WWE has announced that Donald Trump will be inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame this year in the ceremony that will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York on the eve of WrestleMania.
The 66 year old Chairman and President of The Trump Organization has been a friend of the McMahon family for several years and is a wrestling fan as well. In 1988 and 1989 he successfully managed to host WrestleMania back-to-back at his Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey and to this date the Trump Plaza is the only location which managed to secure two WrestleManias in a row.
Trump was also present at WrestleMania XX in Madison Square Garden and was interviewed on-screen by WWE Hall of Famer Jesse “The Body” Ventura before being involved again three years later at WrestleMania 23 in Detroit. At that particular WrestleMania, Trump was in a hair vs hair match against Vince McMahon although the two had other wrestlers representing them – Bobby Lashley for Trump and the late Umaga for McMahon. At the end of the match, Trump helped Lashley shave McMahon’s head.
In June of 2009, Trump “bought” Monday Night RAW and then “sponsored” the following week’s RAW show by having it commercial-free. WWE gave full refund to the fans who purchased tickets to the show as part of the storyline as well.
The storyline was killed the following week after WWE investors didn’t get that it was a storyline and hit the panic button.
Trump joins Mike Tyson, Bob Uecker, William Perry, and others in the celebrity wing of the Hall of Fame.
