Before the WWE Network became a repository of WWE programming, the company produced a number of direct-to-DVD documentaries. From The Rise and Fall of ECW to spotlight features about Dusty Rhodes, the Road Warrior, Ric Flair, and any number of wrestling legends, WWE pumped out a lot of content in the early-00s to take advantage of the DVD boom.
Now, with the WWE Network and WWE on Peacock, most of that content can be found on streaming. There is one glaring omission, though, and it's a big one. In 2006, WWE released a two-DVD set that featured a documentary on none other than Vince McMahon, the CEO of the company. The project, titled McMahon, looked at Vince's childhood and his time in the professional wrestling industry. It was also stuffed with many interviews, including Vince, his family, and a long list of WWE superstars. Best of all, they all shared some interesting--sometimes outright shocking--stories about McMahon.
However, at a certain point, the DVD more or less disappeared. You can find used copies, but it never went to the WWE Network or WWE on Peacock. Thankfully, we got our hands on it, though. After digging through it, we've come up with the 12 strangest things revealed in the documentary--including a proposed WWE storyline that is truly disturbing. Take a look below.
1. Vince's entrance into the business
When Vince was young, he got his first job--as a ring announcer--from his own dad. What's odd is how he got it. According to Vince, the regular announcer asked for more money to perform on a show and Vince McMahon Sr. kicked him out of the building. For some reason, that's one of the memories that sticks out to Vince the most.
2. "I don't negotiate"
As Vince was attempting to build the WWF into a national company, he tried to buy the American Wrestling Association from the Gagne family. After negotiations led to him not buying the company, Verne and Greg Gagne drove Vince back to the airport to fly home. According to Greg, as Vince walked away he proclaimed, "I don't negotiate." Neither of them understood what he was talking about.
Not too long after, Hulk Hogan jumped from the AWA to the WWF, proving that he didn't need the AWA for his expansion. Ultimately, the AWA closed and McMahon bought the rights to the company. "Vince McMahon Jr took our income. Took our life away from us. Took everything away from us," Greg says in the documentary.
3. Revisionist history is running wild
In the documentary, Shane McMahon tells the story of his dad buying Georgia Championship Wrestling and getting the promotions timeslot on the TBS Superstation. According to Shane, Vince made the timeslot so successful that TBS owner Ted Turner wanted to purchase part of the WWF. Vince said no, and Ted sued him. After winning the suit, Vince walked into Ted's office and tore up the contract they had for the timeslot.
Of course, that's only one version of the story. Another, that has been well-documented over the years, is that the ratings for the timeslot dropped when WWF programming took over--and that there were many complaints phoned in. Eventually, Turner put another wrestling show on his network to appease the upset fans and the relationship between McMahon and Turner deteriorated. Eventually, McMahon sold the timeslot to another promoter for $1 million.
4. The true birth of Mr. McMahon
While most wrestling fans will point to the iconic "Bret screwed Bret" promo on the November 17, 1997 episode of Raw as the beginning of the Mr. McMahon character that became one of the most hated villains in wrestling history, Vince thinks it happened somewhere else.
Earlier that year, on the last Raw before Wrestlemania 19, McMahon--in his capacity as a commentator and interviewer--entered the ring to speak with Bret Hart. The Hitman shoved Vince to the ground and snatched away his microphone. It was one of the first moments of McMahon getting physical in a WWE ring, which would become commonplace as the '90s wore on. Speaking of that…
5. Everyone knows Vince sucks as a wrestler
Vince has been involved in some of the highest-profile matches of all time and his feud with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was the focal point of the Attitude Era. Still, it's no secret that Vince is a terrible wrestler and has never been trained in the ring. Thankfully, those around him aren't afraid to admit it. Here's a collection of thoughts on the boss's in-ring acumen from some of WWE's top stars at the time.
- "As good as his matches are, he's not very agile. He's not very flexible." - Triple H
- "I would not say he's the most athletically-inclined person" - Edge
- "He is probably the worst athlete I've ever seen." - Kurt Angle
- "He has very little catch-as-catch-can repertoire. His moves list is about maybe one long--and that's a nice, stiff punch." - John Cena
6, Vince thinks he is "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
While the character of Mr. McMahon became one of the most hated villains in wrestling, he actually sees himself more as his arch-rival "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in real life. "I am 'Stone Cold' in a lot of ways," Vince says in the documentary. How, you're wondering? In addition to being a hellraiser, Vince says he's always been "a redneck to a certain extent."
7. When he was 8, Vince bleached his hair
Even before getting involved in the WWF, Vince always wanted to be a wrestler. In fact, according to his wife Linda, Vince dyed his hair blonde as a child to look more like his favorite wrestler at the time, Dr. Jerry Graham.
8. Vince's dad told him never to wrestle
While Vince became a huge part of WWE programming, his father warned him against it. "You have to be separate and apart from the talent because you have to run the business," Linda remembers Vince. Sr. telling his son. Clearly, he didn't listen.
9. Vince's broken tailbone
When Vince fought Steve Austin in a steel cage match at the 1999 St. Valentine's Day Massacre event, he seriously injured himself. When Austin tossed him off the cage, Vince was supposed to go through the announce table. However, it didn't break properly and McMahon was left with a fractured tailbone.
10. Words that would come back to bite him...twice
When announcing the XFL, Vince said of his empire, "We like to think of ourselves in the World Wrestling Federation as the best-built brand in entertainment." The XFL then failed twice.
11. Vince loves Katie Vick
It's perhaps the worst storyline of all time. When Triple H and Kane were feuding, Triple H accused his enemy of having sex with the corpse of his dead girlfriend. Yes, this happened and WWE even presented a segment where Triple H reenacted the supposed act. Nobody liked it. Well, almost nobody.
To this day, Vince loves the storyline and defended it in the documentary. "Making love to a dead person--a female dead person--when you're a guy and you're in this thong-type thing, it's like, 'Come on, that is high comedy, if there ever is,'" He said. We'll have to agree to disagree. For more about the disastrous story, you should definitely listen to the episode of Wrestle Buddies, GameSpot's professional wrestling podcast, where we dig into it.
12. The whole incest thing
When Stephanie McMahon was pregnant with her first child, Vince wanted to find a way to work it into WWE programming. And thus he thought he struck gold when suggesting he be presented as the father of the child in WWE storylines. That's right, he pitched an angle in which he was in an incestuous relationship with his own daughter. Stephanie quickly shot that down, leading Vince to pitch his next concept. What if her brother Shane was the father?
It should come as no surprise that neither of these angles got past Vince's initial concept. "I don't know who would find entertainment in a storyline like that," Stephanie said in the documentary.
No comments:
Post a Comment