Remember where I said I was stopping this series at three unless I had an idea? Well, here we are. Today, I’d like to weigh in on some of Vince McMahon’s business practices that he’s panned when others have done them.
We all know running a business isn’t easy. If it was, we’d all do it, right?
It takes a special kind of person to do things that are going to make them hated among people in order to survive. It’s something that’s hard to consider doing, so imagine the pressures of someone that’s had to do this for nearly forty years.
Does that excuse some of what McMahon did/does? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on our perspective.
Placing shows
This goes back to the Monday Night Wars and the documentary DVD (A must see. Just saying). In it, McMahon explained how, if you own a network and can put shows wherever you like, the only reason to put it across from a rival (Nitro across from Raw, in this case) is to hurt them. He explained that he expected them to split the market at best.
Does this sound familiar to anyone?
While he doesn’t own USA, there’s little doubt he worked a deal to have NXT go on opposite AEW’s Dynamite. NXT had a comfortable home on the WWE Network, so there was little reason to make the move aside from keeping AEW from growing.
Curious enough, during the Monday Night Wars, WCW wasn’t the only promotion to mirror their rival. On January 8, 1998 WCW launched WCW Thunder on TBS. Then on April 29, 1999 Smackdown debuted on UPN (A small, financially strapped network that needed the influx of cash the WWE brought) directly across from Thunder.
Another little tidbit from the DVD was the reason Eric Bischoff gave for having Nitro end later than their scheduled time. He explained that by continuing past the hour, the ratings from the first quarter hour would be added to their total.
Notice how NXT stays on an extra eight minutes every Wednesday?
Add in the fact NXT is WWE’s developmental (yet better) brand and it also downplays the seriousness we’re supposed to give Dynamite.
Us or them mentality
McMahon also touts how much he believes in loyalty to another person. To be fair, he was shafted by WWE superstars during the Monday Night Wars by taking their word for them remaining while they intended to appear on Nitro a day or so later. Sometimes that same night. That’s not an easy thing to get over or deal with, especially when someone he trusted starts working for a rival.
Enter DDP (Diamond Dallas Page).
Page was one of the WCW wresters that transitioned to the WWE following McMahon’s purchase of the promotion. He’s also been working with young and old talent at WWE’s Performance Center by helping them cope with their battered bodies with his yoga system among other duties.
When he started appearing on AEW broadcasts, he was suddenly cut out of WWE functions. He said when he asked, he was told he had to make a choice between AEW or WWE, not both.
In the opening for this segment, I mentioned how hard it is to see those he trusted work with a competitor. We could add Jim Ross, refer Earl Hebner, and others to this list, but keep in mind they were no longer with the WWE, so wouldn’t their loyalties be to themselves at this point? Just a thought.
If we look, we can find a lot more, but these are just the ones I feel are obvious.
There is a difference between a business persona and a personal one, just like there are for entertainers and their characters. What makes these stand out more is his vocal condemnation of these when someone else does them, but it’s perfectly acceptable when he uses them. In the end, it comes down to our own perception of whether or not Vince McMahon’s business practices are hypocritical or genius. What are your thoughts?
