Vince McMahon boasts an impressive list of feats as a wrestling promoter and a businessman. After all, he is the most successful promoter in the history of the sport by a country mile. The current chairman of WWE plucked the entire show from the shadows of obscurity and brought it to the national level, permanently etching pro wrestling into the sporting culture.
In recent times, he introduced the WWE network, inked a deal with Saudi Arabia for millions of dollars, and signed a television deal worth billions with Fox Sports. People can say whatever they want about him being out of touch but as a businessman, McMahon has and always will be super successful.
That being said, for all of his impressive accomplishments as a promoter, Vince McMahon the performer is quite the underrated fellow. Newer fans do not usually see him on camera but the folks of the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression eras remember him as one of the biggest personalities on television, week in and week out.
McMahon Is An Underrated Performer
After all, if not for Vince McMahon, there would be no Steve Austin. On second thoughts, if not for Vinny Mac, we might have never gotten the Attitude Era as the evil boss was a big component in the success of the aforementioned epoch. He was the perfect foil for Austin and his heat was nuclear as many fans disliked the man for his role as the perpetrator of the Montreal Screwjob.
Much praise is heaped upon Paul Heyman for his character work and mic skills and rightfully so as Paul E. Dangerously is a terrific example of how pro wrestling characters operate, but where does McMahon fit in the conversation for the most entertaining performers in the history of the company?
McMahon was not a wrestler. Actually, he wrestled as well as someone like Great Khali but as an overall performer, he might as well be regarded as one of the very best. Remember, wrestling is merely one facet of sports entertainment and aside from the in-ring work, McMahon checked all boxes and then some.
On the microphone, McMahon is surely a shoo-in on the top 10 list of all-time great mic workers. McMahon talks like the boss that he is, and his mic skills have never disappointed as each time he was given a microphone in the Attitude Era, the boss blew it out of the park.
Even in the confines of the PG era, Vinny Mac often put the rest of the roster to shame. Think back to the infamous contract signing between CM Punk and Vince McMahon in the lead-up to Money in the Bank 2011. Part of the reason why the feud was so heated was due to the involvement of McMahon and his desperation about keeping the top prize in the company was well conveyed, largely due to the fact that he sold the emotion well on the microphone.
As a heel, McMahon was always positioned as the ultimate boss, the evil big bad who would show up at the very end of the tale. He was the ultimate authority in the entire company after all and despite portraying throwing bits of comedy here and there, McMahon had no problem coming across as threatening and overly sadistic, as demonstrated by his infamous run in 2003 where he was low-key possessed by the devil.
His earlier comedic antics never hampered his aura as a monster heel and no matter how much the babyfaces embarrassed him, Vinny Mac was always a threat just because of who he was. He had the entire company around his fingers so the babyfaces were never truly safe from his wrath.
Finally, as an in-ring performer, McMahon was nothing too special in terms of pure wrestling and athletic ability. He probably didn’t know the difference between a wristlock and a wristwatch but that being said, he never ever disappointed whenever he stepped inside the ring.
Despite being jacked up and chiseled out of concrete, McMahon was the cowardly heel in most of his matches and only gained the upper hand through his influence and underhanded tactics. This made total sense as McMahon was not a wrestler and could only hang with the athletes by cheating throughout the match. Contrast this with how Shane McMahon somehow goes toe-to-toe with most wrestlers, denting the credibility of whoever he competes against.
McMahon Made Up For His Deficiencies With Charisma
Most of the time, McMahon was a punching bag and he bled all over the ring in order to compensate for his in-ring limitations. His matches were wild, bloody, and maybe a tad overbooked, but the heat on the guy was always so big that fans cheered on the beat down, no matter how over the top it was.
Amazing, McMahon worked most of his matches during his late 50s and early 60s. The boss withstood a Shawn Michaels elbow drop on the table at WrestleMania 22 while 60 years old. He then participated in a brutal Hell in a Cell match against DX the very same year and had a sledgehammer crushing against his back. That alone is a big feat, especially at his age.
Above all else, the fact that McMahon laced up his boots and got in the ring to entertain the fans is proof enough that the chairman tried his very best to put on a show, even if this involved him bleeding buckets or getting a bucket of crap thrown on him.
Vinny Mac for Hall of Fame 2023!