10 Sweetest Examples Of WWE Payback
1. Grapefruits For Breakfast
"Stronger than lover’s love is lover’s hate. Incurable, in each, the wounds they make." - Euripideslinda vince
As a horrible boss, an unprincipled liar and an over-the-top megalomaniac, there’s few pro wrestling villains worse than Mr. McMahon. He’s abused, threatened and humiliated pretty much every major babyface of the last twenty years, but probably the worst things he ever did were to his own family.
It’s difficult to feel sorry for Stephanie or Shane: after all, they’ve switched sides so many times and returned to embrace their grotesque old man so many more. But his wife Linda? She’s the McMahon who’s always stayed a little in reserve, and is usually presented as the voice of reason, the representative of fair play.
In 2001, the McMahons were splintered: Vince had demanded a divorce from Linda, sending her into a grief-stricken catatonic state. Engaged in a lurid, awful affair with a pre-awesome Trish Stratus, McMahon kept his wheelchair-bound wife around and sedated to punish and humiliate her while he carried on with his plastic fancy woman in front of her.
It all came to a head at WrestleMania X-Seven, when Vince took on Shane in a street fight, his son being sick of his father’s horrendous behaviour, while Linda - the lights on, but nobody home - looked on from ringside. Dragging her into the ring, McMahon made her sit and watch as he pummelled and destroyed their son, until finally, to cheers, Linda stood and kicked the Genetic Jackhammer straight in his notorious grapefruits.
That allowed referee Mick Foley and Shane enough time to recover, and both men beat McMahon down sufficiently that Shane could hit a dramatic Coast-To-Coast dropkick across the ring and into a garbage can covering his father’s face, giving him the pinfall victory.
The feelgood vibe didn’t last long: Vince came back out in the main event to help orchestrate ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin’s heel turn against The Rock. Still - Linda had been vindicated, and the spousal abuse storyline ended in the best way possible, with the abused spouse emasculating the cheating, malignant husband in front of millions of people. There’s no one there or at home on the night of April Fool’s Day 2001 who didn’t spring up and cheer the greatest nutshot in pro wrestling.