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The premiere of the six-episode Netflix documentary series on Vince McMahon has led to some surprising revelations about the disgraced former owner of WWE.
Following the announcement of the Mr. McMahon docuseries and the subsequent release of the show’s trailer, Vince McMahon issued a statement denouncing it.
“Based on a partial cut I have seen, this doc falls short and takes the predictable path of conflating the ‘Mr. McMahon’ character with my true self, Vince. The title and promos alone make that evident,” McMahon wrote.
So, McMahon, who has made his fortune with pretend wrestling matches and characters, and stands accused of some some extremely disturbing allegations, wants everyone to believe that the loathsome character he played on TV, Mr. McMahon, is not him in real life.
In fact, in one of the episodes of the documentary series, Vince McMahon is asked flat out, “What similarities do you share with Mr. McMahon?”
His response? “None whatsoever.”
However, when that same question is posed to assorted WWE legends, they had a rather different take on it.
“Mr. McMahon is an extension of Vince McMahon, but blown way out of proportion,” Vince’s son Shane McMahon, who spent years working for WWE, replied.
“The difference between Mr. McMahon and Vince McMahon, probably not that much [laughs],” WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels answered.
What about the biggest name to ever work for WWE, Steve Austin?
“The Mr. McMahon character is pretty close to Vince the man but obviously highly exaggerated. The best characters in wrestling are guys at their core with the volume turned up. What you saw from me as Stone Cold was me with the volume turned up, same with Vince.”
Okay, so what about the other biggest name to ever work for WWE, Hulk Hogan?
“Exactly the same person. It’s not a far stretch,” he replied.
Bruce Prichard, who has worked as an executive, booker, producer, manager, commentator, and wrestler since first joining the company in 1987, said, “The character of Mr. McMahon is really just Vince. He’ll tell you different. No, Mr. McMahon is Vince. A lot of the promos and the diatribes that have been cut on other people, I’ve had actually cut on me in real life. ‘Ah, I’d never say that.’ I said, ‘Yeah, you would. You said it to me.'”
“I’m very, very passionate about our business and sometimes that passion is a bit effusive. So, I probably can get out of bounds a little bit,” McMahon said in response to Prichard’s statement.
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