WWE News: Shane McMahon Discusses WWE Superstars Being Scared To Try New Things In The Ring

The world of professional wrestling has changed a lot over the years as there is much more focus on safety and the health of those performing in the ring. WWE has done a lot of work to make sure their superstars are keeping themselves and their opponents safe when in matches. That is why the dynamic of the wrestling world has changed a lot from how it used to be, and Shane McMahon knows that some performers are scared to try new things.

Shane McMahon is one of those guys who has not been in a ton of wrestling matches over the years, but when he is in one, he gives it his all. We’ve seen him fall off the side of the Hell in a Cell structure, thrown off of the TitanTron, and slammed face-first through the window of a car.

While some of the more hardcore aspects of wrestling are still taking place, there are many companies which simply don’t allow a lot of them any longer. WWE is one of the promotions that focuses on safety with no more chairshots to the head, no blading, and a huge focus being on avoiding concussions at all costs.

Shane McMahon was a recent guest on the Steve Austin Show podcast to discuss a number of topics, and one of them is how some superstars are scared to try new things. They are said to be “walking on eggshells” because they don’t want to hurt anyone or be chastised for going too far, as transcribed by WrestleZone.

“I’m sure there’s some of that. The freedom to kind of try things is limited. You can try them out more on house shows. As you know, when you try certain things you can see whether they work or don’t work. When it comes to TV, there’s a certain finite of the amount of time that you have. We go back to what we were speaking of originally about telling a good story. It’s hard to tell a good story in formats, so you either have to cut elements out and go right to the heat, or whatever story you have coming out, how is that story pushing into next week, or building the story enough where you have the time to tell it and pay per view, so that’s a big distinction. I think a lot of guys also, again, with the territory days drying up, they never had the ability to go try it somewhere else so they don’t know.”

Shane went on to compare today’s wrestling world to football and how you may be good at the lower levels, but it won’t be the same in college and the NFL. He said that is the reason NXT is such a huge deal for superstars because it can help with “maturation process” that has sort of disappeared over the years.

There are a number of independent wrestling organizations that still try to use the risk and hardcore shock factor to draw in crowds. Back in the day, ECW was a company that was an innovator of violence, but advertisers aren’t willing to promote that kind of thing anymore.

McMahon even stated that there were “a lot of great matches that never had the violence in ECW.” He said that everything has had to be toned down in wrestling, and that is why WWE has turned completely PG and moved away from the PG-13 level of the Attitude Era.

Shane McMahon is an interesting choice to speak on safety as he is usually the one seen putting his body on the line in any match he is a part of. Still, he knows that WWE superstars want to try new things and innovate and stand out from the rest of the crowd so they can move up in the company. Wrestling has changed a lot in the present time, but there are still ways for male and female superstars to stand out, try new things, and keep everyone safe.

[Featured Image by WWE]