5 Biggest sacrifices Vince McMahon made for WWE

Ever since Vince McMahon bought WWE from his father several decades ago, he did everything in his power to turn the promotion into the biggest pro-wrestling company in the world. By the time 2001 came around, McMahon succeeded in doing so, as WWE's top rival WCW was crushed and bought off. ECW had suffered the same fate around the same time.

Today, WWE is one of the biggest media moguls in the world and has more than a billion followers spread across all of its social media handles. It took a lot out of Vince to achieve his goal though. The Chairman made several sacrifices, both on-air and backstage, to make sure that fans would choose WWE over rival promotions. In the following list, let's take a look at the 5 biggest sacrifices that Vince McMahon made for WWE over the past two decades or so.

#5 Vince always prioritized WWE over personal animosity

Pro-wrestling is a ruthless industry, and one needs to make some questionable and unpopular decisions to stay on the top. McMahon always kept WWE's business on priority. He was responsible for the territory system dying down back in the 80s. On the other hand, Vince has always kept his personal feelings aside while doing business.

Over the course of the past few decades, several former Superstars have come back to WWE, after having ugly fallouts with the boss, years ago. Whenever Vince deemed it necessary that said Superstar will help WWE do good business, he kept his personal animosity aside and brought them back. Bret Hart and The Ultimate Warrior are two such legends who we thought would never step foot in a WWE ring again, but both came back years after burning bridges with the company. These two returns proved that Vince McMahon was ready to make amends with anyone if he thought that it would help WWE in some capacity.

#4 A string of embarrassing moments on live TV

Ever since Vince McMahon turned into an on-screen villain back in the mid to late 90s, he has had legendary rivalries with the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, D-Generation X, and many more. During the Attitude Era, Austin made Vince wet his pants on TV as he threatened him with a gun. Years later, D-Generation X dropped tons of waste on Vince, Shane, and The Spirit Squad on an episode of WWE RAW, in an incident that proved how far Vince was ready to go to garner ratings and publicity.

A villain getting his comeuppance is bound to get views, and Vince made a fortune based on this fact. He let himself get embarrassed on live TV on several occasions, at the hands of some of his top Superstars, and it paid off well when all was said and done. He had turned himself into possibly the most hated villain in all of wrestling, and fans didn't mind paying to see him get embarrassed by WWE's top babyfaces.

#3 Brought his family into the mix

Vince McMahon became an on-screen character on WWE TV more than two decades ago. Soon after, he brought in his family and they began getting featured regularly on WWE TV. Linda, Shane, and Stephanie soon became mainstays on WWE television. The McMahons never shied away from beating each other up to advance storylines. At WrestleMania 17, Vince and Shane beat the tar out of each other. Following the event, the family engaged in a civil war, with Vince's WWE going against Shane and Stephanie's Alliance.

A couple of years later, Vince wrestled Stephanie in a brutal Father-Daughter match at WWE No Mercy. In addition to the McMahons wrestling each other, the family got beaten down by WWE Superstars on several occasions. Linda suffered a devastating Tombstone at the hands of Kane in 2003. Shane put his body on the line numerous times while he was an active performer. Stephanie wasn't one to hold back. Roman Reigns' thunderous Spear on her at WrestleMania 32 garnered a big pop from the WWE Universe, who wasn't particularly on Reigns' side at the time.

#2 Brutal beatdowns at the hands of WWE Superstars

It wasn't just Vince's family that was always ready to put their body on the line to bag ratings. Vince himself has done the same on countless occasions. Back during the Attitude Era, Austin's beatdowns on Vince always got loud reaction from the fans. Vince went on to wrestle a long string of matches and was busted open more than he could ever keep count.

At WrestleMania 19, Vince and Hulk Hogan battered each other, with the latter coming out victorious. Vince was a bloody mess when Hogan was done with him. The same story followed at WrestleMania 22, when Shawn Michaels went too far while exacting revenge on the boss, and left him in a pool of his own blood. WrestleMania 26 saw Bret Hart beating Vince down with a series of chair shots to his back, and getting back at him for what happened at Montreal 13 years ago. Vince has consistently put his body at risk to make fans watch his product.

#1 Got his head shaved bald in front of millions of fans

The road to WrestleMania 23 saw Donald Trump and Vince McMahon declaring war on each other. Bobby Lashley and Umaga were chosen by both billionaires to fight at The Show of Shows, with the loser getting his head shaved bald in front of millions on PPV. Lashley ultimately won the match after some assist from special referee Stone Cold Steve Austin. The event bagged tons of mainstream attention, with a long list of Hollywood celebrities wanting to see Trump getting his head shaved on PPV.

Trump, Lashley, and Austin grabbed Vince and tied him to the barber's chair, as 80,000 fans watched in utter shock and awe. The trio proceeded to shave McMahon bald with the chairman crying and pleading them to stop. The sacrifice paid off big time, as WrestleMania garnered 1.2 million buys. The record stayed for the next five years, and was finally broken at WrestleMania 28. This was the event that featured The Rock vs John Cena in the main event, in a "Once In A Lifetime" match.