Stevie Richards breaks down Shane McMahon's injury at WrestleMania 39.
Shane McMahon returned at WrestleMania 39, and he clashed with The Miz in an impromptu match. However, shortly after the bout began, McMahon did a leapfrog and suffered an apparent injury. He was unable to continue, so Snoop Dogg improvised and pinned The Miz to win the match.
In the latest video on his Stevie Richards Wrestling Analysis YouTube channel, the former WWE star, who launched the Stevie Richards Fitness brand, analyzed the leap. He described how McMahon may have been thinking too far ahead in the moment.
“My guess is, they were going for multiple drop downs, multiple leapfrogs, and then Shane was gonna hit Miz. Back body drop, dropkick, something like that. My guess is, he was going to do something cool, and he was kind of thinking too far ahead when this happened. Now, could it have happened anyway? Of course. Age, lack of activity, the turn, the rotational and the lateral movement could have just blown anybody’s knee out. But Shane fundamentally, we’re gonna go through it, was perfect up until that point. Replays the clip “Drop-down is perfect. Now, what you want to do with the drop-down is, and what I would have done, I would have cheated even more towards this side because it would have gave me even more room here to perform the leapfrog, and then the leapfrog should be cheated over here. I think Shane took to the middle of the ring for the leapfrog and thought he didn’t have enough room to do the second drop-down, if that’s what he was doing. Now, look at the leapfrog. Shane going to the leapfrog. Knees bent, low center of gravity. He’s gonna have great vertical leap on this, so that’s perfect. You don’t want to lock your knees out on anything. You don’t want to straighten your knees out or land. We’re gonna see right here, leapfrog is perfect, Miz ducks straight through," Richards said.
Richards continued by detailing the move and noted that McMahon didn't have enough clearance, so he probably felt like he had to hurry. Richards then explained how Shane's feet might have gotten caught up. He compared the situation to Aaron Rodgers' injury in the first week of the NFL regular season, where he tore his Achilles tendon.
“Here’s the leapfrog, Miz ducking down. But like I said, Shane maybe should have cheated a little bit more this way, and then he could have felt like he has more time to kind of do the crossbody version of the drop-down there. This isn’t providing enough clearance, which Shane thinks, ‘I need to hurry up and really, before I hurry up and even land, I’m thinking about doing that drop-down.’ As it goes into it, you see here, it looks like he has enough room. But as he drops down, he knows Miz is coming, and he’s trying to do the drop-down. But what happens is, his feet get caught up is my guess. He’s trying to do the drop-down. But what happens is, his feet get caught up, is my guess, kind of like on the turf with the NFL, with Aaron Rodgers, whoever else has a major injury," Richards said.
Richards went on to detail McMahon's landing. He caught the exact frame, which showed McMahon''s ankle twisting. He noted that he was surprised that McMahon didn't sprain or break his ankles, or even tear his Achilles tendons, given the landing. Richards stated that McMahon theoretically should have blown out both his legs, given the ugly landing.
"Now see all the space right here? He did cheat a little bit to do the turn. But when he initially landed, he was trying to hop and do that. Even if he hit the drop-down, he would have been too far in the center to make it seem like he was cutting Miz’s legs out. That’s the whole thing about the drop-down. We should put that in the basic moves playlist, talking about a drop-down and what a drop-down is supposed to do. It’s not a defensive move, it’s an offensive move, trying to cut the legs out from under your opponent, and then your opponent goes over you to avoid you cutting his or her legs out. So here’s the injury here. What Shane’s trying to do, you can see. This ankle is twisted, this ankle, I’m surprised he didn’t sprain or break both his ankles or tear his Achilles tendons as well. Then he goes over here. What he’s trying to do now is figure out how hurt am I. He’s still gonna try to get up and finish the match, or least continue. This is where I feel like, look at the knee right here. His ankle and foot are pointed that. His foot here is pointed this way. His knee is that way. He should have theoretically blown out both his legs, knees, quads, Achilles tendon, sprained ankle, whatever it might be. This is about the ugliest way you could land. Look at that. That’s scary. That’s almost downright gruesome. This dude’s still trying to get up to continue the match, even though he already feels like, I’m sure, some pop, blew his knee out, tore his quad, whatever. But I believe this second phase of what went wrong is where he really caused a lot of damage. Because the knee pointed in here. The quad is at a very, very awkward angle. Then, look at that. Right there, once again. How does he not break his ankle [as he goes down]? How does he not do any damage? His knee is in a completely different spot here. This knee, once again, is in a different spot. Everything in his lower body is completely disjointed and out of whack," Richards said.
Richards also gave McMahon credit for trying to get up and continue the match. He noted that Shane could have injured his arm when he came down on it. The former WWE star also detailed how he could have tore The Miz's Achilles tendon, given the way he landed, but Miz thankfully moved out of the way.
"You gotta give Shane credit because when he lands like this and goes to turn, look at this. He could have also did damage to that left wrist, left elbow, left arm. He’s just trying to get up and finish the match. Here he goes right here, trying to get himself onto his feet. That could have been the last little bit because he can’t even stand. Look at this. The way he lands, he could have blew a knee or tore Miz’s Achilles tendon right there as well. I’m looking at this right there. This is a scary situation right here. Miz is really, really lucky. Shane didn’t mean to do it. He’s just trying to get up. He has no control over his body. Miz right here, this leg could have been destroyed. Thank god Miz had enough to get out of the way," Richards said.
As Richards wrapped up, he gave McMahon credit for trying to finish the match. He emphasized that he gives Shane all the credit in the world, and he expressed his hope that McMahon will recover and come back faster than ever.
"Credit to Shane for keep trying to get up, wanting to just finish the match, or finish the segment. Shane, I give you all the credit in the world. My heart goes out to you. I hope you’re recovering faster than ever and you come back stronger than ever," he said.
Shane McMahon underwent surgery for a torn quad after WrestleMania 39. He then posted footage of himself working out three weeks later.
Maven recently recalled how Shane McMahon felt like one of the boys backstage. Check out his comments here.
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