The McMahon family still holds all of the power in the wrestling industry. It appears impossible to envision a scenario where anything ever changes that. Another promotion challenging WWE is unrealistic at this point, so you can forget about them being passed. The only other scenario would be The McMahons selling the WWE. As much as they love money, they can have their cake and eat it too by owning the company, adding to their accomplishments along with their wealth. Vince McMahon is still the man at the top of the WWE as the chairman, CEO and majority owner.
Triple H and Stephanie McMahon are next in the chain of command with the company being in their hands whenever Vince decides to give it up or is forced to hand it over. Vince’s wife Linda McMahon served as the WWE CEO, but gave it up for her political career. Shane McMahon is back in the fray as an on-screen character. The McMahon Family takes great pride in their reputation, in both the wrestling industry and mainstream media. However, there have been many shameful moments and stories to come out through the years. We will look at fifteen of the most high profile incidents The McMahon Family wish never got exposed.
15 15. Vince Bullying Others
WWE has been vocal in their campaigns speaking out against bullying over the past decade. The Be a Star movement focuses on wrestlers visiting schools and teaching children about the dangers of bullying each other. Sadly, the chairman of the WWE is one of the biggest bullies in the wrestling industry. Vince McMahon has been known to treat others poorly.
McMahon uses tactics like yelling, belittling and embarrassing others to get his point across. Mick Foley quit the WWE at one point when making an attempt at his broadcasting career due to Vince constantly berating him through his headset. CM Punk flat out called McMahon one of the biggest bullies he ever met. The relationship between McMahon and Jim Ross saw him bully J.R. numerous times. Stories circulating that Vince found pride in the bullying is something that haunts the WWE when trying to get their message across.
14 14. Linda Donating $6 Million To Trump
The McMahon Family is clearly proud of Linda McMahon being named to Donald Trump’s staff as the Administrator of the Small Business Administration. They have to be a little less thrilled about how she received the position. Various websites leaked the news that Linda donated $6 million to Trump’s Presidential campaign on behalf of The McMahon Family.
Despite most of the world already knowing The McMahons are Republicans with ties to Trump, they try to remain neutral when it comes to public perception. The decisiveness of Trump will lead to more than half of Americans not being excited about their favorite form of entertainment donating that much to him. Factor in the feelings of other countries and it becomes a bit risky for a global brand. The McMahon Family wishes they could have helped Linda get the position without the world knowing how much they gave to Trump.
13 13. Potential Stephanie McMahon/Randy Savage Scandal
One of the juiciest wrestling urban legends out there states Randy Savage had relations with an underage Stephanie McMahon that caused Vince McMahon to loathe him forever. Savage left the WWE in 1994 and never returned to the company before passing away in 2011. Many insiders revealed that Savage was the top name on Vince’s hate list and the legend would never be welcomed back into the WWE.
The rumor surfaced a few years ago through former writers and wrestlers. No one has a concrete answer, but the juicy story continues to pick up steam. Considering Vince and Stephanie will never address it, we'll never truly know, but that also means it will continue to exist on the rumor mill. The McMahon Family likely detests this being out there, regardless of whether it it's true or not.
12 12. WCW Dominated WWE For A Short Time Period
The Monday Night Wars are celebrated through many documentaries and other projects by the WWE. However, Vince McMahon has forever held on to a deep hatred of the WCW brand. The wrestlers to come from WCW to the WWE often suffered from poor booking and WCW's history is constantly trashed on the WWE product when they look back at history.
McMahon clearly has a huge ego and hated the fact that WCW actually beat down WWE in the ratings war for almost two years. The New World Order’s inception saw fans choose WCW over WWE. Vince held on to this enough to make decisions based out of spite for WCW. The fact that WCW dominated the WWE for a short time period is something The McMahons definitely wish they could erase from the record books.
11 11. Shane Was Almost Conned Out Of $20 million
Vince McMahon is known for his shrewd business skills. The rest of The McMahon Family have typically followed suit with great wealth following them all. Shane McMahon almost made a huge mistake that would have looked poorly for The McMahons if he went through with it. The investment was said to be in the $20 million range that would have seen him invest in Maxim magazine.
Calvin Darden Jr. conned his investors into thinking his father was buying the Maxim property. Instead, it was him swindling many of those looking to score a big coup, including Shane. Luckily, Shane got out of it, but he was close to being worked by someone outside of the ring. The McMahon Family refuses to accept failure and Shane’s business flop would have been a huge disappointment.
10 10. Stephanie Being Responsible For TV Writers
WWE's structure for their television product has seen some major changes over the years. The past fifteen years or so have seen the product written by television writers. Most wrestling promotions allow those with experience in the business to make the big decisions. WWE changed that philosophy by going after writers with experience in sitcoms, dramas and soap operas.
Quite a few wrestling minds to leave the WWE have claimed this process has led to the product going downhill and suffering. Wrestlers are allowed less freedom and everything is overly scripted, like a normal television show. Stephanie McMahon was the one to lead this change when she started to gain power in creative. Considering the criticism this gets, Stephanie would have preferred not being revealed as the one responsible.
9 9. Vince McMahon Cheating
Vince McMahon likes to be considered a family man. There’s no doubt he loves his wife and children. However, he did not remain a faithful husband to Linda during his rise to power with the WWE growing. McMahon flat out admitted on The Howard Stern Show during the Attitude Era that he did cheat on Linda on numerous occasions and actually appeared to brag about it.
Some people may have found that cool at the time, but things have changed and it just makes Vince look like a jerk. Flaunting your affairs in public is a horrible look. There have been accusations of sexual harassment at the workplace coming from Vince’s end as well. The fact that he booked himself to make out with many of the Divas didn’t help his case either. This being out there still brings shame to the McMahon name.
