Shane McMahon

The Alliance (2001–2002)

In 2001, Shane made his third face run by once again feuding with his father, Vince. The feud with Vince was due to the elder McMahon's (kayfabe) affair with Trish Stratus and Vince's spite and demand to divorce Linda McMahon. As fate would have it, rival World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was sold to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) one week before the Father versus Son match at WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1. In terms of the storyline, Vince demanded that Ted Turner sign the contract at WrestleMania. With Vince's ego getting the best of him, Shane was able to seize the opportunity and purchase WCW himself, to the shock of Vince. McMahon defeated Vince at WrestleMania in a Street Fight. At Backlash on April 29, McMahon debuted his theme song "Here Comes The Money" and was in a Last Man Standing match against Big Show. McMahon performed the Leap of Faith (from the top of the scaffolding), knocking himself and Big Show out. Test helped McMahon to his feet, causing McMahon to get the victory.

McMahon began a feud with Kurt Angle. By King of the Ring on June 24, McMahon's feud with Angle had culminated. After already participating in two tournament matches that night, Angle wrestled McMahon in a Street Fight. After a suplex on the hard floor, Angle was thought to have cracked his tailbone. Angle also delivered an overhead belly to belly suplex through the plated glass stage set, but McMahon did not break through on the first attempt, causing him to fall head-first onto the concrete floor. After a successful second attempt, Angle was to put him through a second plate back out to the stage and again failed two more times. Angle proceeded to bodily hurl him through the plate glass. The match also had Shane missing a shooting star press and landing on a trash can, and ended with Angle performing the Angle Slam off the top rope before scoring the victory over a bloodied McMahon.

McMahon began to lead his WCW wrestlers against his father and the WWF wrestlers, turning heel by joining forces with Paul Heyman and his brand of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) wrestlers, along with their new owner, McMahon's sister Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. Calling themselves The Alliance, they pledged to finally run the WWF (and specifically their father) out of business. Ultimately, The Invasion came to a head at Survivor Series on November 18 in a match to determine which power would ultimately have control. The team, each respectively representing The Alliance and the WWF, of McMahon, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, and Booker T lost to the team of The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, and Big Show. The following night on Raw, Vince publicly fired both Shane and Stephanie, which Shane took in stride, admitting that he lost to the better man, while Stephanie pleaded with her father before being forcefully removed from the arena. Aside from a brief appearance on the July 15, 2002 episode of Raw, McMahon would not be seen on television for almost two years.

Feud with Kane and hiatus (2003–2005)

McMahon made his first on-screen appearance in two years on an episode of SmackDown! before WrestleMania XIX, watching his father's training in the gym to prepare his match against Hulk Hogan. At WrestleMania on March 30, 2003, he went to check on his father's welfare following a Street Fight with Hulk Hogan, with Hogan welcoming Shane in the ring and walking out. He returned as a face in the summer by getting involved in a feud with Eric Bischoff, who had made improper remarks and gestures to Shane's mother Linda. He defeated Bischoff in a Falls Count Anywhere match at SummerSlam on August 24. McMahon also got involved in a bitter rivalry with Kane after Kane gave Linda a Tombstone Piledriver because she did not name him the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship. Their feud culminated in McMahon losing a Last Man Standing match at Unforgiven on September 21 and an Ambulance match at Survivor Series on November 16.

After Survivor Series, McMahon left Raw to focus his attention on the executive creative staff and his new family. At WrestleMania XX on March 14, 2004, McMahon appeared briefly on camera during the opening of the event with Vince and his newborn son, Declan. On a special 3-hour episode of Raw on October 3, 2005, billed as WWE Homecoming, all four members of the McMahon family were given a Stone Cold Stunner by Stone Cold Steve Austin. The following week, Vince demanded an apology from ringside commentators for not coming to his family's aid, which developed into a new feud. McMahon also appeared at Survivor Series on November 27, though he did not appear on television. He can be seen on the DVD extra backstage talking to Theodore Long, when The Boogeyman tried to scare off McMahon, who made no deal about it.

