As US President-elect Donald Trump picked a 76-year-old former porfessional wrestling executive Linda McMohan to head the Education Department during his tenure, an old video of her husband Vince McMohan from the 2007 WrestleMania 23 has resurfaced.
In the video Donald Trump can be seen shaving Vince McMohan’s head in the WWE ring after a staged feud. The video has brought back attention to Trump’s long-standing ties with Linda and her husband.
Back in the late 1980s, Donald Trump sponsored WWE WrestleMania IV and WrestleMania V, which was held at Trump Plaza in New Jersey’s Atlantic City. This memorable moment is from the WrestleMania 23 ‘Battle of Billionaires’, wherein Trump shaved off McMohan’s head after a fabricated feud, which was played out on April 1, 2007.
The feud between Trump and McMohan began when the US President-elect had dropped thousands of dollars in cash on the audience during an episode of Raw. This further led to the “Battle of Billionaires” in Detroit during WrestleMania 23.Â
During the battle, each billionaire chose a professional wrestler to represent them, with Trump choosing Bobby Lashley and McMohan selecting Umaga. It was agreed that the loser would have their head shaved in the WWE ring before the crowd.
The professional wrestlers fought on behalf of the billionaires but Trump and McMohan, who were in their 60s at the time, got into some physical fight of their own outside the ring. Eventually, Lashley won for Trump, which meant McMohan had lost the bet and had to get his head shaved.Â
In the video, McMohan could be seen begging Trump not to shave his head but Trump and Lashley got on with it anyway and shaved his head in the ring.
This dramatic showdown became a massive hit. It was the highlight of the 23rd edition of WrestleMania and drew record-breaking crowd of over 80,000 fans at the Ford Field. Not only did it strengthen Trump’s persona, it earned him a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame.
