During a recent interview with Sporting News, Pete Gas discussed talking with Shane McMahon, The Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 32 and more. Here are some highlights:
On Shane’s surprise return: “It’s funny. I actually spoke with Shane earlier in the day. Every now and then, I’ll pick up the phone and just call him to try and catch up a little bit. We’ve been talking quite a bit lately. I called him that Monday around 1:30 in the afternoon and I asked him what he was doing. He said dropping off something at school for his son. I didn’t think much of it. We talked for a few minutes and a couple of hours later he’s in Detroit and my jaw hit the floor.
He loves surprises. We don’t get that many surprise moments in wrestling these days. People didn’t know that was going to happen. Social media has really killed kayfabe. It’s terrible. I heard the story about the day Shane returned. He had to hide in one of the buses so nobody, not even the talent, saw him. I guess as soon as Stephanie’s music was supposed to hit, that’s when he was supposed to make his way to the arena. He and I were talking and it’s funny because we were talking about the gorilla position. Back when the Mean Street Posse was there, the gorilla position was like an 8-by-8 room right outside where where you walk out. Now, he said he walked into gorilla thinking it was that little room and he hadn’t seen any talent. Now it’s like a lounge. Everyone is sitting around, getting ready for the matches and stretching. He walked in and said he had to stop. A lot of people saw him and couldn’t believe that Shane was back.”
On Shane vs Undertaker: “Everyone is talking about two “older guys” in the ring and that Shane isn’t going to be able to do the kind of stuff he’s done before. People don’t realize — Shane’s nuts. Shane is really nuts. Shane will put it all out on the line. It’s WrestleMania and enough said with that. I always say this about Shane: I defy anybody to pick one match that Shane McMahon was involved in and you said, “That match sucked. That match was OK.” Then turn around and say how many times was Shane McMahon in a match that there was something memorable about it or Shane stole the show again tonight? More often than not, you’re saying that Shane brought it and Shane stole the show. There’s nothing in the world that makes me think otherwise, not because Shane is a friend of mine and I love him. It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with the fact that just as a Shane McMahon fan and just knowing him as a human being and how crazy he’s been since the day I met him, he’s going to go out there and steal the show again. I guarantee you that match that night is going to be the one that everyone remembers.”
