Mr. McMahon – Episode Six – “The Finish”
By Kat Bourne on 7 October 2024
Previously on Mr. McMahon: episode one – two – three – four – five
Here we are, the final episode of Mr. McMahon. What a ride it’s been! And by ride, I mean it’s like watching the other 90 documentaries telling us about the rise and fall of WCW and the Montreal Screwjob. There have been some cool photos and behind the scenes videos, but it’s mostly been a retread of everything we’ve heard before told by the same people who have told it before, but also Triple H is here.
After this, I’ll be back to the Vault programming and other fun stuff that isn’t… this. This has not been fun.
For those of you looking for the Scott Keith recap of this series, they’ll be in the next print issue of “Inside the Ropes.” Thanks – I think? – to Scott for recommending that I review this for the blog. My therapy bill is headed to Canada as we speak. Thank you as well to those of you who have read, commented and been cool about my writing for this. I really do appreciate you. I’m now returning to appearing once a week to write about Vault stuff and to randomly appear in the comments, where I will continue to not argue with you all and never be able to keep up with the mania of the daily threads.
Vince himself starts us this time, telling us he has two computers in his head and sometimes they work against him. He says there is one talking right now and a second that may be thinking something completely different. He tells us there also is apparently a third one that he can tap into and it’s hard to pay attention. “All I wanted to be is just normal, I wanted to fit in… but I deal with it because that’s who you are. Just deal with it, Vince.”
The producer asks what the other brain is thinking about right now. Vince: “Um, something, having a lot of fun and a lot of sex.”
Episode Six: The Finish
On-Screen Text: “In January 2024, Vince McMahon resigned from WWE after allegations involving sexual misconduct, assault, and trafficking. The majority of the following interviews, including with Vince McMahon, were filmed before the allegations were made public.”
2007, Vince yells at people to shut up at a press conference. David Shoemaker says he was still a huge on-screen character for the company, but after Steve Austin they were struggling to find something for him to do. Enter Donald Trump. Vince says Donald had always been a fan. He went to him with the idea of each having a wrestler represent them at WrestleMania with the loser shaving their head. Dave Meltzer says it was the biggest audience in the history of wrestling pay-per-view. He says he was entertained by Trump’s ability to speak to wrestling fans and he was perfect for the role. Bob Costas says that Trump’s personality is much closer to a wrestler than a statesman as we watch a few Trump rally clips.
Vince says WWE’s fingerprints are all over the world including politics, and everyone wants to be like WWE as we see more Trump political clips. Paul Heyman: “This is what we do: larger than life characters making outlandish statements.” Meltzer says he sees similarities between Trump and McMahon. Well, yeah. John Cena calls Vince the best WWE personality ever, but notes he was more selectively used after that Mania.
Brian Gerwitz says they always wanted to pitch Vince having a midlife crisis, but Vince wanted to suggest someone kill him instead. We flashback to the weird promo he cut in the ring and the long walk backstage to the car, with the limo exploding. Vince: “The edit was perfect.” Vince wanted to treat it like real life, with Trump calling up to check on Vince being okay. And then the storyline had to stop.
We go to Raw and Vince in an empty arena, announcing that Chris, Nancy and Daniel Benoit are dead. Vince says that Benoit was thought of as an excellent in-ring performer and “as far as we know, a great guy.” Gerwitz explains that they were doing a tribute show to Benoit, and as the show aired they started to get the details of what Chris had done. We see the newsclips of what happened with Benoit. Cena says it “rocked the very foundation of WWE.” Bret Hart says that steroids don’t make you kill your whole family, with Vince saying there was no correlation between steroids and Benoit. Vince: “Chris went nuts. It happens in every form of life and everything.”
Chris Nowinski, neuroscientist and former superstars, tells us about his debut and being a fan of Benoit. He was concussed about a year later. He says everyone back then thought concussions were “bullshit” and everyone thought he was weak. That’s when he decided to try to lead some research on it himself. When he heard about Benoit, he was certain just based on his style that he had CTE. He explains what causes CTE and some of the side effects, saying that no one had heard of it in 2007. Vince goes on the Today Show, saying that nobody knew what kind of monster Benoit was. Nowinski reached out to Chris Benoit’s father, who agreed to let them do studies on his brain. It’s reported that Benoit’s brain was the worst they had ever seen, with WWE releasing a statement that it was speculative.
