Throwback To Jose Mourinho’s Bizarre WWE Appearance In 2007

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Hamish Woodward

Jose Mourinho made a bizarre appearance in the WWE back in 2007 and was promptly, and very poorly, roasted by Shane McMahon.

The legendary football manager (or as some would say, infamous) is currently managing Fenerbache in Turkey after numerous spells managing in England.

He first came to our shores in 2004, taking over Chelsea FC in the new era under Roman Abramovich. A few hundred million pounds later, he’d picked up two Premier League titles and became an all-time great at the club.

The Special One went on to huge success elsewhere too. He won the Treble with Inter Milan and a host of trophies with Real Madrid before returning to England with Chelsea (again), Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – no prizes for guessing which team he didn’t win any trophies with.

However, it was near the end of his first spell at Chelsea that Jose Mourinho was spotted in the crowd at Monday Night Raw by Shane McMahon.

Jose Mourinho Was Spotted By Shane McMahon In The Crowd In WWE

Jose Mourinho received one of the biggest reactions of the night when he appeared on Raw back in 2007.

The Portuguese manager was in his third season as Chelsea manager at the time, fresh off winning back-to-back Premier League titles.

He had ruffled many feathers with his arrogant attitude, big spending and proclaiming himself to be The Special One, admittedly after winning the Champions League with Porto.

Mourinho’s success and arrogance made opposition fans hate him. With Raw in London and with 16 other professional clubs in London, it really felt like an away day for the Chelsea boss.

Shane McMahon was in the ring and talking to the crowd when he spotted Jose Mourinho on the 23rd April 2007 episode of Raw. He quickly turned his attention to the Chelsea manager, who was sat amongst the fans next to his two sons – both decked out in D-Generation X hats and t-shirts.

“Wait a minute. I know you. That’s Jose Mourinho!” Shane McMahon said as the crowd erupted into boos. “That’s the head coach of the Chelsea Football Game”.

I don’t know why he called them “Chelsea Football Game”. I bet Shane McMahon doesn’t know either.

As the boos continued, a smiling Mourinho cupped his hand to his ear, inviting the fans to shout and yell as Shane McMahon carried on talking.

“I scoured the entire United Kingdom to find the baddest man walking this earth. This man is Great Britain’s greatest wrestler. I had the pleasure of seeing him in action last night in a local pub where he defeated six men.”

He then decided to go with the most tame dig at Chelsea you could imagine.

“If you can call them men,” Shane McMahon postured, “I think they were members of your [Jose Mourinho’s] Chelsea Football Club.”

At least he got the name right the second time. Mourinho laughed and spoke to his sons, who looked less than impressed about the younger McMahon’s attack on his father and his team.

The “man” in question was actually British wrestling legend Robbie Brookside. Sadly, he then had to take on Shane McMahon, Vince McMahon and Umaga in a three-on-one handicap match.

He promptly lost.

Jose Mourinho laughed.

He Had A Photo Backstage With Shane & Vince McMahon

Despite the apparent bad blood between Jose Mourinho and the WWE, the then-Chelsea manager went backstage to meet the stars of the WWE.

The only evidence of this is a photo of Mourinho alongside Shane McMahon, and the only man with a bigger ego than himself.

The picture shows Mourinho, with Shane McMahon to one side of him and the WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to the other. Shane and Jose are both smiling into the camera while Vince doesn’t look overly pleased to be there.

Vince McMahon is wearing a dreadful chequered jacket and a pork pie hat. This was post-WrestleMania 23, where Donald Trump shaved his head after Bobby Lashley beat Umaga in the Battle of the Billionaires.

He looks miserably into the camera – perhaps due to his recent hair loss – but gives the most disinterested thumbs-up ever known to man. Perhaps if he’d known that he was in the presence of footballing greatness, he’d have been a bit more impressed.

This was Jose Mourinho’s first and only appearance in the WWE but it wasn’t the end of WWE’s link with football. They would go on to sign two goalkeepers – Stuart Tomlinson and Tim Weise – to contracts over the next few years and Wayne Rooney even punched out Wade Barrett on Raw in 2015.

Vince McMahon was even close to buying Newcastle United over a decade ago. If he did end up buying the Northern club, maybe his link with Jose Mourinho would have seen the former Chelsea boss become the Newcastle manager!

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