On an episode of Raw, mere days before WWE WrestleMania 13, Bret Hart snapped on TV and shoved Vince McMahon in the process. As a visibly irate Vince left the ring, Hart delivered a scathing promo in front of a white-hot crowd.
It is widely regarded as the moment the Mr. McMahon character was born. Gradually, Vince McMahon grew more ruthless with each passing day. He soon got into a feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin, deemed by many as the greatest Pro Wrestling rivalry of all time.
The rivalry went on for a long while, giving the fans a string of legendary moments that are still talked about to this day. The Austin vs McMahon feud was one of the major reasons the company won the Monday Night Wars. In this article, we take a look at five crucial things WWE's current heels should learn from Vince McMahon.
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#5 Being extremely untrustworthy
One of the biggest qualities of a heel is the fact that they simply can't be trusted. A true heel will turn on you at any point in time and will do it with a smile on his/her face.
At a point, Vince McMahon sought Stone Cold's help to rescue his daughter from The Undertaker. For the first time in a long while, the fans felt bad for the boss. Imagine the horror on their faces when Vince revealed himself as the higher power!
Furthermore, the main event of WWE WrestleMania 16 saw Vince McMahon turn on The Rock, joining forces with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. These are just a few of several instances which made Vince one of the most untrustworthy villains on the WWE roster.
#4 Always going down in the end
Fans watch pro-wrestling to enjoy a good match, a gripping storyline, and a satisfying payoff in the end. If a villain ends up getting the upper hand at the end of a rivalry, it leaves a bad taste.
We have seen Stephanie McMahon slap a long list of wrestlers in the past without them ever getting vengeance. This isn't what the fans expect while getting invested in a storyline.
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Vince's WWE career is filled with rivalries where he ended up getting destroyed or put down in the end. A true heel gives the fans a good, satisfying ending, even if it means going down when all is said and done.
#3 Ready to take the worst of abuse to help the babyface get big pops
Let's take a look at some instances when Vince McMahon took incredible amounts of punishment to put over a babyface:
- Stone Cold made Vince wet his pants on an episode of Raw
- Undertaker and Shawn Michaels left Vince badly beaten up at Survivor Series 2003 and WrestleMania 22, respectively.
- Donald Trump shaved Vince's head at WrestleMania 23
- D-Generation X dropped a massive pile of waste on Vince, Shane, and The Spirit Squad on Raw.
Vince has never backed down from getting embarrassed or opening himself up for the sake of ratings and fan satisfaction.
#2 Giving the most genuine heel reactions
Imagine a beloved babyface cutting a promo on a heel who tries to act cool, responding to the promo with little or no emotion. A great example of such an instance is this promo the Rock cut on Triple H during an episode of SmackDown.
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Now, compare that segment to the one where Stone Cold came down to the ring and helped Mankind win the WWE title from The Rock.
The end was followed by Vince McMahon getting absolutely livid at Austin's actions. His reaction only made the legendary segment more entertaining for the fans.
#1 Garnering nuclear heat
When Vince McMahon was revealed as the higher power, every single fan in the arena booed him out of the building for playing with their emotions and stooping that low to get even with Austin.
Years later, Vince took on Stephanie McMahon in a Father-Daughter "I Quit" Match. Fans weren't thrilled with how Vince beat Stephanie throughout the bout. Also, the WWE Universe still remembers all the times Vince embarrassed Jim Ross on Live TV.
There are many more moments like these, but you get the idea. Vince McMahon always had the fans in the palms of his hands and knew exactly how to make them hate him.
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