Vince says the doctor’s statement was ridiculous and calls it “a work.” Hulk Hogan explains how he would overact in a wristlock as a work, as Vince says it looks like there is damage but there isn’t – “we know what we’re doing, we don’t hurt each other. Stone Cold recalls being dropped on his head and being concussed but can’t remember having many other concussions. “I’m not a CTE guy. I just don’t believe in it.” That’s exactly what a guy who has had a lot of concussions would probably say because, you know, the brain damage. Nowinski says there is no question Benoit had CTE but everyone – the NFL, NHL, FIFA – is fighting them on it. He says he was surprised to get a call from Vince saying he wanted to help.
Vince tells us about calling Nowinski, wondering what he was doing and saying they would love to help if he could come up with examples. Vince talks about stopping a few in-ring moves and hitting each other over the head with chairs. Undertaker says he was originally pissed – “How are you going to take away the chairshot? It’s a staple of our industry!” as we watch several clips of Vince taking chair shots to the head. “I get it. The public is a publicly traded company now.” Taker says it was what is best for business. Nowinski is asked by the producer if he thinks the motivation is actually care for the wrestlers or improving business, and he says he doesn’t know what the biggest motivation is, but it’s good for wrestlers and business.
Meltzer recalls the negative publicity after the Benoit situation, as new clips focus on wrestlers dying young. Meltz says it didn’t hurt the viewing numbers because viewers saw it as the death of television characters, seeing clips of Mr. Perfect, British Bulldog, Eddie Guerrero, Test as we watch this. Phil Mushnick says Vince was defiant at first, as always. Vince tells us he can’t help but be defensive – and then offensive – when the media came after him for wrestlers dying young. He tells us about most of the performers that passed using prescription drugs as recreation, and mixed with steroids or other uppers it’s a horrible cocktail and that’s what happened. Mushnick wonders where the news was on this, with Meltzer saying people didn’t want to waste their time investigating fake wrestling.
It did lead to better monitoring of things, including rehab being offered to wrestlers. The schedule was reduced, with it being even better today. We flash right on up to WrestleMania 30, with Taker telling us about his 21-0 streak. He describes it as a huge part of the WrestleMania appeal. The plan was for him to win, but Vince came into his dressing room the day of the event and said he thinks they’re putting Brock Lesnar over. Vince says it was a last minute decision Undertaker wasn’t prepared for and he thinks he was in a psychological shock. Taker gets concussed five minutes in and the match goes another fifteen, with Taker saying he still can’t recall it. Vince: “I think Mark just didn’t remember any of that because it was so traumatic for him.” Taker recalls Vince leaving with him to go to the hospital. Taker never thought about getting hurt. “The only thing you think about is getting well so you can get back to work. I’ve had 18 different surgeries, I walk with a limp, I wake up some morning and can’t get out of bed.” He says he’d still be doing it if he could.
Booker T says wrestlers sometimes think they’re indestructible, but he wants this next generation to not be in the same situation. Cody Rhodes comes in on Raw in 2007, telling us the wellness policy became a big part of the company and “I came into a very clean WWE.”
The rating goes from TV-14 to TV-PG, Gerwitz saying that Vince is a businessman and he knew that there would be more sponsors with a less crazy show. And on that, he’s right. You limit yourself if you cut out some of your audience, especially if it is the audience that will grow into the ones with kids for the next generation. Vince says the turn paid off, with stock going up and sponsorship deals becoming more lucrative. Gerwitz says a lot of the old Attitude era fans said it was “the Muppet Show” and it left a bad taste in some people’s mouths. Hey, they have an alternative now!
Meltzer talks about fans complaining on social media, but times change and you adapt with it. Oh Dave, some of them have simply chosen to not evolve. The Divas Revolution happens as the way women are treated on TV improves. Yeah, they still got five minutes but they didn’t have to do it in a pool of gravy. Stephanie McMahon, naturally, says the women’s evolution was started by the fans and the #GiveDivasAChance hashtag. A news clip talks about how it sprung from the treatment of women and how much screen time they were getting. Well, I’m sure in 2024 there are no shows where women only get one match! Trish Stratus says VInce wasn’t sure, but he wanted to do what the fans wanted. I think I said this last time, but if there was one thing Vince was known for, it was listening to the fans and not doing stubborn opposite things! (There’s sarcasm there.)
