5 times Vince McMahon helped Superstars battle addiction

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon is a polarising figure as he's hated by many, while loved and adored by others, including the Superstars who have worked for him.

McMahon has a kind side to him, which several Superstars have spoken about in the past, including helping those that have struggled with various addictions.

Here, let's take a look at 5 times Vince McMahon helped Superstars battle addiction:

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#5 Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle has battled drug and alcohol addiction over the course of his pro wrestling career, which reached its peak when he was with TNA.

But Angle was offered help by Vince McMahon and WWE earlier, when he was still a part of the company.

After Angle returned to WWE in 2017, he spoke about how the WWE Chairman tried to help the Olympic hero battle his demons:

"I love Vince. It was great to see him last week. I finally got to see him after eleven years. It was like we picked up right where we left off before the horrible meeting I had with him back in 2006. Vince was always great to me. He treated me very well. He went above and beyond for me in many ways. He tried to help me in so many ways. He even tried to check me into rehab when I quit in 2006."

Angle then went on to praise McMahon for being a "loving individual" and how he tries to make his employees feel special: "Vince is a really loving individual. He always will be. There are a lot of things. I believe he needs to have filters around his life. He’s not gullible because he’s very intelligent, very smart.

"But, he also likes to please people and make them feel special. You don’t want people to take advantage of him around him all the time because they can take his, like I said he’s not gullible and he’s not dumb, he just, once he’s emotionally invested in you, he’s such a good guy."

#4 Jeff Jarrett

Jeff Jarrett

Jeff Jarrett has had a whirlwind relationship with Vince McMahon. Jarrett was signed by the WWE Chairman in 1992 and went on to become a popular mid-card heel, before leaving WWE in 1996 for WCW and then returning once again to the company a few years later.

After McMahon bought WCW, Jarrett was released from his contract, following which he founded TNA - a promotion to rival WWE. Jarrett was with TNA for over a decade before resigning and then returning twice to the promotion, which was later renamed Impact Wrestling.

Jarrett was then entered into a rehab program by WWE and Jarrett's wife Karen in 2017, after being found drunk ahead of an indie show.

Vince McMahon and WWE decided to help Jarrett despite the acrimonious way that the relationship between Jarrett and McMahon ended. This stems back to when he left WWE for WCW the second time, when he apparently asked McMahon for a huge payday to job to Chyna, which McMahon agreed, while he was also helping a former rival.

Jarrett was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018 and then became a backstage producer in 2019, while he was also a part of the 2019 men's Royal Rumble match.

#3 Maven

Maven was the first-ever Tough Enough winner, who went on to have some good feuds in WWE television, and also became the Hardcore Champion thrice, but his run with WWE ended in 2005.

Back in 2012, Maven enrolled in WWE's Former Talent Rehab Program to battle drug addiction. He was arrested in 2012 for buying prescription drugs from various doctors, and faced jail time.

Maven sought to use WWE's rehab program and his lawyer said that the former Tough Enough winner wanted to use his experience to help others battle drug addiction:

"It is Maven's sincere hope to use his experience to aid in the prevention of substance abuse and serve as an example to his fellow wrestlers and community at large."

WWE and Vince McMahon helped Maven with their drug rehab program despite the former Tough Enough winner not working and wrestling for the company for nearly 7 years. Maven returned to pro wrestling in 2015, after a decade away from the ring, wrestling a few matches in the indie circuit, including some with WWE's Curt Hawkins, who wasn't with WWE during that time period.

Maven currently works as an executive with basketball team Brooklyn Nets, and was most recently seen with Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder at an event earlier this year.

#2 William Regal

William Regal

Many fans will know William Regal as the GM of NXT currently, and one of the toughest wrestlers in WWE over the last two decades or so.

But, Regal had to battle a lot of demons and obstacles before reaching the position he has. He began his journey in pro-wrestling in USA with WCW in the mid 90s, before switching over to the WWE in 1998, but that run lasted just one year as he was released by WWE a year later due to his battles with addiction.

He was released by WWE, but was put into rehab by Vince McMahon and co. He changed his ways following that rehab stint, but moved to WCW, and returned to WWE in 2000.

“I went into rehab and, after ten weeks in there, I got out one day and I messed up. That was the last step for me. That was the time I just went ‘Ok, that’s it. Just stop it. Stop making excuses.’ That was the end of it, that was it. From then on it’s never been a thing since.

“I got opportunities again. WWF didn’t have to put me in rehab because they didn’t do that stuff at the time. They looked after me. Even after ten weeks, they said ‘We’ll continue to pay for it, but we’re going to let you go.’ I was told ‘You can come back when you sort your life out.’

"I came out and, straight away within a few weeks, I got a call from Eric Bischoff. ‘I heard you’ve straightened yourself out. Do you want a job back here?’ So, I had a lot of chances because I put a lot of work in before. People knew I’d been through a bit of something,” said Regal on X-Pac's podcast a few years ago.

#1 Scott Hall

Scott Hall

Scott Hall's drug and alcohol problems have been well documented, and WWE tried a lot of different things to help him battle his addictions.

In an interview in 2016, Scott Hall revealed that Vince McMahon didn't give him royalty money when he left WWE for WCW, even though Kevin Nash received it. However, the WWE Chairman sent Hall money for rehab and hospital bills, but not money to Hall to buy alcohol and drugs.

“Vince took it personally when I left, to the point where I didn’t get royalties. He still was showing me love. He wasn’t going to give me money that I could do bad things with was what it came down to. ‘I’ll pay for your hospital, I pay for your rehab, I’m not sending you money that you might go buy booze or drugs with,’ was what it came down to," said Hall.

That rehab stint in the mid-90s did not help Hall kick his addiction, but it showed that Vince McMahon cared about his former Superstars, even if they had moved to a rival company.

Stephanie McMahon revealed in an interview in 2011 that WWE spent a huge sum of money to help Hall: "without giving too many particulars, it’s in the six figures, for how much money we spent sending Scott to rehab. It’s the most amount of money we’ve spent on anyone [for treatment]”.

Hall seems to be in a much better place, thanks partly to WWE's rehab as well as former WCW and WWE wrestler Diamond Dallas Page's help.