10 Times The McMahon Family Dodged Disaster

When it emerges that even a near-fatal air travel disaster can't polish a McMahon off, one starts to wonder if maybe Vince wasn't so far wrong back when he used to refer to himself as a 'genetic jackhammer'.

The boss himself has proven outstandingly durable over the decades, withstanding a host of mental, physical and financial challenges that would have left a regular human being defeated and destroyed. His wife Linda shares those qualities, or has at least found ways to harness them from her formidable husband in something of a withdrawn capacity as part of his monolithic creation.

And they appear to have passed this on to their children. Both Shane and Stephane have hurdled rather indelicate obstacles over the years with the same grit and fortitude of their father, despite the proverbial silver spoons that have never strayed too far from their tacitly sneering countenance.

No matter how they attempt to diversify, The McMahons (and now Triple H) will always be the empiric officers of an insane industry, and this hardened veneer is a vital tool in ensuring they remain unscathed by the seemingly limitless potential land-mines they're only ever a step away from. A skim through some of the more ludicrous cataclysms they've managed to overcome only underscores their readiness.

Now the established one-two punch expected to lead WWE through the next half-decade and beyond after Vince McMahon's death (which still seems somewhat unlikely), Stephanie McMahon and Triple H appear as well oiled a machine in business as they are in marriage, tackling the trials and tribulations of running a million dollar organisation with equal levels of smugness and panache.

However, in an industry not known for the most delicate interpersonal relations, it was previously unthinkable at a mere wrestler could date the bosses daughter. Especially when that wrestler was already in a relationship with another wrestler and that boss was Vince McMahon.

McMahon himself even knew that, and initially banned the couple from seeing one another. Twice, if the recollections of Stephanie on Triple H's most recent DVD documentary are to be believed. Hindsight has shown the ramifications of their union to be sound, and lay a foundation for WWE to prosper for at least one more generation of McMahons, but it could just have easily gone the other.

A separation between the two could have created utter carnage for Vince, especially during a time where he still had partially viable competition from WCW. A particularly dire split could have resulted in the forced exit of (at that time) the best wrestler in North America, or worse, a severance with his daughter over electing to keep a valued talent on the books.