A new documentary has chronicled some of the most infamous events of Vince McMahon’s rise and fall in the world of professional wrestling.
The son of famed promoted Vincent J. McMahon, Vince would get his start in the world of professional wrestling during his early 20s, working various roles before being entrusted with overseeing small events.
Unlike the global behemoth WWE is today, wrestling in the United States during McMahon’s early years in the business was subdivided into various territories spanning across the country.
McMahon later purchased his father’s stake in the company and immediately embarked on an aggressive nationwide expansion that led to the 1980s boom period, with stars such as Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior and ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage becoming household names.
McMahon would remain in control of the company for more than four decades before a sexual abuse scandal ultimately led to his resignation.
While he undoubtedly had a transformative effect on the business of pro wrestling as it exists today, McMahon’s time with WWE is littered with controversies, with the Netflix documentary Mr McMahon shedding new light on various incidents.
A new Netflix documentary has delved into the history of former WWE CEO Vince McMahon
The series covers his impact on the wrestling business and many controversies of his career
The death of Owen Hart
On the night of May 23, 1999 one of the biggest tragedies in wrestling history unfolded during a WWE event in Kansas City, Missouri
With the company in the midst of one of the most successful periods in its history, more than 400,000 fans tuned in on pay-per-view to watch Over The Edge from the Kemper Arena.
That night, Owen Hart, wrestling under his Blue Blazer superhero gimmick, was scheduled to compete in an intercontinental title match against the Godfather.
Hart’s entrance as the comedic character was set to see him descend from the rafters before falling unceremoniously inside the ring as part of a pre-planned ‘malfunction’.
However, the harness the 34-year-old was attached to proved to be defective, and the member of the famed Hart family dynasty fell 78 feet, landing chest-first on the top rope.
Owen Hart fell to his death during a PPV event in 1999 after a pre-planned stunt went wrong
McMahon controversially continued the event after Hart’s death and defended his decision by insisting he would’ve wanted the same if he had suffered the same fate
Medics immediately attended to the stricken wrestler and he was rushed to a nearby hospital before being pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
The incident was not broadcast live as a pre-taped interview was being played at the time of the fall but commentator Jim Ross later announced Hart’s tragic passing to those watching at home.
With the severity of the situation immediately apparent to all involved, McMahon controversially elected not to stop the event.
Speaking as part of the documentary the 78-year-old insisted his decision was justified from a business perspective and added he would’ve wanted the same even if he or his son had suffered the fatal fall.
‘The decision I had to make was whether the show would continue or not,’ McMahon said.
‘The live audience didn’t really see what happened. If they had, I would have had to end the show. These people came to see a show. They didn’t come to see someone die. And for me as a businessman, it’s, “Okay, let’s move on. Let’s keep the show going.”‘
‘I would want the show to go on,’ he continued. ‘Get me out of there and get the show on.’
In an statement shared by Daily Hive following the publication of the documentary, Martha Hart, Owen’s window insisted she still holds the company responsible for his untimely passing.
‘Netflix’s Mr. McMahon documentary series portrays the death of my husband, Owen Hart, as a mere accident,’ she said.
The wrestler’s funeral was attended by a number of his contemporaries in the business
‘It also allows the disgraced former owner and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Vince McMahon, to claim that Owen’s death “wasn’t our fault.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
‘The real truth is that on May 23rd, 1999, out of a desire to cut costs and achieve a ‘quick release’ effect that a rigging expert specifically warned against, WWE hired unqualified riggers to arrange a stunt in which Owen was to rappel from the rafters during a wrestling event.
‘As a result, the riggers used incorrect equipment that caused Owen to fall to his death. It was pure negligence that killed my husband.’
Degradation of Trish Stratus
In addition to his behind-the-scenes control of the company, McMahon also became an on-screen character during the famed ‘Attitude Era’ of WWE.
Portrayed as a capricious, promiscuous tyrant, Mr McMahon quickly became one of the biggest stars in the history of the business and his feud with Steve Austin propelled wrestling to new heights.
One of the most controversial on-screen moments during his tenure came as he engaged in a storyline extramarital affair with 26-year-old wrestler Trish Stratus.
