Eric Bischoff Reflects On “Sexually Accosting” Linda McMahon
On a recent episode of his “83 Weeks” podcast, Eric Bischoff shared insights into a memorable segment from WWE Monday Night RAW in 2003. During his feud with Shane McMahon leading up to their SummerSlam match, Bischoff had to kiss Linda McMahon on camera in front of Vince McMahon. The scene took place in Vince and Linda’s home, adding to the unusual nature of the situation.
Bischoff recounted how he found out about the segment and his initial surprise at the concept. He recalled the surreal experience of arriving at Vince’s house and walking through the shoot with Linda. The awkwardness of the situation was palpable, given the circumstances and the fact that it involved Vince’s wife. He said,
“I’m pretty sure Bruce [Prichard] is the one that [told me about it]. And I think he told me over the phone, because I had to fly to Connecticut to do it. It was in Vince [McMahon] and Linda’s home. It wasn’t a fake office, it was Linda’s office in their home. And I remember when Bruce told me, he didn’t give me the details. He said, ‘We need you to come to Stanford. We’re going to shoot a scene with you. It’s going to be at Vince’s house.’ That’s all I knew going into the scene. And it wasn’t until I got there — you know, Vince is running around, he had two big dogs I think. Maybe one, but they were huge dogs, and he was cooking eggs in his kitchen. And I showed up, and it was surreal. And it wasn’t until I got there that I found out exactly what I would be doing. And I thought, ‘Oh, well, this is different, but let’s give it a shot!’ It was awkward, for sure.”
Despite the discomfort, Bischoff noted that the shoot proceeded like any other, with blocking and choreography involved. He emphasized that the goal was to create a forceful and impactful scene that would elevate Shane McMahon’s hatred for him. Once the scene was over and Vince expressed his satisfaction, Bischoff’s apprehension turned into relief. Despite the awkwardness, the segment achieved its intended effect in furthering the storyline. He said,
“It was really no different than any other shoot. Once Vince got done eating, cooking his brunch and we were ready to go, we just blocked the shot out. You know, walked through it. I made sure I knew where my marks were and the timing of everything. Obviously, the dialogue that goes with it, that was the easy part. It was just blocking it and just, the sheer awkwardness of you know, grabbing any woman, especially Vince’s wife, and going through there. It was probably the same thing with Stephanie [McMahon]. When I ended up making out with Stephanie, it just was very, very freaking awkward.
“Vince wasn’t in the room. I think he was watching on a monitor in another room outside the office. I think it was one take. We didn’t have to do it over and over and over again. Fortunately, we nailed it in one take, which was the end. Vince thanked me, he was excited about it. He had a big grin on his face. He was happy with the scene. And as long as Vince was happy with it, I was happy with it. Once the awkwardness of thinking about doing it was over, it was just like any other scene.”
Bischoff continued,
“We walked through, you know, me grabbing and holding her. Vince wanted it to look very forceful. He didn’t want it to appear like it was a purely romantic scene. He wanted me to force myself on Linda because — and the reason for the scene was to piss off Shane [McMahon], and to take Shane’s hatred of me to another level. What better way than to sexually accost his mother? I mean, that would get anybody hot, right? People can relate to that, I guess. But, again, once we blocked everything out and took Vince’s notes, he wanted to make sure I put her arm behind your back and forced her; that was it. We blocked it. We shot it. I went home.”
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