The Complicated Legacy of Vince McMahon

 

Things got wild real fast this past week in the WWE verse, with a lawsuit being bought against Vince McMahon for sexual misconduct and trafficking. Leading to Slim Jim threatening to pull their sponsorship from the Royal Rumble, and just like that Vince McMahon was gone from the board of TKO. I'm sure more heads will be rolling very very soon, with more woman coming forward. Now to be CLEAR before getting into the meat of the article, I am in no way trying to paint McMahon in a different light here. I'm simply bringing up a few real things about wrestling we know today, because of Mcmahon.

There have been grumblings through the years about Vince McMahon and his behavior. To not name names here but it's pretty easy to figure out who I'm talking about. I attended a live show of a very popular wrestling podcast a few years ago. One host who runs a wrestling network of podcasts made a throwaway comment about a co-host who has been in the business a long time, having so much dirt on McMahon. So obviously Vince has been Vincing a long ass time.

Reading that document it is clear Vince is a sick, narcissistic man who has been doing things like that for a long time and felt his money could hide his transgressions. If someone looked up to him as an idol for his business acumen, they suddenly have to rethink that. We as fans are kind of in a similar boat in regards to Vince McMahon. 

Some fans washed their hands of McMahon and the WWE when they signed the deal with Saudia Arabia. Some when the accusations first came out in 2022. Some fans washed their hands following the Benoit tragedy, some may have washed their hands during the steroid trial. Even if you washed your hands of McMahon, but not the WWE especially once Khan and Triple H fully took over.

That still presents a bit of a conundrum, we as fans enjoy a product that he created. We're coming off of the  Royal Rumble and going full speed ahead on the road to Wrestlemania. Two of his biggest accomplishments in the business. He and Hulk Hogan (another self-centered prick who has tarnished his legacy with his behavior.) helped push pro wrestling into the mainstream in the 80's. Along with that, he changed the way wrestling was viewed back then from territory's and syndication to full on national network television deals. 

His shady business dealing with Bret Hart birthed the Mr. McMahon and attitude era, the most popular highest grossing time in wrestling history. That many fans are still clamoring for a presentation that resembles the product of that time. Now learning of how sick his behavior is you have to look at some of his angles with female talent over the years from a different, definitely new disturbing perspective. 

For how bad of a person he maybe, his vision is responsible for the glitz and glamour that we as fans have come to expect from wrestling. How pro wrestling influences pro culture (whether the masses want to admit it or not.) Other combat sports like UFC and boxing have taken presentation cues from WWE.

Vince McMahon has tarnished his legacy while leaving fans in a conflicted state of appreciating what pro wrestling and the WWE is today, because of his vision. While acknowledging he is a piece of shit human being, yet someone may unfairly get marginalized for acknowledging his accomplishments. Similiar to how fans are conflicted listening to artist like R.Kelly, or watching The Cosby Show, or checking out a Woody Allen film. Can you acknowledge and appreciate their work, while despising the person? 

It's a tough scenario Vince has to live with his behavior and choices be made, we as fans may or may not question ourselves about enjoying the product he created.

He wasn't the first and he won't be the last, but he slowly maybe erased from history and now has a very complicated legacy. That we as fans are left with how to figure out what that is and navigate through it.