Vince McMahon — The Open Secret
The entertainment industry turns a blind eye to wrestling, but its culture of exploitation is anything but scripted
The professional wrestling industry has a problem — the most influential figure in its history has been accused of sex trafficking, sexual assault, and grooming, and he’s been removed from the company he created in disgrace.
A 43-year career as the figurehead of the WWE empire has been permanently tarnished and, if the allegations are proven true, Vincent K. McMahon’s name will belong in the same category as Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby.
How did this happen? Vince McMahon is, of course, responsible for his own actions and the alleged lawsuit against him is nobody’s fault but his. That’s true. However, those familiar with wrestling will know this isn’t his first rodeo and McMahon has allegations dating way back to the 1980s. Whilst he’s to blame, we must ask a pertinent question — how was he allowed to get away with it for so long?
Wrestling has always existed in a bubble as a result of its hokey nature — its fans often hide the fact that they’re fans to avoid the inevitable eyebrow-raising and mocking remarks from others. WWE is often dismissed as mere children’s entertainment and an ‘ironic guilty pleasure’ for adults. It’s rarely talked about in the mainstream and WWE’s episodes of its flagship show, Monday Night Raw, are hardly ever discussed outside of wrestling circles.
Sports entertainment (a term coined by McMahon himself) has always operated separately from film and television and this is exactly the reason why professional wrestling has been allowed to develop the shocking culture it has. The 2020 Speaking Out movement (wrestling’s equivalent of Me Too) didn’t generate nearly enough momentum as it should have as it took place at the height of the COVID pandemic, but fans knew this was only the tip of the wrestling iceberg.
Rita Chatterton. Janel Grant. Ashley Massaro. These are all names and stories that can be found at different levels of the pro-wrestling iceberg, and they’re all names that WWE would rather you forget. Fans may be willing to suspend their disbelief during the shows, but WWE cannot scrub the historical record in front of us and get away with it.
WWE has a problem — and not even their best creative writers can get them out of this mess. Their business is booming right now, but the Vince McMahon allegations sit behind them like a dormant volcano.
