Donald Trump is in the WWE Hall of Fame. 

Yes, that Donald Trump – the damaged, sociopathic narcissist, the ambitious corn dog that escaped from the concession stand at a state fair and stole an unattended wig – is in the WWE Hall of Fame. 

His path to the White House has been fraught with self-detonated land mines that would have sunk any other political candidate, but not ‘The Donald’. Multiple controversies have instead catapulted him towards becoming the most polarising presidential candidate in modern American history. Yet, while this poorly trained circus orangutan is undoubtedly unfit to be the leader of the free world (his hair alone should disqualify him from the running), there is arguably nowhere more suited to him than the world of professional wrestling.

Trump’s history with WWE goes back decades, with WrestleMania IV and V taking place at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Trump also briefly owned Monday Night Raw in 2009, as part of a storyline for his show. Famously, he participated in the Battle of the Billionaires at WrestleMania XXIII in a ‘Luchas de Apuestas’ – or ‘gambling fight’ – against WWE’s CEO, Vince McMahon, with Bobby Lashley and Umaga standing in as their respective avatars. It ended as only a wrestling match featuring Donald Trump could: with him triumphantly shaving off McMahon’s hair while ‘Stone Cold' Steve Austin energised the audience with a follicular-themed rant.

With his repertoire of dyspeptic smirks and hovering fur cloud of hair, Trump fits right into professional wrestling’s atmosphere of perpetual petty one-upmanship and theatrical ultra-violence. ‘Sports entertainment’, as WWE call their product, may be meticulously choreographed, and essentially fake, but provoking primal emotions can suspend disbelief.

Trump is undoubtedly a master of this grotesque kabuki. Give him a microphone and an audience – or 10 million Twitter followers – and he is a showman, a bruiser, a rabble-rouser, as watchable as wrestling’s greatest bad guys, from Ric Flair to ‘Hollywood’ Hulk Hogan and Triple H.

Why has the U.S. media failed to challenge Trump?

Trump’s entire presidential campaign has been a master class in classic heel tactics. His self-aggrandisement and obsession with his own wealth are reminiscent of the ‘Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase, a man who – in a move straight out of the Trump playbook – created his own ‘Million Dollar Man’ and even bought the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from André the Giant.

One of the greatest heels in the business, Ric Flair, is well known for the promo in which he declares: “You’re talkin’ to the Rolex-wearing, diamond-ring-wearing, kiss-stealing, wheelin’-‘n’-dealin’, limousine-riding, jet-flying, son of a gun!”

But this all pales into insignificance when compared to the wheelin’ ‘n’ dealin’ of the aggressively stupid businessman. Flair might have walked around in alligator skin shoes, but he never threatened to rival the Great Wall of China and get another country to pay for it.

Perhaps wrestling’s most enduring heel, though, and a direct rival to the man-sized sebaceous cyst in the ‘most deluded sex pest billionaire’ stakes is none other than WWE’s CEO, Vince McMahon. While Trump is incapable of referencing God’s glory without quickly adding, “but I’m pretty glorious myself!”, McMahon is a man who infamously challenged God to a tag team match and won.

Self-made men with the help of multi-million dollar inheritances, both are famous for aggressively shouting the phrase “you’re fired”, both are friends with the raging racist Hulk Hogan. Neither of them seems to have the slightest sense of self-awareness, and both have faced lawsuits for sexual harassment. 

So, while the pantomime villain may not become president, he can sleep soundly, safe in the knowledge that Hillary won’t be joining him alongside the likes of Snoop Dogg, Mike Tyson, and Mr T in the WWE Hall of Fame any time soon. And if this does mark the end of the political aspirations of ‘The Donald’, he will always have a home in the world of professional wrestling