Live on an episode of Raw, McMahon degraded Status during a segment inside the ring variously ordering her to strip down to her underwear, crawl on all fours and bark like a dog for his entertainment.
Trish Stratus was one of the biggest female stars in WWE during her time with the company
Originally intended to further McMahon’s villainous character, the segment would prove to have far-reaching implications outside of the world of wrestling.
More than a decade later, as McMahon’s real-life wife Linda was running for US Senate, the clip was put to her during a TV interview addressing the misogynistic overtones during her time in the company.
As a Republican nominee, Linda would twice be unsuccessful in securing a seat in the Senate with some of the incidents portrayed during her time in WWE no doubt coming back to haunt her.
However, despite the segment going down in history as a major misstep for McMahon, Stratus defended it during an interview for the documentary.
In the documentary she defended a controversial storyline that saw her forced by McMahon to get on her knees and bark like a dog
‘With the barking like a dog segment, they want me to be like [exhales] “it was horrible,” but that’s exactly the feeling we wanted you to feel,’ Stratus said.
‘Don’t you get it? We knew we were presenting a sensitive scene to the fans. We knew it was gonna be talked about, and be interpreted and misinterpreted.
‘We were aware of that. The thing is, when we did that scene, we knew the comeuppance would come at WrestleMania.’
Stephanie McMahon’s baby
During Vince McMahon’s tenure in the WWE, wrestling was a family business.
In addition to his wife Linda, the couple’s two children Stephanie and Shane became on-screen characters in their own right.
After marrying as part of a storyline, Stephanie became embroiled in a real-life romance with illustrious wrestler Triple H.
The pair’s relationship was sanctioned by Vince, despite him previously insisting he did not want his daughter to marry into the business.
With the couple ready to tie the knot for real, Vince requested that they screen the event live to a pay-per-view audience to which his daughter emphatically refused to do so.
Vince’s daughter Stephanie (left) revealed he wanted to be the storyline father of her unborn child after she became pregnant
Vince accused Stephanie of being ‘selfish’ for denying what could have proven a lucrative broadcast opportunity for WWE.
However, it was Vince’s concept for a storyline after Stephanie fell pregnant that ultimately generated significant backlash among fans of wrestling on social media.
She recalled: ‘My dad did approach me about wanting to be the father of my baby in the storyline for TV, which was actually only the second time I’ve said ‘no’ to him for something he wanted to do.
‘That one was just a little too gross, actually. It was completely disgusting and I don’t find the entertainment value in it at all.
‘And he’s actually my father, so how could I even play that out? I can’t fake kiss my dad like we were in love or something. It’s just revolting all the way around.’
Vince wasn’t finished in pushing his incestuous concepts however, suggesting that if his daughter wasn’t comfortable with him being the father, perhaps her brother Shane would work as a stand-in.
‘Again, I [said] “no”,’ Stephanie continued. ‘I know that happens in this world, but it’s not going to happen with us. I can’t do that. It’s too much.’
When she refused, Vince insisted her brother Shane (left) could instead be the father
Chris Benoit’s double-murder suicide
Of all the many tragedies to occur in the world wrestling few received the wider public as much as the death of Chris Benoit in 2007.
Benoit, described by colleagues as a consummate professional, had been adored by fans the world over for his hard-hitting style and incredible athleticism inside the ring.
Despite standing under 6ft tall, the Canadian defied the odds and rose to the top of his profession, winning the world heavyweight title by forcing Triple H to submit in the main event of WrestleMania XX,
By 2007, Benoit was competing on the newly-reformed ECW brand and had earned a title shot at the Vengeance PPV that June to face CM Punk.
However, leading into the event Benoit’s exploits were overshadowed by a storyline on Raw that ended with McMahon stepping in his limousine that promptly exploded as the show went off the air.
Concern was such following the angle that Donald Trump is said to have contacted Triple H after being genuinely concerned that Vince had passed away.
The following week’s episode was scheduled to serve as a ‘tribute’ to McMahon following his storyline passing and set the scene for a whodunit to determine who was responsible for his death.
WWE were forced to drop a storyline surrounding McMahon’s on-screen death after Chris Benoit killed his wife and son before hanging himself
That weekend however, Benoit murdered his wife and their young son at their family home in Georgia before hanging himself in his weight room.
