Shane McMahon Is The Underdog WrestleMania Needs

Do you like it when billion dollar families get shocked on live television when a certain heir-apparent-no-longer returns to threaten his father over the mysterious contents of a lockbox? If so, you’ve probably loved WWE over the past week. Well, many people were excited (including me) over the opening segment of Raw. It’s always good when WWE keeps a secret, which is hard to do in this day and age.

Vince’s baby boy gets more than his fair share of love this week, along the Lunatic Fringe, for their big upcoming matches. I also offer some thoughts on the announcement of Finn Balor vs. Neville for NXT next week as well as my humble opinion on Balor’s title reign in WWE’s little brand that could. Lastly, some way overdue love for Lucha Underground gets espoused because they deserve all the praise in the world.

First up is the WrestleMania matchup that nobody was predicting…

Underdogs Bring The Excitement

The biggest news of the week was the return of Shane McMahon to WWE television. News reports that I’ve followed have revealed that this deal was struck only four weeks prior and was a backup plan due to John Cena being unable to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania. There’s no guarantee that Shane will be in the company beyond the big show in Dallas and at this point it seems unlikely. But after the tremendous ovation he received last Monday night, I hope he decides to stick around.

Even if this really is just a temporary stint, I’m loving it. Shane is a showman who’s absolutely fearless in the ring. He’s taken insane bumps in the past and is being setup for even more death-defying spots this time around. Him coming back to fight in a Hell In A Cell match has my interest level completely piqued. That’s good because prior to Monday’s Raw I was feeling pretty blah about the big annual event.

Another big development that’s finally getting me truly excited for WrestleMania is the fact that everything’s full steam ahead for Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose to officially having a match in Dallas. This is an incredible pairing. Brock is a monster who can dominate everybody while Dean is fearless, never giving up in the face of overwhelming odds.

Not only can Lesnar suplex the life out of poor Ambrose, but seemingly slightly more passive acts such as stepping on his head as he’s walking away from a beat down come across as brutal and cold hearted. Lesnar has a tendency to get cheered even if he’s the heel but there should be none of that this time around. Not only is he doing heel things but he’s doing them to one of the most beloved wrestlers on the roster.

Both Dean Ambrose and Shane McMahon are going to be the underdogs going into their matches. It’s the classic David vs. Goliath element in both cases and I’m hoping that they’re both stories that are told right. Since Dean’s a permanent fixture on the roster, I’d like to see him go over. I’d even go so far as to say it should be completely clean.

As for Shane, I’m not so sure if I see him winning his match. The rumor that his current WWE run is very limited makes it less reasonable for him to be victorious – especially against The Deadman at WrestleMania. Still, if there’s any truth to a potential brand split then this would be the opportunity to make it happen.

Balor vs. Neville, Nice!

When comparing Finn Balor’s NXT Title reign to his predecessor, Kevin Owens, I was much more of a fan of Owens. The reason I say this is because so many stories stood out from the Owens run. His rivalry with Sami Zayn was the best thing about that time period. Even something that never came to fruition like the strong insinuation a the time that he injured Hideo Itami in the parking lot planted seeds that I’d love to followed up on one day.

The stories of the Owens’ reign captivated me more than Balor’s, but there’s still plenty to love about the current champ. For one, his entrance and body paint alone are a spectacle worth telling friends about. Another positive of Finn’s NXT Championship reign – and probably more important – is the match quality. He’s had a very high bar set by a few years of hungry talent before him and he has continued to match or exceed that standard. Next week on NXT, he gets the chance to do something special once again.

Balor is approaching the record for being the longest reigning NXT Champion. Appropriately, Steven Regal informed him that he’ll be defending his title against Neville on next week’s show. Neville holds the record for longest reign, which is enough of a reason for these guys to wrestle. Even if there was no story to this, I’d still be anticipating this singles match between to stellar in-ring acts.

There’s some fantastic matches lined up for the TakeOver card in Dallas. NXT continues to offer some of the consistently best wrestling matches there is. In an age when it’s easier than ever to access a plethora of promotions, that’s saying something.

The Best Show On Television

There’s currently an overwhelming offering of wrestling programming, so I watch most shows on demand a few days late. Raw and NXT are typically the only shows that I watch on the actual night that they air. Because of this, it’s usually around Friday before I watch Lucha Underground, after I’ve completed my weekly rounds of writing and podcasting. I’ll need to change something because I’m commenting very little on what I consider to be my current favorite show.

I recently had a conversation with my wife about a tweet that stated that Aerostar was canonically over a thousand years old. We concluded that this assumption was most likely false, because he time travelled from a thousand years ago to current time. One could only prove that this luchador was over a millennia old if was alive a thousand years prior to his chrono-skip. These are geeky conversations that I love having and I get to do them now with professional wrestling.

Even the less science fiction-y storylines are still amazing. Joey Ryan, known most notably for the athletic prowess of his member, is currently an undercover officer along with Cortez Castro. Ryan in this role is pretty much the most perfect casting with his aviator glasses, hairy chest, and sucker in his mouth.

Also, kudos to Joey Ryan for the recent engagement during a wrestling match. He even used the excitement of the event to his advantage as he won the match against his now-fiancé via rollup. Very slick, Joe.

Final Ramblings And Plugs

I haven’t been to many truly independent shows in years and have been hoping to see what’s going on in my area. I noticed a flyer at a grocery store this past week that said Ring of Honor’s Cedric Alexander and Top Prospect 2016 combatant Jason Kincaid will be appearing on a card locally in the coming weeks. I’ve never seen those guys live, so it’ll be cool to check them out.

I have no connections to these guys or their promotion, but here’s a link to their video for this show anyway…

I’ll probably skip the after party at Leg Room Too. This is about as indie as it gets so it should be fun.

Follow me on Twitter @MitchNickelson. Check out my wife and podcast partner on Twitter as well @km645. She’ll keep you up to date with the latest cool video game kickstarters because she likes that kind of stuff.

Like every week, my wife and I recorded a new episode of Wrestling Date Night. We discussed the Shane McMahon return as well as some cool new wrestling merch we’ve bought. You can listen to us through Our Podbean page or even on DeMarco Wrestling Radio…or simply click Play on the embedded player below…