5 incredible facts you never knew about WWE owner Vince McMahon

#1. He was only co-owner of WWE for a while

Gorilla Monsoon. Pic: TheChairShot

When Vince McMahon first acquired what is now WWE from his father, Vince McMahon Sr in the 1980s, it's clear his sights were set on national and global domination from a wrestling perspective. He was keen to move operations from a regional and territorial level to something far grander, as evidenced by what became WrestleMania - an event first staged in 1985.

You may not know that, in actual fact, Vince did not become the owner of WWE straight away. For a period of time, he only owned half the company, with his father selling the other 50% to other notable figures within the company, including veteran wrestler turned legendary commentator, Gorilla Monsoon.

McMahon, clearly a shrewd businessman from the off, took a bank loan out in order to offer each of those gentlemen $100,000 plus a job for life in WWE. They agreed and, from that moment on, WWE was Vince's empire.

Monsoon, in particular, would continue to work closely with McMahon afterwards, voicing many of the company's major pay per view events. In 1994, Vince McMahon and Monsoon were the two-man commentary team for WWE's Survivor Series event.

Monsoon sadly died in 1999 at the age of 62.