McMahons WWE Retirement Marks End of An Era Amid Tempestuous Allegations – Wrestling Headlines

Welcome to WrestleMania.

More than any other phrase Vince McMahon ever said, perhaps aside from in any event, those three words are synonymous with him, the era and the period in which we closely identify as wrestlings big boom. That same boom period saw many smaller promotions padlock their doors, while also opening new doors for pro wrestlings most well known eras as WrestleMania itself became an entertainment phenomenon. That many of us watch wrestling in any form is largely due to what McMahon accomplished after purchasing the company from his father.

At the time, or looking back at it now depending on how old you are with the benefit of hindsight, it was both the worst and greatest era as WWF excelled to the detriment of promotions like AWA, WCCW, the NWA or many smaller Canadian promotions like Jack Tunneys Maple Leaf Wrestling or the Harts Stampede Wrestling in Calgary the deal with Tunney effectively crippled the Canadian landscape much like in the U.S. The ripple effect of McMahons success as WWFs promoter is part of his legacy and understanding the duality at that base level is critical to seriously understanding him professionally and much more so personally as much one can. The latter birthed the former and educated how he would initially grow WWF while stamping other promotions out under his soles, with the byproduct being the rise of the promotion almost completely responsible for younger generations getting into wrestling in the first place at varying times over the last 30-40 years to all others detriment.

As a businessperson, Vince McMahon is the epitome of a professional wrestling fan, promoter and monopolist who married the three together to fuel his desire to take professional wrestling from a regional sideshow to a national showcase and beyond as the company bloomed into an international conglomerate en route to moving from a private business to publicly-traded company. Whether he deserves full credit for their rise or not, he is responsible for the thriving of wrestlings greatest eras be they centred on Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, John Cena and everyone else in between.

For that aspect, as clich as it is, a thank you Vince, is somewhat in order. For better and worse, we are where we are because of him. He set the conditions for wrestling to thrive, for competition to rise in the wake of all others downfall, and ultimately many of the counter-culture promotions in North America like ECW, TNA (for a time), ROH and to a lesser degree now-AEW (whose much more in the realm of a WCW than the latter three). Professionally, he set the table for wrestling at large to feast upon. Its important to acknowledge that when discussing his legacy. Otherwise, you cant have the full picture of that legacy.

While McMahon is responsible for wrestlings boom, as the sole entity left standing hes also responsible for the landscapes downward spiral over the last decades away from its heights in the late 90s. WWE became formulaic, his ideas recycled and over time he over-exposed himself in odd situations that didnt need to occur; an underhanded lothario, sleezy businessman and womanizing slimeball on-screen, and obviously former two-time world champion who also defeated God. Its almost comical now in hindsight considering his supposed belief his son overbooked himself at Royal Rumble 2022, but you know what they say about apples and trees. Whats clear however is that over time McMahon developed tastes for what he thought worked on a wrestling/entertainment show in the episodic format and thats not particularly debatable anymore if we use the the contrast between main roster WWEs reception from roughly 2014 onward against HHH-run NXT. The lack of synergy between them highlighted what they both lacked against the other, with HHH bringing in the most talented workers outside WWE into the fold, while Vince continued to play favourites and book his larger than life archetypes into favourable positions. So while NXT gained momentum because it was fresher, newer and more up-to-date with modern trends seemingly favoured by fans, McMahon stayed the course and booked many of the NXT darlings lesser to how they were positioned in developmental.

McMahon was a victim of his own success, and Id argue that to the point of O2 deprivation. For someone to be as successful professionally as he was in wrestling, he had to favour a set of guidelines for his promotion that would position it to succeed. As he found his templates for success to be fruitful, he tried to repeat the same basic methods over the decades to try and replicate that past success even as the shows viewership declined throughout the last two decades (catching lightning in a bottle twice or thrice). And without competition serious competition until AEW he had no reason to change, which naturally clashed with how NXT talent was portrayed in developmental versus on Raw or Smackdown. Some of that may have been simple resistance to changing from his standard course, and while weve seen small advancements in the product as it relates to the portrayal of women or people of colour in prominent positions, it hasnt nearly broken from the mold hed clung to from his entire run as owner and later CEO serving the Board.

Theres a reason why, while some fans stick with the company through thick and thin, others grow tired of the sameness of the product and look elsewhere and thats on him as the defacto then-head of the company. We cant only attribute professional successes to him, and ignore in turn where he fell short or dramatically overstepped his boundaries in storylines over the years that you could equate to being in poor taste. Thats again the duality of Vince McMahon the professional that we have to accept he was a success, and also despite making billions a critical dud when were discussing growing his audience which he did not do since the Attitude era. The numbers dont support a contradicting argument when you look at the year-over-year viewership decline were very familiar with by this point.

Vince McMahon cultivated an environment of success on his terms, with a show that catered to himself, his likings and if you liked that programming you were pleased with it week-to-week. Otherwise, you complained, moved on, or did both and hate-watched WWE like a commonplace weirdo. Regardless, what we cannot do is analyze only part of his story and apply that positive association toward resounding hero worship as though he didnt come up short as much as he perceptively succeeded and only hold him in high regard because he gave us warm and fuzzy memories as fans. That isnt realistic, adult-like in analysis, or all-together healthy. The complete picture of him is much less rosy, despite being ripe in the disposition that for better and worse he did what he wanted, when he wanted and coupled that with the egoism that he will because he could. Up to and including his response to his sexual misconduct allegations.

