Shane McMahon was part of one of the most violent matches in WWE's modern era when he faced Kurt Angle in a Street Fight at the 2001 King of the Ring pay-per-view. The climax of that match saw Shane McMahon get thrown through multiple panes of glass that had been installed as part of the stage setup.
Appearing on the latest episode of The Steve Austin Show, Shane McMahon revealed that his father, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, "almost came out about three times during that match" to stop it.
The original plan was for Angle to suplex Shane through a few panes of the glass. However, the glass installed was safety glass -- not sugar glass, which breaks more easily. So, instead, after suplexes didn't break the glass, Angle simply threw McMahon through the panes.
Reflecting on the match, Shane McMahon said that Vince, who was at the gorilla position, was instructing referee Mike Chioda to tell his son and Angle to wrap up the match. However, Shane noted that he never really grasped what Chioda was saying.
"He's saying gibberish because I got knocked in the head a couple times," Shane McMahon recalled. "Vince thinks that I'm shooing him off, that I'm disobeying an order that I'm getting through Chioda but I never really got the order."
Meanwhile, as Shane learned later, his father was "going ballistic" at the gorilla position.
"He was so mad, again, because he felt I had disobeyed an order. ... I didn't get the message," Shane said. "He said something very nice to me, put the match over, that'll stay private, but he said 'Don't you ever blanking do that ever again.' "
Shane then recalled the reaction when he and Angle finally made their way to the back -- which entailed getting a standing ovation both from the fans in attendance and the wrestlers in the locker room.
"As we walk in the back, there's a whole line of guys, all the boys were applauding and as you know when you pop the monitor like that and all the boys are giving you a standing 'O' in the back, that is the ultimate high that you can ever get, followed by quickly the ultimate low," McMahon said, recalling turning the corner for the trainer's room to see his wife, Marissa, "just eyes bawling. She has no idea, because I didn't tell her anything. That's when I get huge heat. I said, 'Look this is going to be rough' but she had no idea it was going to be like that. She had no idea if I was going to be OK, she had no insight into the business, she had no communication so she came back and just saw me gushing and everything."
Earlier in the podcast, when discussing his leap off the top of Hell In A Cell at WrestleMania 32, Shane noted that he had told his wife about the spot prior to the match because he "made the mistake once of doing something and not smartening her up and I was in the doghouse forever."
The aftermath of the match saw both Shane McMahon and Angle making trips to the hospital.
Click here to listen to the entire episode of The Steve Austin Show that features Shane McMahon.
