WWE News: The "Mr. McMahon" character's first appearance was not on WWE, according to Jerry Lawler

What's the story?

WWE legend and commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler was a guest on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast recently when he made a surprising revelation about the origin of Vince McMahon's heel authority character, Mr. McMahon.

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The King revealed that the Mr. McMahon character first appeared, not on WWE TV, but during a feud between then WWF and Memphis wrestling promotion USWA.

In case you didn’t know…

The character of Mr. McMahon is considered one of the best heels in wrestling history and it is widely accepted that his feud with Stone Cold during the Attitude Era was one of the major reasons for WWE's victory over WCW in the Monday Night Wars.

For a long time, before the age of the internet, most wrestling fans were unaware the Vince was the actual owner of WWE, as he appeared just as a commentator on-screen. The rise of the heelish Mr. McMahon character is usually associated with the 'Montreal Screwjob' incident as it was after this incident that Vince started garnering significant heat from the fans.

The heart of the matter

On the podcast, however, The King has a different story regarding the origin of Mr. McMahon. Lawler revealed that, as part of a deal between his Memphis promotion and erstwhile WWF, Vince had agreed to send over some talent from WWE temporarily to Memphis, in order to keep the local promotion afloat.

It was during this crossover apparently, that Vince portrayed a heel authority figure for the first time.

"The one thing I can't remember is I think that I had one of our Memphis Championship belts up there with me and I think it was Vince's idea to make an interview and promo holding the belt talking about how he was sending the WWE talent down. I think it was his first opportunity to become a heel and to talk down to the fans because in the past all Vince had ever done was the commentary in WWE and talk about the product and talk good to the fans.

But when he was defending the WWE against the Memphis territory, it was his first opportunity to be a heel and I think he fell in love with it. He volunteered to come down and he sat ringside during one of the matches and wound up tripping me and had Pat Patterson as his bodyguard and I honestly belive that was the genesis for the heel Mr. McMahon.."

Lawler went on to say that, in his opinion, Mr. McMahon is the best heel WWE has ever had.

"(Mr. McMahon) still in my mind is, the best heel (and I'm not saying this because I work for the guy or kiss up to him) but during the Attitude Era with Stone Cold Steve Austin and the stuff with The Rock, I think he is the best heel that has ever been in the WWE."

What's next?

Jerry Lawler continues to make sporadic appearances for the WWE, usually as a special guest commentator or as an analyst on a panel for a pay-per-view. He also hosts his own podcast "Dinner With The King".

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Do you agree with The King that Mr. McMahon is the best heel in the history of WWE? Let us know in the comments section below.