7 WrestleMania Matches That Weren’t All Bad
3. Umaga vs. Bobby Lashley - WrestleMania 23 (2007)
Vince McMahon and Donald Trump had been acquainted long before the WWE juggernaut rolled into Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan for WrestleMania 23 on April 1, 2007.
Donalds Trump Plaza in Atlantic City had hosted WrestleManias IV and V in 1988 and 1989. Trump appeared in publicity photos with Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant prior to Mania IV and in conjunction with the hype for WM V, made an on-camera appearance at WrestleMania VII in 1991, and was memorably interviewed from his ringside seat by Jesse Ventura at WrestleMania XX in 2004.
What does WrestleMania mean to a man like you? Ventura asked Trump in 2004.
Well, it means a lot, replied Trump. I was involved with Vince for a long time. Hes a great guy. Hes done, really, an unbelievable job.
After Trump agreed to appear on camera once more in 2004 and offered a glowing endorsement of McMahon, perhaps it wasnt that surprising the WWE supremo was able to persuade him to go one step further and participate in the featured match at WrestleMania three years later. Trump courted the limelight across all media platforms. The man famed for plastering his surname on his property empire harnessed this as another opportunity to promote the Trump brand.
Of course, McMahon and Trump did not lock horns in the ring in 2007: in the match, billed as the Battle Of The Billionaires, they were represented by Umaga and Bobby Lashley, respectively. At stake in the contest was not titles, money or property. It was something to which they were more closely attached: their hair.
From the moment the hair vs. hair match was announced, there was little doubt over whom would win. When McMahons longtime nemesis Steve Austin was appointed the special referee, McMahons fate was sealed. Nevertheless, this did not diminish the appeal of the match to the public: with the Battle Of The Billionaires as the key selling point, WM 23 attracted what was then a record pay-per-view number for the company (1.25 million buys).
In the presence of the charismatic McMahon, Austin and Trump, Lashley and Umaga were reduced to the role of stand-ins. Far from becoming larger stars by association, they were overshadowed by the verbal and physical interaction between McMahon and Trump at ringside (the Donald rocked Vince with a clothesline and ground and pound) and interplay between Austin and McMahon, which awakened memories of the feud that had dominated the company from 1998-1999.
Trumps rep Lashley won, naturally. Distraught, McMahon was on the brink of tears as the realisation dawned that he would soon be detached from his hair.
Vince attempted to flee, but Lashley caught him and carried him back to the ring, where the WWE boss tasted an Austin stunner and was placed in a barbers chair, which had conveniently been fitted with restraints. There would be no escape for the Chairman. Trump and Lashley whisked McMahons hair off with clippers and finished the job with razors and a mountain of shaving cream.
The sight of Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican nomination, shaving Vinces head bald in the middle of a wrestling ring was quite something, in hindsight. That Trump took a boot and Stone Cold stunner from Austin afterwards went above and beyond surreal.
Stone Cold just stunned The Donald! Good God almighty! What a WrestleMania! exclaimed commentator Jim Ross.
I bet Trumps ex-wives are doing cartwheels! Thats better than alimony! he added.
As a wrestling match, this was mediocre. As a spectacle, it was WWE at its finest.