No stranger to a smackdown: Linda McMahon’s wrestling cameos go viral

WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for education secretary may be in for some contentious Senate confirmation hearings next year. 
Thankfully for her, she’s no stranger to a smackdown. 
Linda McMahon, a longtime Trump ally overseeing his transition team since he won reelection, spent decades in the wrestling industry as a co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE, which she helped grow into a multibillion-dollar enterprise. During her years in the professional fighting world, she was lured into the ring on more than one occasion. 
Since Trump nominated her to his cabinet for a second time Tuesday, clips of the 76-year-old Connecticut woman slapping other people – or getting thrown around by towering and bulky men – have resurfaced on social media and gone viral. 
Several videos show her satirically hitting her grown children, who’ve been features of WWE’s scripted programming over the years. Though the McMahons use their real names in their cameos, the clips are dramatic enactments and not reality-based. 
“This is gonna hurt me a lot worse than it hurts you,” says Stephanie McMahon, Linda’s daughter, in one video before her mother slaps her to the mat. It’s not the only clip of a blazer-clad McMahon roughhousing with her family. 
In another viral enactment, a professional wrestler in a singlet flips McMahon upside down, lifts her up in the air and slams her on her head. She acts unconscious. In the wrestling world, the move is known as a “tombstone piledriver.” That wrestler, Glenn Jacobs, eventually made a foray into politics, too, and is now the mayor of Knox County in Tennessee.
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Trump, who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame over a decade ago and hosted several WrestleMania events at his Atlantic City casinos, was also a frequent character on the network and still posts old wrestling videos of himself on his social media platforms. During a scene called “The Battle of the Billionaires” in WrestleMania 23, which aired in April 2007, Trump shaves the head of Vince McMahon, Linda’s longtime husband from whom she has reportedly separated. 
In her first comments since the president-elect tapped her for education secretary this week, McMahon said in a statement Wednesday that she was hopeful the Senate would confirm her for the job. A friend of Trump’s previous education secretary, Betsy DeVos, McMahon served as the head of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term. 
“I’ve witnessed the transformative power of education, both in the classroom and also in apprenticeship programs,” McMahon said. “All students should be equipped with the necessary skills to prepare them for a successful future.”
Jacobs, the wrestler-turned-politician who once flipped McMahon upside down on camera, congratulated her in a social media post this week.
“Honored to call you a friend,” the mayor wrote.
Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele.