The McMahon family has been a strong a part of WWE television for over two decades now. Vince McMahon was the first to become an on-air character embracing the heel authority figure role to feud with Steve Austin. Shane McMahon was next to join his father in major storylines. The eventual progression would see Stephanie and Linda McMahon each join the company as well.
Fans have had polarizing reactions to the storylines involving the McMahon family. The characters served a purpose in the Attitude Era, but the longevity has led to some brutal television. We will look at some of the worst actions the relatives have done to each other in the wrestling storyline world. All these scripted moments showcased how horrible each member could get. These are the top ten worst things the McMahon family has done to each other in wrestling.
10 Shane and Vince going to war at WM 17
The match between Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon was surprisingly quite good at WrestleMania 17. However, that doesn’t mean that the things they did to each other was not terrible. Both McMahon boys left it all in the ring with a violent street fight.
Shane delivering the coast to coast with a trash can over his dad’s head was one of the wildest moments on the show. This match showed that Vince and Shane were more than willing to brutally harm each other all for the sake of business since the storyline called for it.
9 Shane stealing WCW from Vince
One of the reasons for such tension between Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon heading into WrestleMania 17 came on the go-home show. WWE legitimately purchased WCW in real life, but the decision was made to turn it into a storyline as well.
Shane interrupted a victory speech from Vince bragging about owning WCW and winning the Monday Night Wars. It was revealed that Shane pulled off a sneaky move by stealing WCW and finalizing the deal to buy the company before his father. Business is the way to get truly ruthless between the McMahon family members.
8 Stephanie slapping Linda
The addition of Stephanie and Linda McMahon to the WWE storylines added another element. WWE would have the McMahon members all getting into little forms of drama with each other. The battle between Stephanie and Linda grew more personal than expected.
An episode of Smackdown ended with Stephanie confronting her mother in the ring and slapping her in the face. Linda sold it quite well to make the slap seem more painful due to the emotional scar of having your own daughter strike you on national television.
7 Vince making Stephanie wrestle A-Train
The face turn of Stephanie McMahon in 2003 as the General Manager of Smackdown would see her getting involved in a rivalry with her father Vince McMahon. Progression of the story led to Vince eventually trying to make the job miserable for his daughter.
A memorable segment featured him booking Stephanie against a mystery opponent. The big reveal of A-Train would show how vindictive Vince could be as a character. A-Train demolished Stephanie in the ring to score the win and do Vince’s bidding along the way.
6 Linda giving WWE time to Shane's WCW talents
Linda McMahon primarily played a face character that rarely did anything terrible to her family members. One moment that did open the floodgates for some negative scenarios came when Shane McMahon purchased WCW.
The role of Linda running half the company allowed her to make big decisions like allowing WCW to get television time on Raw and Smackdown. Shane’s WCW wrestlers started the Invasion thanks to this loophole opened by the action of Linda.
5 Family war during WrestleMania 2000
WrestleMania 2000 was the peak of the McMahon family feud taking over WWE television. Instead of a traditional singles main event like most other WrestleMania shows, this one featured a fatal four-way solely to add the attraction of a McMahon in every corner.
Stephanie was at ringside for her husband Triple H, Vince was aligned with The Rock, Linda backed Mick Foley and Shane supported his friend Big Show. The four McMahon relatives did dastardly things to each other during the build and on that night before three of them reunited to help Triple H retain the title.
4 Stephanie betraying Vince to date Triple H
The storyline of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon getting together started with the sketchy segment of Triple H marrying an unconscious Stephanie. Vince decided to wrestle Triple H at the following PPV in a No DQ match with Triple H having to agree to a divorce if losing.
It was revealed that Stephanie was in on the con with Triple H all along and turned on her father during this match. The heel turn helped make Stephanie one of the most hated wrestlers in WWE after stabbing her dad in the back to align with Triple H.
3 Vince's affair with Trish
Vince McMahon betrayed his wife Linda by entering an affair with Trish Stratus as part of a long storyline. The evil actions of Vince would see him have Trish wheel around a comatose Linda while flaunting his affair in front of his wife.
All the actions played a role in the audience’s hatred of Vince’s character growing. Linda eventually would get her revenge when helping Shane defeat Vince at WrestleMania 17. Vince held nothing back during the angle with Trish as his acts were quite despicable.
2 Shane and Stephanie trying to put WWE out of business
The Alliance of Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon each running WCW and ECW would see them attempt to run WWE out of business. Both siblings were frustrated by Vince and it drove them to unthinkable levels of wanting to kill the family company.
WWE rarely ran invasion storylines of another group trying to put them out of business. Shane and Stephanie had no hesitation in their desire to make all the WWE wrestlers, employees and fans pay for the disdain they held for their father. Vince ultimately won out with WWE beating The Alliance.
1 Vince vs Stephanie I Quit match
Vince and Stephanie McMahon primarily got along on WWE television for most eras with Stephanie playing the daddy’s girl character as Vince’s one soft spot. That ended in 2003 when Stephanie defied her father playing a face as the Smackdown General Manager.
Following months of making his daughter’s life miserable, Vince made Stephanie put her GM job on the line in an “I Quit” match. The bout would see Vince use a steel pipe to choke Stephanie until Linda was forced to throw in a towel and quit on her behalf. Vince is the only person that would book himself to choke out his own daughter with a pipe on television.