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Shane McMahon has had more on-screen allies in the last few years than some WWE Superstars have in their entire career.
Following his return to WWE in 2016, Shane McMahon worked alongside Daniel Bryan as an authority figure on SmackDown. During this time, he formed brief alliances with certain babyface Superstars on the roster before becoming tag team partners with The Miz in late 2018.
The Miz and Shane McMahon held the SmackDown Tag Team titles but their alliance did not last for very long, with Shane O’Mac turning heel on his tag team partner in the build-up to WrestleMania 35.
Since then, Shane McMahon has joined forces with Superstars including Drew McIntyre and Elias, and he now finds himself working with even more WWE men and women following the introduction of RAW Underground.
Now, those are some examples of people that Shane McMahon’s WWE character has gotten along with, but what about behind the scenes?
In this article, let’s take a look at five WWE Superstars who are friends with Shane McMahon in real life.
#5 Bobby Lashley is friends with Shane McMahon
Bobby Lashley (w/Donald Trump) defeated Umaga (w/Vince McMahon) in the Battle of the Billionaires match at WrestleMania 23. Following that match, the storyline continued between Lashley and Vince McMahon, with Shane McMahon also playing a prominent role.
Shane McMahon went on to face Lashley on five occasions in the two months that followed WrestleMania, with the most memorable match coming at Backlash when Vince McMahon won the ECW World Championship from Lashley in a three-on-one handicap match which also involved Shane McMahon and Umaga.
Lashley, who left WWE in 2008, said in a 2015 interview with Sports Illustrated that he did not have any animosity with Vince McMahon over his departure from the company.
He also revealed that he kept in touch with Shane McMahon and he considers him to be a good friend.
“There is no bad blood between Vince and myself. I still speak with Vince off and on, and Shane is a good friend. We text and joke around all the time, and I was just talking to him last week. But there are definitely some things in WWE that should happen and could happen, and there are people who are not in WWE but should be.”
Shane McMahon returned to WWE in 2016 after a seven-year absence, while Lashley also rejoined the company in 2018.
#4 The Undertaker is friends with Shane McMahon
When Shane McMahon surprisingly returned to WWE in February 2016, it was announced that he would go one-on-one with The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania 32.
Although The Undertaker won the match, Shane McMahon’s leap from the top of the structure is the most replayed moment from the 30-minute encounter.
Speaking to ESPN in May 2020, Shane McMahon revealed that The Undertaker is his closest friend in the wrestling business, while he also recalled how he felt at WrestleMania 32 after seven years out of the ring.
“I just remember my adrenaline was pumping so high at the start that I jumped high and kicked him right in the chest, really hard, to set the tone. Because he's my friend, and you take more liberties with your friend than you would anyone else. So I waffled him.”
The Undertaker seemingly confirmed his retirement during his Last Ride docuseries on the WWE Network, but Shane McMahon thinks his friend could still return to the ring.
In fact, in June 2020, he even issued a challenge to ‘Taker to face him in another Hell in a Cell match.
#3 Kurt Angle is friends with Shane McMahon
Shane McMahon’s friendship with Kurt Angle was highlighted in a WWE Network documentary shortly after Angle returned to WWE in 2017.
WWE’s cameras caught the Olympic Gold medallist sitting by himself in the crowd before a SmackDown event. Shane McMahon, who worked as the SmackDown Commissioner at the time, called his former in-ring rival over and jokingly tried to wrestle him.
“He was sitting there. He’s very pensive and he’s thinking – he’s always thinking, always doing stuff – and I said, ‘Hey, come here for a second.’ It’s like you call one of your best friends and you haven’t spoken to them in several years and you pick right up where you left off. That’s a good foundation you’ve built and that’s a solid friendship.”
The most memorable WWE match involving both Shane McMahon and Angle came at the 2001 King of the Ring pay-per-view, where Angle famously launched his opponent through panes of glass near the entrance ramp.
Shane McMahon joked about the match with Angle in the WWE Network video, which you can see above, and even claimed they would be able to have a better match in 2017.
#2 Ric Flair is friends with Shane McMahon
Ric Flair has had a good relationship with the McMahons and Triple H for many years, so it should come as no surprise that the 16-time World Champion is friends with Shane McMahon.
As you can see above, Shane McMahon posted a picture alongside the two-time WWE Hall of Famer on the night of his 70th birthday celebration in 2019.
Speaking on WWE Network show Broken Skull Sessions in 2020, Flair told Steve Austin about the confidence issues that he faced as a WWE performer in 2002 following a disappointing few years in WCW.
Vince McMahon told Flair before their Royal Rumble 2002 match that it was “one of the coolest moments of my life” to wrestle him, while Shane McMahon also had kind words to say about his friend after an in-ring altercation that they had in Japan.
“Shane and I did a spot in Japan and he goes, ‘Man, I can’t tell you how cool this is to be in the ring with you.’ I went from being that guy where people were like ‘Thank you for this moment’ to being here today with you calling me the greatest of all time. It’s a roller coaster. How lucky am I to have people hold me in that regard?” [H/T Wrestling News Co]
Unfortunately for Shane McMahon, he was never able to go one-on-one with Flair in a televised WWE match.
#1 Tommy Dreamer is friends with Shane McMahon
Shane McMahon referred to Tommy Dreamer as a good friend when the ECW legend trained with him in the build-up to his WrestleMania 32 comeback match against The Undertaker.
In 2019, Dreamer also mentioned his friendship with Shane McMahon while telling a story on his podcast about the time that actor Luke Perry – the father of AEW wrestler Jungle Boy – asked him to check out his son’s work.
Dreamer revealed that Perry got his number through Shane McMahon, but he initially thought somebody was prank calling him.
In August 2020, Shane McMahon debuted a new RAW Underground concept in the third hour of Monday Night RAW, with Superstars battling it out on a ring canvas with no ropes in a warehouse setting.
As you can see above, Dreamer reacted to the introduction of RAW Underground by revealing that he has fought Shane McMahon many times “for real” in warehouses.
Interestingly, despite their real-life friendship, a one-on-one match between Shane McMahon and Dreamer has never taken place on WWE television.
