Vince McMahon is known for defying danger when it comes to his in-ring exploits, and at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre: In Your House in 1999, he did one of his most notable stunts.
The main event of the pay-per-view saw Vince McMahon take on Steve Austin inside a steel cage, but there was plenty of activity before the match officially began. Before the bell even rang, McMahon was attempting to climb the cage to escape Austin’s wrath when Austin knocked him off and through the announce table below.
Vince McMahon was placed on a stretcher, and Austin was declared the winner by forfeit, but the Texas Rattlesnake wasn’t content to leave things be after all the dissention between him and the WWE Chairman. Not only did he attack McMahon with the stretcher, Austin also put him back in the ring, officially starting the match.
Eventually, Paul Wight made his WWE debut as The Big Show, coming up from a hole in the ring canvas. However, despite his attacking Austin and giving McMahon the upper hand, he eventually threw Austin against the cage with so much force that the cage itself broke, causing Austin to escape and win the match, securing his title shot at the upcoming WrestleMania XV.
“Don’t Waste Your Breath” – Jim Ross Says It’s Impossible To Talk Vince McMahon Out Of Insane Bumps
Speaking on a recent episode of Grilling JR, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross spoke to co-host Conrad Thompson about Vince McMahon’s crazy table bump at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and said there’s no use talking McMahon out of something when he has his mind set to it.
“Don’t waste your breath. Don’t waste your breath, this is what he wants to do, right? I know you [Conrad] got a great relationship with Bruce Prichard. And Bruce has been joined to hip with Vince off and on for many, many years. He could tell you better than I in that respect. I work hand in hand with Vince for over 20 years. So I got a little experience working with him. And other than how he produced talent, he was, he was a big, big asset to my career.
“So, but there’s no sense of trying to talk him out of it. You know, you kind of make sure what the bump looks like. And they couldn’t go over a lot of things because he couldn’t tear a table up and in the, you know, the afternoon that I can recall. And so anyway, he was just, he was a team player. And he just defied age and gravity at times.”
The February 1999 pay-per-view was far from the only time Vince McMahon would take an age-defying bump in WWE, and according to Road Dogg, he took a bump off the stage inside a dumpster ahead of a Raw match in 1998.
If you use any quotes from this transcription, please credit Grilling JR and link back to this article with a h/t to Inside the Ropes.