Another Audible from me today… It’s meant to be ‘Company you miss’ for Day 26… but, well I don’t miss any promotion all that much… I’m happy with what we have right now company wise… so I put the feelers out there to my Uncle Scott, who regularly reads my blogs, for an idea for a topic. He said Vince McMahon… now, if I was to do a blog on the enigmatic, eccentric and outright LUNATIC at times then it’d be well over 10,000 words… so I’ve limited it to a small part of his illustrious and very eventful career on screen. So in this blog I will be looking back at Mr McMahon’s four WrestleMania matches; 17 against his son Shane in a street fight, 19 against former golden goose turned mortal enemy Hulk Hogan, 22 in another brawl against Shawn Michaels and finally an… well it was something when Vince McMahon finally faced Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart at WrestleMania 26… wish me luck…
WrestleMania X7 (2001): Shane McMahon vs Mr McMahon (with Stephanie McMahon – Helmsley & Trish Stratus) in a Street Fight with Special Guest Referee MICK FOLEY
Before the match Vince is backstage instructing Trish to only bring Linda down to the ring when Shane is immobile, and to double up her dosage… yes they really did a storyline where Linda was sent into some form of state (and confined to a wheelchair) by all the back and forth by her son and her husband… this really happened and it sounds GARBAGE but just remember it… After the pre-match hype video, where we had a recall from the previous Raw where Shane purchased WCW from under his Dad’s nose, Shane makes his way out to the ring and shouts out his ‘new friends’ from WCW who were sat in the sky box (mid carders at best). Shane then brings out the guest ref for the match Mick Foley. Vince slaps Shane just before the bell then opens up on him… Vince chokes Shane corner and goes more at him, Shane though comesback with some shots then a clothesline, a spear and then dropping a few elbows onto his father. Stephanie then gets into the ring to try and make Shane stop, she slaps him and then retreats, before Shane takes down his Dad with a baseball slid and then goes after him some more. Shane hits Vince with some form of sign, then chokes him with a wiring. Shane sends Vince into the steel steps then jumps off the barricade for a flying clothesline. Shane throws Vince into the barricade as Stephanie desperately calls for her Dad to get up. Shane hits Vince over and over with a Kendo Stick, then hits him with some punches that were as terrible looking as always but the crowd loved it. Shane clears the Spanish announce table, and hits Vince with one of the monitors Shane then puts Vince on the table, goes to the top rope, and despite Stephanie’s pleas Shane comes flying off the turnbuckle with an elbow drop… but Vince moves last minute and Shane crashes through the table! Crowd goes nuts for this. Stephanie actually pulled her Dad out the way last minute. As both men were down Trish Stratus, who Vince had been having a very public … erm … affair maybe(?) with wheeled Linda down to the ring area… Trish helped Vince, and then slapped him! Crowd loved that and then Stephanie and Trish went at it and of course the people lost their minds… these two brawled into the ring and Stephanie did her best to run away… After Steph slapped Foley Trish was the one who ran after her and the two raw back up the aisle and to the back… Vince looked disgusted at seeing his ‘sedated’ Wife Linda sat in her wheelchair at ringside… Foley stepped in to stop Vince doing anything to her, Vince though got a chair and hit Foley with it. Vince then went to Linda and got her into the ring itself. He then went back to kick Shane before sitting Linda on a steep chair he had sat up for her in the corner. He wanted Linda to get a front row seat, as he had suggested he would in the build-up to the match. Vince threw a trashcan into the ring, four of them into the ring in fact, and then he hit Shane with one. He trashtalked to Linda before attacking Shane some more, Vince then went to hit Shane with a third trashcan, but then with his back turned to Linda, one of the most iconic and maybe surprising moments (in the sense nobody would think this would get the pop it did), Linda STOOD UP and Vince turned into a low blow from his wife! Linda then exits… Foley goes in on Vince with strikes as the crowd loses it!!! Foley hits a running knee to Vince who is downed in the corner, Shane then places the trashcan on Vince, who is downed in the corner of the ring and leaning against the bottom corner turnbuckle pad… Shane then goes to the other corner and goes to the top rope, then comes flying off it in signature fashion and hits Vince with a flying dropkick to send the trashcan into Vince. Shane then gets the pinfall and the win. Linda looks on from ringside and applauds and then embraces her son. The WCW guys are seen clapping from their seats as well. Foley leads Linda away and Shane takes one last look at his Dad down in the ring. Overall this was super-heated and the crowd and commentary made it come across as a huge deal, and as a match it was fun but of course not technically brilliant, But then again it was never going to be and it went about 14 minutes which is perfectly fine. All the big moments got over big and I had a lot of fun watching it.
