Vince McMahon is the most powerful and influential individual in the history of professional wrestling, bar none. The third-generation wrestling promoter single-handedly brought the obscure sport to the mainstream in the 1980s and continued forward, overseeing another massive boom period in the late 1990s and eventually consolidating his empire as a billion-dollar enterprise.
Throughout his tenure as the chairman of WWE, McMahon throttled the old territorial system, initiated hostile takeovers of other wrestling promotions, and even went to war with Ted Turner, a billionaire with an entire television network under his control but as we know it today, Vince McMahon emerged victorious from the Monday Night Wars. He is currently worth more than Turner ever did so that’s another win for him.
In the realm of kayfabe, McMahon is just as powerful, having the authority to veto any decision and as he has demonstrated over the years, he is well capable of making life miserable for those who defy him.
McMahon Is A Two Time World Champion
He can book matches, appoint his own personal officials, introduce a stipulation and even restart the match on a whim. More impressively, McMahon is actually a two-time world champion, in addition to being the winner of the 1999 Royal Rumble.
The first world title McMahon won was the WWE Championship, and he won the same from Triple H on an episode of SmackDown. McMahon vacated the title on the next episode of RAW and while he continued to feud with Triple H, the boss never captured the WWE title again. His second title reign came in 2007 and this time around, he kept the ECW championship for a whole month.
WrestleMania 23 was stacked from top to bottom but the main attraction was the feud between Vince McMahon and Donald Trump, the battle of the billionaires as the company had dubbed it. Trump was represented by Bobby Lashley while McMahon handpicked Umaga as his champion. In the end, Lashley scored the victory over Umaga, and McMahon, as per the stipulation, ended up with a bald head.
Donald Trump was gone after WrestleMania so McMahon directed his fury towards his chosen representative, Bobby Lashley. The ECW champion was targeted by Umaga and Shane McMahon throughout the build-up to Backlash 2007 and at the event, McMahon won the title from Lashley after interference from Umaga and Shane and after a shot to the dome with the same title, McMahon was declared world champion for the second time in his career.
Either McMahon wanted to mock the legacy of ECW or he really wanted to put Lashley over. Since this is Vince McMahon we are talking about, we will never know for sure.
Regardless, McMahon held the ECW for an entire month, flaunting the belt whenever he could. He also made a habit of mocking ECW originals and shoving his belt in their faces. Some would say this was done entirely to desecrate the legacy of ECW but to be fair, McMahon was white-hot as a heel.
Meanwhile, Lashley was not done and he was presented as the big babyface to end the tyranny of McMahon and bring back the ECW title to its rightful place.
McMahon versus Lashley was set for ECW One Night Stand 2007 and while it was much the same as the previous encounter, this time, Lashley ended up pinning McMahon despite the extra help from his son, Shane, and Umaga.
Despite all the talk of ECW being mocked, Lashley came out of the feud as a much, much bigger star while McMahon had his fun too, rubbing the ECW belt in the face of the original superstars. This happened right after December to Dismember 2006 and who knows? Maybe this was McMahon’s method of getting back at Paul Heyman who had quit the company during the aforementioned PPV.
McMahon And Lashley Had Quite A Rivalry
Vince McMahon even through a makeover while he was champion. Previously, McMahon came out with a different hat each and every week in order to hide his bald head but as champion, the chairman donned a durag and also communicated in an entirely different manner, as if he was legitimately a gangster.
All in all, McMahon’s reign as ECW champion was likely booked in order to push Lashley as the next big babyface of the third brand and boost up the viewership as McMahon was a much bigger draw than every other ECW superstar combined, as sad as it to admit. And despite all the mockery directed towards ECW, McMahon was absolutely hilarious as long as he was champion. The championship belt only made his power-walk more impressive and over the top.
The highlight of this entire saga was McMahon telling John Cena, then WWE champion, that one day he might be good enough to challenge for “The Big One” and he pointed right at the ECW title on his shoulders with a proud yet sadistic grin on his face. John Cena’s expression sold the segment like a billion bucks.