EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It’s a timeless story. A hero makes an unlikely friend who turns into a key ally. A heinous betrayal follows, and our hero rises to defend his honor. In the shadow of a metropolis, with millions watching his every move, our hero meets his foe on the grandest stage and … loses?
No. Wait. That can’t be right, can it?
Yes. As much of a Hollywood fairytale as The Miz’s career has been, the end of his Falls Count Anywhere Match with partner-turned-tormentor Shane McMahon was the exact opposite, as The A-Lister’s big attempt to put his foe down for good backfired in tragic fashion.
When Shane McMahon attacks The Miz's father, The A-Lister goes on the warpath in their Falls Count Anywhere Match: Courtesy of WWE Network.
Shane-O-Mac’s early cockiness in the match certainly paid dividends. Not only did he restart his entrance not once but twice before he found Greg Hamilton’s timbre satisfactory, but he took out Miz’s father George Mizanin when he bravely attempted to square up with The Prodigal Son in the ring. That move, however, had the unintended effect of bringing out Miz’s inner punisher. The typically genial former WWE Champion beat Shane from one end of MetLife Stadium to the other, and the chase finally came to its conclusion at the precipice of a 15-foot camera scaffold in the middle of the stadium floor.
Cornered, Shane dropped to a knee and begged for mercy. Miz would give him none, trapping his foe in a suplex and plummeting the two of them off the edge of the plank and through a platform below. Neither man was in the position to fight any longer, but Shane, by sheer happenstance, had landed on top of The A-Lister, giving referee Charles Robinson more than enough leeway to count the deciding pinfall.
Neither McMahon or Miz were mobile enough to enjoy the moment, let alone comprehend it, but the sound the WWE Universe made — somewhere between a groan and a wail — was a cruel reminder that not all stories have happy endings.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It’s a timeless story. A hero makes an unlikely friend who turns into a key ally. A heinous betrayal follows, and our hero rises to defend his honor. In the shadow of a metropolis, with millions watching his every move, our hero meets his foe on the grandest stage and … loses?
No. Wait. That can’t be right, can it?
Yes. As much of a Hollywood fairytale as The Miz’s career has been, the end of his Falls Count Anywhere Match with partner-turned-tormentor Shane McMahon was the exact opposite, as The A-Lister’s big attempt to put his foe down for good backfired in tragic fashion.
When Shane McMahon attacks The Miz's father, The A-Lister goes on the warpath in their Falls Count Anywhere Match: Courtesy of WWE Network.
Shane-O-Mac’s early cockiness in the match certainly paid dividends. Not only did he restart his entrance not once but twice before he found Greg Hamilton’s timbre satisfactory, but he took out Miz’s father George Mizanin when he bravely attempted to square up with The Prodigal Son in the ring. That move, however, had the unintended effect of bringing out Miz’s inner punisher. The typically genial former WWE Champion beat Shane from one end of MetLife Stadium to the other, and the chase finally came to its conclusion at the precipice of a 15-foot camera scaffold in the middle of the stadium floor.
Cornered, Shane dropped to a knee and begged for mercy. Miz would give him none, trapping his foe in a suplex and plummeting the two of them off the edge of the plank and through a platform below. Neither man was in the position to fight any longer, but Shane, by sheer happenstance, had landed on top of The A-Lister, giving referee Charles Robinson more than enough leeway to count the deciding pinfall.
Neither McMahon or Miz were mobile enough to enjoy the moment, let alone comprehend it, but the sound the WWE Universe made — somewhere between a groan and a wail — was a cruel reminder that not all stories have happy endings.
