Celebrating Shane McMahon’s 8 Greatest WWE Moments on 50th Birthday

For a guy who didn't really have any training inside a WWE ring, Shane McMahon has gone on to become one of the most entertaining performers of the modern era.

Initially introduced on WWE TV as Vince McMahon's son and nothing else, Shane has surprised almost everyone in the wrestling world with his ability to perform at a high level.

He's won numerous titles, performed at several editions of WrestleMania and, most notably, never been afraid to put his body well and truly on the line.

As he reaches his 50th birthday, here's a rundown of Shane's greatest moments both inside and outside the ring in WWE.

As Shane McMahon's first run with WWE was drawing to a semi-permanent close, he had one of his greatest matches of all-time against Randy Orton at 2009's No Way Out.

The fact McMahon had no real background inside the ring made this bout all the more impressive, and it certainly did a good job of calming any talk that Shane was simply good for one-off moments and not longer, sustained matches that could entertain.

Shane vs. Orton had real energy to it throughout, spearheaded by the fact that Orton was seemingly intent on attacking and taking out every single one of the McMahon family one by one.

With Legacy in Orton's corner, Shane was attacked non-stop for the majority of their No Holds Barred match, but much to the surprise of everyone, Shane kept getting back up, refusing to quit.

As the match wore on, it looked more and more likely that Shane could upset the odds, before a sickening RKO finally put Shane to bed. However, the way he contributed to this match, and the punishment he endured, is certainly worthy of inclusion on this list, as it showed there was much more to Shane that simply one-off spots.

By 2017, Shane had already endured plenty of death-defying, incredible moments.

But he always seems to have one more in him, as his match against Kevin Owens at Hell in a Cell 2017 proved.

Shane and Owens settled their intense rivalry inside the Cell, but naturally with Shane, things were always likely to spill outside, and above, the structure.

With Owens sprawled on the announce table, Shane evoked memories of the previous year's WrestleMania when he climbed the structure and set his sights on crashing his body through Owens.

However, just like at Mania, Owens got out of the way at the last minute when Sami Zayn was revealed to have pulled his long-time friend out of danger at the right moment. Shane was kayfabe injured, but it certainly looked real to everyone when he landed through the table with real force.

It was one of many examples of Shane putting his body on the line for the fans' entertainment. 

Shane's match against his father at WrestleMania X-Seven was a pivotal part of what is still regarded to this day as one of the best Mania shows of all-time.

It was a significant night for Shane's fledgeling in-ring career. Not only did he win a bloody, brutal Father vs. Son match against Vince, but he debuted the move that many fans class as his signature.

With the stakes high after Shane declaring in the run-up to the match he had purchased WCW, it was inevitable all members of the McMahon family would get involved.

But when Shane got the upper hand and forced Vince into a corner, he did something few fans would expect from a pro wrestler, let alone someone like Shane.

Shoving a trash can into his father's face, he climbed the opposite turnbuckle and flew across the ring in spectacular fashion.

It was a move that saw him win the match, and thankfully, it wouldn't be the last time fans would see Shane go coast to coast.

With Vince McMahon and The Authority running roughshod over WWE, fans needed someone to save them from their reign of terror in 2016.

Few could have expected who that would be however, when Shane ended his lengthy exile from WWE TV in February 2016.

It was a moment that would ultimately lead to Shane wrestling Undertaker at WrestleMania, but this angle is definitely worthy of inclusion in Shane's greatest moments all by itself.

The pop Shane got when his music hit was incredible, and the look on both Vince and Stephanie McMahon's faces were priceless, helping sell the surprise factor even more. 

Fans weren't sure whether Shane was here to support Stephanie and Vince or turn against them, but that was quickly made clear when he refused a hug from his father. He then informed Stephanie that he had bailed Vince out several years ago and he wanted control of Raw, sparking off the angle involving the McMahon family that resulted in him fighting Taker at Mania.

Sure, Shane's return to WWE felt pretty tired by the time he went off TV again, but nobody should forget the ovation he got when he did return in 2016.

The Invasion angle remains one of WWE's biggest missed booking opportunities, and although it finished in fairly tame fashion, it started with a real bang.

With tensions high between Vince and Shane McMahon ahead of their match at WrestleMania X-Seven, Vince was boasting to the crowd on Raw that he had purchased WCW, and would make the purchase official at Mania.

However, Shane had other ideas. He showed up on the screen live from a taping of Nitro in Panama City and entered the ring to drop a huge bombshell.

Shane declared that Vince's ego had gotten the better of him, and he had snuck in under his father's nose to buy WCW.

It was an epic moment, one which heightened the tensions ahead of the Mania match between the father and son, and it started an angle that should have been executed a hell of a lot better.

SummerSlam 2000 saw Shane McMahon in a feud for the Hardcore Championship with Steve Blackman, and as Shane learned, it takes a foolish man to cross The Lethal Weapon.

Shane went into their match at SummerSlam as champion after winning the title days before the event, but Blackman was out for revenge. He certainly got that.

When Shane, working as a heel, decided to try and flee Blackman in the closing stages of the bout, he again headed up the titantron, like he did against Big Show a year previous.

Blackman followed, and started attacking him with a kendo stick. Suddenly, with nobody expecting it, McMahon hurled himself backwards. He didn't even appear to be protecting himself, simply falling backwards in stunning fashion landing 40 feet below Blackman.

Jim Ross' commentary made the moment even more incredible, as fans genuinely struggled to grasp whether Shane was dead or alive. That question was answered seconds later, when Blackman threw himself on top of Shane to win the match.

How he survived this one without any serious injuries, however, is anyone's guess.

The fact Shane McMahon puts his body on the line more than almost any other wrestler is even more incredible when fans consider his lack of background inside the ring.

Never was his bravery more evident than in 2001 at Backlash, when he decided to take things to the extreme in a Last Man Standing match against Big Show.

Midway through the match, with Show on top, Test showed up to take down Big Show and aid McMahon. The action quickly spilled over outside the ring, before Shane escaped up the scaffolding to evade Show as he targeted Shane with a pipe in hand.

But Test interfered again, pinning Show down and imploring Shane to finish the big man off.

He took full advantage, leaping from the top of the titantron and landing directly on top of him. Test completed the job by picking Shane up to ensure he wouldn't reach the ten count, and somehow, he had won the match.

But while few people remember the result, everyone remembers what Shane did prior to the final bell ringing.

It was tough to split Shane's death-defying stunts involving the titantron and Hell in a Cell, but the latter edges it for several reasons.

Firstly, this moment happened in Shane's first match for a whole 15 years, when he strapped up the sneakers once again to take on The Undertaker at WrestleMania 32.

It was the culmination of a pretty cool storyline, where Vince promised his son all the power he wanted if he could beat an opponent of his father's choosing at Mania. That proved to be Taker, and the match happened inside Hell in a Cell.

Neither man disappointed, but particularly Shane, who put his body on the line once again for the purposes of entertainment, jumping from the top of the Cell to try and finish The Deadman off. 

However, Taker moved out of the way at the last minute, and Shane crashed through the announce table in stunning fashion. It resulted in him losing the bout, but it created a moment fans will never forget.