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In a staged feud, Trump shaved Vince McMahon’s head after their dramatic rivalry culminated on April 1, 2007.
Screengrab from the WWE video.
Hours after US President-elect Donald Trump picked WWE co-founder 76-year-old Linda McMahon to lead the Education Department, an old video of Trump shaving Linda McMahon’s Husband, Vince’s, head inside the wrestling ring over a stage feud started being widely shared.
Trump shares an old bond with the wrestling mogul and her husband. In the late 1980s, Trump sponsored WWE WrestleMania IV and V, both held at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, NJ. One of his most iconic moments came at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 during the “Battle of the Billionaires.” In a staged feud, Trump shaved Vince McMahon’s head after their dramatic rivalry culminated on April 1, 2007.
The feud began in January 2007 when Trump, in true showman fashion, tossed thousands of dollars into the crowd during an episode of Raw. The tension led to the “Battle of the Billionaires” at WrestleMania 23 in Detroit, where each billionaire picked a wrestler to represent them — Trump chose Bobby Lashley, and McMahon backed Umaga. The stipulation was that the loser would have their head shaved in the ring.
While Lashley handled the wrestling, Trump and McMahon, both in their sixties at the time, added their own antics to the drama. With Lashley’s victory, McMahon had to endure the head shave from the future US President. This moment solidified Trump’s entertainment persona and helped earn him a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame. The match was a highlight of WrestleMania 23, drawing a record-breaking 80,103 fans at Ford Field, surpassing the previous attendance record set during the 2003 college BasketBowl.