Vince McMahon famously took a brutal bump from atop a steel cage in 1999 – but it reportedly left him with a rather personal injury!
February 1999’s St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, which aired as the final instalment in the In Your House series, was headlined by a Steel Cage encounter, pitting ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin against that year’s Royal Rumble winner, Vince McMahon.
Although Austin went on to win the match and advance to WrestleMania XV, the talking point coming away from the pay-per-view, aside from the debut of ex-WCW star Paul Wight, was the shock bump taken by Vince McMahon. The former WWE Champion was sent flying from the steel cage wall, crashing into the announce desk.
The landing sustained by Vince was one of the most vicious ever seen. The McMahon matriarch didn’t go directly through the table as was planned; instead, his spine slammed into the edge of the structure. Vince Russo, who worked on WWE’s creative team at the time, spoke of the famed bump on the latest Wrestling Outlaws:
“The great Richie Posner, I’d have a whole chapter of him in my book, but Brian [Road Dogg], it was Vince’s first bump he ever took off the cage. Do you remember this? I think it was a St. Valentine’s Day Massacre or something like that, whatever, but Vince actually took a bump off the cage and landed on his a** and landed wrong. He took the bump wrong.
So, Brian, after the match, everybody leaves, we’re out by the cage, and he calls Richie over. And he’s like, ‘Richie, we talked about this, and you were supposed to have this set up.’ And Richie sits there and says, ‘No, Vince, it was set up perfectly; you missed it, Vince. You missed it, Vince!'”
Russo explained further, detailing the extent of Vince McMahon’s injury:
“Bro, Vince was getting so red in the face, and I’m giving Richie the iggy, like, ‘Bro, would you stop?’ He’d say, ‘Na, bro, Vince, it was perfect.’ And Vince was getting so red in the face. Do you know Brian, from that bump, Vince’s entire a** was black & blue? Linda made him go to the doctor because he wouldn’t. But he showed us pictures, and the entire thing was a…argh!”
‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin would ultimately win the WWF Championship from The Rock in WrestleMania XV’s headline attraction.
Vince McMahon remains under investigation for alleged misconduct with a female paralegal. He remains in his creative roles, but has stepped back, temporarily, from his positions as Chairman and CEO. McMahon last wrestled during the second night of WrestleMania 38, defeating Pat McAfee, before suffering one more Stone Cold Stunner.