Mike Looks Back – The WWE European Title – Part Five: Shane-O-Mac on the Attack

Welcome once again to Mike Looks Back!

When we left things last week; D’Lo Brown and X-Pac had collided in a thrilling feud for the WWF European Title. It was a rivalry that not only delivered in the ring but also gave the ailing European belt a much-needed jolt of credibility after previously being treated as more of an annoyance by some of its previous owners. Eventually the former 1-2-3 Kid ended the feud on the up, with X-Pac and Brown having a well-worked corker at the Judgment Day pay per view event in October 1998 that saw X-Pac counter Brown’s Lo-Down splash into the X-Factor face buster for the three count. With X-Pac now top of the European Title mountain for the second time, he spent his time divided between defending his belt and also targeting the top prize in the promotion. X-Pac was an entrant in the WWF Title tournament at Survivor Series 1998, where he was eliminated in the first round after fighting to a draw with “Real Man’s Man” Steven Regal.

However, X-Pac did get a couple of shots at eventual tournament winner The Rock, with him facing Rock on an episode of Raw in December 1998 and also at the UK only pay per view Capital Carnage in that same month. In both cases, the matches between the two were good, with Rock getting to bully the smaller X-Pac around whilst the former Kid sold well and made some good comebacks. Frustrating though it somewhat was to see the European Title put on the back burner whilst the Champion prioritised winning other gold, it certainly didn’t hurt X-Pac that he was presented as a gutsy underdog who could hang in there with the promotions top stars. Indeed, it’s often forgotten how good a babyface Sean Waltman was in 1998-99 before his popularity gradually declined and he became associated with the groan-inducing ‘X-Pac Heat’ phenomenon of the early 2000s.

In a nice change from some of the other European Title reigns that we’ve covered previously, X-Pac was actually allowed to get some pin-fall wins whilst holding the belt, rather than most of his matches ending in some kind of lame Count Out or Disqualification. Don’t get me wrong, there were still a few questionable match finishes, as X-Pac had to settle for DQ wins over Big Boss Man and Steve Blackman, as well as eating a DQ loss to Ken Shamrock. However, X-Pac also enjoyed pin-fall victories over the likes of Taka Michinoku, Tiger Ali Singh, Mark Henry and Al Snow. Granted, some of those combatants weren’t exactly high up the card, but at least X-Pac was a Champion that could actually hold some of his opponent’s shoulders down to the mat for three seconds on occasion, which put him above the likes of Davey Boy Smith and Owen Hart, who didn’t come close to a clean win during their mediocre spells as Champion.

Possibly the highlight of X-Pac’s reign came at the 1999 Royal Rumble pay per view, where X-Pac defended the belt on the undercard against Gangrel and netted himself yet another pin-fall victory. Sadly the finish ended up going a bit Pete-Tong, but prior to that the bout was an enjoyable six minute sprint that would have likely made for a better opener than the drowse-inducing snore-athon that was the bout between Big Boss Man and Road Dogg. This was to be X-Pac’s last successful defence however, as he was to lose the belt in the build-up to WrestleMania XV in order to set up a big bout for that event. Surprisingly though, X-Pac didn’t drop the belt to another wrestler but instead lost it to son of the boss Shane McMahon, although it took help from both Kane and Chyna to ensure that young Shane-O-Mac was able to pick up the victory.

Whereas the fruit of Vince McMahon Junior’s loins would eventually go on to be booked as a physical equal to the likes of Kane and AJ Styles in later years, back in 1999 Shane was booked as a weedy Nepo Baby who was way out of his depth whenever it was called upon for him to get physical, with him needing help from the likes of Test, Chyna, Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco and The Mean Street Posse just to even have a chance against an actual wrestler. In short, back then he was booked perfectly, but sadly his ever-growing ego (and that of his father) meant that The McMahon’s were eventually holding their own in situations that stretched even the thin credibility of Professional Wrestling to its outer limits.

Shane was a very effective character in 1999 though, with fans hating his weaselly rich boy antics and loud obnoxious promos/commentary. Having Shane steal the European Title for a while, only to eventually get trounced by an avenging X-Pac, was a solid storyline, and with Sean Waltman on the other side of the ring, Silver-spoon Shane was in good hands for when the bout eventually made its way into the ring at WrestleMania XV. WrestleMania XV was a pretty turgid event overall, with a fragmented build-up and little good wrestling on the show itself. However, Shane McMahon Vs X-Pac was one of the few highlights on a generally pretty dour night for the WWF. Shane had decent athletic ability at the time and the two competitors crafted an enjoyable bout where Shane was clearly outmatched in a fair fight so he used every trick he could to try and make it as unfair as possible, which is classic booking when you have a villainous non-wrestler taking on a valiant regular combatant.

After months of “Baby Simba” being an insufferable goon, the logical finish at WrestleMania would have seen X-Pac finally avenge his prior defeat and smear Shane’s nose across his smug face with the X-Factor. However, after nearly a year as a babyface, it was decided that Triple H was going to turn Heel and start his journey towards eventually capturing the WWF Title later in the year. Thus Triple H dropped his former chum with a Pedigree and Shane McMahon retained the belt. Though X-Pac’s failure to win the belt back was a gut punch, it could have been another chapter in the ongoing storyline, where X-Pac now had even more hurdles to climb over before FINALLY getting his revenge on Shane. This didn’t end up being the case though, as Shane celebrated his WrestleMania victory by retiring the European Title and declaring himself as the last ever Champion, meaning that he never had to lose the belt in the ring or face any comeuppance for his villainous actions.

It was a shame to see the European belt seemingly killed off so soon after X-Pac and Brown’s reputation restoring battles for it, especially as it flew in the face of wrestling logic to just let the cocky non-wrestler bad guy get away with never having to lose the belt in the ring. Shane would bring the belt out of retirement for one night only at the UK only pay per view No Mercy in May 1999, but again interference from Chyna and Triple H ensured that Shane would escape as Champion once more, allowing him to retire the belt for the second time. Honestly, if they were to have Shane lose the belt in the ring then No Mercy would have probably been the best choice, as it was an event that wasn’t going to be aired in the USA and it would have given the beleaguered UK fans a special moment, as normally very little of consequence happened on these crummy pay per views and getting to see a Title change might have gone some way to convincing the fans who bought tickets to the event, or paid to watch it at home, that they made a reasonable investment.

What made Shane’s brief reign so frustrating wasn’t that a non-wrestler won the belt. Wrestling has always had room for the occasional cowardly authority figure champion. The problem was that the European Title had finally started recovering from two years of neglect, only for the WWF to abruptly pull the plug on that progress before the story could reach its natural conclusion. And thus the European Title was retired after just over two years of existence. However, the belt wouldn’t remain dead just yet and it was soon to be fought over in the ring again, which we’ll cover next week when Mike Looks Back.