A WWE Hall of Famer as President of the United States? It can happen today! Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will be hoping that by the night is over, he will be elected President, something that last year everyone thought it would be impossible.
Trump clinched the nomination in July, 13 months after he started his long campaign, getting rid of his 16 rivals one by one. His introduction and appearance at the RNC in Cleveland, Ohio in July was nothing short of a WWE Superstar entrance and the Internet immediately started creating memes of his entrance set to The Undertaker’s theme song. Trump revealed in an interview afterward that Vince McMahon called him to tell him that that was a “very, very good entrance!”
The former reality TV host has been a long time friend of the McMahon family and he hosted WrestleMania IV and WrestleMania V at the Trump Plaza in 1988 and 1989. He appeared ringside as well at WrestleMania VII and WrestleMania X, where he was interviewed by Jesse Ventura.
He was involved in one of the most high-profile matches at a WrestleMania where he and Vince McMahon put their hair on the line as Bobby Lashley and Umaga fought for them. Umaga eventually lost and McMahon ended up getting his hair shaved by Trump, Lashley, and Austin who was the referee. Austin then delivered the Stunner to Trump.
In 2009 WWE also pulled a big stunt by “selling” Raw to Trump. The whole thing was part of a storyline which investors did not “get” and it had to be scrapped after WWE stocks tanked. Trump was “in charge” of Raw for one week, making it commercial free.
Trump was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2013 with Vince McMahon doing the honors for him. That year the show was held at Madison Square Garden in New York, his home state, but the New York – and International – crowd was pretty vicious to him, booing him every time he spoke.
His WWE association came to haunt him last week as Yahoo! News uncovered footage from WrestleMania VII where he was sitting next to Robert LiButti, a high-stakes gambler who was banned from New Jersey casinos for alleged ties to organized crime, and who Trump always denied of knowing.
In mid-October it was reported that former WWE CEO Linda McMahon donated $6 million in August and September to a super PAC supporting Trump.