***
WrestleMania 19 (2003): Hulk Hogan vs Mr McMahon in a Street Fight (If Hogan lost he would have to retire)
The most FANTASTIC video package before this match. Telling the story of how Hogan was once Vince’s golden goose, but turned against him both personally and professionally and now Hogan wants to bring Hulkamania back, Vince wants to KILL IT! Vince slaps Hogan before Hulk takes him down as the much gets underway. Hogan strikes away at Vince and takes him down with a clothesline. Hogan rains down more strikes in the corner, before Vince hits and elbow then takes Hogan down and kicks him in the stomach. McMahon then drives Hogan into the corner and goes to work on him, eventually taking him down with a clubbing blow to the back. I’m not making this up but Vince might be in the better shape out of these two, he looks JACKED! Vince targets Hogan’s arm after with knees, then pulling away at it, but as much as Hogan fought Vince used the ringpost to drive Hogan’s arm into it. Both men engage in hand locks, before Hogan ‘hulks up’ off the crowd and powers up before Vince kicks him back down. Hogan tries to power up again, and takes control going chest to chest until Vince again kicks Hogan down. They do the same spot AGAIN this time with Hogan again taking a kick to the gut before Vince throws him to the outside. Vince throws Hogan’s head into the barricade and then sends Hulk shoulder first into the ringpost. Vince then flexes at a downed Hogan and looks in amazing shape. McMahon gets a steel chair and goes to hit Hogan but Hulk moves out the way before he strikes Vince down and then launches him into the post. And then Hogan takes the chair and smashes Vince in the head with it. Vince is busted open now as Hogan strikes away. Back in the ring now Hogan hits big punches, and Vince falls to the outside. Hogan gets another chair and smashes Vince across the back with it. And again. And he tried again but Vince ducked and Hogan hit one of the poor Spanish announcers (those poor guys never have any luck do they)… Hogan drags Vince away but McMahon hits him back with a low blow. Vince takes the chair and smashes Hogan in the head. Vince then gets a LADDER from under the ring… he sets it up ringside, and then places Hogan on an announce table after beating him around the ringside area. Vince moves the ladder closer to the spanish table before clearing that, then hits Hogan with a monitor, and with Hogan across the table Vince climbs the nearby ladder and delivers some form of leg drop off the top of the ladder, it was quite the unreal spot to see VINCE MCMAHON do!!! Hogan is busted open at this point as well. Vince looks down at Hogan after and drags him back into the ring, before finally getting the first pin attempt of the match… but Hogan kicks out at two! Vince tries again but a kick out again! A bloodied Vince looks furious and he goes under the ring to retrieve something… as he moves his head back up with his weapon to look back at Hogan we get one of the most iconic camera shots in WWE history…
Vince brings a steel pipe into the ring… but Hogan this time hits the low blow before Vince could hit him with the pipe. With both men down and bloodied suddenly in an unbelievable surprise moment, the legendary long term rival of Hogan, Rowdy RODDY PIPER is suddenly in the ring!!! To a huge pop Piper reveals his signature shirt and kilt, he screams away with the crowd going mad, he spits at Hogan but then kicks Vince… he picks up the steel pipe and looks unsure who to hit, he gestures to Vince to get up, spits at him… but then turns and hits Hogan in the head and gestures for him to kiss his ass before exiting the ring… what a moment!!! Vince crawls over towards Hogan and eventually gets a cover… but Hulk kicks out! Vince crawls to pick the pipe up again, and as the ref begs Vince not to use it, Vince looks up furious and throws him out of the ring. He then gestures and out comes his own personal referee (the same that had been used at the previous months PPV where Vince fucked Hogan over once more, in his match against The Rock). But at the same time a normal referee comes out and the two ‘refs’ argue on the outside as Vince goes to hit Hogan with the pipe in the ring, and he hits him right in the head. Vince’s ref gets in the ring and Vince uses Hogan’s own leg drop, but Hulk kicks out at two! Then Hulk does his signature Hulk Up spot and the crowd loses their mind; nothing Vince does has any effect, Hulk does the big YOU point, before he hits him with a big strike and then takes out Vince’s ref, before Vince attacks Hogan from behind but it has no effect, Hogan hits loads of punches then hits the big boot… then does the gesture to the crowd were he cups his ear and they just lap it up… then he comes off the ropes and hits the big Leg Drop and then another and then another. The regular ref then comes back and crawls into the ring, and Hogan gets the win. Hogan poses for the crowd, and Shane McMahon comes out to tend to his fallen father. This was such fun to watch, a proper brawl and although not technically amazing, I enjoyed it a lot. Once again Vince somehow pulls out a decent match at WrestleMania!
