Was Vince McMahon ever a WWE Champion?
Vince McMahon is arguably the most important man in the history of professional wrestling. What isn't arguable, however, is the fact that Vince McMahon has been pro wrestling's most powerful man for more than three decades now.
Vince McMahon's legacy behind the scenes is undoubtedly more important, but there isn't enough emphasis on how important he was as an on-screen character as well. Without him, it's unlikely that 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and The Rock would have reached the levels they did.
In 1999, Vince McMahon won the Royal Rumble. He also won the WWE Championship on September 16th the same year. Triple H was in his first reign as WWE Champion and he lost the title in less than a month to Vince McMahon on an episode of SmackDown, thanks to interference from Austin.
If you count his ECW Championship win in 2007, then Vince McMahon is a two-time World Champion in WWE.
However, Vince McMahon's sole reign as WWE Champion lasted less than a week. At the Fully Loaded pay-per-view main event earlier that year, Stone Cold Steve Austin beat The Undertaker in a First Blood match.
The match stipulated that if The Undertaker lost, then Vince McMahon could no longer appear on WWE television. If Stone Cold Steve Austin lost, he would never get a shot at the WWE title again.
Austin won and Vince McMahon was later forced to vacate the title as the stipulation was still in place.
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The aftermath of Vince McMahon's WWE title reign
Vince McMahon wasn't a heel when he won the WWE title. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were in their storyline marriage (which turned real a few years later), with Vince protesting against it.
Vince McMahon vacated the WWE title and was forced off television, only to be reinstated by Steve Austin, who got a WWE title shot in return. McMahon's feud with Triple H would come to a head at Armageddon later that year, where the two men faced off in a No Holds Barred match.
Triple H won on that occasion, with Stephanie McMahon turning on her father as well. Vince McMahon took an on-screen hiatus for a few months before he returned for the polarizing 'McMahon in Every Corner' WrestleMania 2000 feud.