Wrestling's Kingpin
WWE's McMahon got his start in Maine
Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
Vince McMahon was given one opportunity to earn his way into the professional wrestling business. As a recent college graduate, McMahon pleaded with his father, Vincent J. McMahon, then the owner of Capitol Wrestling Corporation, to give him a job in the family wrestling business. After years of denying Vince the chance, the elder McMahon finally gave his son a shot to promote his first show.
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. chairman Vince McMahon got his start in the wrestling business promoting shows in central Maine in the early 1970s. He is now the most powerful man in professional wrestling.
Photo contributed by World Wrestling Entertainment click to enlarge
"My father had a promoter he didn't get along with in Bangor, and he told me I had one shot at it," the younger McMahon said in a phone interview Thursday. "He said, 'If you are not successful promoting a show in Bangor, that's it.' "
McMahon laughs now when recalling the story, boasting, "It obviously was a success."
Thirty-two years after promoting that first show in Bangor, McMahon is the biggest name in pro wrestling. He's the chairman of the board of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) — a multimillion dollar business which is now the biggest wrestling promotion firm in the world — and one of the company's biggest on-screen personalities. According to the WWE, its programming is seen in 130 countries and 11 languages. As many as 20 million Americans tune in to watch WWE television programs.
McMahon went on to promote shows at the Augusta and Waterville armories as well as the Augusta Civic Center, building his reputation as a top professional wrestling promoter in central Maine.
"Without question, that is where I cut my teeth," McMahon said about Maine.
McMahon, 57, will be back in the central Maine area on June 29, when WWE puts on a non-televised show at the Augusta Civic Center. He will once again play his role as Mr. McMahon, the loud, arrogant, physically imposing, jerking-his-employees-around owner of WWE, appearing in the "Piper's Pit" segment of the show, an interview segment hosted by wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper.
"We definitely plan on cutting loose in Augusta," McMahon said. "I'm really looking forward to visiting the Maineiacs."
McMahon got his start in the professional wrestling business in Maine, but fell in love with the family operation when he met his father as a 12-year-old. He grew up with his mother in Pinehurst, N.C. When he finally got the chance to meet his father and start hanging around the family business, he fell in love with pro wrestling's larger-than-life personalities.
"That was back in the days of Dr. Jerry Graham, Johnny Valentine, and Chief Big Heart," McMahon said. "People like Cowboy Bill Watts were big, and (Bruno) Sammartino was just getting his start."
From the time he was introduced to the business, McMahon wanted in. His father had other ideas.
"He wanted me to have a government job, or to be an accountant, something with a pension," McMahon said. "The promotion business is very speculative, as is the entertainment business. Dad really endured some hard times in the business."
Once McMahon was in, he was in for good. After his first promotional job in 1971, McMahon worked for his father until 1982 when he and his wife, Linda, bought the Capitol Wrestling Corporation from his father and turned it into what is now World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly the World Wrestling Federation). He changed the company from a regional operation to a national one, and it is now the only major wrestling franchise in the United States. There are numerous smaller "independent" leagues around the country, but nothing that directly competes with WWE.
He also changed the business by proclamining the product as "sports entertainment," promoting professional wrestling not as a sport, but as a show with storylines built into and around the matches.
WWE now has nine hours of new television programming on cable and network television. This includes the television shows Raw, which airs live on TNN on Monday nights, and WWE Smackdown, which airs on UPN on Thursday nights.
For McMahon, the business remains a family one. Linda is the company's chief executive officer, son Shane is the president of digital media and daughter Stephanie is the director of television writing. The entire family has had a role on the company's television shows. Stephanie is currently the "General Manager" of Smackdown, while Vince is currently feuding on air with Mr. America and Zach Gowen, also on Smackdown.
Vince has had on-air run-ins with every member of his family. On television, he and his wife both asked each other for a divorce. Also, Vince fired his daughter, who then bought a rival wrestling company (ECW) and wrestled his son, who also bought a rival wrestling company (WCW). It's all just a part of the show, Vince McMahon said.
"You have to take your personal ego and hang it on the door," Vince said. "If you take it out there, your feelings could really get hurt. There is certainly a different degree of professionalism involved. It is different than most businesses. You have to entertain. This is a show. We might say hurtful things and do hurtful things, but when you get back stage, you look at each other and say, 'Well, he didn't really mean that.' "
Vince and Shane wrestled each other in a "streetfight" at WrestleMania X7 on April 1, 2001. The match ended when Shane jumped from one turnbuckle, across the ring and kicked a trash can into his father's face.
"When you're a dad, you might horse around with your kid when he is 10 or 12 and you can control him and it's kind of cute," Vince said. "The difference in that match was he all of a sudden is as big as you are. All of a sudden it's like, 'What the hell is this.' It's different than anything I've done, but it was a lot of fun."
McMahon was always a part of his shows as a play-by-play announcer, but didn't start wrestling until he was in his 50s, when he feuded with Stone Cold Steve Austin. Since then, he has had a regular role on WWE television but only wrestles on a part-time basis. His last match was against Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania XIX on March 30.
"When I was getting the crap kicked out of me, I started questioning what I was doing," McMahon said. "I can do it on a sporadic basis. The class of athlete we have is unbelievable."
McMahon might question what he is doing wrestling, but never what he is doing in the wrestling business. He's known since that show in Bangor this is what he wanted to spend the rest of his life doing.
Scott Martin — 621-5618
smartin@centralmaine.com