Has the boss lost touch?Back in the early 90s, WWE was mainstream media’s punching bag.With the steroid allegations mounting and Vince McMahon ousting professional wrestling’s greatest secret – about kayfabe and professional wrestling not being a legitimate sport, the industry has since endured the stigma, as well as the mockery by those who’ve never followed the business.Although Vince McMahon is often credited with revolutionizing the industry, many blame Vince McMahon and the WWE for taking away the legitimacy of the industry. Vince McMahon, throughout the past three decades, has vanquished competition, and during that period has broken the mirage of professional wrestling.Vince McMahon isn’t exactly known for his honesty, and in the past few decades, has been called out for his double standards. In this article, we take a look at the hypocrisy of Vince McMahon, and the WWE.
#1 Contrasting fortunes of Cesaro and Roman Reigns
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While Cesaro was building a head of steam, everyone but Vince McMahon saw the Swiss Superman as the future of the company.
Even though Cesaro was booked poorly – much like Daniel Bryan back in 2013 – the fans started getting behind Cesaro. Soon, the former US champion became one of the most popular stars in the company, as quite a large portion of the fans started bringing “Cesaro section” signs to the shows.
However, Vince McMahon was always against pushing Cesaro. During Steve Austin’s podcast, Vince McMahon expressed his views, saying he didn’t believe Cesaro had “it”, and said there was something lacking in the superstar.
Vince then pointed out Cesaro’s verbal skills and opined that the Switzerland native needed to work on his mic skills. However, much like before, Vince McMahon’s opinion changed when it came to another superstar.
Roman Reigns, in the past three years, hasn’t improved much in the ring and has barely passable mic skills. While Dean Ambrose took care of the talking during the days of The Shield, Roman’s mediocre mic skills saw the majority of the fan base turning on the superstar last year.
While Cesaro still was entertaining on the mic, Roman was made to say “tater tots” and “suffering succotash”! Needless to say, Roman Reigns is now the face of WWE.
#2 Scrutinizing WCWs booking
In the mid-90s, WCW and WWE were embroiled in a ratings war that became a stuff of legends. However, from mid ’96 to mid ’98, WCW’s Nitro comprehensively defeated WWE’s flagship show – Monday Night RAW.
This led to Vince McMahon starting the Attitude Era, and to hype the new era in the company, Vince cut a promo where he ripped WCW for their questionable booking and said WCW was questioning the intelligence of the fans.
In 2016, nearly two decades since the promo, Vince McMahon has done more than what WCW could ever do to question the intelligence of the WWE fans.
From abruptly ending feuds to inconsistent storylines, and now, Roman Reigns single-handedly beating an entire faction on his own, Vince McMahon is guilty of doing what he alleged WCW did back during the Monday Night War.
#3 Women empowerment
Last year, WWE started a movement called the “Divas Revolution”.
With the likes of Ronda Rousey taking over the sports entertainment industry, WWE wanted to capitalize on the increasing popularity of women in the business. This resulted in the women from NXT being called up to the main roster, as WWE promised to give more emphasis to the divas’ matches, and focus more on the female talent on the roster.
However, WWE and Vince McMahon, in particular, have been notorious when it came to the role of women in the company. Back during the late 90s, Vince McMahon received a lot of flak for portraying women negatively, which even including Vince making Trish strip, and then bark while getting down on all fours.
In hindsight, it is indeed ironical that Vince McMahon and WWE have vowed to empower women in the organization.
#4 Questionable booking of the giants
Vince McMahon believed that one of the main reasons why WCW couldn’t catch up with WWE was because of their “incompetence” in booking the giants properly.
WWE had a history of booking the larger than life characters against the fan favorites, and Vince McMahon on a couple of occasions said that WCW didn’t know how to book these superstars.
With the likes of Kamala, Andre the Giant and King Kong Bundy making a splash in WWE, Vince McMahon did have a valid point. WWE built Hogan’s reputation as a giant killer, and till the mid-90s knew how to book big men.
However, WWE since then has been notorious for using the big men like props; for instance, Vince McMahon is also known to have made Big Show wear a diaper and dance for his own amusement.
Other giants such as Khali, Brodus Clay and the likes faced similar challenges in the company. While it is true that Vince once knew how to get the best out of the giants, it is quite safe to say that he has since lost his touch.
#5 Vince McMahons opinion about the fans
Understanding one’s fan base is essentially the primary requirement for any business to thrive, and pro wrestling is no different.
While the old territorial system appealed to the grown-ups and teenagers, Vince McMahon’s WWE during the mid-80s appealed to the kids. As WWE went through a transition, Vince McMahon managed to cater to different demographic, making WWE the undisputed leader in sports entertainment.
However, the same cannot be said about the company today. While Vince McMahon has said on many occasions that he still understands his fans, and has his finger on the pulse, the reality cannot be any more different.
For the past few years, WWE has tried to make the fans invest in the storylines, instead of giving the fans what they asked for. In his defense, Vince has also said that the fans don’t know what they want, and it is up to him to tell the fans what they need to see.
Last year saw a sharp decline in the ratings, with the company losing nearly a million fans from the starting of the year till the end of the year. If WWE continues to go down this road, we may see it continuing in 2016 as well.
