So, Vince McMahon has stepped down as CEO and Chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment after forty years. At almost 77 years old, Vince McMahon can enjoy his retirement knowing he has built of the most successful sports based companies in the world, while leaving the running of it in the family name, thanks to his daughter Stephanie, and son-in-law Paul Levesque (Triple H).
The McMahon family have been involved in the promotion of professional wrestling for close to seventy years. Vince’s grandfather, Jess McMahon, had been a successful boxing promoter since the 1920s, and in 1953 formed Capital Wrestling Corporation, which he passed down to his son, Vince Snr.
Capital Wrestling morphed into the World Wide Wrestling Federation in 1963 after it split from the National Wrestling Alliance over a dispute on which territory should provide the World Champion.
The WWWF maintained Buddy Rogers should be champion, while the NWA looked to Lou Thesz. Shortly afterwards, the WWWF turned to Bruno Sammartino to carry the company through the late 1960s and much of the 1970s.
In 1982, Vince McMahon bought the renamed World Wrestling Federation from his father, and brought Hulk Hogan into the company as World Champion the following year. Together, McMahon and Hogan helped WWF take over several other regional territories which caused great animosity among promoters, but saw the rise of the Rock’N’Wrestling era of the mid-1980s which culminated in the first Wrestlemania in 1985.
Wrestlemania could have bankrupted McMahon, but it was a resounding success, and in 2022 showcased its 38th consecutive annual event.
While McMahon owned WWF and contributed to its success behind the scenes, a casual fan in the 1980s and most of the 1990s may have thought Vince’s role was just that of a commentator. That notion was blown apart in 1997 after World Champion Bret Hart was unceremoniously usurped as the title holder by Shawn Michaels at the infamous Survivor Series event. Shortly afterwards, Vince became known as an on-screen authoritarian figure known as Mr McMahon, and feuded with Stone Cold Steve Austin the golden age of professional wrestling known as the Attitude Era.
While McMahon was fighting on-screen, away from television he was fighting to save his company against the rise of World Championship Wrestling, which was headlined by a myriad of ex-WWF stars, including Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall; collectively known as the New World Order.
After being beaten by WCW in the rating for 83 consecutive weeks, WWF eventually regained a stranglehold on the industry thanks to stars made in part by Vince, including Austin, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, The Undertaker, Kane, Triple H; and WCW acquisitions Mick Foley, Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Paul “Big Show” Wight and others.
WWF was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment during this period, and eventually bought out WCW and upstart promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling and gained acquisition of the library of thousands of matches.
In the 21st Century, WWE became a publicly listed company, and moved away from the edgier aspects of its programming to acquiesce to the requests of shareholders and parents of viewers alike. Vince continued to make new stars such as John Cena Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, Bray Wyatt, Sheamus and Roman Reigns, while maintaining an eye for talent from minor federations, such as Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins, CM Punk, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura and Kevin Owens.
In recent years, Vince has helped Stephanie become the face of the company, and has supported her push to revamp the women’s wrestling industry. While once considered a novelty, the WWE has made stars out of Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Carmella and dozens of others.
While WWE became a near monopoly in the 2010s, it also developed a thorough training programme for newcomers, including the NXT television show which showcases new talent. The professionalism of the WWE has been the prototype for Impact Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling, which have both given male and female wrestlers an alternate setting to show their talents.
Over forty years Vince McMahon has given more to the professional wrestling industry than any other human could possibly give. Sure, he has surrounded himself with smart people in business, promotion, booking and in-ring talent, but Vince’s fingerprints have always been all over the product.
Perhaps Vince McMahon’s greatest legacy to the industry in his ability to adapt. From the territory system of the 1970s to using the new technology of video tape to get his product seen across the country and the world; from risking everything for Wrestlemania and utilising the new pay-per-view concept to building household names; from staring down his competition to embracing new ways of showing his product such as creating the WWE Network, Vince McMahon has always been on the cutting edge of the professional wrestling industry.
For the first time in forty years, WWE has a new leadership team. Whatever direction Stephanie and Triple H decide to take the company, the success of the WWE will always be traced to the passion, the planning, the drive, and the sheer chutzpah of Vincent Kennedy McMahon.