Stephanie became a public face of the company as Chief Brand Officer and Triple H became sort of a number two. The producer asks where Shane was at that time, with Meltz saying he was kind of out. Shane appears to say he had been out for 6-7 years. Vince calls, saying he had an idea of giving an award to his daughter. Shane’s music hits and the place erupts. Shane tells us about the goosebumps he got that night. Okay, Dwayne. It was kind of cool, actually. Shane tears up, telling us he returned to something he loved. He could see pride in Vince’s eyes and Stephanie tearing up. It led to Vince making an offer to Shane on screen for one match for control, with it being Mania, Undertaker and Hell in a Cell.
Shane talks us up to that moment, saying he hadn’t been in the ring in seven years. He invites his kids to come out with him, tearing up just telling us about it. “The rest is history.” Thirty long minutes of history. About twenty too long. Booker says he can’t imagine being the son of Vince and it seemed like Shane was always trying to prove something to Vince, even if it was a bad stunt. We run through clips of Shane jumping off things, with Shane saying he always did things that were extra. We flash back to the match against Kurt Angle and bouncing off the glass which is horrifying to watch. Booker says he felt for Shane that night. Vince said Shane wanted to be different and earn his stripes, doing things he knew others wouldn’t do – “he knew it was his.” Shane says it was in his blood and an acceptable risk and he did it happily to entertain, push himself, and “always looking for that pat on the back from my bad.” Vince says he knows Shane has always wanted his respect and maybe there should have been more pats on the shoulder, but he’s always been proud of Shane because he gives it his all.
The producer asks Shane if he remembers seeing his dad after. “I got a hug that night. It was a very emotional return.” Vince:” Shane got emotional and said, ‘That’s all I ever wanted was your respect.’” Shane tells us he earned it. HHH says a lot of people talk about Vince being like a father to them, with Vince saying he’s the patriarch of a much larger family.
Undertaker, Trish and Cena all describe him like a father. Taker: “I’d take a bullet for that man.” Of course he would. David Shoemaker says all the stars are desperate for Vince’s approval including his own kids. Shoemaker says it seemed like Shane was trying to work his way back into successor. Shane says he thought he could continue the family business. Meltzer says Shane always figured he’d be the next McMahon but it never happened because “Stephanie is better at it than he was.”
Tony Atlas says Steph is just like her dad – very strong – while Shane “is nice.” Tony says “you can’t take advantage of that woman.” Vince, HHH and Steph become the biggest figures in the company, with big things happening like WWE Network, social media, TV rights culminating in the Peacock deal, Linda joins the Trump administration. We mention AEW starting up with some footage, including Cody Rhodes being one of the biggest stars. Three years later, he came back. The stock price keeps rising and Vince keeps creating new stars as we see Punk, Batista and Roman Reigns. Shoemaker says it was hard to imagine Vince stepping down, but it was clear you could see HHH & Stephanie being the ones to lead if he did. Shawn Michaels tells us that you don’t rule out Shane or Stephanie but it was his understanding that Hunter would be the individual. Vince says there are a lot of plans for succession but it depends on where he is.
The producer asks Vince if he ever sees himself retiring. Vince says no and he doesn’t understand why people stop going, because when you stop going you die. “Some people want to retire one day. What are you going to do when you retire? I have no sympathy for people like that. So… go die.” Hulk is asked if Vince will ever retire. Hulk says never, Cena says it’s not work to Vince as we see Vince take that last horrible WrestleMania stunner. HBK says he can’t imagine a life with Vince not being the main man as long as he has breath in his lungs. Booker says it would take a nuclear bomb exploding for Vince to retire.
June 2022. Vince McMahon steps down as the Wall Street Journal reports the hush fund. We circle back to Ted Mann of WSJ from the first episode, receiving the tip that started it all. According to the report, Vince hires the woman at a salary of $100,000 but increases it to $200,000 after beginning a sexual relationship with her. Meltzer asks how consensual it can be when the person is your boss, especially Vince. Meltzer expected Vince to go after the reporters, saying it was shocking that he didn’t. Vince resigned as CEO but continued on the Board of Directors, including appearing on that episode of SmackDown and getting cheers because people are idiots.
