5 reasons why Shane McMahon should not be on Team SmackDown

This week Shane McMahon, the commissioner of SmackDown Live addressed the recent developments in the Raw vs. SmackDown rivalry that has escalated in the past two weeks. Last week, Shane led an army of SmackDown superstars in an invasion as they put Raw under siege. With the Raw locker room recuperating from the show they had just put on that night, they became easy targets for the invaders.

The following week on Raw, a visiting Daniel Bryan was locked in a dark room with Kane. The "Devil's Favorite Demon" chokeslammed Bryan, who was forced into early retirement due to multiple head injuries, and left him for dead in Kurt Angle's dark office.

In response, the assault on his GM Daniel Bryan, McMahon appointed himself as the captain of Team SmackDown. With Kurt Angle on team Raw, McMahon also wants to defend the honour of his brand on the front-lines, but that is a mistake. Shane should not be competing at Survivor Series for a plethora of reasons. These are the top five reasons Shane-O-Mac shouldn't be back at Survivor Series.

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#5 Turning another PPV into McMahon Family Feud

It's all about the McMahons

Vince McMahon, as every wrestling fan knows, is the owner of WWE, the chairman of the board, the ruler of the kingdom. The McMahon empire deserves all the respect in the world, but that doesn't mean that the McMahon family has to be the centre of attention at all times.

Vince, his daughter Stephanie, and son Shane have all competed in WWE, and have all held titles! When the brand split returned to WWE in 2016 and Vince appointed Stephanie as the commissioner of Monday Night Raw, and Shane as the commissioner of SmackDown Live, it was clear that the sibling rivalry was always going to be front and centre.

It wasn't enough for Survivor Series to be Stephanie's show vs. Shane's show, Shane had to insert himself into the action. Shane wants to stick it to his sister and her "flagship show" by personally beating down the opposition. Survivor Series really should be about the superstars proving which roster is better. Shane doesn't even add drawing power to this match, and his roster is stacked enough to present a five-man team capable of getting the job done against Raw's five best men.

In actuality, Shane being on team SmackDown is a detriment, if he really wants to win the war then the 47-year old commissioner should give the fifth spot to a young up and coming superstar in peak physical condition.

#4 Steals the main event spot from a Superstar

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens said Shane was stealing opportunities, and they were right

When SmackDown was moved from Thursday nights to Tuesday nights and scheduled to air live, Vince wanted a fan favourite babyface to be in charge to garner interest. With Stephanie having the reputation of being a villainous authority figure, Shane was brought back to lead the repackaged blue brand into the future, and thus Shane dubbed SmackDown Live the "Land of Opportunity".

For the first few phases of the brand split the Land of Opportunity lived up to its billing, being presided over by arguably everybody's favourite McMahon, but Shane has since begun showing signs of the green-eyed monster that lives inside every McMahon. Shane has wrestled four matches since his return, which would be fine if they weren't such high profile matches. WrestleMania matches against The Undertaker and AJ Styles, last years 5-on-5 men's Survivor Series match, and a Hell in a Cell main event against Kevin Owens all went to Shane-O-Mac, even though a full-time superstar would have benefited greatly from these showcases.

Shane is once again hogging the spotlight by captaining this year's 5-man SmackDown team. Tye Dillinger, Sami Zayn, and Kevin Owens are all superstars that would benefit from that honour, but Shane has to lead his troops into battle just like last year. We get it, Shane, you are in great shape and can clearly still go, but there is always a correct time and a place, and the main event of Survivor Series is neither.

#3 Too similar to last years team

Three of the five men that competed for team SmackDown last year are expected to return

Last year's 5-man team from SmackDown Live consisting of the then WWE Champion AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Shane McMahon...and for whatever reason mascot James Ellsworth were victorious against team Raw. This year Ambrose and Wyatt are on Raw, with Ambrose representing Raw alongside his "brother" Seth Rollins as the Raw Tag Team Champions take on the SmackDown Tag Team Champions the Usos (aka the best thing going on Tuesday nights).

