Vince McMahon is the kingpin of WWE. He has worked with countless superstars and has done countless things to save his company from dying on many occasions. Some of the things he did were pretty controversial, both on-screen and in real life.
The company has been around for almost seventy years now and a ton of things have happened behind the scenes. It wasn't until someone publicly revealed these stories that fans got to know these stories about the most controversial McMahon. While not everything Vince was accused of proved to be true, he did, however, was involved in some very debatable acts that in today's time could even collapse his company.
14 Allegedly Raped A Former Referee
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Rita Marie Chatterton was the first female referee in WWE. She worked for the company in the '80s but her career as a referee was short-lived. Rita claimed that one night she got into Vince's limo to discuss her contract. But McMahon forced her to have oral sex to save her career.
When she didn't agree, Vince allegedly raped her that night on July 16, 1986. Soon, Rita resigned from the company and years later unfolded the story on Geraldo Rivera's Now it can be told. But she wasn't the only female who accused Vince of sexual assault. Many female wrestlers have made such remarks against him over the years.
12 Put A Gag Order On Debra
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"Stone Cold" Steve Austin was the hottest thing in wrestling during the Attitude Era. One of the major reasons Vince McMahon managed to win the rating war against WCW was Austin and McMahon couldn't afford to lose him at that time.
When Austin's then-wife Debra filed domestic violence charges on him, McMahon was one of the first to cover up for him. He allegedly told Debra to never discuss this publicly with anyone. After Austin walked out on the company in 2002, he was briefly arrested for beating his wife. The couple divorced soon after Austin retired from wrestling in 2003.
10 Forced Lita To Have Sex Celebration With Edge
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In 2006, Lita and Edge pretended to have sex on live television. This was a very controversial segment and even though it did boost WWE's RAW ratings, the wrestlers involved were not comfortable doing it.
Edge and Lita both were against this segment but Vince McMahon didn't listen to anyone, including John Cena, who tried to cancel this idea. McMahon even threatened to fire Lita if she didn't do what the company had planned for her.
8 Allegedly Saved Jimmy Snuka From Murder Trial
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Before there was Hulk Hogan, Jimmy Snuka was arguably the most popular star in WWE. In 1983, he was charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Nancy Argentino, and Vince was the one who did all the talking for his employee. There were stories that McMahon paid off the investigators to save Snuka from the legal troubles.
Argentino's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Hall of Famer, and he paid $500,000 as a result. To this day, WWE doesn't acknowledge the charges on Snuka.
6 Signed Gail Kim When Jim Ross Told Men Were Into Asian Pornography
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Many fans have accused WWE of hypocrisy. Back in the days, WWE women were merely there to arouse men watching the show. Jim Ross once revealed that Vince wasn't going to sign Gail Kim in the company. But he changed his mind after Ross told him that men were into Asian porn.
Jim even said that McMahon didn't believe such a thing existed in the first place. WWE signed Kim in 2002 but she left two years later because of how the company treated her. It wasn't until Gail signed with TNA that she became one of the greatest female wrestlers of all time.
4 The Steroid Trial
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There were many times when WWE almost went of business. The Monday Night Wars is a great example of this. But long before WCW and WWE engaged in a rating war, Vince McMahon's wrestling promotion almost collapsed due to a steroid trial.
McMahon was accused of giving steroids to his wrestlers like candy and many wrestlers even testified against him. He even transferred WWE's ownership to his wife, Linda, because there was no way he was getting out of this without a miracle. Yet, he shocked the world by snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
2 The 1992 Ring Boy Scandal
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The '90s wasn't a good decade for WWE until the Attitude Era began. While most fans know about the infamous steroids trial from 1993, a year before that the company was dragged into another controversy.
In 1992, Terry Garvin and Mel Phillips were accused of sexually harassing a young ring attendant named Tom Cole. Garvin and Phillips were fired and were never brought back. Cole claimed that everyone in WWE, including McMahon, knew about this but still didn't do anything. Although Vince claimed that he was never involved in this scandal and had no idea this was happening behind his back. Cole committed suicide some time ago and this scandal was once again brought to the people's attention.