The sudden news of Shane McMahon‘s hospitalization not only spooked the entire wrestling world, but it looks to have officially altered WrestleMania 34’s card.
On Monday, WWE.com reported that Shane was suffering from acute diverticulitis and an umbilical hernia. Even more, the Wrestling Observer Radio reports that Shane will need surgery to fix the hernia and that all but ends his WrestleMania dreams.
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“So he’s probably not gonna be around for awhile and I asked around about what’s gonna happen and it all kinda broke in the last couple days but I guess [on SmackDown Live] we’ll have a lot better idea. They’re probably gonna have to switch courses and go another direction. Maybe Daniel Bryan getting another tag team partner would be the most likely situation.”
Interestingly enough, WWE attributed Shane’s hernia to the vicious beatdown he received from Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. This notion lent itself to theories that WWE had exaggerated Shane’s injuries to escalate drama, but Meltzer’s report looks to kill that idea. Instead, it now looks like Daniel Bryan will have to find a new partner for WrestleMania.
Just a week ago, it was Shane who needed a partner. But the miraculous manifestation that was Daniel Bryan’s medical clearance instantly made him Shane McMahon’s tag team partner. When Bryan himself suffered a whipping by Owens and Zayn, we looked locked for Mania.
But now, barring Shane’s own miracle, Bryan is partnerless. However, that will have to change, possibly as soon as tonight’s episode of SmackDown.
WrestleMania is less than 2 weeks away, meaning Bryan will have exactly two episodes to find a teammate. Considering that most of WWE’s blockbuster names are already booked for ‘Mania, Bryan may have a hard time finding a deserving candidate. Right now the biggest name WWE could pull from a hat would be Dolph Ziggler or a legend from that past that is not currently active. At this point, any guess is a good one.
