5 Backstage clashes between Vince McMahon and WWE Superstars

Vince McMahon is widely regarded by many as the most important entity in the world of professional wrestling. The WWE Chairman has spent decades turning WWE into one of the biggest conglomerates in the world today. What separated Vince from others that failed is the fact that he never shied away from sacrificing himself in order to present must-see TV to the WWE Universe.

Vince began inserting himself into major storylines in the late 90s, with his feud against Stone Cold Steve Austin becoming a major factor in WWE defeating WCW in the Monday Night Wars. Vince was beaten up, embarrassed, and harassed on live TV, mostly inside the squared circle.

But there have been plenty of moments when Vince clashed with some of WWE's biggest Superstars in a backstage capacity.

In the following slideshow, we will take a look at f backstage clashes between Vince McMahon and WWE Superstars.

Nore: Readers should note that the following article is in line with kayfabe, and doesn't include events that were rumored to have happened in real life.

#5 Roman Reigns

The Road to WrestleMania 34 saw Roman Reigns feuding with Brock Lesnar for the latter's Universal title. The storyline presented Lesnar as a disinterested guy who didn't care about the fans who had paid good money to see him live on RAW.

A bunch of segments featured Roman Reigns taking shots at Lesnar's schedule and the fact that the only person he cared about was himself. Reigns ranted about Lesnar in a segment with Kurt Angle on an episode of RAW and stated that although he had been disrespected by Lesnar, he won't let Vince McMahon disrespect him.

Vince retaliates after Reigns confronts him backstage:

Reigns approached Vince backstage and almost kicked off a fight with Vince. Shane McMahon tried to cool things down and Vince requested Reigns to talk about his issues somewhere private. McMahon later suspended Reigns for his actions.

#4 AJ Styles

On the December 25, 2018 edition of WWE SmackDown, AJ Styles was off TV for the entire night. While he was walking in the backstage area, he was approached by none other than WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, who challenged The Phenomenal One to talk about himself.

Styles started listing down his accomplishments. He talked about how he is The Phenomemal One, has won the WWE title on two separate occasions, and added that SmackDown is the house that he built. Vince was having none of it though and demanded to know who the real AJ Styles is.

You got a black hole in your heart, and I know it. I also know you've got a tremendous soul, and you can't let it go. You're afraid what's going to happen here if you can't control all that.

Styles knocks Vince down:

McMahon finished off his promo and proceeded to slap Styles. The Superstar, who was filled with rage, responded by knocking Vince down. Styles was escorted out of the room by backstage officials while others tended to a fallen Vince.

#3 The Rock

Vince McMahon and The Rock have been at odds ever since The Great One turned into one of the biggest babyfaces in the company's history around two decades ago. Vince cost The Rock two straight WrestleMania main events in 2000 and 2001, against Triple H and Stone Cold Steve Austin respectively.

At WrestleMania 16, The Rock failed to win the WWE title after Vince turned on him and helped Triple H defeat him to end the show.

The Rock soon got into a rivalry with The McMahon-Helmsley faction. On the May 22, 2000 edition of WWE RAW, The Rock took McMahon by surprise and launched a vicious attack on the WWE Chairman.

He finished it off by dumping Vince in his limo. As Vince was screaming at The Rock for attacking him, the latter picked up a trash can lid and hit McMahon on the head with it. The limo immediately left the spot. The Rock went on to attack several other members of the faction throughout the night.

The Brahma Bull was out to exact revenge after losing the WWE title to Triple H at Judgment Day 2000 and ended up doing exactly that on this night.

#2 The Undertaker

The Undertaker and Vince McMahon on an episode of WWE RAW

The incident happened days after The Undertaker had returned to WWE with a new persona. The Deadman was now a completely different character to the one who came down to the ring on a bike, and wore a bandana.

At Judgment Day 2000, The Undertaker made his long-anticipated return and attacked D-X and the McMahons, but failed to help The Rock defeat Triple H in the main event.

On the May 25, 2000 edition of SmackDown, it was mentioned that Vince McMahon had called the cops to arrest The Undertaker. As McMahon was talking to Shane and Gerald Briscoe, The Undertaker appeared out of nowhere and tried to run over the trio on his bike.

He tried to do the same again multiple times, finally cornering McMahon on a stairway. The villains fled the spot immediately as The Undertaker parked his bike. This fresh persona was instrumental in revitalizing the career of The Undertaker. He recently brought it back for his WrestleMania outing against AJ Styles.

#1 Stone Cold Steve Austin

On the road to WrestleMania, Stone Cold Steve Austin played a prominent role in the match between Brock Lesnar and Goldberg being scheduled for the big event. On an episode of WWE RAW, McMahon stood on the entrance ramp and berated Austin.

He mentioned how Brock Lesnar attacked him on RAW a week before and dubbed Austin as a lousy referee. He also stated that it wouldn't surprise him if Goldberg and Lesnar got together at WrestleMania and beat Austin down.

McMahon then ordered Austin to get on his ATV and leave the arena immediately. Austin responded by chasing McMahon on his ATV and threatening to run him over in the backstage area. McMahon pleaded to Austin to spare him, but The Rattlesnake wasn't in the mood to hear anything.

He proceeded to drive the ATV up on McMahon's limo, forcing the boss to leave the arena himself moments later. McMahon's wish didn't come true at WrestleMania, and it was Austin who hit Stunners on both Lesnar and Goldberg at Madison Square Garden.

Edited by Zaid Khan