Vince McMahon: The Unheard Story before the WWE

Born on August 24th, 1945, Vincent Kennedy McMahon is one the biggest and most influential icons in the world of sports entertainment. With an amassed wealth of over $2.6 billion, there’s no arguing over the impact he has had on the world of wrestling since he first entered the industry in the late 1960s and early ‘70s.

Vince McMahon is popularly known as the Chairman of the WWE, and as a successful wrestler, promoter, and announcer before that. He is a one-time ECW Champion and a one-time WWF Champion. To add to his accomplishments, he even won the Royal Rumble in 1999.

Overall, he has won bouts over former Champions such as Ric Flair, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H. He continues his backstage and on-screen roles as the main authority figure along with the rest of the McMahon family while coming out to take an occasional Stunner from Stone Cold.

We all know about his influence on the WWE but do we know anything about what influenced the man to become what he is today? You may love him or hate him, but here are some facts about his childhood you never knew before.

#5 Vince attended military school-and got court-martialed.

One of the biggest problems Vince McMahon faced in his early life was overcoming dyslexia. Dyslexia caused a lot of trouble for him as a student and caused him anger issues.

Unsurprisingly, Vince had a bit of a nasty boy streak during his teenage years. He was caught stealing cars and offered a choice to either go to reform or military school.

He attended the Fishburne Military school and still couldn’t shake off his unruly habits. What did he do, you must be wondering? Well, he basically loved fooling around and was pretty slack and disrespectful about the military.

He stole his commandments car and gave his dog a hamburger filled with laxatives. Vince claims this made him the first cadet to be court-martialed in Fishburne history along with WWE Hall Of Famer Johnny Valiant.

The charges against him were ultimately dropped and he graduated in 1964.

“I was court marshalled and kicked out of there,” Valiant recalled. But, because McMahon was “a big star on campus,” he was allowed to stay, Valiant said.

#4 He wasn’t always a high-class millionaire - and he doesn’t like talking about it

McMahon grew up in a trailer park, and he hates to let people know about it. His single mother raised him, but instead of being proud of his rags to riches story Vince likes to pretend that he was always this rich and powerful.

He was raised as Vinnie Lupton, a surname he took from one of his stepfathers named Leo Lupton. He saw the majority of his childhood living with his mother and a number of stepfathers.

He once opened up in an interview with Playboy and revealed that one of his stepfathers, Leo Lupton, was the worst of them all.

Vince considers poverty as weakness and doesn’t want himself to be considered in any other way apart from rich and powerful. This gave him the courage and strength to go out and make a name for himself in the industry which was once ruled by his real father.

#3 He had never met his father till he was 12

As Vince’s father had divorced his mother when he was just an infant and left him to be raised by his mum singlehanded. His elder brother Rod, on the other hand, was taken along by his father who raised him himself.

Vince did not even meet his father till he was 12 years of age, while his father was too busy focusing on his wrestling business, building it up to what it is today.

Even though his father had been absent from his life, Vince was drawn into the world of wrestling when he met his father. Vince Sr kept telling his son not to become a wrestler, little did he know that his son was going to follow in his footsteps and develop a wrestling empire.

Vince McMahon then served as an announcer and professional wrestler in WWE and used a gimmick known by the ring name Mr McMahon, based on his real-life persona.

Even though his wrestling empire has been built on his father’s work, little is spoken about him and Vince’s mother too throughout the company.

#2 He was abused by his stepfather

Vince’s childhood was nothing short of a nightmare, and it was made worse by the abuse he faced at the hands of his stepfathers throughout his earlier years.

Ironically his prime abuser was Leo Lupton, the stepfather whose surname he carried during his childhood.

Vince himself has confirmed that Lupton used to beat his mother and when he would try stopping him, he would beat him instead. He inflicted both physical and emotional abuse on Vince on a regular basis.

Vince openly expressed his disappointment that Lupton passed away before he had the chance to kill him himself -- such was his hatred for him.

Even though today Vince McMahon has committed a lot of controversial acts himself and even has harassment claims against himself, he has never brought up anything he went through to cover those claims or made his past public for the world to sympathize with him.

#1 He was probably abused by his own mother

Vince avoids discussing his mother and seems to have an estranged relationship with her. She is barely talked about and it appears to be for a good reason.

In Vince’s famous Playboy interview, he talked about suffering sexual abuse from a female during his childhood. When he was asked if this abuse was from his estranged mother, Vince nodded and said, “Without saying that, I’d say that’s pretty close.”

Sexual abuse is a highly revocable act, and it doesn’t come as a surprise that Vince decided to look up to his wrestler father even though he had estranged him after suffering all this torment living with his mother and stepfathers.

About his experiences McMahon has revealed “You know, I'm not big on excuses. When I hear people from the projects, or anywhere else, blame their actions on the way they grew up, I think it's a crock of shit. You can rise above it. This country gives you the opportunity if you want to take it, so don't blame your environment. I look down on people who use their environment as a crutch.”

Vince McMahon may seem to have it all together now, but after knowing the facts of his childhood and earlier years it sure appears to have been a hard-earned success story.