The Mr. McMahon Documentary on Netflix
Depending on your perspective the creation of Netflix’s six-part documentary series Mr McMahon could not have been better, or worse, timed. The chance to get an insight into Vince McMahon – the controversial, larger-than-life pro wrestling entrepreneur who grew up, in his words, “dirt poor” and built the promoter WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) into a billion-dollar juggernaut – is tantalising.
But there is a twist in this tale. In 2022, reports broke of $12m paid by McMahon to four women to suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity, followed this year by an accusation of sexual assault and trafficking (McMahon has denied the allegations). This presented the series’ creators, including director Chris Smith (Fyre, Tiger King), with a challenge.
Hundreds of hours of interviews had been recorded in 2021 and 2022, not only with McMahon but also with pro wrestling royalty including John Cena, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Hulk Hogan. Unsurprisingly, the first episode states that a final sit-down with McMahon was cancelled after the allegations emerged. But the producers still had hours of footage with McMahon, his family and former employees – and no shortage of backdated scandals – to piece his story together.
Before the opening credits of episode one, the creators boldly let the audience know what they are up against. “I wish I could tell you the real stories, holy shit,” growls McMahon. Encouraged off-camera to give us one, he replies incredulously: “No! … I’ll give you enough that it’s semi-interesting. I don’t want anyone to really know me.” No kidding.
The film speeds through McMahon’s upbringing briskly. He grew up in a trailer park with his mother and a violent stepdad, meeting his biological father for the first time when he was 12. Vince McMahon Sr was a local wrestling promoter who eventually sold, rather than bequeathed, his business to the son he had ignored for the first decade of his life. What follows is an account of McMahon’s rise as he ruthlessly eliminated the competition, paving the way for wrestling to become a muscular global sensation in the 1980s.
McMahon, right, and Hulk Hogan in Mr McMahon.
View image in fullscreen
Insights … McMahon, right, and Hulk Hogan in Mr McMahon. Photograph: Courtesy of Netflix
To anyone unfamiliar with the glitz and grappling of pro wrestling, this is an eye-opening insight into the rise, fall, then rise again of WWE. Backstage from the blood, bluster, spandex and cages, we’re shown more political intrigue than a sweat-soaked British parliament could deliver. But this is also where Mr McMahon starts to lose its focus, becoming a history of WWE, rather than of McMahon himself.
Please "Like" us on Facebook: / potentialproblemspodcast
Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Subscribe on Podbean: https://potentialproblems.podbean.com/