US President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Linda McMahon, 76, a former professional wrestling executive, to lead the Education Department. The decision brings attention back to Trump’s long-standing ties with Linda and her husband, Vince McMahon. In the late 1980s, Trump sponsored WWE WrestleMania IV and WrestleMania V, held at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, NJ.
One of his most memorable moments came during WrestleMania 23 in 2007. During their ‘Battle of Billionaires,’ Trump shaved Vince McMahon’s head after a staged feud. This spectacle was the culmination of a fabricated rivalry between the two, which played out dramatically on April 1, 2007.
The feud began in January 2007 when Trump, in true showmanship style, dropped thousands of dollars in cash on the audience during an episode of Raw.
Read | Donald Trump Names Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon As US Education Chief
The animosity built up to the “Battle of the Billionaires” at WrestleMania 23 in Detroit. Each billionaire chose a professional wrestler to represent them — Trump selected Bobby Lashley while McMahon backed Umaga. The two men agreed the loser would have their head shaved in the ring.
Though the heavy lifting in the ring was done by the wrestlers, Trump and McMahon, both in their sixties at the time, engaged in some physical antics of their own. Lashley secured the win for Trump, and Vince McMahon had to get his hair shaved by the man who would eventually become US President.
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The dramatic showdown wasn’t just a wrestling spectacle – it was a moment that strengthened Trump’s entertainment persona, eventually earning him a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame.
The Trump-McMahon showdown was a highlight of the 23rd edition of the WWE extravaganza, drawing a record-breaking crowd of 80,103 fans at Ford Field, surpassing the then-previous record of 78,129 set during the 2003 college BasketBowl between Michigan State and Kentucky.