"I encourage the boos and all the haters," says Stephanie McMahon
Stephanie McMahon has stated that she likes the boos and the hate that she receives from fans. The WWE Chief Brand Officer said that she plays a heel on WWE television and that fans have to hate the character that she portrays on screen.
Stephanie McMahon has been on WWE television for over two decades, debuting in 1999 in a storyline involving her father Vince McMahon, and The Undertaker. She was a part of WWE television for a long time after that, but her appearances on-screen are infrequent now.
While appearing on The Playbook podcast, Stephanie McMahon said that she enjoys the boos that she gets from fans. She also said that being a heel is much more interesting than being a babyface in WWE.
“Well, from a business standpoint, you know, I portray a heel or a villain as a character. And I encourage the boos, and all the haters. And quite frankly, from a storytelling perspective I find the antagonist a million times more interesting than the protagonist. But when you consider that basic format, right? Whether it’s a book or a movie, an opera, ballet, it is protagonist vs. antagonist with conflict resolution. It’s the most basic form of storytelling that there is. In WWE, our conflicts are settled inside the ring, right? With some of the greatest live action that you can see in sports or entertainment, in my opinion. But of course you want to encourage the haters I guess, in that aspect, because you want them to root for the good guy," said Stephanie McMahon (H/T 411 Mania)
Stephanie McMahon said that the only way for fans to "root for the hero", i.e. the babyface, is to present a bad and offensive villain, like her.
Stephanie McMahon in WWE in recent years
Stephanie McMahon was the commissioner of RAW a few years ago, but the McMahon family did away with authority figures on WWE.
Her last match in the ring came at WrestleMania 34, where she teamed with her husband Triple H, to face Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey in Rousey's debut match in WWE.