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The Heel Turn of Donald Trump: Remembering 'WrestleMania 23', Battle of the Billionaires

Donald Trump sure knows how to make the common American, and even members of British Parliament, hate him. He gets a lot of heat, and it is well deserved. In a wrestling world, he's the perfect heel. But that is not the case in the wrestling world. In fact, his last appearance in a wrestling ring was 'WrestleMania 23'. And he was the face of the story line.

That's right, Trump was a part of the biggest show of the wrestling year, circa 2006. He had a feud with Vince McMahon which stemmed from McMahon having actors portray Trump and Rosie O'Donnell, who were real-life feuding at the time, in a less-than-appealing match on 'Raw' (Poor quality).

After this match, Trump confronted McMahon, and the Battle of the Billionaires began. Ultimately, the two agreed to a match at 'WrestleMania 23', with both men selecting competitors to represent them in a match. Mr. McMahon chose the now-deceased Umaga, while in a strange turn-of-events, Trump who is now known for racism chose an African American in Bobby Lashley. The stipulation added to the match was that the losing billionaire would have his head shaved bald.

The match had a great build-up, and included a great spot on the ECW before the event, where Lashley jumped through the steel cage to the outside where Umaga was standing. In the build-up, Lashley also became the first competitor to break Chris Masters' Master Lock.

The lead-up culminated with a match at the Showcase of the Immortals."Stone Cold" Steve Austin was named guest referee for the match. Partly through the match, Umaga attacked Austin, leaving him incapacitated. Shane McMahon entered as referee and was biased toward Umaga. With Umaga dominating the pace, Austin finally came to, and gave a Stone Cold Stunner to Shane. Austin went on to give Umaga a Stunner as well, helping lead Lashley to victory.

After the match, Lashley, Austin and Trump all grabbed McMahon and put him into a barber chair where they shaved the billionaire's head bald.

It's so strange to look back and see Trump get cheered by almost the entire WWE Universe. Now, he is getting booed and tomatoes thrown at him. In fact, when I first heard of Trump's campaign, I immediately thought of his Mania appearance, and assumed he would be accepted as a candidate, Instead nearly anyone not associated with him and his campaign hates him, and he has gone from a face to a heel at some point between 'WrestleMania 23" and now.

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