***1/2
WrestleMania 22 (2006): Shawn Michaels vs Mr McMahon in a No Holds Barred match
After weeks and weeks of McMahon humiliating and having HBK beat down, Michaels finally got his revenge here. Vince looked extra bronzed and extra jacked here as he swaggered to the ring. Vince reveals the muscle and fitness magazine cover he is on via a stand at ringside, but Michaels had seen enough and went out after him. Michaels strikes away at Vince and batters him around the commentary area as the match begins. He even chokes Vince with a cable, and even uses a microphone to hit McMahon with. Michaels throws Vince into the ring, then hits him with the framed magazine cover. The Spirit Squad then run out and Michaels punches them away with ease it seems, but the 5 on 1 numbers mean they kick him down after. They pick him up and slam him down again. Before Kenny goes to the top rope and tries to hit a downed Michaels, as the others tend to Vince, but HBK moves out the way in time and he beats away the rest of them. Vince takes down Michaels with a big clothesline after as Vince is now bleeding just above his right eye. Vince beats away at Shawn in the corner, and tries to choke him out, then takes off his belt and whacks Michaels with it multiple times. Vince chokes Shawn with the belt, the crowd cheers on HBK and Shawn gets up and punches his way out, then hitting chops before Vince took him down again. Vince then really gets the crowd going by doing the signature taunts of Bret Hart (who had been a name mentioned and used over and over in the build up and also went into the Hall of Fame around that time too). Vince then ‘tunes up the band’… but Shawn catches the leg and then punches and chops Vince, before taking him down with a flying elbow, then getting back to his feet with a kip-up. HBK then hits Vince with the belt, one shot sounding particularly hard. Michaels slams Vince down then goes up top, and hits the elbow. Jim Ross is unbelievable on commentary during this match by the way. After this Shawn tunes up the band himself, but Shane McMahon comes on the apron and hits Michaels with a kendo stick! Shane dances in the ring and Vince loves it, Shane then gets out some handcuff… Vince then… oh boy… Vince then pulls his trousers down so his bare BACKSIDE is showing… and gestures for Shane to make Shawn KISS HIS ASS! But with Vince’s back turned Michaels strikes Shane and instead pushes Shane’s head into his father’s Ass… yeah… McMahon turns round in horror when he realises what has happened and Michaels hits him with a low blow. Michaels then clotheslines Shane to the outside, then gets the handcuffs and goes after Shane, eventually handcuffing him to the middle rope of the ring so he cannot help his Dad in the match. Shawn also did Shane’s signature dance which was hilarious, then hit him with the Kendo Stick. Michaels gets a chair from under the ring and smashes Vince with it. Shane is helpless but to watch as it looks like Shawn is going to hit the superkick, but he stops and goes under the ring instead and gets a ladder. He smashes Vince with it right in his already bleeding head. Shawn then goes for the kick again but stops short again and pushes Vince down, then gets a trashcan from under the ring, well two of them, well and a table too. Shawn smashes Vince with the trashcan, then sets up the table before putting Vince on it. Michaels then climbs up the ladder he had brought into play, but he then climbs down… he then takes the ladder out of play and punches Shane, and goes under the ring for an even bigger ladder!!! Shawn finally sets that up in the ring, then grabs Vince and punches him over and over before putting the trashca n over his head and putting him back onto the table.. and then… well… see below…
Just an amazing spot. HBK also did the DX crotch chop before he jumped which may have been an tease for the eventual reunion later that year. Shawn eventually gets away from the heap, and kicks away the doctors trying to attend to Vince. He then tells Shane to suck it, before getting Vince up and telling him to watch as he ‘knocks your teeth down your throat’ before finally……
Hell of a performance from Shawn. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand here, my god was it fun. The officials tended to Vince as Shawn celebrated to a delighted crowd. As we were shown highlights of the match Vince was being carried away… and as he was being stretched up the ramp we were gifted another iconic visual… one which Michaels smirked at in the ring in response.
