Jim Ross Recalls Eric Bischoff Kissing Stephanie McMahon
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross spoke about the bizarre storyline that saw Eric Bischoff plant a kiss on Stephanie McMahon.
On the Halloween episode of SmackDown in 2002, then-GM Stephanie McMahon dressed up as a witch in a move that seemed a bit on the nose. During the course of the episode, John Cena approached her and said that her father Vince McMahon (who was not a regular on-screen character at the time) wanted to see her. However, when Stephanie arrived in the office to speak with her father, she instead found Raw GM Eric Bischoff wearing a Vince McMahon mask.
Things took a turn for the bizarre when, after bragging that he was going to be the one to bring Scott Steiner to Raw, Bischoff grabbed Stephanie and gave her a passionate kiss. While she resisted at first, she eventually began enjoying the kiss, and while the segment would be referenced on television in the coming weeks, it was never explained.
Speaking on Grilling JR (available early via AdFreeShows), legendary commentator Jim Ross spoke about the incident and how bizarre it was for Vince McMahon to book his own daughter in the angle.
“It’s so weird, strange. That’s inside the mind of Vince McMahon. Be aware of your journey. It’s just, again, unless you know him real well, and then it’s a crapshoot. Why? Why? I remember that kiss with Eric and Stephanie. She became a hell of a talent on air, a hell of a talent.
“I mean, pulling off a kiss like that, and it graduates from somewhat being forced upon her, to her transitioning to where I kind of liked this. So, and old Bish, that was interesting booking, you know. Linda and Stephanie, he may be the only guy in wrestling that have ever had that experience. If that means anything? Probably not.”
Far from her days as an on-screen General Manager, Stephanie McMahon now serves as co-CEO of WWE alongside Nick Khan as Vince McMahon retired this summer amidst an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct and hush money payments.