Vince McMahon is the godfather of professional wrestling, and anyone who disagrees with that statement is likely delusional. The chairman of the board revolutionised sports entertainment many years ago and whether you love him or hate him, nobody can deny his influence – especially for World Wrestling Entertainment.

Because of that, many have come to believe that Vince will work until he dies and we tend to agree with that statement. If and when he passes away, which isn’t a certainty because we’re fairly confident that the man is a cyborg, it’ll be one of the saddest days in recent wrestling memory.

So, at the risk of seeming a tad morbid, we thought it’d be an interesting idea to hypothesize about what may happen after Vince finally takes his final breath. We obviously hope that doesn’t happen for quite some time but given his advanced age and reputation as a workaholic, our best course of action is to prepare for the worst.

15 15. Memorial Tournament

This one kind of goes without saying, especially considering they did one for the legendary Dusty Rhodes. Every great wrestling entity has been immortalized in some way and that isn’t just limited to the WWE, meaning that we can all probably expect a Vince McMahon Invitational of some kind following his passing.

It’d be a fun way in which to remember the boss and also, the winner would gain a huge boost of momentum moving forward. Perhaps the victor could be granted a future world championship shot or a match for the belt at the next pay per view, raising the stakes even higher – which would be extremely fitting.

14 14. Raw Is Vince

Raw Is Owen, Raw Is Eddie, Raw Is Vince. The natural thing to do when someone still heavily involved with the company dies is to dedicate an episode of Monday Night Raw to them, remembering all of their greatest moments throughout the years. There would be backstage interviews, the ten bell salute, and perhaps even some unique match-ups.

It's an absolute must for when McMahon finally goes because Raw is his baby. Regardless of how well the blue brand SmackDown was doing, Monday nights got the majority of Vince’s attention like it was a favourite child. It’d sure as hell be emotional, but you just know that he’d be looking down with a smug grin on his face.

13 13. The Triple H Era Begins

The passing of the torch is coming and although it may be difficult for some fans to swallow, Paul Levesque aka Triple H appears to be the next in line for the Iron Throne of WWE. A lot of purists would rather see Shane McMahon take the reigns, but The Game has proven time and time again that he can handle the pressure as the top dog.

He’s extremely in touch with what we the fans want to see, as evidenced by his work down in NXT, and he’s never afraid to put himself out there. HHH is like Dana White from a few years back in a lot of ways, travelling all around the world to promote the company despite not exactly receiving 100% universal acclaim from the entire WWE Universe.

12 12. Ungrateful Fans

Unfortunately, in part due to CM Punk’s pipebomb from back in 2011, some fans are actually "looking forward" to the day that Vince McMahon leaves this earth. Obviously, many of them will probably go back on that statement when the time comes, but there are almost certainly going to be a few who stick to their guns.

Those "trolls" will dance on the proverbial grave of Vinnie Mac, proclaiming The Game to be the almighty saviour of WWE. Whilst that may be true to an extent, the disrespect shown will likely lead to a great deal of backlash and in-fighting within the internet wrestling community. So essentially, it’ll be a case of same old same old.

11 11. Tribute From CM Punk

Phil Brooks, or CM Punk as we all know him as, can be seen as a bitter man in some aspects, with his failure to main event WrestleMania being one of the primary reasons behind his exit from professional wrestling. However, no matter how hurt or betrayed the 38-year-old might feel, Brooks will almost certainly do the right thing when Vince’s time is up.

We can likely expect some kind of tribute over social media or through an interview like he did with Roddy Piper and Dusty Rhodes, because at the end of the day Vince was the man who put CM Punk on the map and gave him the opportunity to shine brightly on the biggest stage of them all. That, in itself, deserves some respect.

10 10. WWE Network special

Whether it’s a WWE 24 special or an entire weeks worth of programming, they need to pull out the big guns for Mr McMahon on the Network. Both the man himself and his character are legendary in this business, and they deserved to be treated as such. We don’t want them to go too over the top, but perhaps that’s what he would’ve wanted.

It can be between one and three hours long, documenting Vince’s journey from childhood all the way up until his final days. We have no doubt that he’ll be working hard and still providing input when it comes to the day to day running of the company, and that’s what needs to be the final image that fans see – hard work and dedication.

9 9. Media Attention

Vince McMahon isn’t just the leader of the wrestling revolution – he’s also an international institution. If you don’t know who this man is then you’ve likely been living under a rock, with everyone from Floyd Mayweather to your neighbour across the street probably having stumbled across his name at one point or another.

