Matt Hardy Discusses How Shane McMahon Was Perceived Backstage In WWE

Shane McMahon has been the talk of the town lately, thanks to a photo with Tony Khan that was "leaked" online, whether deliberately or not. The buzz prompted Matt Hardy to do a deep dive on McMahon for his "Extreme Life of Matt Hardy" podcast. Hardy gave insight from the wrestlers' perspective as they watched McMahon begin to take up more TV time as a performer.

"Shane ended up really trying hard to be one of the boys," Hardy said. "He would go on tours with the guys. He would spend more time in the locker room. He would not try and seem like, 'I am the boss. I am a level above all of the wrestlers.'... People liked Shane. He was friendly. He was always floating around." Hardy admitted that if there was any criticism about McMahon's rise as a wrestler, it was mostly about the degree of freedom he was granted to conjure up high spots for himself, a freedom that wasn't necessarily given to everyone.

"He would always have the big 'Shane McMahon Moment,' and that would be every single match," Hardy said. "And guys were like, 'Well, how come we don't get one of those in our matches? To really get us over or get us to the next level?' There was some frustration on that, for sure ... I think that's just a McMahon DNA quality as well. 'I need to go out and I need to shine! You need to see why I'm special, because I'm a McMahon, dammit!' I think that was just in his genetics." Hardy said he was happy when McMahon returned to the company in 2016. After engaging in a storyline with The Undertaker, McMahon later took on more creative decision-making, specifically with Royal Rumble matches. This would infamously backfire at Royal Rumble 2022, leading to his dismissal from WWE.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.