6 highly controversial decisions that Vince McMahon was right about

Vince McMahon is no stranger to controversy. Being the single most powerful man in all of pro wrestling, his hands have gotten dirty a few more times than he would like to admit. Many a time, it has been his fault and other times, not so much.

Either way, the context of these situations are required. Since information is so easily accessible via the internet now, many fans have been smartened up to quite a few of the scandals and controversies that WWE has gone through, whether it was Fabulous Moolah, the Steroid Scandal or more.

Being in the public eye a lot, Vince McMahon is obviously subject to a lot of criticism - from both WWE fans and non-WWE fans. However, in this list, we look at the alternate take and state rather unpopularly as to why certain controversial decisions that he made were completely right. Here we go!

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#6. The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 12

Triple H was humiliated by The Ultimate Warrior

The Ultimate Warrior returned to WWE for the first time in four years to take on the up-and-coming Hunter Hearst Helmsley, now known popularly as Triple H. If you're not aware, here is the gist of what happened - The Ultimate Warrior returned, had a 99-second squash match against Triple H and, to add insult to injury, no-sold the pedigree in the worst way possible.

Triple H was undefeated for over a year heading into WrestleMania and the squash match did more damage to his reputation than he expected. It was clearly a case of poor booking by the WWE.

However, here is an alternate take and the reality of the situation - Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart, which was the main event of the night, did not have much buzz or interest. In fact, it wasn't even Michaels vs Hart that sold the tickets - it was The Ultimate Warrior.

We agree that the Warrior is controversial and that his run only lasted a few months, but the reality is that WWE needed Warrior financially for WrestleMania 12. He was the biggest draw of the show.

#5. The PG Era

John Cena was the face of the company when WWE went PG

WWE fans of old have been highly critical of the PG Era for the last decade or so, though the criticism towards it has undoubtedly died down a bit. Fans were naturally angry when WWE stopped many of the edgy things that made programming great in favor of PG-driven content that catered towards younger audiences.

It even saw WWE lose a decent chunk of their fanbase, but was it really a mistake on WWE's part to go PG? Absolutely not. There were a series of circumstances that led to it, one of which allegedly had to do with Linda McMahon's political aspirations. Even if you remove that, you need to understand that WWE moving PG has meant wider reach, more sponsorships, more big contracts with companies and most importantly - more money. WWE makes more money than ever before with the PG Era.

However, the icing on the cake was a prime-time television spot which the WWE found too good to ignore.

#4. The third hour of RAW

RAW's third hour has been very controversial

Before you come swinging with those pitchforks, let us make it very clear that we personally are not big fans of the 3-hour RAW format. We 100% agree that the third hour of RAW has seen a big dip in the quality over the years and it's also dragged the show on way longer than it needs to be.

With that said, it hasn't really affected WWE too badly. In fact, it's been so good for them that they simply won't ever switch back to the standard 2-hour format. We may not like it, but what it means for WWE is a lot more money. Their USA Network TV deal is worth a lot and it only increased with that third hour of programming. Even low-rated shows get higher ratings than most of the average shows on TV.

The WWE must look to use this to their advantage and give talent more airtime.

#3. The Jinder Mahal experiment

An admittedly terrible title reign

Now, once again, we repeat - before you bring out the pitchforks, hear us out. The Jinder Mahal experiment failed for a reason and at the time, he simply wasn't ready for that kind of a push. It was undoubtedly detrimental to SmackDown Live at the time (especially after the incredible 2016 it had), but this falls less on Jinder Mahal and more on WWE.

With that being said, the decision to have the Jinder Mahal experiment was correct. The execution, on the other hand, was not. Jinder Mahal has a great look and even when he was WWE Champion, he carried himself like a serious main event player. There were a few WWE Champions prior who looked as good holding the title, but what WWE did was rush his push.

They should have built Mahal up over the course of a year or two and given him a midcard title reign first before heating him up for the WWE title. What they did was turn him from a jobber to main eventer in one week. It was never going to work.

Mahal's title win was also strategically planned with WWE's tour of India. The management knew that Mahal would draw in crowds owing to his ethnicity and it is an experiment that paid dividends for the brand.

Mahal took an alternative route to his WWE championship reign, unlike his former tag team partner Drew McIntyre, who had to labor his way to reach the pinnacle.

#2. Once in a lifetime 2

Twice was enough

When The Rock vs John Cena was announced for WrestleMania 28, it was the first time a WrestleMania main event was announced a full year in advance. There was a lot of excitement about it because it was a genuine spectacle of a match. The current generation vs the old one and it was a dream match that was a massive attraction, drawing not just WWE's, but pro wrestling's highest-ever PPV buyrate at roughly 1.3 million buys.

That was a huge success and even though it was advertised as "Once in a Lifetime", WWE did this knowing well that it was a false advertisement, as The Rock had already signed on to wrestle at WrestleMania 29 as well.

While the match wasn't great, the coronation wasn't great and all of that, the reality is that it was still a smashing success, drawing a reported 1.1 million PPV buys.

It is ironic, however, that the WWE still needs yesteryear superstars like the Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin to draw big crowds and grab eye balls at major events. They need to ensure that the current crop of wrestlers do the heavy lifting for the brand.

#1. The Montreal Screwjob

Bret Hart looking on distraught

This is going to irk a lot of fans and understandably so. While we undoubtedly disagree about the morality and idea behind "bringing business to Bret Hart," the entire situation is not as one-sided and clear as many people make it out to be.

Sure, it did bring out the Mr. McMahon character afterwards, but speaking from context alone, McMahon had reason to do what he did. Not wanting to repeat the disaster of Madusa (aka Alundra Blayze) trashing the WWF Women's title on live WCW TV, McMahon couldn't guarantee the same when Bret Hart revealed that he was jumping ship to WCW.

Bret Hart would undoubtedly have vacated the title, but given that it was a time of war for both companies, McMahon had every reason to be as ruthless as he was. All he did was try to protect his own business and company. All said and done, the Montreal Screwjob ended up with everyone making a lot of money later on.

It remains unclear, though, if Shawn Michaels was in on the finish. He has pleaded his innocence on more than one occasion, but, knowing the Heart Break Kid, you can never be quite so sure.