Okay, I just gotta say that the WWE, and Vince McMahon in particular, need to put a governor on Shane McMahon. Holy shit! That Hell in a Cell match between Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens at the 2017 Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event was insane. They spent at least 10 minutes on the top of the Cell. Ten long, agonizing, heart-stopping minutes on top of the Cell, suplexing each other, knocking each other down, power-bombing each other onto the top of the structure as the chain link mesh that makes up the top of the structure buckled and bent and gave – but never broke.
Finally, as Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon started to come back down from the top of the Cell, Owens took a 10-foot fall from the side of the Cell and it looked as though the match would end right there. Then the unthinkable happened and Shane McMahon started climbing the 20-foot Cell once again and was looking to drop an elbow onto a prone Kevin Owens who was now laying on top of another table. And as Shane McMahon made his death-defying leap from the top of the Cell, a heretofore unseen Sami Zayn came out of nowhere and pulled Kevin Owens out of the way, causing Shane McMahon to crash horrifically through the table and take the most terrifying bounce I have ever seen in the scariest bump I have seen in a Hell in a Cell match since the Mankind vs Undertaker Hell in a Cell match at the 1998 King of the Ring pay-per-view event.
It’s been three hours since the Hell in a Cell event ended, I have watched the McMahon vs Owens Hell in a Cell match at least six times now, and my stomach is still in knots. I am still on an emotional high from seeing the match and all the high spots and dangerous maneuvers they did on the top of the Cell – these are the kind of feelings that I had as a teenage fan that helped cement me as a fan of professional wrestling back in the mid-to-late 1990s. But now, as an older fan, as a man who realizes just how much these men put on the line to entertain the professional wrestling fans around the world, seeing a match like this and the dangerous high spots they endure for out entertainment, I see it a bit differently now. I know these men and women know how to take a bump. It will hurt like hell (no pun intended), but this is what they do. But high spots like this, hard bumps like the one that Shane just went through at the event – I appreciate their work, but sometimes you wonder just when enough is enough.
Just as Vince McMahon had to put a governor on Mick Foley after the Mankind vs Undertaker Hell in a Cell match in 1998, where Mick Foley (as Mankind) was thrown from the top of the Cell and then falling through the top of the Cell as the match went on, I think that Vince and the WWE need to apply a governor to Shane McMahon as he has taken two high and dangerous spots off the top of the Hell in a Cell in less than a two-year period. And while he may have come out relatively unscathed after the first high spot following the WrestleMania 32 Hell in a Cell match against the Undertaker, it doesn’t seem like he may have been as lucky this time around as WWE.com is reporting the following:
“A preliminary report has determined that Shane may be dealing with multiple injuries, including neck trauma, fractured ribs and a dislocated shoulder.
While nothing has been confirmed at this time, WWE.com will continue to monitor Shane’s condition.
Check back with WWE.com for updates as they become available.”
Now, this could just be the WWE following up on the story angle of Shane selling his injuries following the Hell in a Cell match, but I think that this time Shane may have been legitimately hurt in the match. That bump he took was ugly. Like I said before, that was the worst fall off of a Cell that I have ever seen since Mick Foley’s bump in 1998. Every time I have watched this match, I cringe the moment Shane crashes through the table and violently bounces before coming to a stop on the floor mats. It was a vicious and terrifying spot that just left me speechless. I mean, I don’t know how else to describe how horrible it looked. But if Shane McMahon is injured following this match, I really do hope for the speediest of recoveries for him.
But that exemplifies why the WWE and Vince McMahon need to place a governor on Shane for any potential future matches. I appreciate everything that he has done to entertain me over the years. There is no denying that he is one of the craziest and most daring son of a bitch that the WWE has ever seen. And that at 47 he still has the in-ring ability to go all out and have the crowd and viewers in the palm of his hand. But man, when is enough going to be enough for Shane? That was some scary ass stuff. And I can only imagine what it must have been like for his wife Marissa and three sons, Declan, Kenyon and Rogan, who were at ringside during the match, to see their husband and father put his body on the line like that. If not for himself, then at least for his family. I love seeing what he does, but I think it may be time for Shane to put the brakes on these kinds of high spots. Or at least stop leaping from the top of the Hell in a Cell structure. Or any height above ten feet. Yeah, let’s keep it at that.
And if you’re looking for a full review of the WWE 2017 Hell in a Cell pay-per-view live event, check out the Wrestling With Wregret review below where the ever insightful Brian Zane gives you a review of the entire event.
