Donald Trump's Road to Wrestlemania
Nobody garners Heel Heat like Donald Trump does, and that’s a fact.
Before he became the Republican Party candidate to be President of the United States, he was known for many other reasons. Some of you naturally know him as a Real Estate magnate. Some others probably know him as the grouchy judge on the reality show ‘The Apprentice’.
Some of you may remember him for his fashion model wives. But I’m sure, most of our readers will remember his short but highly memorable WWE stint.
While this article is primarily about his 2007 run, nobody garners Heel Heat like Donald Trump does, and that’s a fact.Today he's probably the most important person in the world, as the President of the United States. But wrestling fans will remember that he has had a major association with Wrestling too. Today we shall walk down memory lane, and visit some of the career highlights from his WWE run. Let's discover why Donald Trump is in the WWE Hall of Fame'.
He also hosted the 1991 WBF Championship in Trump’s Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. Jesse Ventura even interviewed Donald Trump at Wrestlemania 20, where he was ringside. But all of these cameos would culminate into something substantial by Wrestlemania 23.
The Battle of the Billionaires.
It began with a parody match. A fake Donald Trump battled a fake Rosie O’Donnell. A cringe-inducing pointless match, with a very strange payoff...as would be revealed later. Donald Trump would appear on RAW subsequently and speak about how he was richer, better looking and stronger than Vince McMahon; and challenge him to a Battle of the Billionaires at Wrestlemania 23.
Mr. McMahon would decline and ask him to pick representatives, considering his own fragile health condition. Which would lead to Donald Trump raising the stakes, and making it a ‘Hair vs. Hair’ match (with constant allusions to the fact that both had been alleged to be closet wig wearers).
Bobby Lashley was picked as Trump’s representative, and Umaga (RIP) was chosen by Vince McMahon as his. There followed a contract signing, where Mr. McMahon referred to his male sexual organs as ‘grapefruits’ and Trump referred to his own as ‘Trump Towers’(I’m just glad none of our own Presidential representatives have done this).
Of course, Special Guest Referee Stone Cold Steve Austin interjected and bald headed jokes followed. Thankfully, the sheer star power of this ensemble helped Wrestlemania pull off a tremendous buy rate, and in the match that followed... the image of Trump shaving Vince McMahon’s head has been immortalized.
Lashley pinned Umaga with a Spear while a hassled looking Trump walked at ringside, while commentator Jim Ross kept insisting- ‘This is a world he is unfamiliar with. This is not real estate’.
And then what followed is a sight few will forget. Donald Trump took Vince McMahon down in the most awkward looking takedown known to man. Leading to the ‘shaving of the head’ sequence, where the owner of the multi-millionaire dollar company WWE is being held down by Stone Cold Steve Austin, with Donald Trump and Bobby Lashley lathering his head with shaving cream.
And then the chopping of their hair begins. With electrics razors, the entire process was over in a flash. But the impact was felt around the world for months to come. Countless publications and webzines reported this, and the segment made headlines worldwide.
This was, of course, not Trump’s final association with the wrestling world. Vince McMahon (kayfabe) sold Monday Night Raw to Donald Trump 2 years later, and Trump would make that edition of RAW commercial free for the fans.
However, their jubilation would be short-lived, as Vince McMahon would purchase RAW the following week. 4 years later, Donald Trump would be inducted into the Celebrity Wing of the WWE Hall of Fame, where he remains a proud member.
Of course, in 2016, one finds Mr. Donald Trump in very different circumstances. But one wonders...are his political statements and debates infused with elements of a wrestling promo, at times?
If his recent entrance at the Republican National Convention to Undertaker’s theme signifies anything, then the answer is staring us in the face.