A Tale of Two Vince McMahons ... which one is the real one?

[shooter_mcgavin]

I was recently reading a topic about the MSG Curtain Call involving the Kliq. If my understanding is right is that Vince McMahon actually gave the Kliq his blessing for them to embrace each other as a proper send off. It was only when other influential people and traditionalist from the industry that gave Vince McMahon a lot of heat so Vince was pressured to punish Triple H for the incident.

Does this seem odd to you? Like how this isn't the Vince McMahon we know and knew? It's so uncharacteristic of him don't you think?

During the 80's when Vince took Wrestling National and Mainstream and when it was the height of it's popularity with Hulk a Mania. Vince pretty much broke the traditional territorial system down pissing off many people in the business even to the point Vince didn't care about what others thought and flat out told them right in their face that he "didn't give a f***" (paraphrasing an interview to the Ganges I believe). He basically created his own rules at that time and didn't care what heat he got from other promotions like the AWA and NWA.

Fast forward to the Attitude Era and today Vince is at it again. He's breaking away from traditional conventions in the industry with WWE films, the network, and even phasing out terminologies like "The Strap", "The Belt", or "Wrestlers". And these days WWE doesn't even highlight a wrestlers accomplishments outside it's promotion something promotions like WCW, ECW, and even WWE did at one point.

This is the Vince we all know and, a number of us, love.

But during the mid and early 90's with how Vince handled the MSG incident being put pressure on by the guys in the locker room, by people backstage, and even people outside his industry for "exposing the business".

Vince caved and had to take action to get the heat of him. The Vince we know today would probably just laugh it off or something like that.

Even in this period he was willing to highlight the accomplishments of wrestlers outside their promotion like the Legion of Doom, Jerry Lawler, Vader, Brian Pillman, and Ken Shamrock (well in the UFC).

So what's the real Vince McMahon?

The one in the 80's and now where Vince doesn't care about what others think and does his own thing.

Or the one in the mid 90's that was willing to "play ball" with others in the business?

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

The real Vince McMahon tries to do what's best for business even if he doesn't completely get it. Vince isn't a mark. I see soooo many promoters book like marks. TNA does it. Gabe Sapolsky in ROH did it (very well). Vince, more times than not on a long enough timeline will book where the money is.

In the 80s, the money was in the stars. In the 90s, the money was in bucking tradition. Now he's putting on a very complete product.

As for "these days WWE doesn't even highlight a wrestlers accomplishments outside of it's promotions"......they highlight what Brock did in UFC ALL THE TIME and then there's this: http://www.wwe.com/inside/the-indie-influence-26179913

I think the real question is, what is your perception of Vince McMahon and why is it that way?

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I think the real question is, what is your perception of Vince McMahon and why is it that way?

My perception of Vince is more on the Attitude Era and 80's era which is why reading Michaels book not too long ago I was shocked how Vince was pressured to appease people in the business he would normally just brush away. Which makes me wonder is the real Vince McMahon the one portrayed as a pioneer who didn't care if he got a ton of heat from critics, or maybe not, as how he handled the MSG incident showed..

 

[justtxyank]

Just in keep in mind that anything you read on the WWE website or in a book written by a WWE star is very likely a work, or at the very least filtered through the McMahon filter. It's very hard to know what is and is not true about Vince McMahon because he works everyone by controlling the industry. I think the best answer is that the real Vince McMahon does whatever is best in his mind for himself and his company when it comes to handling wrestlers. People don't like to admit it now, but until the late 1990s, wrestling was still presented as if it was real to a large extent. Sure there were parts of the audience that knew it was a work, but most people who were watching wrestling were immersing themselves in what they perceived to be at least quasi-real entertainment.

This didn't fall apart until the late 1990s. Cornette has talked about this a lot.

 

[SmattyG]

My perception of Vince McMahon is of someone who will always book for business first, but genuinely cares about his talent. Sure, there's some political benefit for Linda in paying for rehab for ex WWE guys, but not enough for Vince to keep paying those bills. If the Kliq really wanted to do that, there's no way Vince would stand in the way.