3 Times Vince McMahon was a genius and 3 times he wasn't

Vince McMahon is an interesting figure and is perhaps even a Psychologist's biggest dream/nightmare, depending on the way you look at it. One thing every WWE fan knows for sure is that he's no ordinary human being.

For a man like Vince McMahon, there's no such thing as "days off". He hardly gets a few hours of sleep and yet he still manages to get the time to work out and have a body that not many 70+ year olds can claim that they have.

It's staggering how after all these years, McMahon is constantly on top of everything. Whether it's business, deals outside or even the creative aspect of things, he has his fingers in every piece of the pie and is known to be a micromanager.

Whether that's good or bad is something we can't say, but a man of his caliber who has achieved so much has undoubtedly had his moments of genius. Being human (if he can even be called that), he's had his off-moments as well and we look at three moments where he was a genius and three moments where he wasn't!

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#3. Not a genius - XFL's first attempt

McMahon is currently attempting to relaunch XFL

Vince McMahon has always wanted to get into outside ventures, but simply hasn't found much success outside the pro wrestling/sports entertainment bubble. Whether it was a hockey league or a bodybuilding federation (yes, these existed), McMahon's biggest failure, which clearly haunted him, was XFL, a professional American football league.

It got off to a good start but it fell apart in no time and had to shut shop. In 2018, McMahon announced that he would be bringing back XFL in 2020, this time with a renewed purpose and with the help of experts in the field.

The league started off well and ran for a duration of five weeks before being closed down due to Coivid 19. Financial difficulties continued to plague the XFL as they filed for bankruptcy in April 2020.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson helped bail out the XFL along with a consortium of buyers and now has a major stake in the league. Clearly, the XFL has been twice as unlucky for Mr McMahon.

#3. A genius - The Mr. McMahon character

A rivalry for the ages

The Mr McMahon character came out of chance after the Montreal Screwjob happened in 1997. Using the real-life incident where he was outed as the chairman of WWE (he was only known as an on-screen figure at this point), he decided to become a full-fledged on-screen character.

Using the words "I didn't screw Bret (Hart). Bret screwed Bret," Mr McMahon's character was officially born and he would go on to become the greatest heel in WWE history. It was the right character at the right time, because he used it to put over superstars, mainly 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin.

Austin's rise to stardom would be an integral part of WWE and the Attitude Era and his rivalry with McMahon is still considered among the greatest of all time. Without Mr. McMahon, Steve Austin may not have been the star he became, and many superstars wouldn't have gotten as over.

Simply put, if you are up against Mr McMahon, there is 'no chance in hell' that you will get away.

#2. Not a genius - Trying to make Lex Luger and Diesel the next Hulk Hogan

A failed experiment

Vince McMahon tried on numerous occasions to replace Hulk Hogan as the face of the company and he failed on each and every attempt. He first tried to make The Ultimate Warrior as the face of WWE, even having him go over Hogan.

However, the Warrior didn't draw as expected and McMahon was forced to return to Hogan. Warrior had high levels of popularity, so the decision to try and make him the face of WWE was understandable. Not so much in the next two attempts.

He first tried to push Lex Luger to the moon, but it didn't work because he had suddenly changed from a nefarious heel to a patriotic hero. Not only was his character not believable, but Bret Hart's rising popularity made McMahon push the Canadian star instead.

His second attempt was Diesel, where he gave Kevin Nash a near full-year reign as WWE Champion. Unfortunately, he turned out to be the lowest drawing champion in WWE history and Bret Hart would win the title back just shy of a year later. Neither Luger nor Diesel possessed the charisma to replace Hogan.

Once Hogan, Bret Hart, Nash and Lex left for the WCW, the WWE needed a new breed of superstars to carry the brand forward. Vince smartly invested in The Rock and Stone Cold to spearhead the cause and it did wonders, helping the brand claim bragging rights amongst other promotions.

#2. A genius - The PG Era

The PG Era saw WWE's profits soar to new heights

This may not be a popular point on the list, but to say that the PG Era was a bad idea for WWE is absolutely foolish. Sure, it may not have had the same level of intensity that the Attitude Era or Ruthless Aggression Era had, but WWE made up for all of that with the most important thing there is to them - money.

The one word that can best describe the PG era is money. After a long period of more adult-oriented content and violence, WWE decided that it was time to go a new direction. With John Cena as the face of the company, he was the perfect person to build the company around in a new direction - a PG one.

The decision to go PG meant that WWE would get loads of money in sponsorships and attract a whole lot of families back. It's been over a decade since the PG Era began and each year, WWE continues to make more money than ever, with big money television deals, merchandise, sponsorships, ticket sales and more.

Yesteryear's wrestling fans have always been vocal about how the dynamics of the industry have changed since WWE went PG. But they failed to notice the business side of things. And in Mr McMahon's book, WWE going PG was 'what's best for business'.

#1. Not a genius - the Wild Card concept

A concept that received a lot of flak

The most recent addition to this list, you're probably wondering why this was added, especially since it doesn't have much relation to the other points. However, it was frustrating for fans not only because the concept itself was terrible, but the fact that Vince McMahon called himself a genius during the show and even had Renee Young shill for him, constantly referring to it as a "great idea".

The issue with the Wildcard concept is that it takes away the specialty of cross-brand appeal, which were far and few in between. Moreover, it's a very clear indication that the brand split is slowly coming to an end sooner rather than later.

Hopefully, it becomes one of those things where WWE realizes that it's a bad idea and scraps it silently. The brand split must remain to give each brand its legitimacy.

#1. A genius - WrestleMania

WrestleMania was the brainchild of Vince McMahon

WrestleMania may be the single greatest concept that Vince McMahon has ever come up with. When asked how he came up with WrestleMania, McMahon described it as a "no brainer."

He referred to the fact that the NFL had the Superbowl, the MLB had the World Series, football had the FIFA World Cup, so it only made sense that WWE had their own grand spectacle.

The very first WrestleMania took place at Madison Square Garden in 1985, where it was showcased on closed circuit televisions in the United States. The story goes that WrestleMania was the biggest gamble in WWE history.

Many times, Mr. McMahon stated that, had the first WrestleMania not worked, WWE may have fallen altogether. Some might dispute that, but it's still incredible to think that McMahon created the grand spectacle - one that started with Madison Square Garden and now annually sells out stadiums of 75,000-80,000 people on an average.

Every year, WrestleMania grows stronger as a brand, and it's all McMahon's vision.