Mr. McMahon

I was excited to learn there would be a documentary coming out about Mr. McMahon and WWE. I have been a wrestling fan since I was a kid and still in many respects still am. I was fortunate to watch the attitude era when Stone Cold and The Rock electrified the audiences. It was enjoyable to see the history of WWE, Vince Senior and the legacy of superstars over the decades to the present day. There were some big personalities, challenges, the Monday night wars with WCC that made each episode great to watch.

Love him or hate him, I respect the businessman instincts and creativity Vince brought to the industry to make it what it is today. In regards to the recent allegations, he made his bed and now he has to sleep in it. Highly recommend this documentary, especially if you are or have been a wrestling fan.

"When we stop growing, we die" is what McMahon said. It is ironic because the man has not grown emotionally since his adolescence. Paul Heyman, the voice of reason among the talking heads, said it best, that McMahon is overcompensating for the deprivation that he endured in the first 12 years of his life. He was abandoned by his biological father and severely abused by his stepfather, resulting in a core belief of defectiveness. Nothing he has ever achieved, no amount of success or adoration, will ever truly be enough to heal that inner child who still feels inadequate because daddy left him.

It may be true that, without McMahon's voracious appetite to make something of himself, we would not have the behemoth that is the WWE. However, his true legacy lies in normalising domestic violence, fuelling misogyny and encouraging toxic masculinity in the storylines he conceived of to achieve ever higher ratings, including putting his own family drama on full display in his shows. What kind of person accuses his daughter of being selfish for not wanting her wedding televised on pay-per-view, and then arranges a wrestling match against him to humiliate her?

Despite his insistence that Mr. McMahon is only a character, it is nevertheless one borne out of and embodying his unconscious desires, a medium through which he can express his true self with impunity. Mr. McMahon was his Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card; "Oh, I did something wrong? That was my character, not me". He is not a role model to any man, not even his son, from whom he withheld affection and validation the same way that his own father did to him. This man lives in the fantasy that he does not perpetuate abuse in spite of his abusive childhood and clear evidence to the contrary. This documentary is one of abuse and the legacy of abuse, more than it is about wrestling, and it need not have been six hours long.

Vince McMahon took WWE (WWF) to new heights, fending off competition, scandals, even deaths, but where do the lines blur between Vince McMahon and his on screen character, Mr McMahon.

It is genuinely like a soap opera, it's so outlandish, so over the top, so extreme, the characters feel exactly that, unlike any possible real person, and that's the appeal I guess, it's almost like a real life cartoon.

It's unreal, even for someone who gave up on wrestling probably in about 1998. McMahon is shown in the titles as a slightly crazed looking puppet master, and that's exactly what he is.

It's pinch of salt stuff, that is until the final episode, where it takes a dramatic shift, and suddenly feels very real.

Very well made, goofy interviews, as well as some very serious ones. It explores various different elements of wrestling, the people, the business, the mistakes, deaths and injuries, it even talks about its bright future.

Great entertainment.

9/10.

I started following the WWF in the mid-70's with Bruno Sammartino, all the way through the Hulk Hogan era, and then only sporadically after that with Stone Cold and The Rock. So I have to say I was probably looking forward to this more than just about anything that has been released on streaming in the last few years.

Professional wrestling used to be so secretive, but now that McMahon has admitted the whole thing is more entertainment than a sport, many of the secrets have been revealed. I've seen some things over the last few years that have revealed some of it, and this documentary confirmed and revealed more for me.

As for Vince McMahon, he is a very polarizing, complex man. Think along the lines of Bobby Knight, Donald Trump, Woody Hayes, or George Steinbrenner. So I'm not sure what to think about him as a person, but as a businessman, he is a genius to do what he did with the transformation of professional wrestling.

Most documentaries on streamers are endless, and should be cut down. Conversely, this is only six episodes long. I think this could have easily been 10 episodes, and still would have been interesting.

Disclaimer: Yes, I know WWE is fake wrestling! I didn't know it as a child, and that was the fun of it. Coming to the review:

OMG!! It is just so amazing to see the legends of WWF and all the back story. The people in the US may know about everything in the documentary. You gotta remember, WWF was global and most of us didn't have access to all the back stage drama. The real stories, the WCW vs WWF drama all of that. We only saw what happened on Raw and PPVs. There was no internet back then as well for us to get the information.

If you resonate with what I have shared, you will love this documentary, as you rightly should!!