Feud with D-Generation X and Bobby Lashley (2006–2007)

McMahon returned in 2006 as a heel by again siding with his father to help in the feud with Shawn Michaels. At the Royal Rumble on January 29, Shane (despite not competing in the match) eliminated Michaels from the Royal Rumble match by throwing him over the top rope. After weeks of attacks from behind by Shane, one of which saw him force an unconscious Michaels to kiss Vince's rear end, Shane and Michaels faced each other in a Street Fight on the March 18 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event XXXII. In a fashion similar to the real-life Montreal Screwjob, Shane put Michaels in the Sharpshooter as Vince called for the bell and gave Shane the victory. The McMahons' feud with Michaels took a religious turn at WrestleMania 22 on April 2, where Michaels defeated Vince McMahon. Vince claimed that Michaels's victory was a result of "divine intervention" and booked himself and his son in a match at Backlash on April 30 against Michaels and his tag team partner "God". Around this time, Vince began to act strangely and at one point considered himself a god. Shane, who at this time was referred to by Vince as "the product of his semen", teamed with Vince to defeat Michaels and "God" at Backlash, due to help from the Spirit Squad.

This feud later enveloped Triple H, who the McMahons had enlisted to take out Michaels. Triple H was getting frustrated with this, as it was distracting from his quest to regain the WWE Championship. Triple H wound up bashing Shane with his signature weapon, the sledgehammer, in what was considered to be an accident that put Shane out of the ring for a while. Vince (and later Shane, who had recovered) sought to humble Triple H and get some retribution. Triple H began a feud with the McMahons shortly after, leading to his siding with Shawn Michaels and the reformation of D-Generation X (DX). At SummerSlam on August 20, the McMahons were defeated by DX. About a month later at Unforgiven on September 17, The McMahons and then ECW World Champion Big Show faced DX in a Hell in a Cell match. Shane was injured after Michaels' elbow dropped a chair which was around Shane's neck. DX emerged victorious at Unforgiven, and Shane disappeared from television, thus ending their feud.

On the March 5, 2007 episode of Raw, McMahon came back to inform his father, Vince, about the "guest referee" for the "Battle of the Billionaires." He told him that their opponents on the Board of Directors had won the vote, 5–4. The McMahons had intended for Shane to be the referee. Instead, the guest referee turned out to be the McMahons' old rival, the Texas rattlesnake Stone Cold Steve Austin. During the "Battle of the Billionaires" match at WrestleMania 23 on April 1, Shane's attempt to interfere on his father's behalf was stopped by Austin. During the match, Shane was able to hit the Coast to Coast dive with a trash can into Bobby Lashley's face. On the April 9 episode of Raw, Shane officially joined the Vince/Umaga/Lashley feud when he faced Lashley for the ECW World Championship in a Title vs. Hair match which ended in Shane getting disqualified on purpose by punching the referee. After the match, Umaga, Vince, and Shane all attacked Lashley. At Backlash on April 29 in a handicap match for the ECW World Championship, Shane along with Vince and Umaga defeated Lashley for the title. Vince gained the pin making him the ECW World Champion. At Judgment Day on May 20, Lashley faced Shane, Vince, and Umaga again, in a rematch for the ECW World Championship. This time, Lashley won the match, but since he pinned Shane rather than Vince, Vince remained the champion. At One Night Stand on June 3, Shane and Umaga tried to help Vince retain the ECW World Championship against Lashley, but failed when Lashley speared Vince and pinned him for the win, ending their feud.

On the taped episode of Raw that aired on September 3, Shane, along with his mother Linda and his sister Stephanie, made appearances to confront Vince about his illegitimate child. Shane returned at Survivor Series on November 18 to accompany Hornswoggle, alongside his father, in his match against The Great Khali. After that, he was only seen on WWE's pay-per-view No Way Out on February 17, 2008, talking to Big Show after the latter had his nose legitimately broken going by the plan to push Mayweather's speed by Floyd Mayweather Jr. before again not being seen until June.

