KB’s Review: Those Rascally McMahons

If you’ve followed my writing for really any given amount of time, you’ll probably know that I don’t like Stephanie McMahon. To put it more accurately, I can’t stand her. She’s one of the most annoying, irritating, horrendous performers I’ve ever seen in professional wrestling. I’ve long since lost track of the amount of times that she’s destroyed a talented wrestler, leaving them with no rebuttal or chance to get anything back on her. It’s been a long case of making things about her and making sure no one is in her league. However, now I’m not even sure she’s the most annoying McMahon of her generation.

Over the last few weeks (if not months), Shane McMahon has turned into one of the least likable characters in all of WWE. Whether it’s the repeat appearances in main event level matches or taking WAY more punishment than someone of his age and experience should be able to take or the really, really, REALLY bad punches, there’s something about him that makes me want to see him beaten with a bag of hammers.

So yeah, both of them are rather annoying but in different ways. They’re not completely horrible as they both have something going for them, though neither of them are doing enough to warrant their high level presence on the show. Today we’re going to look at the faults of both, which is in no way, shape or form a method for me to calm down in my disdain for the McMahon’s on-screen characters.

Sometimes they just bicker about stuff.

Stephanie McMahon interrupts her brother: Raw, April 25, 2016

We’ll start with the younger McMahon and the one who has been around a lot longer over the years. Stephanie hasn’t spent a lot of time away from WWE over the years and that’s where the problems start. It’s a case of how can we miss you if you won’t go away. Stephanie and that screeching voice of hers, along with the smarmy look and “I’m just better than you” attitude have been around for a very, very long time and it’s pretty hard to take much more.

The character can be very effective when it’s working well but there comes a point where something has to change. No matter how good something is, if you keep going back to it over and over again, the effectiveness is going to wear off. That’s where we’ve been with Stephanie for a long time: she’s great with being a villainous boss, but at some point it would be nice if something were to change.

Take this year for example: Stephanie was gone from WWE for several months but when she came back, nothing had changed. She hadn’t done anything but take some time off and her shelf life was as short as it was when she left. As soon as she was back, it was the same “HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT MY FAMILY” and “RAW IS AWESOME” all over again and that’s not going to work. Just change things up a bit as Stephanie has been the same character since at least the formation of the Authority in 2013. That’s a long time in wrestling and her personality doesn’t make it any easier.

Sometimes she yells at Brock Lesnar.

Stephanie McMahon opts to fine Brock Lesnar for his out-of-control actions: Raw, March 30, 2015

Then there’s the major problem with Stephanie: the way she treats pretty much everyone around her. How many times have you seen Stephanie get all puffed up and screech at someone about how awesome she is and about how horrible they are? She’s done it to Brock Lesnar (yes Brock Lesnar), Charlotte (who almost cowered in fear), Seth Rollins, Mick Foley Kurt Angle and a host of others. As soon as you hear the music hit you know she’s going to be strutting down the aisle, either dancing around or with her mean face on, ready to treat anyone like they’re miles beneath her.

Now this is where the problem comes from. A heel ripping a face apart and treating them like garbage is how wrestling works. What doesn’t work though is having Stephanie come out there, yell at them, and have most of the people almost cower in fear. How many times have you seen someone look like a scared child in front of her awesome power? Then she leaves and it’s supposed to be no big deal. This happens over and over and doesn’t help anyone but Stephanie.

Compare this to Vince McMahon, who would take one severe beating after another over the years. Stephanie will take her annual Wrestlemania bump (though remember that at “Wrestlemania XXXII” she took the spear from Roman Reigns and was interfering in the match just a few minutes later) and really that’s it. Once a year is hardly enough to make up for everything she does, which brings us to her brother.

If there’s one thing Shane does well, it’s take a beating. Whether it’s being speared out of the air or flying off the top of the Cell through a table, Shane is willing to go out there and get beaten up with the best of them. That insanity is what made him a star back in the day and it’s a big reason why he’s still a star today. The entirety of his match with Kevin Owens back in October was built on what kind of stupid thing Shane would do. It’s quite the talent, but unfortunately that’s about the extent of the positives.

Ok so this was kind of cool.

Shane McMahon vs. The Undertaker - Hell in a Cell Match: WrestleMania 32 on WWE Network

Over the last few weeks, Shane has turned into one of the most annoying performers I can remember in a very long time. Now in theory, this is setting up a heel turn. If that’s the case then so be it, but at the same time there’s a chance that it could just be happening because he’s a McMahon and fans are supposed to like him. If that’s the case, it’s wearing very thin in a hurry.

Shane’s issues with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn stems from an attack on Shane’s father. Ignoring the fact that Vince said the attack was acceptable, Shane has since become a fixture of “Smackdown Live” programming, not only main eventing “Hell in a Cell 2017” but also being the captain for the “Smackdown Live” Survivor Series team. Am I really supposed to buy the idea that he’s the best on the roster? If that match was supposed to be this big deal, it’s rather heelish of him to not put Owens and Zayn in there for personal reasons.

Couple that with Shane’s latest actions of putting Owens and Zayn in a tag team match at “Clash of Champions 2017” with himself as guest referee and the villains’ careers on the line, it’s hard to really buy Shane as the good guy in the whole thing. He’s going too far and it’s rather difficult for me to get behind the idea of Shane warranting this much air time and still being treated as a serious boss.

Overall it’s hard to argue with Stephanie being the worse of the two as she’s that much more annoying when she’s around, but Shane is around far more often. That being said, it’s not like either of them are all that great. It gets even worse when you have to hear them both talk about each other like this huge evil that they both have to conquer, mainly around Survivor Series and the battle for brand supremacy. It’s better than them being around each other all the time, though not by much.

I don’t think there’s any secret to the fact that the McMahon siblings have worn thin on the patience of wrestling fans. They just never go away completely and we’re supposed to go along with them because their dad owns the company. That’s been the case for nearly twenty years now and a change would be rather nice. Maybe for Christmas? Please?

 

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com, follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume VI: July – December 1999 in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/11/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-and-thunder-reviews-volume-vi/

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