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Vince McMahon changed the wrestling business forever in the 1980s. But is he out of touch with modern fans?
Even people who don't follow pro wrestling know the name Vince McMahon. The boisterous Billionaire has made his fortune by following his own instincts, much to the chagrin of many so-called experts.
When McMahon took over the WWWF from his father, Vince Sr., he began to do the unthinkable; He invaded other wrestling promotion's territories. It should be noted that Vince was not breaking any actual laws; Rather, the various regional wrestling promotions had gentlemen's agreements not to book shows in each other's territory.
He also started buying up major talents, most of whom were in their late 30s and early 40s, and had been wrestling for up to a decade. The gamble of putting forth established stars worked, as well as the infamous Rock N Wrestling connection.
In a few years, he built the then-WWF into a ratings and financial juggernaut. One of the few privately owned companies to become worth millions, the federation swallowed up or put out of business numerous smaller regional promotions.
Even when things looked bleak for Vince in the late 1990s, he managed to finesse his way into defeating rival WCW and buying them out. He was aided in this endeavor by taking his company public, and becoming a billionaire in the process.
But these days, there are those who think that Vince has lost his touch. They point to numerous blunders and failures in the past several years as evidence of this. But has Vince really lost it, or is he still a wrestling genius?
Here are three reasons why he's lost touch, and three that he's still got it.
Lost touch: Continuing to push Roman Reigns as the 'top guy.'
Perhaps no figure in pro wrestling is as controversial or polarizing than Roman Reigns. The big Samoan wrestler has been the 'top guy' in WWE for several years now. This is because Vince McMahon believes in him.
Unfortunately, the majority of the fans do not 'believe that.' They have rejected the unstoppable, superheroic booking that Roman has received. They chanted 'this is awful' during the Wrestlemania 34 main event, a first in the company. While Roman has his fans, he doesn't get the wall to wall cheers athletes like AJ Styles or Hulk Hogan have received. Vince's stubborn push of Roman is hurting his company and Roman Reigns himself.
Still a Genius: Not kowtowing to belligerent fans.
The pro wrestling audience is mercurial and effusive. What they love today, they hate tomorrow and it has always been this way. Part of it has to do with the duality of the wrestling business; Dividing the athletes between heel and face camps has created an expectation of sudden, profound change in characters.
Vince is in the right not kowtowing to the demands of a quite vocal but by no means majority of WWE fans who hate Roman Reigns mostly because they know they are supposed to cheer for him. When Roman was in the Shield they couldn't get enough of the Big Dawg, but once he struck out on his own those same fans turned on him.
With wrestling fans changing their minds every time the wind blows, Vince can't be blamed for doubling down on his decision to push Roman Reigns as the top guy in the company.
Out of Touch: Using litigation to fight rivals instead of great programming.
There was a time when WWE was one of the most copied federations in wrestling. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, and when a regional federation would debut a character or gimmick quite similar to what was happening in WWE, there would be no response from Vince McMahon.
But that was before the Monday Night War. The threat of real competition instilled a certain paranoia in McMahon, and he began to litigate rather than improve his programming. He sued WCW, trying to prevent Kevin Nash and Scott Hall from appearing on Nitro because he had 'made' them into stars, even though they used their real names. That lawsuit failed.
What didn't fail were his cease and desist orders, issued by his lawyers to the Young Bucks. The Bucks had been making the 'too sweet' hand gesture as an homage to the nWo, but McMahon claimed he owned that intellectual property. Rather than engage in a court battle which would keep them out of the ring and cost a lot of money, the Bucks complied with the order.
McMahon getting litigation happy is a good sign that he has lost touch with the fans. All he accomplished by suing the Bucks was to give them more attention, and popularity. Now the Bucks are the underdogs being oppressed by the billion dollar company, making them heroes to many.
Still a Genius: Vince would be a fool to let his IP get taken.
First and foremost, the WWE is a business. Protecting your rights to content is very important if you're a businessman, and Vince knows this.
True, he could have ignored the Young Bucks using a trademarked hand gesture, but why should he? He's well within his legal rights to exert control over IP that he owns. Every penny the Young Bucks made off of the Too Sweet sign is a penny lost by WWE. Vince knows how to play the wrestling game from all angles, proof of his genius.
Still a Genius: Holding the first wrestling event in Saudi Arabia was a real coup.
While many criticize McMahon for having a show in the repressive country of Saudi Arabia, the fact is his actions may do more to help the citizens of that country than people realize.
By opening the doors to western ideas, and influence, he is slowly eroding away at the wall of fanaticism sheltering Saudi Arabia from the secular world. Today, it's a WWE show. Tomorrow it might be something more significant. McMahon recognizes that there are WWE fans all over the world and he doesn't want to exclude any of them.
Do you think Vince McMahon has lost touch with his fans, or does he still have the best brain in the wrestling business? Please comment and let us know.
