The year 2003 was a banner one for Stephanie McMahon. Gone were the days when she was referred to as "Daddy's Little Girl" and the "Billion Dollar Princess." She was stronger, more independent and the general manager of SmackDown. No longer in need of anyone to hold her hand, she made decisions in the best interest of her brand and one of those decisions was standing up to her father, Vince, whose blatant abuse of power had begun adversely affecting the shows she was promoting. The animosity between them led to Vince punishing his daughter for her interference in his affairs. He booked her in a match against A-Train, the WWE champion Brock Lesnar and forced her to team with the one-legged Zack Gowen in a match against the World's Largest Athlete, the Big Show. To top it all off, she was signed to face her father in an "I Quit" match at October's No Mercy pay-per-view. That match was a brilliant piece of work by both performers, proof positive of the McMahon family's uncanny ability to connect with and elicit a reaction from their audience. Even prior to her role as the leader of the SmackDown brand, she had mixed it up with the male Superstars on the roster. Most notably, she challenged for the WWE Championship in March of 2002. Her opponents that night? Champion Triple H and Chris Jericho. That did not end well for her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh8pHI9jzn4
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
