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The Specialists
KEY MOMENT OF THE WEEK: Vince McMahon Sets Return Date - why McMahon disappeared in the first place Jan 11, 2009 - 2:13:57 PM
"We don't use guns, we don't use knives. There's no portrayal of murder. There's no portrayal of rape. We do what we do, and we have a lot of fun with it."
-- Vince McMahon on HBO's On the Record, March 14, 2001
At a time when the U.S. Government has renewed its interest in cleaning up pro wrestling, Vince McMahon will appear on television for the first time in six months.
On July 23, 2008 Vince McMahon was hosting a Million Dollar Mania segment on Raw. Bizarrely, the Chairman of the WWE was using his company's flagship show as a vehicle for a prize giveaway that would appear in every other segment.
After awarding one caller with $500,000, a piece of the Raw set fell, barely missing him. There was smoke and explosions as Vince collapsed to the floor. Then, in a stunt that seemed far too dangerous, a huge piece of the Million Dollar Mania set fell on top of him. Wrestlers broke character to come to the aid of McMahon, who himself was screaming, "Paul, I can't feel my legs." The whole angle was truly stunning.
Impressive as the sight of Vince McMahon being crushed by his own set was, it was difficult to enjoy. The whole angle smacked of bad taste. Anyone who has followed pro wrestling over the last ten to twenty years is aware that there have been enough tragedies off screen without having to simulate attempted murder.
But this was not the first time that such an incident had occurred. A year earlier, McMahon "died" on screen by getting into a limo that promptly exploded. This lead to episodes of ECW and Smackdown that amounted some of most tasteless and self-indulgent pieces of television you are ever likely to see, in which McMahon was given a ten bell salute and tribute videos from WWE wrestlers.
Vince McMahon went beyond the bounds of common decency in the past, but even for the WWE this was a new low. He had forgotten his own pledge in 2001 that murder would never be portrayed onscreen. It was difficult to see exactly what WWE was trying to achieve by parodying the tribute shows of fallen wrestlers like Eddie Guerrero and Owen Hart. We will never know.
The deaths of Chris, Nancy, and Daniel Benoit meant WWE dropped any pre-tense that Vince McMahon had died, which was a testament to how crass the storyline was in the first place. However, a year later, Vince seemingly believed that enough time had elapsed to enable his attempted murder to be portrayed on-screen yet again. We will be treated to yet another whodunit angle.
Forgetting the issue of good taste, do we really need Vince McMahon to become the focal point of Raw once again? The attempted murder of Vince McMahon is a far bigger storyline than anything else on WWE TV at the moment, so Raw in coming weeks and months will be focused not on an active wrester, but on a 63-year-old man who rarely competes. McMahon may be one of the best promos in the business, but since his feud with Steve Austin ran its course, his continued presence on TV has served no purpose.
The Vince McMahon character works extremely well as an authority figure when used sparingly, as everyone knows that he is legitimately in charge of the company. Anything more than a peripheral role is counter productive. Unfortunately, it seems as though McMahon is determined to be the biggest star on his own show, and his way of achieving this is involving himself in ever more tasteless angles.
Portraying his own attempted murder on television twice in little over a year undoubtedly makes McMahon the most important character on the show, but this came at the price of any integrity that the WWE had left.
Vince McMahon should review his attitude from 2001, when his business was more successful.
All WWE is about is Vince's ego. Unfortunately, they have a core audience
of about 3-4 million people who will happily watch Vince & HHH do nothing
but talk for 2 hours.
Vince
11 Jan 2009, 15:06
When was the last time that either one of them talked for two hours? You're
probably a TNgAy tard.
Rich S
11 Jan 2009, 15:11
Boring raw definitely needs VKM back.
1-Stu-3 Kidd
11 Jan 2009, 15:15
I had no idea that McMahon had quoted this back in 2001. I don't know if
the Katie Vick rape angle had taken place before this interveiw in '01, but
I'm sure the Pillman-Austin angle, and the Val Venis-Kaienti dick slice
angle were well before this quote.(96-97 I believe).
You are absolutley right Gardner, he needs to take a good long look at what
he puts out there, and practice what he preached 8 years ago, especially if
they plan on going "kid friendly". Great article, BTW.
kelvSYC
11 Jan 2009, 15:42
The Katie Vick thing was after '01. It made the Gooker, but I forgot which
year it was.
If they were planning to go kid-friendly, they would not mention how Mr.
McMahon was taken off TV in the first place, or have some kind of a
lame-out (such as McMahon was on top of a trapdoor in the stage at the time
and he was hurt not from the falling set but from the trapdoor suddenly
going off - and then the people responsible for the set were fired even
though the trapdoor likely saved his life). And they wouldn't try this
again.
Vince
11 Jan 2009, 19:26
Mr. McMahon is definitely a great character. It's always great when he
makes his return after a long absence. He's definitely the best on-screen
talent of the McMahon family.
ted
11 Jan 2009, 19:43
rick gardner, you are a jackass plain and simple.
wwe is entertainment and they can do whatever storylines they want; if you
don't like it go to hell or go cry to your mommy since you come across as
an anal retentive jerk in this column.
by the way, wwe will likley take in 500 million in revenue for 2008 so in
terms of business, wwe is more successful now than in 2001.
Jay
12 Jan 2009, 15:29
When his business was more successful? I'm sorry but doesn't wwe make
300-400 million a year regardless if the storylines are good or not. It is
not like wwe is starving for money and drawing 500 houses douche.
You have to come up with a better argument and you failed to note that no
"murder" angle has been done since that limo explosion. So maybe he
actually HAS connected with that quote from 8 years ago!
It's pettiness like this that makes me tired of wrestling, which I used to
love so much. The writers can't wait for some bad news to spank McMahon
and teach him a lesson seemingly oblivious to the fact that him being
successful keeps food on your table.
Who reports the news without their own drivel in the business?
Cid
14 Jan 2009, 10:18
I agree, this article is garbage. McMahon is the best, how can a real fan
say that mcmahon shouldnt be on tv, and these nerds that keep mentioning
"katie vick", that story happened 10 years ago, get over it fuck. TNA gives
you "katie vick" quality crap every week.
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"We don't use guns, we don't use knives. There's no portrayal of murder. There's no portrayal of rape. We do what we do, and we have a lot of fun with it."
