Stephanie McMahon has been involved with WWE since a very early age. Her first on-screen appearance in the company was in 1999.
Throughout her career, Stephanie McMahon has had quite a few memorable feuds with the biggest Superstars in WWE. Mostly playing a heel, she has managed to earn respect from the fans through her impressive mic skills and the ability to draw heat with her promos. She has also competed in the ring against many top wrestlers in WWE and has not shied away from taking painful bumps. In the following segment, we will take a look at the top 5 best feuds that the 45-year-old has had in WWE.
McMahon is not a trained competitor. However, her storyline feud with Lita helped the latter with a strong push towards the initial stage of her WWE career.
McMahon won the WWE Women’s Championship after defeating Jacqueline with the help of Tori and D-Generation X on the March 28, 2000, episode of SmackDown. This was the go-home episode of SmackDown before WrestleMania 16. She faced Lita for the first time during the June 6 episode of WWE’s blue brand. McMahon managed to survive with the help of Tori. Kurt Angle helped McMahon to defend her title during her second meeting with Lita.
Lita finally managed to win the Women’s Championship for the first time in her career after defeating McMahon on the August 21 edition of Raw in the main event. This ended McMahon’s five-month reign as the champion.
Stephanie McMahon turned face in mid-2002 and served as the General Manager of SmackDown! Bischoff was the General Manager of Raw at that time. Both were at loggerheads during the time as they tried to make their respective shows the best. The battle of one-upmanship continued for a few months.
Bischoff and McMahon kept on acquiring top wrestlers from each other’s brands. Stephanie tried to rope in Triple H but she was unsuccessful. The Game plied his trade on WWE’s red brand. McMahon did not get bogged down as she signed Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker, and Big Show to SmackDown! who were big names.
McMahon was a fan favorite during this time. She was praised for bringing back the WWE United States Championship and creating the WWE Tag Team Championship. She was also credited for signing Hulk Hogan back to the blue brand.
On the October 31 episode of SmackDown! at a Halloween party, McMahon and Bischoff kissed each other. McMahon was dressed as a witch while Bischoff was disguised as Vince McMahon underneath a mask.
Fans loved the competitiveness shown by Bischoff and McMahon during this feud.
Trish Stratus had an affair with Vince McMahon and Stephanie was livid. Vince asked his wife Linda McMahon for a divorce which led her to being wheel-chair bound. This was obviously a kayfabe angle. Stephanie was not going to let her family get destroyed in front of her eyes.
She took matters into her own hands and developed a rivalry with Stratus. Stephanie went on to defeat the Canadian Superstar at No Way Out in 2001 thanks to an assist from William Regal.
Vince, however, betrayed Trish Stratus the following night on Raw during a mixed tag team match where they faced the team of William Regal and Stephanie McMahon. Trish turned face soon after and the feud worked well for both the women’s careers.
Stephanie McMahon and Triple H came to the ring at WrestleMania 31. The Rock was present as well. The power couple of WWE dished out insults to The Rock and McMahon even slapped the Brahma Bull.
She taunted The Rock saying that he would not put his hands on a woman. The People’s Champ went outside the ring and invited Ronda Rousey, who was sitting in the front row, to come and assist him.
Rousey came over and said she would be happy to hit McMahon. Triple H was tossed out of the ring by Rousey and as Stephanie tried to slap her, the Baddest Woman on the Planet blocked and grabbed her arm. She teased an armbar before dumping her outside the ring.
Both women once again got involved in a war of words during Rousey’s WWE contract signing.
Rousey’s first match involved McMahon but thankfully for the latter, it was not a one-on-one match. Triple H and Stephanie teamed up to face Rousey and Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 34.The MMA legend made McMahon tap out to the armbar. The match was much better than it was expected to be and Rousey earned a lot of praise. McMahon also got her share of applause as she sold Rousey’s moves to the best of her abilities. On the following night on Raw, Rousey once again locked in the armbar to make McMahon tap out.
Stephanie McMahon’s feud with Brie Bella had many similarities with the recent Sonya Deville and Naomi feud. However, there was much better planning involved during the first one.
In 2014, Stephanie ordered Daniel Bryan to relinquish the WWE Championship or else she would fire his wife Brie. McMahon was given a shock by Brie when she herself opted to quit to allow his husband to remain the champion. Brie also slapped McMahon after this announcement.
After Brie’s decision, McMahon put her twin sister Nikki Bella in a number of handicap matches as a punishment. Brie returned to WWE television after one month and she was in the front row watching an episode of Raw. McMahon got involved in a confrontation with Brie and slapped her in the process. Brie had Stephanie arrested for hitting her as she was watching the show as a fan and not a competitor.
McMahon begged Brie to drop the charges but the latter had a condition. Brie said that she would drop the charges if she is rehired and given a match against McMahon at SummerSlam 2014. Stephanie reluctantly accepted.
At the pay-per-view event, Brie was about to win the match when her sister Nikki appeared and betrayed her. This allowed Stephanie to pick up the victory. Hence Nikki turned heel and continued punishing Brie over the next few months.
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