The planned tribute show for McMahon was quickly scrapped, with WWE instead paying tribute to Benoit as information regarding the circumstances around his death had not yet materialised.
As the show was on the air however, grizzly details began to emerge and Benoit’s name has been largely scrubbed from history.
Although a precise explanation has remained elusive, two theories emerged in the aftermath of the tragedy: Benoit was suffering drug and alcohol problems or he was dealing with CTE, a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated head trauma.
Speaking on the documentary McMahon rejected both theories, insisting that Benoit had gone ‘nuts’ before committing the heinous acts.
‘There is no correlation between taking steroids and what happened to Chris Benoit,’ he said.
‘Human beings are flawed. Chris went nuts. It happens in every form of life and everything, so that’s the only thing I can take away from it.’
He continued: ‘This doctor came up with this ridiculous statement of ‘Okay here’s why Chris Benoit did this,’
‘There was some sort of trauma to his head and things were shown where Chris would dive off the rope and hit someone with his head.’
‘This doctor came up with this ridiculous statement of ‘Okay here’s why Chris Benoit did this,’ McMahon said. ‘There was some sort of trauma to his head and things were shown where Chris would dive off the rope and hit someone with his head.’
Reports suggested steroids or CTE as contributing factors, both of which Vince denied
Allegations of racism
In addition to repeated usage of misogynistic tropes as part of his character work, McMahon has also been accused of racism for his actions both on and off screen.
In 2006, a backstage segment featuring then WWE champion John Cena and Booker T would go viral with numerous reposts online in the years that followed.
After greeting Cena Vince asks: ‘What’s good in the hood?’ Before responding with: ‘Keep it up, my n****!’
A bewildered Booker T accompanied by his wife Sharmell looks on before remarking: ‘Tell me he did not just say that.’
The segment was played for comic effect and caused little scandal on release but has since generated significant controversy online and been removed from WWE’s streaming service, the WWE Network.
In 2023 McMahon was sued by a former WWE writer, who alleges she was discriminated against after objecting to ‘offensively racist and stereotypical jargon’ used in the scripts of black wrestlers.
Britney Abrahams, a black woman, further alleged she was pretextually fired for taking home a WrestleMania branded chair which she claimed was a common practice among white male writers that had brought no punishment.
Abrahams agreed to dismiss the case later that year with no further information provided.
McMahon condemned the Netflix docuseries examining his wrestling career and scandals
Sex trafficking scandal
Despite all of the aforementioned incidents, McMahon’s reign as CEO of WWE continued in the years that followed.
The Benoit tragedy prompted more stringent drug testing of performers as WWE instituted its wellness policy and TV content pivoted to a more family-friendly approach culminating in what has come to be known as the ‘PG Era’.
McMahon’s time near-half century stint at the helm of WWE would ultimately come to an unceremonious end earlier this year after he was accused of sex trafficking in a lawsuit filed by a former employee in January.
Janel Grant, who previously agreed to a $3 million settlement in exchange for signing a nondisclosure agreement in 2022, filed a new lawsuit against McMahon in January.
Former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit against McMahon earlier this year accusing him of sex trafficking
Former WWE executive John Laurinaitis was also named and accused of sexual assault
In that filing, Grant claimed McMahon stopped making payments after the initial $1 million installment, and she now seeks to void that agreement.
Furthermore, Grant also claimed that she suffered bruising and bleeding after McMahon forcefully penetrated her with sex toys, which he named after his wrestlers.
She also alleged that McMahon and another WWE executive locked her in a room at the WWE’s Stamford, Connecticut headquarters in June of 2021 and took turns sexually assaulting during the work day.
McMahon is additionally accused of trafficking Grant to other men and sharing nude photographs of the plaintiff.
Former WWE executive John Laurinaitis was also named in the lawsuit.
Both McMahon and Laurinaitis have denied the allegations – with the latter claiming earlier this year that he was also a ‘victim’ of the former WWE boss.
The attorney representing Grant, whose sex trafficking lawsuit was paused in May at the request of the Justice Department, has slammed McMahon as ‘delusional’ after he condemned the Netflix docuseries on his career and scandals.
