| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon Mr. McMahon |
| Height | 6 feet 2 inches (185 cm) |
| Weight | 248 lb (112 kg) |
| Born | August 24, 1945 (age 61) Pinehurst, North Carolina |
| Resides |  Greenwich, Connecticut |
Vincent Kennedy McMahon (born August 24, 1945), better known as Vince McMahon or Mr. McMahon, is an American wrestling promoter, wrestler, and film producer. He is the Chairman of the WWE Board of Directors and majority shareholder of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE).
Vince spent the majority of his childhood in rural North Carolina living with his mother and a string of stepfathers.[citation needed] He also grew up in Canton, Ohio. He did not meet his father (Vincent J. McMahon) until his teen years, and at that point became interested in following his father’s footsteps in the wrestling business.
Following his graduation from East Carolina University and a nondescript career as a traveling salesman, Vince went to work for his father in the then World Wide Wrestling Federation.
Professional career
World Wide Wrestling Federation (1971-1979)
Early in his wrestling career, Vince was the in-ring announcer. He later became the play-by-play announcer for television matches after he replaced Ray Morgan in 1971, a role he regularly maintained until November 1997.
Throughout the 1970s, McMahon became the prominent force in his father’s company and pushed for the renaming of the company to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The young McMahon was also behind the famous Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki match of 1976, the year that his daughter Stephanie McMahon was born.
In 1982, Vince bought out his father’s Capitol Sports company, renaming it Titan Sports. He expanded the company nationally by promoting in areas outside of the company’s Northeast U.S. stomping grounds and by signing talent from other companies.
The pinnacle of this national expansion experiment came in 1985 with the very first WrestleMania in Madison Square Garden, which aired on closed circuit TV throughout the U.S. This led to what has been considered a “Golden Age of Wrestling” with WWF seeing increased mainstream exposure, TV ratings, and house show gates all throughout the rest of the decade.
In 1989, McMahon tested the movie producing waters by co-producing the Hulk Hogan vehicle No Holds Barred. In 1990, McMahon again ventured outside of wrestling by founding a bodybuilding company called the World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF).
However, around 1992, things began to change. The WBF went out of business as alleged steroid abuse among both McMahon’s wrestlers and bodybuilders came under scrutiny. By 1994, things were slowly turning in WCW’s favor, especially when they signed Hulk Hogan.
McMahon was put on trial in 1994, accused of distributing steroids to his wrestlers. As a legal move, his wife Linda was made CEO of the WWF during the trial. He was acquitted of all charges though he admitted to taking steroids himself in the 1980s. The prosecution made Hulk Hogan its star witness, and his testimony in the trial severely damaged the two’s friendship, even though Hogan’s testimony defended McMahon. After Hogan’s testimony, McMahon went before the media declaring that he wished that Hogan had not lied about him on the witness stand.
Other business
In 2000, McMahon again ventured outside the world of professional wrestling by launching the XFL. The league eventually began in February 2001 with McMahon making an appearance at the first game. The league, however, fared worse than the WBF and quickly folded. Also in 2001, McMahon acquired World Championship Wrestling and later Extreme Championship Wrestling in bankruptcy court, leaving McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation as the only major wrestling promotion left in North America.
In 2003, after being forced to rename the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2002, McMahon again ventured outside the wrestling ring and launched WWE Films.
Mr. McMahon is the on-screen character of Vince McMahon, with the gimmick of an often egotistical heel boss. The character spawned from the real-life hatred many wrestling fans had for McMahon following the Montreal screwjob, the 1997 Survivor Series incident with Bret Hart.
Although Mr. McMahon was loathed for his actions as the evil owner of the WWF, the character proved to be one of the most memorable heels in professional wrestling history. Despite Mr. McMahon’s evil intentions, many fans continue to respect the character for the history it’s had, particularly with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, who was Mr. McMahon’s nemesis at the character’s apex. Much to Mr. McMahon’s horror, “Stone Cold” was announced to return and was the special guest referee at the “Battle of the Billionaires” match at WrestleMania 23.
Several other gimmicks have become integral parts of McMahon’s on-camera persona, such as his throaty exclamation of “You’re fired!”, and his “power walk” - an over-exaggerated strut towards the ring, swinging his arms and bobbing his head from side to side in a cocky manner. This is usually accompanied by a comment from Jim Ross, such as “There’s only one man I know that walks like that.” The power walk is used to get a reaction out of the audience (especially when he’s a heel), but it also provides comic relief as well. WWE Superstar John Cena had joked on the RAW Exposed special that aired before WWE Homecoming, that Vince “somehow walks like he’s got a broomstick shoved up in his ass”. According to Jim Cornette, the power walk was inspired by one of Vince McMahon’s favorite wrestlers as a child, Dr. Jerry Graham. However, The Fabulous Moolah claims in her autobiography that the original Nature Boy, Buddy Rogers, was the inspiration.
After winning the 1999 Royal Rumble (by staying outside the ring for most of the match and then tossing Stone Cold over the top rope), Vince defeated Triple H for the WWF Championship on September 14, 1999. This was later named the 5th most memorable moment in SmackDown! history. On September 20, 1999, Vince vacated the title and put it on the line in a Six-Pack Challenge match at Unforgiven 1999, where Triple H regained it.
Due to Bobby Lashley’s role in the feud between Vince and Donald Trump at WrestleMania 23, Vince forced Lashley to defend the ECW World Championship at Backlash 2007 in a 3-on-1 Handicap Match against Vince, Shane McMahon, and Umaga. Vince scored the winning pinfall against Lashley after Shane and Umaga softened him up. At Judgment Day 2007, Lashley defeated Shane after a dominator, but Vince later announced that he was still ECW World Champion because he was not pinned by Lashley. He lost the championship one month later at One Night Stand to Lashley.
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