Donald Trump famously appeared at WrestleMania 23 as part of “The Battle of the Billionaires.” Trump’s representative Bobby Lashley fought Vince McMahon’s representative Umaga in a hair vs. hair match. Outside the ring Vince McMahon was clotheslined by Donald Trump. Since 2007, Donald Trump has been credited as body slamming Vince McMahon. This did not happen. It matters. 

Most every news outlet does not understand professional wrestling. While I understand why, it’s depressing. Acknowledging ignorance is fine. Laughing at ignorance is a shame. Knowing Donald Trump never body slammed Vince McMahon matters because when perception is reality, facts really, really matter. 

Donald Trump did clothesline Vince McMahon. Anyone with somewhat workable arms can clothesline anyone. The person taking the clothesline does the majority of the work. A baby can clothesline an adult. 

Donald Trump did not bodyslam Vince McMahon. A body slam requires much, much, much more effort on behalf of both parties. The person body slamming someone has to be able to somewhat lift the other person in the air. Similar to the clothesline, the person taking the body slam has to also do quite a bit of selling, but a body slam requires strength a clothesline does not. A baby can not body slam an adult. 

In pro wrestling both parties are equally important in performing moves. There is no way Trump could ever body slam a fellow adult. Vince and the WWE would not put him, or anyone other guest, in a position to make them look bad. There is no way Trump or most any other guest, would look good performing a body slam. So they went with a clothesline. And there’s no incentive for the WWE or Trump or anyone else that’s a fan of either to correct the record. 

In 2007 at WrestleMania 23 Donald Trump clotheslined Vince McMahon outside of the ring. 

The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman had the best access and some of the best reporting of President Trump’s tenure. In her, most likely, definitive book about the WWE Hall of Famer, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, she writes:

In 2006 one of Trump’s made for the tabloids feuds with Hollywood celebrities, a name calling tit for tat with the actress and talk show host Rosie O’Donnell, prompted an invitation from World Wrestling Entertainment Chairman Vince McMahon. In the late 1980s, Trump had twice hosted the company’s marquee WrestleMania tournament in Atlantic City, but this time he was being asked to star himself in the scripted event. At the 2006 installment, a fake Trump wrestled a fake O’Donnell and Trump came back the next year for a storyline called “The Battle of the Billionaires,” in which he and McMahon had proxies fight for them, with the loser getting his head shaved. Trump first body slammed McMahon outside the ring in a choreographed move, then wielded an electric clipper as his foe was strapped to a chair inside the ring. McMahon, playing to the audience, yelled for help. The crowd loved it. Trump looked ecstatic. 

There are multiple errors in this summation of some of Trump’s interactions with the WWE. WrestleMania is not a tournament (WrestleMania IV did feature a tournament to determine the World Champion, but the event itself is not a tournament), the fake Trump vs. fake O’Donnell was on a January 2007 episode of Raw (not at the previous year’s Mania) and Trump did not body slam McMahon. Just watch the video.

Some of the things Haberman, and anyone else writing or reporting on WrestleMania 23, may want to acknowledge is Trump’s ‘foundation’ was paid $4 million dollars for this appearance. And in 2018 that foundation was dissolved as a result of a settlement with the New York state attorney general’s office, which alleged in a 2018 lawsuit that Trump had misused the charity’s funds to advance his interests.

It was a clothesline and a way to get paid without paying taxes.

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