Feud with The Legacy and departure (2008–2009)

After the severe injury that Vince McMahon sustained on the June 23 episode of Raw when a sign fell on top of him during his hosting of the "Million Dollar Mania" sweepstakes, Shane requested for the Raw roster to stand together during what was a turbulent time. Shane's plea, however, was ignored and subsequently, Shane and his sister Stephanie urged the roster to show solidarity. On the July 28 episode of Raw, Shane made an appearance to announce Mike Adamle as his and Stephanie's choice to be the new Raw general manager. After Adamle stepped down as general manager, he and Stephanie became the interim on-screen authority figures for the Raw program. On the November 24 episode of Raw, Shane and Stephanie argued over who was in charge, leading to Stephanie telling him that Raw is her show. After being slapped by Stephanie, Shane finished the segment by telling her that from that day onwards, he was going to watch Stephanie run Raw "right into the ground".

At the start of 2009, Randy Orton began a feud with the McMahon family. On the January 19 episode of Raw, Orton punted Mr. McMahon in the head, after he had tried to fire Orton from the company for previous comments made about Stephanie. The following week, Shane returned to television and attacked Orton for his actions, turning face for the first time since 2006. On the February 2 episode of Raw, it was revealed that Orton challenged Shane to a No Holds Barred match at No Way Out on February 15, to which he accepted, but was defeated by Orton in the match. The following night on Raw, Shane challenged Orton to a match for that episode's main event. The match ended with Orton punting Shane in the head, as well as performing an RKO on Stephanie McMahon.

Shane returned on the March 30 episode of Raw, alongside Triple H and his father Vince McMahon, to confront and attack The Legacy (Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase, and Cody Rhodes). On the April 6 episode of Raw, it was announced that Shane would compete in a six-man tag team match against The Legacy at Backlash on April 26 alongside Triple H and Batista, the latter of whom had returned from injury, where the stipulation was that if any member of Orton's team pinned any member of Triple H's team, Orton would win Triple H's WWE Championship; however, if any member of Orton's team was counted out or disqualified, Triple H would retain the title. On the May 4 episode of Raw, Shane's character suffered a broken leg and ankle at the hands of Orton and Legacy as a way to write him out of the story. On October 1, 2009, Shane departed WWE.

Return to WWE (2016–2024)

Commissioner of Smackdown and various feuds (2016–2017)

On the February 22, 2016 episode of Raw, Shane returned to WWE as a babyface for the first time in nearly seven years, interrupting his sister, Stephanie McMahon, receiving the "Vincent J. McMahon Legacy of Excellence" Award from their father, Vince McMahon. Shane announced that the reason he had returned was that he wanted control of Raw, leading to Vince placing Shane in a Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania 32 on April 3 against The Undertaker, adding the stipulation that Shane would get control of Raw and The Undertaker would no longer be a participant in future WrestleMania events if Shane were to win the match. At WrestleMania, Shane attempted a Leap of Faith off the top of the cell, but The Undertaker moved out of the way, and Shane fell through an announce table. Shane was defeated by The Undertaker soon after.

Despite losing at WrestleMania, Shane controlled Raw for a month, firstly by his father, Vince, on the Raw after WrestleMania, then for the following three weeks after "popular demand on social media". This led to Stephanie confronting Shane, telling him that their father will decide who will control Raw at Payback on May 1, where Vince announced that both Shane and Stephanie would be Co-general managers and have joint control of WWE.

In July, after the announcement of the return of the brand extension with SmackDown moving to Tuesday, Vince appointed Shane as the storyline commissioner of the SmackDown brand and Stephanie as the commissioner of Raw before tasking them to name a general manager for their respective shows. Shane appointed Daniel Bryan as the general manager of SmackDown. At SummerSlam on August 21, Brock Lesnar won his match against Randy Orton by technical knockout and continued to assault Orton as he was being tended to. Shane confronted Lesnar, which resulted in Shane being attacked by Lesnar with an F-5. On the November 8 episode of SmackDown Live, Shane agreed to replace an injured Baron Corbin in the traditional Survivor Series tag team elimination match between the two brands. At Survivor Series on November 20, Team SmackDown defeated Team Raw. McMahon suffered a legitimate concussion following a spear from Roman Reigns, resulting in his elimination. In December, McMahon would take over host duties for Talking Smack with Daniel Bryan taking time off for family reasons.

