Wrestling is one of the biggest entertainment shows in the world, and wrestlers are famous celebrities who are also present in films. Behind the whole business is Vince McMahon, and Netflix is dedicating a documentary to him. MyMMO editor Nikolas Hernes was more captivated by the documentary series than by many films, especially because of McMahon.
What kind of series is this? At the end of September, the documentary series Mr. McMahon was released on Netflix. It is about the history of Vince McMahon, the man who built the wrestling league WWE as its head.
Out of mild interest, I turned on the documentary and was completely captivated. Even if you are not familiar with the area, the series is definitely worth it. This is mainly due to Vince McMahon and everything he has done, because no one could really make that up.
You can see a trailer for the series here:
Everything for the Business
First of all, you have to give Vince McMahon credit: He made wrestling huge. This is also told in the documentary. From a niche sport, it became a massive entertainment product with enormous advertising space. At the center of this success is McMahon. He bought the league from his father, which he inflated through questionable methods. He simply bought the stars of other leagues and had them all appear with him.
Throughout the documentary, you can tell how proud McMahon is. In interviews, he mentions how he does everything for the business. This is fascinating as a viewer. Various wrestlers are also shown, and how McMahon marketed them. And you have to give him that: he usually knows exactly what he needs to do with the wrestlers.
This captivates the viewer, especially as everything intensifies more and more. From era to era, the league becomes more extreme under McMahon. I often sat in shock in front of the TV, because most of what is shown from McMahon in the documentary is questionable.
But that is also the reason why I couldn’t stop watching it. McMahon seems like a clichéd villain throughout most of the documentary. I often thought of characters like Mr. Burns.
The evil
McMahon captivates in front of the TV
A large part of the documentary also focuses on his persona in the wrestling stories: Mr. McMahon. You can tell he was not afraid to become the big villain in public. The interesting part is that it comes across in the documentary that he is even nastier in real life than in the ring.
On the one hand, he always emphasizes that he did everything, no matter how questionable, to advance his business. He made no exceptions for his family. He also uses his wife, son, and daughter in the wrestling stories – even as targets of hatred for the audience. He even used rumors about cheating on his wife as a storyline in his shows.
The documentary shows, for example, how he highly sexualized his daughter and many female wrestlers for the audience. Additionally, a whole episode deals with the accusation of sexual harassment by a former employee.
With his son, Shane McMahon, a certain remorse is noticeable in the documentary. He did not want the extreme. The wrestler Bret Hart also speaks out, and you can sense how deeply many of McMahon’s actions have affected him.
Regarding all his scandals, which the documentary also discusses, he usually only says that it is a lie or that he did it for business reasons. McMahon himself says that he regrets nothing.
The few human moments with him are when he talks about his father. It seems that his entire career is based on his relationship with him. The stories of the people around McMahon and how he influenced them bring the emotions.
Well-produced documentary series
How is the documentary produced? I really liked the documentary itself. True to Netflix’s style, it is well-shot, and the narrative thread is also consistent. It moves from era to era and from scandal to scandal.
The interviewed wrestlers are somewhat content-light, but this reinforces the feeling that McMahon has his hands in everything. They only criticize him superficially.
The journalists who speak provide a good context most of the time. McMahon is confronted with scandals in interviews, and they try not to let any statement of his just sit there.
I also liked the editing very much, because instead of simply providing context with a voice-over, they use editing for storytelling and to categorize the many statements.
However, the documentary is not a historical analysis of the wrestling business. Mr. McMahon is about the titular man, the scandals, and the extremes that surround him.
More exciting than most movies and series
With Mr. McMahon, I was as captivated as I was by very few films and series in 2024. You are fascinated, shocked, speechless, but also entertained. Wrestling is a fascinating business, and McMahon is a fascinating and controversial man.
You just have to remember that these are real scandals. These are actions that are simply morally questionable. McMahon has achieved immense success, and he has made wrestling big. Without him, there would be no The Rock, for example. But he has also harmed many people, and the documentary tries to address that.
What does McMahon say about the documentary? He has expressed negative views about the documentary, as Deadline reports. He himself does not regret participating in the documentary; according to him, it was said that the documentary would be an objective story of his life and the incredible business
he is involved in.
He believes: Many things are misrepresented or completely omitted to deliberately confuse the audience.
Nevertheless, the documentary is recommended. Anyone who has had even a little involvement with wrestling in their life will recognize a lot. But even if you have nothing to do with wrestling, it is exciting to see how immense and unrestrained this business has developed. You can learn about the story behind Netflix here: Netflix: How a video rental business became the world’s largest streaming service