8 8. XFL Failure
The personality traits most associated with Vince McMahon would be the drive behind his vision and the egotistical belief that he will always win out at the end. Both of those followed him when he created the XFL to compete with the NFL. McMahon wanted an edgier version of football, with more violence and sexual content to try and make up ground in the battle.
The NFL didn’t even have to think twice about the XFL as it flopped. McMahon decided to quit on the XFL after just one season due to the WWE and NBC each losing $35 million by investing in the project. Despite the WWE continuing to grow to new heights through the years, the failure of the XFL is still associated with McMahon’s legacy. Vince has refused to talk about the XFL’s disaster for fifteen years, until the upcoming ESPN: 30 for 30 special that he likely had to be talked into contributing to.
7 7. Drug Scandals
Something that still haunts the wrestling business is the rampant drug use and abuse that has been a part of the culture for decades. Vince McMahon went to trial at one point due to the steroid epidemic becoming more widely known. The use of steroids has been the main attack towards the WWE, with McMahon being accused of distributing and pressuring wrestlers into using them.
Wrestlers also used various forms of pills and other drugs for decades to cope with the pain of being on the road and putting their body on the line on a nightly basis. WWE has tried to change the culture with their Wellness Policy. Most of today’s stars stay away from drugs, but the WWE having a history of substance abuse is arguably the biggest thing The McMahons would love to erase.
6 6. Stephanie's 9/11 Comparison
As mentioned before, the WWE and Vince McMahon were attacked by the federal government with the steroid trial in 1994. Many believed the WWE and the wrestling industry in general would go downhill with such a strong case against them. Obviously, the WWE is still here today and McMahon has bragged for years about the feds not being able to take him down.
Stephanie McMahon held on to that memory on September 11th, 2011 for some reason. Following the terrorist attacks on 9/11, WWE aired a show with various wrestlers offering support to the American viewers. Stephanie compared the heartbreaking events to the federal government trying to take down her family. It was in poor taste and is still one of the few quotes from Stephanie that comes back to bite her for not thinking before speaking.
5 5. Bret Hart Punching Out Vince
The Montreal Screwjob is among the most fascinating stories in wrestling history. Vince McMahon decided to screw Bret Hart by ringing the bell, despite Hart never tapping out. It was Bret’s final night in the company and he was forced to lose a match he didn’t expect to, thus breaking all code of conduct that comes with wrestlers trusting management.
Hart was absolutely livid backstage after getting humiliated in his home country, ending his time with WWE in a terrible fashion. McMahon went to discuss it with him backstage in the locker room and Bret knocked him out with one punch. The Wrestling with Shadows cameras caught footage of Vince walking out of the locker room with help after being rocked. McMahon sported a black eye the following night and lives with the embarrassment of the world knowing he got taken down with one right hand from Hart.
4 4. Triple H Cheated On Chyna With Stephanie
The relationship between Triple H and Stephanie McMahon has led to them becoming the minds that will take wrestling industry into the future. Everyone has accepted the relationship by now and appreciate the changes that have come from their input. One unsettling thing that still exists is the reminder of how their relationship started. Triple H started dating Stephanie behind the back of his then-girlfriend, Chyna.
Stephanie and Triple H worked together for an on-screen relationship that carried over to real life. Sadly, that left Chyna out of the loop and the WWE refused to extend her contract when she found out about her boyfriend leaving her for the boss’ daughter. Chyna’s life spiraled and she was never able to rebound before her 2016 death. It is still something that Triple H and Stephanie get criticized for to this day.
3 3. Vince McMahon Lost His Billionaire Status
Vince McMahon's ego has seen him brag for years about being a billionaire behind the success of the WWE. McMahon reportedly took pride in being one of the few billionaires and often referenced it on television. 2014 saw it all change when McMahon saw his net worth drop $350 million following investors not being fond of WWE’s television rights deal, leaving him with a net worth of $750 million.
Now, he's since bounced back and Forbes currently has him valued at $1.12 billion, but we're fairly certain that Vince never wanted have his billionaire status taken away from him, even if he only lost it for a year or so. For that year, did Stephanie become The Million Dollar Princess? We figure no one ever asked Vince about that.
2 2. Vince Wanted To Have Incest Storyline With Stephanie
The most humiliating story floating around about The McMahon Family revolves around a storyline that thankfully never happened. Vince McMahon wanted to use Stephanie’s real life pregnancy as part of the show. That doesn’t sound too harmful until you realize he wanted to be revealed as the father of the child in an incest storyline.
Stephanie shut down her father’s bizarre idea. The story was to focus around Vince feuding with Triple H over Stephanie in a way that would have made everyone aside from Vince feel uncomfortable. Stephanie flat out admitted to it in a WWE DVD production that it was a line that she wouldn’t cross. The McMahon Family sharing that story is probably one they should have kept in house, but at least we all got insight into Vince's creepy mind.
1 1. Shane Vs. Stephanie
Shane McMahon leaving the WWE in 2009 created one of the biggest stories regarding the drama with The McMahon Family. It was becoming clear that Vince was going to choose Stephanie and Triple H to have the majority of control in running the future of the company. Triple H’s wrestling genius and Stephanie’s business success made them Vince's choice to keep WWE going whenever he retires or passes away.
Seeing the writing on the wall, Shane left to start his own projects and he was a success. We didn’t see Shane return until seven years later in 2016. Shane has become a fixture on WWE television again, but doesn’t appear to have any role backstage. During a podcast interview with Mick Foley, Shane tried to make it seem like his relationship with Stephanie was great, but he definitely showed some hostility discussing Triple H. The rumor of the dissension between Vince’s kids is one he wishes was not real enough to become a story that got exposed to the public.