Randy Orton and Shane McMahon return to Survivor Series on team SmackDown, meanwhile Raw is bringing back Braun Strowman from last years team, Rollins' situation is mentioned above, Owens is no longer with Raw, Jericho is no longer with WWE (at the moment), and Reigns is expected to return and represent team Raw for a second straight year as well. It is unclear if AJ Styles will represent team SmackDown again this year as his qualifying match for next weeks episode of SDL has been changed to a WWE Championship match.

If Styles is on team blue, then that means five of the ten competitors from last year are returning, including three out of five for SmackDown. If Shane had stayed on the sidelines we would be treated to an entirely different SmackDown team, and it would open possibilities for dream match-ups in the 5-on-5 match. Its ok for Strowman, Reigns, Orton and Styles to return, they are all among the best their brands have to offer, but Shane doesn't need to lace up his Jordans this time around.

#2 Last year Shane was eliminated via TKO

Shane can survive Helicopter crashes and 20-foot jumps from Hell in a Cell, but Reigns' spear is a different story

"You still got it!" chants are common in WWE, and Shane deserves all the praise fans bestow upon him for his work in the ring at his age, but he isn't as good as we may think he is. First of all his punches are an eyesore, but he is slowing down as he nears the half-century mark in his life, and you can see it in his signature Coast-to-Coast manoeuvre. While it is impressive that any man at any age can leap from one corner of the ring to another to deliver what is essentially a dropkick, Shane looks like he isn't making it all the way there these days as his feet barely brush his opponents.

On top of the limitations, to his in-ring work that comes with his age, his health must also be a concern. Out of Shane's four matches, he's had during his current run, only one match saw McMahon walk away on his own two feet. The other three saw him stretchered out of the arena, at WrestleMania 32 Shane leapt off the 20-foot Hell in a Cell structure and crash-landed through an announce table, a stunt that was copy and pasted into his 2017 Hell in a Cell match. Both times he has stretchered away after taking the pin.

In the 2016 traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series match, Shane was once again stretchered away, but this time it wasn't because of a premeditated death-defying stunt. Shane-O-Mac went to deliver his patented Coast-to-Coast to the Big Dog Roman Reigns.

As Shane leapt off the top rope, Reigns suddenly launched himself at the airborne commissioner, like collided with Shane like a missile, spearing him out of midair. Reigns brought Shane crashing back down to Earth with great force, causing the 47-year old McMahon to land awkwardly on the canvas.

When Reigns went to pin Shane and eliminate him from the match, Shane's shoulder popped up off the ground during what should have been the deciding 3-count. Unclear if Shane had kicked out or not, many fans and even the wrestlers themselves were confused as the referee began attending to a wide-eyed trembling Shane. Shane was carefully taken to the back as everyone held their breath. It was a scary incident and WWE should not be putting Shane in a position like that again.

#1 It should be Daniel Bryan

Will WWE ever let Bryan wrestle again?

It has been stated numerous times that Shane wants to lead his troops into battle against Kurt Angle and his team, but in actuality, it should be Daniel Bryan leading the charge. Stephanie and Shane are the commissioners of Raw and SmackDown respectively, and they have appointed Kurt Angle and Daniel Bryan to be their respective General Managers. While Raw GM Kurt Angle has his job on the line, Bryan could also have his job essentially put on the line. It has been announced that if Angle's team loses then he will be fired, imagine if Bryan is cleared and offered a chance to compete again if he leads his team to victory.

It makes all the sense in the world for the two GMs to compete on the teams while the commissioners sit back and watch the rosters they assembled to battle it out for brand supremacy. Angle's return at TLC was a huge selling point for the PPV, and Bryan's return at Survivor Series would make the show a must watch. Fans have been clamouring for WWE to let Bryan return to the ring, and Bryan has noted that every doctor he sought out has cleared him to compete except for the WWE doctors.

If Angle was allowed to make a comeback then Daniel Bryan should be given the same opportunity, even if it is only for one night. Bryan will certainly want revenge for the way he was treated when he visited Raw. Bryan could return to SmackDown after he "recovers" and say "No Shane!" Last year Bryan was in charge of building team SmackDown, and he let Shane be at the time, this time he can say "I'm going to represent SmackDown Live". This announcement would be met with the largest "Yes!" chant in WWE history, and would make the match far better by throwing in the former Indie darling and WWE Champion.