No.

Vince McMahon, aside from his professional wrestling-centric exploits, has been at the centre of serious allegations (see: El Gringo Loco Vince McMahon: The Rise and Fall for additional reading). The present allegations against him, detailed in documents compiled by the WWE Board, allege he paid millions in hush money to women he allegedly had a sexual relationship with over the last two decades. Thats further punctuated by a report released July 25, 2022, that found not only was $14M+ paid out by McMahon, but it was unrecorded in WWEs corporate quarterly financials and should have been declared as corporate expenses. This has resulted in the company having to recalculate its reports dating back to 2019. Those recalculated results are set to be released on Aug. 9 along with the companys Q2 report, according to a CNBC article dated July 25, 2022.

Wading into McMahons legal history is murky at best with nothing even formally falling upon him legally speaking, most notably stemming from rape allegations (no formal filings and it couldnt be proven), the Steroid trial and any alleged cover-up in the death of Jimmy Snukas then-girlfriend. Because of that theres very little you can say beyond McMahon potentially being ethically compromised, a cheat and steroid user with him admitting the latter two both during the steroid trial and in an interview in 2002 respectively.

In accepting the latter, acknowledging the potentiality of him possessing lowered ethical character in the former, and acknowledging that given his alleged involvement in these present hush money allegations which appear more damning by the day that its enough to at least ponder whether hes a person that is worth supporting. That maybe hes not worth a Thank You, Vince, no matter how much his family loves and cheerleads him and less so the fans hes been responsible for entertaining since the early 1980s. Is he worth that degree of worship now? Even if we discard the possibilities of any alleged involvement or association with past situations, what were faced with now and what appears to have catalyzed his stepping away from his post on the WWE board is very serious to such a degree he will not likely ever return in any capacity to the behind-the-scenes professional sphere and much less on television. If these new allegations prove true, hes become as much a liability professionally as you could argue he had become creatively in past years.

The Then, Now, Forever, Together, tagline that now adorns the openings of WWE programming paint an image of generations of fans being connected by their shared memories, and the ones passed down from grandparents and parents to their children not unlike WWE itself being passed down through the McMahon family from its earliest promotional days. It binds us and makes us extended family by simple association whether you grew up with WWE and still follow it devoutly, or have become the pretentious cousin everyone hates whos gone independent or dived into counter-culture wrestling, with the people caught in the crossfire just wanting everyone to get along and just appreciate the craft. That bond people share as wrestling fans does not however mean that when someone does something morally bankrupt they get a pass and are deserving of a thank you when they step aside as though because they entertained us and not even directly at that, that falls on the wrestlers themselves who put themselves in the line of fire and risk injury they are resilient from being held accountable for wrongdoing, or even being rightly and justly criticized.

Whats before us is serious, its not a joke and if found guilty he should be reprimanded and not showered with praise because he uttered some promotional taglines at the beginnings of shows for the last 40 years (or mere weeks ago on his final TV appearance), or took a bedpan to the head and allowed himself to be embarrassed on television infinitely during Steve Austins heyday. That doesnt dismiss the equally-odd behaviours or angles that he shepherded onto television as the companys creative chief or that he was directly involved in on TV himself. What makes him worthy of that degree of worship? Yes, thank him for his contributions to wrestling and entertainment, but in the same breath we need to also acknowledge that these allegations are very real and serious enough to prompt his stepping aside from the business. We have to acknowledge that while he gave us so many memories that our parents passed down, that we experienced ourselves and will be able to pass on to new fans as we share the present, that he may not be a good person. That he may not be worth idolization.

Vince is a human first, and that makes him fallible by nature like the rest of us, and because of that he shouldnt be treated any differently for the sake of entertainment, nor because of our memories of him. It holds less value weighed against these new allegations. When we discuss notions of legacy, or in this case his, with athletes we tend to look at how they came into leagues, how they played, how they responded to adversity early on, how they develop, and ultimately measures of success like stats, victories and championships. We look at the totality of it, and even more so them as a person and how they carry themselves when their careers are over as much as we do during them. Im specifically thinking of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant (especially his post-career aspirations). They arrived, They failed. They horribly stumbled, had their vices and made awful mistakes. They also inspired generations to thrive, excel and succeed, using sports as a microcosm example of what we can do with our time, understanding concurrently that they are very flawed and imperfect.

Vince McMahon should not be let off the hook by fans for any of his ethical misdeeds especially now as though its normalized. His legacy is more than what he did on screen, or behind the scenes from week to week for WWE television programs. Its how he carried himself when the cameras were off just as much, the deals he made, and the totality of how he treated those who worked for him and were contracted to him. Thats what we need to consider before making the decision to stand up and cheer for him.

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McMahons WWE Retirement Marks End of An Era Amid Tempestuous Allegations - Wrestling Headlines