‘Sir. McMahon’: an incomplete portrait of the real villain of WWE

If you were to ask me what my guilty pleasures are, I would probably mention my habit of watching WWE every now and then. Watching the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania with my father, I became fascinated by the athleticism, theatrics and atmosphere of the professional wrestling world. When the entrance music of an unexpected wrestler filled the room, I shot up in childlike wonder, eager for the impending jokes. But like many other wrestling fans, I am often deeply disturbed by the exploitation, abuse and violence that has clouded the history of WWE.

Netflix’s docuseries Mr. McMahon examines the person most responsible for facilitating these problematic aspects of WWE history: former CEO Vince McMahon. The series covers McMahon’s work in transforming the company from a small, regional wrestling promotion into the largest wrestling entertainment company in the world. The series also addresses the numerous controversies surrounding McMahon’s leadership, including his shady business practices, drug and steroid use within WWE, the many premature deaths of wrestling stars and the many allegations of sexual misconduct against McMahon. While the series effectively and accurately explains some aspects of WWE history and McMahon’s past, I believe that the series fails to truly capture the extent of McMahon’s abusive behavior.

Mr. McMahonThe company’s greatest achievement is using interview footage as a storytelling tool. Interspersing snippets of conversations with McMahon, his family members, his former employees, his competitors, and various journalists who have covered McMahon’s controversies, the series effectively portrays McMahon’s selfish worldview. In a particularly impactful scene, McMahon claims he shares no characteristics with ‘Mr. McMahon,” the manipulative, sexually abusive, violent persona he adopts when he enters the ring. Despite his denial, most of the other people featured – including some of the people closest to McMahon – didn’t hesitate to say that the character and McMahon were extremely similar.

Despite the effectiveness of the interviews in portraying McMahon’s psyche and steadfast refusal to accept responsibility for many incidents of harm, the interview frame fails on two important counts. First, most of the interviews (including the one with McMahon) were conducted prior to the latest series of sexual abuse and human trafficking allegations that forced McMahon to resign from his position in WWE. As a result, neither McMahon nor many of the other interviewees have to answer for the latest developments in McMahon’s history of sexual abuse. This makes for an unsatisfactory viewing experience, with the final episode seeming to seriously miss important information and perspectives on the allegations against McMahon. While it’s fascinating to see McMahon answering questions in a position where he feels completely free of the possibility of losing his power in WWE, the small amount of coverage surrounding the latest sexual abuse allegations makes these accusations seem less important in the context of the other topics. received more screen time throughout the series.

The series mainly features interviews with high-profile wrestlers (including Hulk Hogan, The Rock, John Cena, the Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin), meaning that another exploitative side of McMahon’s exploitative business practices was largely ignored. While high-profile wrestlers have enjoyed generous salaries and benefits, less popular wrestlers have worked just as hard with the constant threat of being let go in the event of a serious injury. As a result, many of these wrestlers pushed themselves to their limits, causing lasting damage to their bodies. The series briefly discusses this part of the wrestling community, but does not mention McMahon’s complete refusal to offer wrestlers healthcare coverage or guarantees of continued employment during injuries. His callous treatment of wrestlers as workhorses directly facilitated the development of long-term health problems and drug addictions. If less popular wrestlers had also been interviewed, they could have talked about the difficult position they found themselves in.

Mr. McMahon ultimately provides a viewing experience best suited to those unfamiliar or only vaguely familiar with WWE history. Because the show assumes that viewers may not know much WWE history, the episodes spend a long time explaining high-profile events and eras that most wrestling fans will already be familiar with. The series therefore has less time at its disposal to delve into McMahon and his controversies. This angle also causes the series to exclude important details of various events discussed. For example, when explaining the infamous “Montreal Screwjob,” the show neglects to point out that wrestler Bret “The Hitman” Hart was given creative control over his character’s final storyline within WWE in his contract with McMahon. This meant that McMahon’s decision to force Hart to lose to his on-stage and real-life rival, Shawn Michaels, was not only a personal betrayal, but also represented a betrayal of previous professional promises.

By including more specific details about McMahon’s actions, the show could have created a much more compelling and complete story about McMahon’s abusive past. Despite these shortcomings, the series provides an informative look at McMahon, suitable for newcomers to WWE history.

Matthew Rentezelas is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at (email protected).