“After the allegations became public, Vince McMahon canceled his final interviews for this series.”
The reporter, Mann, notes that the Mr. McMahon character was purposely a deviant, which caused an intentional blurring between real and character. The reporting goes deeper, with McMahon denying other allegations including a tanning salon incident. We flash back to the timeline where that happened in real life, with Vince crafting a storyline of a woman on screen making up allegations against a man.
The story keeps going, with more hush money being uncovered. One of those was a $7.5 million settlement, with Vince coercing her into oral sex and her refusing other encounters, which led to him not renewing her contract. Meltzer says Vince was always the guy you’d think would survive everything. Then Vince does the tweet: he is retiring. Stephanie opens that night’s show announcing her father’s retirement to the fans booing and a “Thank you Vince” chant. Meltzer says it was exactly what he expected, but very surreal and everything had changed in one day.
Cody says uncertainty was felt backstage and there were a lot of questions about what would happen next. The producer asks Hulk if the business can survive without Vince. “Without Vince, I don’t think it will.” 2022 Meltz says he could see Vince coming back because it’s wrestling.
January 2023. Vince returns as executive chairman and Stephanie resigns. 2024 Meltzer laughs, saying it was weird when Vince came back. Cody says he wasn’t surprised and was surprised people were surprised. Meltz wasn’t sure Vince would be able to come back because of the board voting for him not to come back. Vince had the controlling votes, changed the board and Stephanie signed out. Vince says he was talked into quitting.
2024 Bruce Pritchard says he has no idea what happened for Stephanie to leave the company, and that others – Meltzer and Shoemaker named – are making up stuff and they don’t know. Of course. WWE sells to Endeavor, forming TKO. Bruce says the sale was genius and it was a new challenge for Vince. It certainly was. Vince becomes executive chairman, but WWE shareholders only get 49% of the company and he no longer has the absolute control. We get the clip of Vince – freshly dyed brows and that mustache that we see as the news header here on the Blog of Doom every three weeks – saying things have to evolve and WWE is evolving for all the right reasons. Meltzer knew there wasn’t going to be a next generation McMahon, there had to be business experts. Heyman says it isn’t about the last name or a family legacy, it’s about who is best qualified. “We live by the law of the jungle and the lion who still rules this kingdom wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Attendance is at its highest, sponsorship is bigger than it’s ever been, revenue is rocketing – Meltz says people will support a product and not care about the moral fiber of the guy running it. January 23, 2024 – the Netflix deal is made.
Bruce is asked if he’s seen a few episodes of this show and he says yes. “Yeah, I thought they sucked. I didn’t think it was balanced at all, I thought it was a gotcha piece. How can we make Vince look bad? Let’s make him look shitty here, let’s make him look shitty there.” The producer asks if they’re missing something about Vince and Bruce says yeah, the family side. Bruce mentions that Vince took care of his wife when she had cancer. He says it’s not a documentary on Vince’s life and story, it’s on how big of an asshole they can make him. “If he were one, I would support that. But he’s not.” Oh, Bruce. Bruce is known for being the actual number one member of the Vince McMahon Kiss My Ass Club.
Two Days Later:
New accusations as the Janel Grant lawsuit comes out. Khadeeja Safdar, reporter, says that people in WWE were surprised about the lawsuit. I’m not going into the details of the lawsuit, you know them and I don’t think you need me to rehash it for you. Janel says it was non consensual and Shoemaker says he didn’t think he would be shocked when it came out, but then he read it and he was stunned. We see screenshots of Vince’s texts, with it being quite the window into it. The reporter calls it one of the more brazen examples, with an executive not doing much to hide it. This includes the photos being shared – nonconsensually – to a wrestler they were trying to resign. That would be Brock, who Vince is said to have said relations with her were part of the deal. TKO tells news outlets they’re dealing with the allegations internally. Brock has not appeared on WWE television since and in a world of Oba Femi and Bron Breakker, we don’t really need him to come back.
