Vince McMahon is the most prolific character in all of wrestling, even over the last decade as he has taken less and less of an on-camera presence. His singular vision is the reason that wrestling came out of the bingo halls and dimly lit smoke-filled gymnasiums and came into grand stadiums in every city around the world. For all the shade critics throw at the product, always remember that without the Chairman, wrestling as we know it probably would not exist.
But both in character and in real life, a lot of fans think Vince is one and the same. He’s made some bad choices on both sides. Here are the 5 Worst Things Vince McMahon Has Done In Character and 5 As Head Of WWE.
10 In Character - Degraded Trish
It can never be stated enough how bad this angle was, and even the payoff. At WrestleMania X7, Trish got the opportunity to turn on Vince and help Shane defeat dear ol’ dad, but getting there was a chore to watch. The Attitude Era has no issue with dipping the ladies in mud and having them strip to their skivvies to wrestle. But watching Vince complete tear Trish down and sexually harass on Raw was plain wrong to see, even for the evil Chairman.
9 Owner Of WWE - Took Out The Territories
While every fan owes a debt of thanks to Vince McMahon, his singular vision wasn’t shared by just about any other wrestling promoter. McMahon’s Corleone-like approach to expansion was simple - you’re either with the guy or against him.
Guys like the Briscoes saw the possibilities and sided with McMahon. Verne Gagne and the AWA - not so much. But either way, your territory was gone, it was just a matter of if you were going to work for the Big Irishman or not.
8 In Character - Wrestled Stephanie
When Stephanie started her GM career on Smackdown, Vince had just assumed that daddy’s little girl would do things Vince’s way. At No Mercy 2003, the two settled their differences in an “I Quit” match. After several minutes, Vince choked out his little girl with a lead pipe, which forced Linda to quit the match for her daughter, which per the stipulation had her leave Smackdown as well.
7 Owner Of WWE - Montreal
The Montreal Screwjob continues to be dissected and discussed and will continue to be analyzed forever. It’s wrestling’s equivalent to the Kennedy Assassination. No matter how much Vince did what he felt what was best for business on this fateful night, he still had to work on regaining the trust of the locker room. If he could do that to a stalwart like Bret Hart, he’d be willing to do whatever it took to avoid a potentially damning situation for his title.
6 In Character - Had His Own Daughter Abducted
In Mr. McMahon’s quest to rid the WWE of Stone Cold Steve Austin, he literally made a deal with the devil. For months, the Undertaker had been answering to a “Higher Power,” and together they would rule the WWE. One fateful night, the Deadman came for Stephanie and not only abducted her, but attempted to marry her the next night! It was eventually revealed that McMahon himself was the Higher Power, meaning he orchestrated his daughter’s entire ordeal.
5 Owner Of WWE - Set WCW And ECW Up To Fail
It should have been glorious. Vince bought up his biggest competition and absorbed the number three promotion within the span of a few weeks in 2001. A lot WCW’s top tier talent weren’t coming along for the ride and he already had a lot of ECW’s stars under contract, but the whole Invasion angle still felt like we were kissing our sisters.
The initially WCW main event flopped, but shortly after Raw was aired from the promotion’s home base - Atlanta. He should have given them one more shot.
4 In Character - Cavorted With Sable, Others
After she sued the company, Sable came back into the fold. After all of the sexual harassment allegations, she’s tossed right into a storyline where Vince is openly cheating on his wife with the WWE / Playboy Playmate. But she wasn’t the only one. Since the Mr. McMahon character was a lecherous old man, he spent a few months cavorting with every resident hot girl on Smackdown - Victoria, Candace, Tori; you name the woman, Vince tried to be with them.
3 Owner Of WWE - WBF, XFL
When you get to a certain level of success, some people have the ambition to branch out even more. Vince McMahon had the wild idea of starting his own football league - the XFL. It wasn’t even the first time he thought creating another federation was a grand idea, he also tried to put a WWE spin on bodybuilding with the WBF. But in both instances, critics and naysayers alike immediately put the kibosh on things. Perhaps the chairman has learned from his past mistakes and the new XFL will work.
2 In Character - Kiss My Ass Club
Only a deluded old geriatric like Vince would think it’s a good idea to start the Kiss My Ass Club. If you want to keep your job - you gotta kiss the boss’ backside. If he wants to humiliate a babyface, they’ll be forced to kiss Vince’s derrière. It also gave the Chairman a chance to wiggle and gyrate on live TV. This nonsense eventually ended when Vince was forced to kiss Rikishi’s behind, enforcing the notion that Vince will never ask his guys to do anything he’s not willing to do himself.
1 Owner Of WWE - Not Pushing New Stars
It seems that every time a superstar is about crack through that proverbial glass ceiling, they get booked horribly after that fact. Almost as if Vince doesn’t want anyone to get so big they can call their own shots anymore. Even when guys like Zack Ryder, Dolph Ziggler, and Rusev get over seemingly dozens of times on their own, without a lot of help from Creative, they get booked to get smashed by a chosen one like John Cena or Roman Reigns.