In 1997, Vince McMahon made his first significant strides toward becoming a character on WWE television. More than a broadcaster or host, or the figure hardcore fans knew was pulling the strings behind the scenes, Vince more overtly indicated his position of power in on-screen confrontations with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, and others, en route to the infamous, too-often imitated Montreal Screwjob. From there, he was off to the races, and before long Shane became a heavily featured on-air talent, and Linda and Stephanie began taking part in storylines to a limited degree. At the end of the 1990s, into the early 2000s, Stephanie took on a much more prominent role, mostly as a heel manager or authority figure, before an unlikely turn in 2002 when she emerged as the babyface general manager of SmackDown.

Stephanie McMahon As A Babyface Authority Figure

Stephanie McMahon did well as an on-air authority figure. She was well-spoken on the mic and had come out of the Attitude Era with a reasonable degree of clout—a familiar face and someone fans knew had real life power and influence behind the scenes. The on-air work included feuding with Raw’s heel general manager Eric Bischoff, as well as signing Hulk Hogan to the blue brand, much to the chagrin of her father.

After Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan had their famous Street Fight at WrestleMania 19, and carried on feuding for a bit after, Vince set his sights on his own daughter. Between her babyface leanings being naturally antithetical to Vince’s character, her support of Hogan, and tension over Vince having a kayfabe affair with Sable, the father and daughter were on a collision course.

The Novelty Of Intergender, Family Wrestling

The premise of Vince and Stephanie McMahon feuding wasn’t, in and of itself, so outlandish. After all, one of Hulk Hogan’s defining enemies of the 1980s was Bobby Heenan, who feuded more by proxy—representing monster heels who physically engaged with Hogan. Similarly, Vince himself had had the most legendary version of the authority figure vs. wrestler feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin. While Vince getting into the ring was part of that program, there’s a very reasonable argument that Vince backing The Corporation and sending The Rock, The Undertaker, Kane, and others into battle was more vital to their story. All the more so, ongoing stories of feuding authority figures, manager vs. manager angles, or a storyline like Vince vs. Donald Trump going into WrestleMania 23 were largely built on getting actual wrestlers over by association with their more famous counterparts, who weren’t actually going to work many matches.

Related: The Relationship WWE Fans Have With Vince McMahon Is BizarreThis is where Vince vs. Stephanie crossed a line, when they set up an actual match between the two for the No Mercy 2003 PPV. They were both non-wrestlers, but on top of that, this was a rare WWE match between a man and a woman, and all the more exceptional for pitting a father against a daughter. There’s little doubt that this highly unusual casting was a key part of what WWE sought to feature to garner attention and attract curious fans to the PPV. Nonetheless, the premise was also uncomfortable for connotations of a man beating a woman, let alone the domestic violence undertones of a parent brawling with his child.

The Father-Daughter I Quit Match Between Vince And Stephanie McMahon

Vince McMahon vs. Stephanie McMahon was set up as an I Quit Match. The gimmick did make some sense for the story being told, as Vince became increasingly domineering, trying to push is weight around, while Stephanie told a tale of female empowerment, standing up to her dad and refusing to give in to his whims. Given the players involved and their relationship, the stage was set that this was not going to be one of the forgettable I Quit Matches WWE has put on, but rather a memorable spectacle fans would hold onto, for better or for worse.

The match itself turned out to be the most uncomfortable part of the story, though. While Stephanie performed well and did get in her share of offense, the closing image of the match tends to be what fans remember most—Vince choking out his daughter with a lead pipe. In the end, Linda forfeited for her daughter by throwing a towel into the ring.

An interesting bit of subtext to the match, covered in the McMahon documentary is that the match happened days before Stephanie’s real life wedding. On one hand, the beating and humiliating loss she took explained her being taken off TV for a bit. On the other hand, Linda discussed in the documentary her concern that Vince might unintentionally give Stephanie a black eye or otherwise hurt her before the big day. While it’s better left in the hands of trained psychologists, there are also some grounds to speculate if this were a way of Vince asserting his control over his daughter one last time, or acting out an unspoken impulse to sever his tie from his child as she moved onto this new stage of life.

In the end, Vince and Stephanie McMahon are both skilled on-air personas who can inspire and draw sympathy from fans, but are all the more gifted at drawing heat. Their 2003 feud did succeed in creating a memorable spectacle and eliciting strong emotions from the WWE viewership, even if a large segment of that audience was uncomfortable with what they were seeing.