5 Wrestlers Who Had Heat With Shane McMahon (& 5 Who Had Heat With Stephanie)

The history of Shane and Stephanie McMahon has seen Vince’s children having strong interactions with wrestlers just like him. Not every wrestler enjoyed working with the next of kin in the McMahon family. Shane and Stephanie have been involved in different areas of WWE throughout the years. Certain wrestlers loved them, but there have been scenarios of talents developing heat with them.

No wrestler wants to have tension with a McMahon family member while working for WWE. Unfortunately, it just happens if the wrong situation unfolds or the wrestlers involved just don’t fit what Shane or Stephanie wants from them. Find out why the issues existed for the wrestlers who had heat with Vince’s kids.

10 Shane: Lex Luger

The final episode of WCW Nitro featured Shane McMahon and Bruce Prichard coming in to run the show after WWE purchased WCW. Prichard shared details about the night on his podcast regarding any awkward interactions.

Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell were the first two wrestlers to have an awkward interaction with Shane giving them a bit of a cold hello. Both guys had a lot of heat in the industry, but Luger had heat in WWE. Shane specifically had beef with Lex for leaving WWE in 1995 to appear on the first Nitro without warning them.

9 Stephanie: Gail Kim

Gail Kim has been vocal against WWE regarding how they treated her and many other women at the time. Vince McMahon was the main culprit who viewed the women’s division as irrelevant until Triple H and Stephanie McMahon took on a larger role.

The comments from Kim have seen her criticizing Stephanie for waiting so long to speak up for the women’s division. Gail believes that Stephanie could have helped many women in the industry if she made her voice heard.

8 Shane: Bret Hart

The Montreal Screwjob hurt a lot of relationships in WWE when Bret Hart left the company in such a crushing fashion. Hart spoke out against Vince McMahon for his lying and backstabbing, but Shane spoke up on behalf of his dad many years later.

Mick Foley’s WWE Network podcast interviewing Shane featured them discussing the infamous night. Shane felt Bret was in the wrong and defended his father’s decision while throwing some criticism towards the legendary wrestler.

7 Stephanie: Paul Heyman

Stephanie McMahon and Paul Heyman are in a better place now, but the two were intense backstage rivals in the past. Vince McMahon put Stephanie in charge of creative in the early 2000s brand split, with Heyman as the top writer of Smackdown.

The two strong personalities often clashed, leading to Heyman being removed from his position despite succeeding with the show. Heyman reportedly had a big argument with Vince and Stephanie in 2006 before leaving the ECW brand and WWE for many years. Stephanie revealed the two are friends today in a WWE documentary special about Heyman.

6 Shane: Triple H

The tension between Triple H and Shane McMahon has been referenced a few times throughout the years. Vince picking Stephanie and Triple H as the ones to run the future of the company over Shane led to Shane leaving WWE to pursue other business interests.

The return to WWE in 2016 saw Shane’s relationship with Triple H characterized as having heat existing between the two. Mick Foley asked Shane about it on his podcast, but the answer created more questions. Shane denied any issues with Triple H in a cold manner that no one bought.

5 Stephanie: Kaitlyn

WWE viewed Kaitlyn as one of the faces of the women’s division for the foreseeable future. However, fans were left confused when Stephanie McMahon buried her on television in a promo segment that had no impact on any storylines.

Stephanie telling off Kaitlyn for interrupting her in the promo was reportedly based on a real issue backstage. Kaitlyn upset Stephanie by interrupting a conversation she was having and not just waiting to ask her question. It might have played a role in Kaitlyn choosing to leave WWE earlier than most.

4 Shane: Jeff Jarrett

One unique instance of Shane McMahon almost getting violent backstage featured Jeff Jarrett. The story of Jarrett refusing to drop the Intercontinental Championship to Chyna saw him holding up Vince McMahon for money after his contract expired.

Hardcore Holly shared his account of the story when the locker room heard Shane cursing Jarrett out and almost getting physical. Jarrett held his ground and Vince agreed to pay him to lose the title to Chyna before leaving for WCW.

3 Stephanie: Rob Van Dam

Rob Van Dam developed backstage heat in WWE for his carefree attitude during his first year in the company getting over. The great work of Van Dam still saw him being held back from entering the main event picture in a consistent role.

Stephanie McMahon reportedly had a conversation with RVD that went poorly for him. The use of marijuana by Van Dam was obvious, but Stephanie told him to stop making it so obvious. Other accounts of the story from former writers indicated that Stephanie hated the scene that became associated with RVD.

2 Shane: Brock Lesnar

WWE 24 showed the backstage footage of Brock Lesnar throwing the Universal Championship at Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 34. Lesnar was unhappy with the match against Roman Reigns that the fans heckled and made come off as an embarrassment.

The hostile move by Brock towards Vince upset Shane, who wanted to stand up for his father. Rumors indicated that Shane confronted Lesnar as the two had a personal exchange. Paul Heyman talked Brock into walking away before things escalated.

1 Stephanie: AJ Lee

The most public instance of someone calling out Stephanie McMahon while working for WWE was AJ Lee. Stephanie made a social media post expressing support for equal pay for women in entertainment after a timely award speech by Patricia Arquette.

AJ replied calling out WWE for not living by that mindset and referencing a few inequalities that limited the women’s division’s opportunities. Stephanie gave a cordial response, but it was an obvious missile fired towards her by AJ to start the heat. Lee’s husband CM Punk having an ugly departure from WWE shortly before added another element to her issues with Stephanie.

NEXT: Every Version Of Stephanie McMahon, Ranked From Worst To Best