The commentary of this image from Jim Ross… “Satan Lives”. Really good shit! A one man show by HBK but a hell of one.
***3/4
WrestleMania 26 (2010): Bret Hart vs Vince McMahon in a No Holds Barred Lumberjack match with Special Guest Referee BRUCE HART
One of these things is not like the others… Christ…
They just couldn’t resist could they? IN 2010 Bret Hart at 52 vs Vince McMahon at 64… oh boy…
My friend Stefan just messaged me saying “I’d be surprised if it doesn’t get a dud”…
Bret in his street gear comes out first to a hero’s welcome. Vince comes out after with a Mic, and he stands at the top of the ramp and tells Bret he’s in his ring, at his greatest creation WrestleMania, and that Bret deserved a WrestleMania-sized screwing. Vince then… huh… Vince then reveals that the match is now a no holds barred lumberjack match… and the lumberjacks are the various members of the Hart family!!! Out come Natalya, Tyson Kidd, Davey Boy Smith Jr with various others behind them… yep, this really happened… Bruce steps in the ring then as the referee for the match. Bret gets the mic and can’t believe his family has agreed to this… but it turns out… it was all a swerve, Bret reveals the Hart family had given him the heads up on what Vince had planned and they told Bret in advance! So the Harts all got paid, and now Vince is the one that is trapped! Bret takes down Vince over and over with punches, then drags him but Vince just falls. Bret throws good-looking offence, but Vince’s selling is weird. Vince goes outside but the lumberjacks beat on him for a while with various ones of them getting moves in. They finally after a few minutes, and an elongated Hart Attack by Tyson Kidd and Davey Boy on Vince with Kidd coming off the top, they toss him back in the ring. Bret hit Vince again, then targeted his leg using the ring rope, then dropping elbows on to him. Vince went outside again and the Harts beat him up again, even stopping him from escaping underneath the ring. They all backed away though as Vince came up with a blue wrench of some sort, then getting back in the ring but Bret ducked underneath and began hitting Vince again. Considering the magnitude of what this match is supposed to be, the live crowd seeming notably underwhelmed and quiet so far. Bret drops another elbow as the ref gets rid of Vince’s weapon. Bret then gets it himself and hits Vince over and over with it to the back. God this is so slow and boring… Bret then at long last gets the Sharpshooter ready, but stops and then gets the weapon again and hits McMahon some more. Bret then goes for it again but just stomps on Vince’s nuts and stomps away at him on the ground over and over… Bret is then handed a steel chair which he sets up and sits on, signalling to the ref for a time out to mock Vince some more. After watching McMahon stagger up Bret decides he’s had his break and hits Vince with the chair to the back in various ways over and over and over, slower and slower, over and over… crowd is DYING of boredom and so am I… AT LONG LAST Bret goes for the Sharpshooter again and Vince taps. The Hart Family all celebrate together after.
BORING AS FUCK!
DUD
Josh.
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