Hell, even Conor McGregor modelled his famous walk off of the former WWE Champion. So many people are going to be paying their respects, probably unveiling some secret celebrity wrestling fans who otherwise would’ve remained under the radar. We’re looking at you, Beyonce.

8 8. New Opportunities

People may not want to hear this, especially in an article where we’re fantasy booking his death, but Vince McMahon isn’t always the fairest of human beings when it comes to giving deserving superstars opportunities. In fact, he’s probably one of the most stubborn bookers in the history of the wrestling industry.

Which means that once HHH becomes the main man in charge, the likes of Cesaro and Sami Zayn will probably be awarded many more chances to shine in singles competition. It’s a shame that this is probably what would need to happen in order for these competitors to get a real shot, but that’s life.

7 7. Programming Shift

From changing Raw to two hours to making NXT an even bigger focal point, you just know that things are going to look incredibly different just a few months after Vince is no longer in charge. Hopefully, and this is extremely unlikely, that also means that Levesque sees sense and removes Road Dogg as the lead writer for SmackDown Live.

Thankfully, for the most part, everything would probably run a lot smoother. The main shows likely won’t feel as clunky, casual fans will start to return to the product and we may even get some edgier material from time to time. Oh, and this is vital, we need to dilute the pay-per-views because right now it’s just too much.

6 6. Hall Of Fame Induction

Vince could pass away the night before the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and he should still be added as a last minute entry. Hell, they could pull an Andre The Giant and dedicate the entire class to him – because the man is just that damn important. Vince going into the hall, with his family inducting him, would without a doubt be one of the most iconic moments in WWE history.

If you thought the fans were emotional when Ric Flair retired then you’ve seen nothing yet because the entire arena that night would be in floods of tears. Steph and Shane could tell some stories, meanwhile, Linda could bid an emotional farewell to the man who stood by her side in marriage for all those years.

5 5. Apologies Galore

Many people have said some pretty nasty things about Vince over the years, with some of it being warranted and some of it just being plain wrong. Whether you fall into that category or not, you’ll probably agree with us when we say that a lot of fans and former wrestlers alike will be on their knees apologising for their prior remarks.

Death can open up a world of feelings you didn’t know you had, even when it comes to changing your mind about a former employer. At the end of the day none of us would still be watching wrestling if it wasn’t for McMahon, and we predict that a lot of people will realise that soon after his passing is announced to the general public.

4 4. McMahon Absence

Even though Stephanie hasn’t been present on WWE television since WrestleMania 33, she’s still been doing a great deal of work behind the scenes – as has Shane McMahon in addition to his on-screen role as SmackDown Live commissioner. If the unthinkable happens, then expect the duo to quietly exit the spotlight for quite some time.

That would be a completely natural move, of course, given that they’d need sufficient time to grieve; but that doesn’t change the fact that it’d be extremely odd not to see any kind of McMahon-based influence around WWE for a while. You could argue that the father of NXT, Mr Levesque, would count, but we’re talking about immediate family only.

3 3. Eerie WrestleMania

WrestleMania is the ultimate brain child of Vincent Kennedy McMahon and that’s not exactly a secret. The concept of the biggest show of the year started off as a dream, and over the course of the last three and a half decades, it has transformed into a pop culture phenomenon that has seen thousands upon thousands of fans travel around the globe to attend the week-long festivities.

Without Vince there would be an extremely sombre atmosphere in the air at whatever host city is hosting the Showcase of the Immortals that year, but it would also bring with it some great significance. After all, you just know that they’ll want to pull something big out of the bag for the first Mania after Vince dies.

2 2. Ratings Increase

As sickening as this sounds, the ratings for both Raw and SmackDown Live will probably increase following the death of the chairman and there’s one very simple reason behind that: people want to see how they bounce back.

Naturally losing the leader behind the scenes will be quite distressing, and unfortunately, it could end up giving the company something of a boost for at least a few months. If you need a comparison, think about the reaction when people wanted to know who Negan killed in the Season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead.

1 1. Storylines

Whether intentional or not, you just know that they’re going to work Vince McMahon’s death into a storyline or two and hell, it’s probably what the 72-year-old would want. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he’s planned out the entire angle from start to finish already.

We aren’t opposed to this idea at all so long as they approach the subject with class and dignity, which is what we’re all anticipating.

We keep going on about it but Triple H really is going to be the best man for this and every other job when that fateful day comes, and if you’re not down with that then we’ve got two words for you.

You’re fired.