Feud with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn (2017–2018)

On the August 1 episode of SmackDown, McMahon had a serious argument with Kevin Owens due to losing to AJ Styles for the United States Championship. Owens demanded a competent referee, so Daniel Bryan chose McMahon to become the special guest referee. The following week on SmackDown, McMahon was accidentally attacked by Styles during a bra

Business career

WWE

Shane McMahon began working in WWE at age 15, starting in their warehouse, where he filled merchandise orders. McMahon was a referee, producer, announcer, and eventually a wrestler on-screen, while becoming WWE's Executive Vice President of Global Media behind the scenes. In 1992, McMahon was already backstage official and working behind the scenes for the company. In 1997, McMahon helped launch WWE's official website. By the year 2000, McMahon was very much a part of the decision process in WWE, and that included creative.

On October 21, 2006, McMahon attended Pride 32 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada resulting in speculation that WWE were considering promoting MMA events. On November 17, 2006, WWE and Dream Stage Entertainment officials, the parent company of Pride Fighting Championships, held a meeting at WWE global headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. The meeting focused on the possibility of the two groups doing some form of business together in the future. Yet on March 27, 2007, Nobuyuki Sakakibara, president of DSE, announced that Station Casinos, Inc. magnate Lorenzo Fertitta, also one of the co-owners of Zuffa, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, had made a deal to acquire all the assets of Pride FC from DSE after Pride 34 in a deal worth about US$70 million, thereby ceasing any prospective business between Pride and WWE.

Later in November 2006, McMahon and WWE Canada President Carl De Marco traveled to South America to finalize a major TV deal in Brazil, which allowed their television station to air Raw and SmackDown.

In October 2007, McMahon and De Marco attempted to purchase the Argentine wrestling promotion 100% Lucha to expand WWE's product in South America. The deal fell through due to disagreements between the two parties.

In September 2008, McMahon finalized another major TV deal, this time in Mexico, which allowed WWE programming to air on Mexico's two biggest television networks, Raw on Televisa and SmackDown on TV Azteca.

On October 16, 2009, WWE published a statement from Shane McMahon announcing his resignation from his position as WWE's Executive Vice President of Global Media, and also issued an official press release stating that the resignation was tendered effective January 1, 2010. No specific reason was given for the resignation. McMahon stated in the WWE press release, "Having been associated with this organization for the majority of my life, I feel this is the opportune time in my career to pursue outside ventures", thus ending his 20-year stint with the company on January 1, 2010. McMahon's resignation left only two original members of the McMahon family active within the company: his father, Vince, and his sister, Stephanie.

As of late 2019, McMahon began working as a producer for WWE once again.

In May 2020, it was revealed that the reasons for Shane McMahon's resignation from his role as Executive Vice President of WWE in 2009, was because "he realized that his father Vince, saw his sister Stephanie and her husband Triple H as the heirs to the throne" and "was tired of his father Vince, overlooking his ideas" for what he envisioned for the company. In 2022, however, it was reported that despite having a part time WWE contract and no major production role with his family's company, McMahon had in fact had a history with booking Royal Rumble matches, with Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful even stating following the controversy surrounding the 2022 Royal Rumble that "Though he wasn't listed as a producer internally for the Royal Rumble, he helped put the match together, which he's done before in the past." Ultimately, the McMahons sold the majority ownership of WWE to Endeavor, the parent of UFC, to form TKO Group Holdings in 2023.

Other business ventures

In 2010, McMahon became the CEO of China Broadband Inc. In 2013, McMahon stepped down as CEO, but remained the Executive Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors until 2021, when he was promoted to Executive Chairman of the board. The company has undergone several name changes including You On Demand Holdings Inc., Wecast Holdings Inc., Seven Stars Cloud Group Inc., and ultimately, Ideanomics Inc. McMahon resigned in 2025 after the company went bankrupt.

McMahon sat on the board of directors for ISM Group Ltd., International Sports Management Ltd., and International Cricket Management Ltd. from 2010 to 2012. He also sat on the board of directors for International Sports Management Inc., Glaucus Ltd., and Dkrm Holding Ltd. He currently sits on the board of directors for International Sports Management (USA) Inc. and Global Power of Literacy, a not-for-profit corporation.

McMahon is a part owner of the Indian Larry Motorcycle Shop in Brooklyn, New York.