When Netflix and Bill Simmons joined forces to cover the owner and face of World Wrestling Entertainment, Vince McMahon I quickly wondered if this would be a puff piece on the larger than life figure that revolutionized the wrestling business. To my surprise the documentary delivered and gave a glimpse into the mind of a maniacal genius.
The documentary served as a bit of history lesson on the WWE and how Vince McMahon turned it from a territory system into a multi-billion dollar empire so those hardcore fans who were looking for information they haven’t heard before will be disappointed by the lack of new information. For me, it was a well produced documentary that achieved its main goal – getting Vince McMahon to go on the record about his life, the business and what makes him tick.
The six-part series briefly dealt with Vince’s childhood, his beginnings in the wrestling business, how he conquered the industry and the controversies that ultimately lead to his downfall.
Key Takeaways About Vince:
- The first few minutes of the documentary told you what you would be getting. Vince claimed he didn’t like talking about himself and he didn’t want to talk about everything because he “didn’t want you to know who he really is”
- Vince briefly talking about his abusive stepfather and the fact he didn’t meet his father, Vince Sr., was telling. In fact, Vince didn’t even know his last name was McMahon until he met his father for the 1st time at 12 years old.
- The only time Vince Sr. told Vince he loved him was right before Vince Sr. died. Their relationship to me seemed to be a transactional one – one that was surface level and built solely on business. Vince was just looking for his father’s admiration and love. That would be a theme later on in how Vince dealt with his son Shane.
- Vince’s father didn’t really want Vince to take over the business but rather Gorilla Monsoon. Vince Sr. didn’t appreciate what Vince was doing until he was took over the territories.
- Vince openly talked about his multiple affairs he had in his life. He referred to them all as consensual even though the women he was involved with wouldn’t view it that way. When discussing his “affair” with Rita Chatteron who became the 1st female referee in WWE, Vince denied any wrong doing but went a step further by saying “even if it were rape it was past the statue of limitations.” That line of thinking would come to define how Vince felt about women.
- In Episode 6, Vince flippantly dismissed Chris Benoit’s murder-suicide as Benoit “going crazy”. He also initially dismissed CTE and its science while also saying he didn’t feel The Undertaker didn’t suffer a concussion during his match with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31. Vince felt The Undertaker suffered from “traumatic shock” after being told Brock was going over and the streak would end.
- Vince, when asked about retiring, felt that people should “just die” if they stop working. That thought process seems to show that Vince believes there is no life outside of work.
- McMahon showed his ruthlessness during the Montreal Screwjob when he plotted with others behind Bret Hart’s back and changed the outcome of the title match between Hart & Shawn Michaels. Vince felt that it was “show business… nothing personal. And there is nothing I wouldn’t do for business.”
- Vince’s relationship with his son Shane nearly mirrored his relationship with Vince Sr. Shane spoke on doing some of the insane spots during his matches as a way to earn his father’s respect and love. The story told by Paul Heyman about Vince telling Shane to kill him because that would be the only way Shane’s idea would ever come to fruition is the stuff of madness.
- Vince’s on-screen affairs were an exaggeration of his real life affairs. Shane didn’t take too kindly to his father’s on-screen affairs as he felt this was disrespectful to his mother. And then there’s the nixed storyline where a real-life pregnant Stephanie McMahon was to have been impregnated by – wait for it – Vince McMahon. Because Stephanie nixed the storyline Vince then booked a match between he & Stephanie SIX DAYS before her real life marriage to Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
- On several moments in the documentary Vince contradicted himself. The one contradiction that stood out to me was in Episode 6 where Vince first said that he is not the Mr. McMahon character in real life but during the last sequence he wasn’t sure where Mr. McMahon ends and he begins.
Key Takeaways From The Contributors
- Hulk Hogan snitching to Vince McMahon about Jesse “The Body” Ventura’s efforts to unionize was the epitome of being a stool pigeon. I didn’t think it was possible for Hogan to look any worse but yet… here we are. Hogan also commenting about how he didn’t know he was going over Andre The Giant at WrestleMania 3 was laughable.
- Bruce Pritchard came off as such a slimy character. On the one hand he spoke about Vince mirroring his Mr. McMahon character with some of the horrible things Vince said to Bruce while on the other hand lashing out at the creators of the documentary because they didn’t show the “human side” of Vince.
- Tony Atlas was the MVP of this documentary. I loved the fact he didn’t hold anything back on any of the controversies surrounding the WWE. His comments about the Ring Boys scandal definitely will raise eyebrows.
- Stone Cold Steve saying he didn’t believe in CTE was very disappointing.
- What I found most interesting was when several performers were asked what would Vince McMahon’s legacy would be and no one answers except Tony Atlas who simply said he was the greatest promoter of all time.
Here are some other interesting details from the documentary:
So… is this documentary worth the watch? In my opinion – absolutely. If you’re not a wrestling enthusiast then this documentary will be a real treat. If you are a wrestling enthusiast I still think it will be worth the price of admission because you got Vince McMahon’s opinions and thoughts on seminal moments on his life and the industry.
Grade: A
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