who worked in the office, but he ended up getting involved in quite a bit of in-ring competition throughout his tenure. Now that he's made a return after several years of working on other ventures, there's no better time than now to reflect back on what he's previous done to psych ourselves up for his upcoming Hell in a Cell match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 32.

If you're unfamiliar with how the segment works, here is a quick breakdown: Each edition, a wrestler will be put under the spotlight and rated on a 0-100 scale based on 10 categories that have been broken up into 5 umbrella sections: In the Ring Skills, On the Mic Skills, Appearance, Behavior, and Crowd Reaction. The rating scale is as basic as you can get: 0-1-2-3-4 | 5 | 6-7-8-9-10. It follows the Three-Count Critique method of green being the good, yellow being in the middle, and red being the bad. A perfect 100 is the goal.


Update: On March 20, 2020, we did a recalibration of points for a 25th episode special. In that episode, nearly every wrestler saw some adjustments. Below, you'll see the original scores on the left and then the updated score on the right, with the original description for the original score underneath. For explanation on the updated points, check out the 25th edition podcast.

IN THE RING SKILLS

Athleticism: Does the person have a good signature moveset and finisher? Can they perform a wide variety of moves on a regular basis and not botch them?

My Rating = 7
Shane wasn't a technical wrestler who could go for a 60-minute Iron Man match and pull out amazing moves left and right, but he was considerably athletic for someone who wasn't an actual athlete. He was able to do things that most people never would have expected he could do. Just look at the Coast to Coast. This dude did a shooting star press in his match against Kurt Angle at King of the Ring 2001! He needs to get something in the green.

Psychology: The wrestler's ability to tell a story in the ring. Do they make you believe it's real or do they forget to sell their injuries properly? Can they make a long match stay interesting and not get boring?

My Rating = 7
Whether he was the heel who needed to get his ass beaten or he was the babyface who would take the fight to a heel, Shane did a damn good job of knowing how to play this up to the audience without having much practice testing things out like most wrestlers who spend years honing their craft.

ON THE MIC SKILLS

Charisma: If they get a mic, can they cut a promo without stuttering? Are they repetitive or do they keep things fresh?

My Rating = 5
Compared to Vince, Shane doesn't match up, but he was far from bad on the mic.

Character: Is their gimmick(s) interesting? Can they pull off being both a heel and a face?

My Rating = 6
Sometimes he was the spoiled brat and the Prodigal Son who was definitely from his father's loins, but other times, he was the antithesis to what the McMahon name means and proof that they could be less on the evil side. Both scenarios, he was able to sell it to the audience well. I wouldn't say he accomplished having as strong of a character as Vince or even Stephanie, but he did his job adequately.

APPEARANCE

Physique: Are they in the proper shape for their gimmick or are they out of shape? (note: someone like Mabel isn't supposed to look like John Morrison, but Matt Hardy gaining weight deducts his points).

My Rating = 3 / 5
Shane wasn't some out of shape slob by any means whatsoever, but I think it would be weird to give him a 5 or above considering how he was always wearing baggy clothes and never showed off much of his physique to begin with.

Entrance: Their music, the pyro if they have any, whatever taunts or actions they do to make it interesting.

My Rating = 6
Catchy song and interesting footwork. This was memorable, easy to copy, and not too bad in the grand scheme of things.

BEHAVIOR

Backstage Professionalism: Are they a locker room leader or do they cause problems behind the scenes? Are they bogged down in politics? Do they put other people over or screw people over?

My Rating = 9
I have to plead a little bit of ignorance on this, as I don't know all that much about what Shane has done backstage. That being said, I've always gotten the impression that Shane was someone who didn't rub people the wrong way and was well liked. If that's the case, coupled with how Shane was always willing to put his body on the line and take bumps that could injure him rather than thinking he was above it, I have to give him props.

Public Relations: Does this wrestler project a bad image onto the company with arrests and such, or are they someone that promotes the company well, does charities, talk shows, etc?

My Rating = 9
Shane was able to become the head of an entirely different company and still come back with a huge reaction from the crowd in a positive light. Everyone seems to view him as the golden child that should have stuck around, so even if Shane doesn't actively do charity work for WWE or anything of the sort, he gives off a vibe that he's got integrity that only benefits the company's image.

CROWD REACTION

Popularity: How loud are the cheers and boos for them? Do they sell merchandise? Are ratings up or down when they're on screen? How many Twitter and Facebook followers do they have?

My Rating = 7 / 6
Did you listen to that pop he got when he returned? Shane always had a certain level of popularity based just on his familial relation, similar to how Stephanie McMahon gets a great reaction. Neither of them compare to Vince, but he would be something like a 9 or 10 and I think 7 is an adequate number for Shane.

Credibility: Is this person someone you would see as a main eventer and a future legend or are they doomed to forever be a jobber?

My Rating = 5
Shane's track record isn't super great, but he managed to beat some pretty big names. Even if he went into every match with a noteworthy star as the underdog and was only favored in matches against people like Gillberg and Brisco and Patterson, the fact that the fans would buy into him putting up a fight against Kurt Angle, Steve Austin and company means he had at least average credibility.

TOTAL SCORE: 65/100

FINAL THOUGHTS: All things considered, this is a really good score for someone in Shane's position. He was never (and will never be) the top of the food chain when it comes to superstars, but he's also a massive overachiever from what he could have been.

Check out more discussion on this topic on this week's episode of Smack Talk below: