Vince McMahon - at the forefront of WWE entertainment

Vince McMahon turned 68 on 24th August

In fight business or combat sports, the promoter usually ends up being the top face and can in many ways, make or break the sport as such.

In boxing, we all know Mohammad Ali and Mike Tyson, but we also know Don King. The same way, in pro-wrestling, we all know the rasslers, but we sure as hell know the voice and the force behind the machine known as the WWE, Vince McMahon, more commonly known as Mr. McMahon.

Vince McMahon, who celebrated his 68th birthday on 24th August, has been involved in the wrestling business for over 40 years now and is now synonymous with the industry itself, as every member of his family has been involved with the product in some capacity or the other.

As a teenager, when 12 years old, Vince, who had been raised by his mother till that point, wanted to be a part of the family business of pro-wrestling that his father had been running.

Initially wanting to be a wrestler, he was dissuaded by his father and finally became a part of the business in 1969 as an in-ring announcer. Given his background in business administration, his father entrusted him a small territory as an initiation for the young turk in 1971, and he also began doing the play-by-play announcement for television matches.

Vince, who showed tremendous business acumen, became a prominent force in his father’s company, assisting his father in increasing revenue via TV syndication and cross-promotion of events and come 1982, formed Titan Sports with his wife Linda McMahon and took over the renamed WWF (earlier called WWWF) from his father.

Vince McMahon

In the early 80s, going against the prevalent practice of running the business in territories, Vince began expanding his promotion all over the country and changed the perception of the business from a lowbrow form of entertainment to an entertainment spectacle.

He kept at his vision of making WWF a pop culture, mainstream entity and it worked. In 1987, Forbes recognised the drawing power of the events held by the company and the record numbers it had been generating on pay-per-view and closed circuit television.

Along the way, stars recognisable all over the globe were born as Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Macho Man, Ultimate Warrior etc. started to be seen on lunchboxes and television commercials.

However, after all the highs, it was time for a low and in 1991, when the WWF got embroiled in a steroid scandal and McMahon himself was charged as being responsible for distributing steroids to his performers.

The business took a big hit, and perceptions changed for a while, and even though McMahon was acquitted of all charges, the way company was being run had to be changed. The business changed direction to wherein smaller, but more athletic wrestlers started to be featured more prominently.

In the meantime, competitor WCW had began knocking down walls owned by the WWF and very soon, Vince found himself losing the ratings war to the much larger Turner-backed organisation.

But ever the fighter and someone who had the business running in his blood, he reinvented the product yet again to promote changing attitudes and interjected himself into storylines with his top stars and very soon, just like that, McMahon was the forefront of the business again.

Vince McMahon

Unlike other promoters, Vince, apart from being blessed with a terrific business acumen, is also a talented performer and starting off with his evil ‘Mr. McMahon’ persona, has had memorable feuds with the likes of Steve Austin, the Rock, Triple H, Mick Foley and others which became a part of the mainstream folklore and helped WWF push back the challenge of WCW in the late 90s.

By the early 2000s, it became what it is today, the single largest wrestling promotion in the world.

You would think a businessman such as him would be sitting behind a desk with his pen, jotting notes, but he’s the most hands-on boss one would know as he has taken every single bump that his employees do to make a living.

Vince has continued to be involved on and off in onscreen storylines and is as entertaining as ever, but if the accounts of his employees are anything to go by, he is as involved now with the behind the scenes working of the company as he was before.

Unlike the onscreen character he plays, his employees are all in awe of him, and while they may agree or disagree with him on things, respect is something that he has earned from everyone who knows him and has dealt with him.

Vince McMahon

The Mr. McMahon character is far from being a wrap though as the family, whatever is left of it, is still featured prominently onscreen and with Triple H being the heir apparent in the running of the company, things should get interesting for the now 68-year-old Mr. McMahon.

But, for all the worried folks out there, he may just outlive everyone and we may get to see him say those famous words to his son-in-law, “YOU’RE FIRED!”

A very happy birthday to the competitor, the winner, the genius Vincent K. McMahon.