Does Vince McMahon Like Wrestling?
All articles are written by committee.
During a recent discussion on the topic of which individual has probably watched the most professional wrestling, the common consensus that prevailed was that “journalist” Dave Meltzer has surely watched the most. Of course, there were a number of other contenders posited, including “journalist” Bill Apter, WWE employee Bruce Prichard, former WWE employee Gerald Brisco and “some poor bastard who has to sit though all of WWE’s house shows.” Ultimately, it was agreed that Meltzer has watched everything relevant since 1980 and possesses probably the most diverse range of wrestling knowledge. After agreeing upon the Meltzer consensus, someone chimed in with the suggestion that, “Vince has to be up there” (Mocking laughter ensues). The following short essay is a discussion on whether Vince McMahon, who instructs employees to refrain from using the words wrestling and wrestler, actually likes wrestling at all.
There is a belief amongst keen observers of WWE that Vince knows nothing about wrestling outside of his WWE bubble. To compound this fact, Vince’s bubble isn’t even all encompassing of the WWE product, as he reportedly doesn’t even attend house shows. Arguably, Bruce Prichard or Gerald Brisco would have watched more WWF/E than Vince whilst working alongside him throughout the 1990s. Over the past 20 years, that distinction probably belongs to Michael Purely Sexy Hayes.
You would be forgiven for thinking with regard to professional wrestling outside of WWE, that if you were to add up all the wrestling from Japan and Mexico that Vince McMahon has ever seen, it’d probably total under ten minutes. And yet Vince has probably spent more time in an editing room than anyone; or at least did during his early tenure as owner of the WWE. But his ignorance of professional wrestling outside of the WWE isn’t so clear-cut.
There is of course the hilarious story of Vince pretending not to know who Jushin Thunder Liger was, despite the fact that Vince definitely did know who Jushin Thunder Liger was and everyone else associated with Vince knew that Vince definitely knew who Jushin Thunder Liger was. Konnan was said to have called him out on it, and Bruce Prichard has also confirmed that Vince did in fact know who Jushin Thunder Liger was. This, is a photograph of them together working a WWF show in Japan. Brilliant.
Feigning ignorance of a man he has definitely met is certainly interesting. He either simply cannot remember, which could be conceivably true, or he actively plays down any wrestler that managed to exist and thrive outside of the WWF/E, also conceivably true.
Some have argued that Vince has no real interest in wrestling but has very good instincts for television and live entertainment in the 1980s. McMahon has arguably been desperate for the US business establishment to take him seriously for the past several decades and it might be fair to assume that it irks him to be seen as a carney ‘tuhao’ (to borrow a popular term from the Chinese language).
However, Vince does know wrestling. The point is, he’s just not particularly interested in it or passionate about it. Everyone says that Vince has an eye for detail but at the same time, it’s evident that he is not a ‘big picture’ guy at all. It is fair to say that Vince is a masterful promoter, but by no means a wrestling genius. After listening to some 110 episodes of the popular podcast featuring Bruce Prichard talking to a mortgage lender, listeners will likely lose count of the amount of times that Vince just didn’t get something or had to be pushed towards an idea or angle by those around him.
From speaking with those who have worked with WWE’s China promotional efforts, it’s interesting how perpetually short-term the mindset of WWE is; always chasing the next big publicity stunt. Exactly as it is in the carny playbook. Or exactly as it is according to Vince. Apparently, all of the China media coverage absolutely had to be sent over to WWE HQ within 24 hours, otherwise Vince would have completely forgotten about it and moved onto the next thing. McMahon reportedly checks the tour media coverage in bed when he wakes up every morning. But Vince has always had a short-term attention span and is known to approve stories one day and rewrite them the next. He once famously demanded one of the writers write-up a WWE official rule book. The writer in question reportedly spent days writing it. Upon handing it in, it is said that Vince had lost all interest.
It’s hard to say definitively whether Vince McMahon likes wrestling. You would think he does, considering he runs the biggest professional wrestling company in the world. But his ability to come up with compelling ideas and storylines has certainly tailed off in recent years. Maybe he’s simply lost the ability to make new memories and has found himself in a Memento-like situation whereby he relies on the Push Roman tattoo on his left arm. He of course has Push Hogan tattooed on the right arm, but over time that has faded and now appears to read Push Corbin.
