Shane McMahon Explains Why His WrestleMania Match With The Undertaker Happened

Shane McMahon made his surprise return to WWE television back in early 2016 after being gone from the company for nearly seven years. It wasn't long, however, until "Shane-O-Mac" wound up taking part in one of the strangest marquee matches in recent WrestleMania history — McMahon vs. The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell Match. Shane had returned to the company demanding control over Raw, and he'd reveal some incriminating evidence against Vince McMahon if his father didn't comply. Vince agreed, but only if Shane could beat "The Phenom" at WrestleMania inside the steel structure.

McMahon wound up losing that match but was placed in charge of Raw anyway. The mysterious lockbox that had contained Vince's evidence was never mentioned again, and most fans shrugged off the storyline as a bizarre occurrence. In a new interview on After The Bell, Shane explained to Corey Graves how the match came about. He explained that his children had never seen him wrestle live, which put the idea of him making a comeback in his mind.

"If you can be a real-life superhero for your kids that's a pretty powerful thing," he said. "That was the opportunity that was given to me, to return on the biggest stage of them all at WrestleMania against arguably the most iconic and singular talent ever created, Mark Calaway, The Undertaker, who is also my longest-running friend in the business.

"Main eventing WrestleMania, being a special attraction for it, that was really tough to pass up," he added. "We didn't know where it was going to go, potentially it was going to be that one-and-done.

He then revealed the matchup was originally pitched by Taker, who wanted something big since the show was taking place in his home state of Texas.

"I go the call from Taker. He said, 'Hey, would you ever consider this?' I was like, 'Huh. Well, let me think about it.' Ten minutes later I get a call from my dad," Shane recalled. "He says, 'Well, congratulations! This is what we're doing, what do you think?' I was like, 'Well, it doesn't sound like I'm thinking much.' Typical Vince fashion."

McMahon then decided to up the ante by adding in the Hell in a Cell stipulation. Graves tried to ask him what the lockbox story was supposed to lead to, but McMahon declined to answer.

Shane was written off television last October but recently returned to be the host of the new weekly Raw Underground segments on Monday Night Raw.