An amateur wrestler in his youth, and a frustrated professional wrestler into his adulthood (his father refused him permission to train for a career in the ring), Vince McMahon has had a reputation for jocular physicality with many of the performers on his roster over the years. According to Kurt Angle's book, Vince actually managed to take him down backstage on one occasion when his attention was distracted. Since no one else in the company had ever managed the feat (Angle had even taken out Brock Lesnar in an informal bout), Vince was insufferable about it, and reminded him of it while the two were bonding on a flight back from a UK tour in 2000. Maybe it was the one-on-one conversation that had Angle less intimidated by the boss, but he decided that that moment was the perfect time to get his revenge, and as McMahon moved on down the aisle, Angle leaped for him, taking him down, flipping him over and pinning him in front of everyone, to raucous cheers from the WWF presence on the plane. Unfortunately, everyone was in on the moment except the Undertaker, who was asleep a few feet away. Waking up with all the racket, the Dead Man saw someone he claimed later he couldnt tell who on top of Vince and grabbed for him, placing a legitimate chokehold on him from behind. Angle blacked out for a moment when he came to, Vince was peering down at him with a grin on his face. It was on. The next four hours saw Vince leaping for Angle any time even the tiniest sliver of an opportunity presented itself. He attacked him from behind. He snuck up on him when he left the planes bathroom and tried for a leg dive, or hed hide behind a seat and jump him. As the plane came in for a landing at Newark airport, with everyone else strapped in, Angle saw McMahon crawling up the aisle in the dark to take him down one last time when he took up after arrival, and said to Chris Jericho incredulously, do you believe this?! It wasnt always in fun. On November 22nd 1983, McMahon tried a legit assault on wrestling legend and genuine hard man Harley Race when courting the then-NWA champion to jump ship and go to work for the WWF. At dinner, hed just offered him a quarter of a million dollars a year for a decision there and then despite being strapped for cash and incredibly tempted, Race was a man of honour and wouldnt let the NWA down like that. At this point McMahon saw red and launched himself at Race, which was kind of like starting a fight with a bear (if the bear had a hair trigger temper and a history of stretching people). Vince was effortlessly spun out of position and dragged into a crossface. Race considers that, given his temper, he might very well have seriously injured McMahon had his wife not calmed him down
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