One Day After Janel Grant’s Lawsuit Is Filed:
Vince McMahon resigns, denying the allegations “out of respect for the WWE Universe.” Shoemaker says you started to hear accusations from many sources, as we listen – far too late – to things like the Ashley Massaro story and WWE not listening seriously with WWE covering it up. WWE denies the claim, saying they were never informed. We lose Ashley, with her attorney releasing a previous unreleased statement from her and Vince was known for writing stories to embarrass others as we watch clips of Vince demeaning her on television and it is a terrible, terrible, TERRIBLE WATCH.
WWE thrives without Vince, with WrestleMania XL setting records for social media, merchandise, and sponsorship. 2021 Taker struggles to answer what Vince’s legacy is, with Trish calling it a “tough one.” Booker says “that’s a good question” and Cena says he’s the wrong guy to ask that question. Tony says he’s the greatest promoter of all time, there are things about him he doesn’t like or respect but “you can’t take that from him.” Meltzer calls him the most important figure in the history of wrestling, but he’s far from a saint. Heyman says he wants more and more and more and it doesn’t stop, which is how you build something. Shoemaker says the lesson of VInce is that there aren’t really good guys and bad guys, but Vince created this thing that we love but a problematic, deplorable human being.
Vince:” What’s my legacy? I don’t have one.” “People really don’t know me at all” He says the lines of reality and fiction are blurred in this business and performers start believing in their own character, losing a sense of who they are – as Mr. McMahon clips play. He says he wonders himself now which is the character and which is him. He says he thinks one of them is exaggerated a little bit “but I’m not sure which one.”
Final on-screen text: “Vince McMahon is currently under federal criminal investigation related to the allegations of sexual misconduct and trafficking. Brock Lesnar has not publicly commented on his involvement in the allegations. Janel Grant’s lawsuit is paused while the federal investigation is conducted.”
An incredibly hard hour of viewing. A lot of it was tough, but the Ashley clip was something that I had to pause, walk away and come back from. I never, ever needed to see that again. That hurt me more than anything else in the six episodes.
And that’s the thing with Vince McMahon. As noted in this episode, a lot of the things that happened to women on his shows seemed to be as a result of real life Vince McMahon things. A lot of things – the Sable stuff, the Trish story, and so forth – are hard for me personally to rewatch, especially knowing the person that the actual Vince McMahon was as we do.
The other thing correctly noted by this episode is that life in WWE has moved on without him. He’s largely been erased. WrestleMania this year was almost a celebration of moving past him – the new intro, the triumphant return of Stephanie, and each of Triple H’s 500 entrances since (HHH, of course, just hates appearing on TV). He isn’t shown in video packages. For those of us keeping up with WWE Vault, it’s notable that nothing involving him seems to appear, including on commentary. He’s in the same boat Chris Benoit was when the Network debuted – in the history, there if you go look for it, but we’re not advertising he ever existed.
In the end, that is probably what will hurt Vince more than any punishments that come out of this trial and the allegations surrounding it. The company he created, the company he lived for, the company that he ran with an iron fist – he has no hand in it and it doesn’t acknowledge he existed. That probably hurts his soul the most, which is a sad statement on how he operates but probably very true.
As far as a recommendation: I don’t recommend watching it. For one thing, as a lot have noted, 5.5 episodes of it are things that we have rehashed 5,000 times before. If you’ve seen the WWE docs or the Dark Side docs – or really, if you’re a Blog of Doom regular – you know all of these stories. The documentary largely is more of a “History of WWE” documentary than a Vince McMahon documentary, though they go hand in hand for obvious reasons.
If you’ve been bothered by the Vince allegations in general, it’s an especially hard watch. It was a good writing challenge and it had some pretty healthy discussion in the comment sections (thank you all for acting normal), but it is something I will not go back and watch again. If you’ve read the lawsuit or simply existed on the wrestling side of the internet, you know everything that happened, but it is just as disgusting to relieve and hear again. Even outside of the things about the allegations, I don’t see much of a rewatchability need for this. All the actual wrestling stuff is on Peacock or your international equivalent. Your podcast of choice has covered the bullet points in excruciating details.
One thing this series did do? It made me feel for Shane McMahon. Vince’s relationship with his stepfather was weird and with his father was all business, and he passed that right onto his son. Shane did stupid things just to try to win affection from his dad all while his father largely treated him like shit. That’s the Vince McMahon way though: treat people like shit.
Now, let me end this review with the first sentence of my review of the first episode.
Vince McMahon is a piece of shit.