Brian Damage
It’s Saturday and today we have ’This Week in Wrestling’, the 21st entry of 2022. Today Brian looks at the career of ‘The Billion Dollar Princess’ Stephanie McMahon and shares all the best wrestling content from this week.
Bye Bye to the Billion Dollar Princess?
Recently, WWE’s own Chief Branding Officer and occasional character on WWE programming…Stephanie McMahon Levesque announced that she was taking an indefinite leave of absence from her duties with the company. She said…“As of tomorrow, I am taking a leave of absence from the majority of my responsibilities at WWE. WWE is a lifelong legacy for me and I look forward to returning to the company that I love after taking this time to focus on my family.”
Stephanie has certainly grown up in the wrestling/sports entertainment business being the daughter of Vince and Linda McMahon. She hobnobbed with such legendary wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper and Andre the Giant as a child. While playing and eating with an assortment of wrestling characters during her childhood was the norm, Stephanie also entered the family business at an early age.
At the age of 9 years old, she appeared on an episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event with Piper and her father. She was also used as a model to showcase WWF merchandise.
For a time, it looked like Stephanie’s brother Shane was handpicked and being groomed to eventually take over the family business one day. While he was working every facet of the business from the ground up like working in the WWF warehouse, ring crew, referee and in the office…Stephanie was not satisfied answering phones and mailing out catalogs at WWF headquarters.
After graduating Boston University with a degree in Communications, Stephanie went to work with the WWF full time. She worked in different areas of the company including accounting, TV production, creative writing and eventually…became a character on programming herself.
It was being in front of the camera that ultimately led her into a real life scandalous affair with Triple H (Paul Levesque) who was dating Chyna at the time. She and Levesque became a duo on camera as well with Stephanie winning the Women’s championship. They married in real life and had three daughters together.
Behind the scenes, Stephanie’s stock continued to rise and was quickly becoming a major player for the WWF/WWE. She was promoted to head of creative for WWE programming. Stephanie was heavily credited for starting the entire “women’s revolution” in WWE in 2015. While her father made her the face of the revolution…Stephanie did admit that it was the fans wanting change with the #givedivasachance movement on social media that really spearheaded the changes…not her.
Her work as Chief Branding Officer helped secure several big money contracts from advertisers for WWE programming and led her to receive numerous awards from the business community.
Despite all of her succes in and out of the wrestling ring and in the business world…Stephanie walked away (At least for the time being) to spend more time with her family. Love her or hate her, that to me is extremely commendable. She has certainly earned this time off.
Photo Gallery
A cool drawing of Alexa Bliss beating down Wonder Woman
This pic had me laughing out loud! Sami Zayn as a young member of the Bloodline.
Those who know…know.
Yikes.
Nikkita Lyons is quickly becoming a star for NXT 2.0
Custom Rey Fenix sneakers
Oh Yeeeeeah!
Kane’s Bizzaro World
The NWA’s newest Powerrr couple Mr and Mrs Thomas and Kamille Lattimer
Toni Storm
CJ Perry fka Lana
Lina fka Nia Jax
AEW’s Sky Blue
NXT 2.0’s Gigi Dolin
Queen Zelina
Maryse!
Video Gallery
While Roddy Piper was still heavily associated with the WWF by most fans when the movie ‘They Live’ premiered in 1988…it was the NWA who actually helped promote the movie. Check out this advertisement from the NWA for They Live starring Piper.
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Ring the Damn Bell 
For me, all the McMahons (save Vince) gave me go away heat (And Vince for the longest time has needed to go). The minute WWE became the McMahon family soap opera, I tuned out. I would be very happy if she stayed away from the cameras.
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