The most dramatic lie the WWE tried to get over came in June 2007 with an expensive and explosive ending to Raw. Vince McMahon had entered his limo, which then blew up in a ball of flames. Vince McMahon had died. WWE was eventually forced to quietly confirm that the death was faked, after CNBC questioned the death and the impact that the "passing" would have on WWE shareholders. Regarding the tragic demise of her father, Stephanie McMahon had this to say on WWE.com - "My dad wanted to leave this world the same way he lived in it, in the biggest way possible." It was a huge lie and also the most awkward lie in WWE history. The June 25th 2007 edition of Raw was scheduled to be a "Mr. McMahon" tribute show in which superstars would pay their respects to the dead chairman, but the show opened with a graphic of Chris Benoit and the dates 1967 -2007. The show then cut to an empty arena interior, with a shaken Vince McMahon standing in the ring. Chris Benoit and his family had been found dead, for real. Vince had the awkward job of revealing that the expensive death angle had been a lie, and then he had to tell the audience that Chris Benoit really was dead. The show then became a tribute to Benoit, which in itself became awkward when news channels reported the death as a murder suicide at the same time as WWE tributes aired.
