WWE Drags Trump-Rosie Feud into the Wrestling Ring

Even though the war of words between Donald Trump and Rosie O'Donnell has cooled off recently, World Wrestling Entertainment honcho Vince McMahon is trying to keep it alive.

McMahon promised a battle in the ring between the two mega-celebrities for the Jan. 8 edition of Raw, and in a way he delivered. Wrestling purists cringed as impersonators of Rosie and Trump hit the ring.

Rosie (played by independent wrestler Kiley McLean) started the match by bullying Trump around the ring. When Rosie tried to ram Trump's head into the corner turnbuckle, his legendary hair absorbed the impact.

Trump (played by Ring of Honor veteran Ace Steel) went for a bodyslam, but Rosie fell on him instead for a near-fall. Trump recovered and went outside the ring. He blasted Rosie with her own half-eaten ice-cream cake (Fudgie the Whale) and delivered a hair-drop for the pin.

The fans in the arena booed this match out of the building, but McMahon (who was at ringside) probably didn't mind. He is planning a "billionaire vs. billionaire" feud with Trump on future episodes of Raw.

This makes perfect sense, since they can battle over who coined the phrase "You're fired." Trump has trademarked the slogan, but McMahon has been "firing" wrestlers in the ring with that phrase for years.

Both Trump and McMahon have TV shows on NBC that have seen better days in the ratings. "The Apprentice," Trump's business reality show, recently started its sixth season with a venue change from New York to Los Angeles.

While the first episode was very good, Trump needs as much publicity as he can get to get "Apprentice" renewed for another season. Feuding with Rosie and McMahon is a good way to keep Trump - and "The Apprentice" in the spotlight.

NBC also airs WWE's "Saturday Night's Main Event" twice a year.

McMahon is smart enough to know how to use celebrities to attract attention. He brought in Kevin Federline to wrestle WWE champ John Cena in a non-title match on Jan. 1. K-Fed actually won (with outside help, of course), and many TV shows and news outlets reported on the match.

The ultimate question is ... will McMahon and Trump do battle in the ring? If so, the match would certainly take place at Wrestlemania 23. It would almost be as big as Mike Tyson's appearance at Wrestlemania 14, which led to a huge resurgence for the WWE.

Instead of an "I Quit" match, it could be a "You're Fired" match. The storyline just writes itself.