Wrestling is one of the biggest entertainment shows in the world, and wrestlers are famous celebrities who also appear in films. Vince McMahon is behind the whole business and Netflix is dedicating a documentary to the man. MeinMMO editor Nikolas Hernes was more captivated by the documentary series than with many films, especially because of McMahon.
What kind of series is this? The documentary series Mr. McMahon was released on Netflix at the end of September. It’s about the history of Vince McMahon, the man who made the wrestling league WWE great as boss.
Out of mild interest, I turned on the documentary and was completely captivated. Even if you don’t know anything about the area, the series is definitely worth it. That’s mostly because of Vince McMahon and everything he’s done, because nobody can really make that up.
You can see a trailer for the series here:
Mr. McMahon – Trailer for the documentary series on Netflix about the man who made the WWE great
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Everything for business
First of all, you have to give one thing to Vince McMahon: He made wrestling huge. This is also told in the documentary. What was a niche sport became a huge entertainment product with enormous advertising space. At the center of this success is McMahon. He bought the league from his father, which he made big through questionable methods. He simply bought the stars from other leagues and had them all perform with him.
Within the documentary you can see how proud McMahon is. In the interview he mentions how he does everything for business. This is fascinating as a viewer. Various wrestlers are also shown and how McMahon marketed them. And you have to give him that too: he usually knew exactly what to do with the wrestlers.
This is captivating as a viewer, especially because everything is getting more and more heated. With each era, McMahon’s league becomes more extreme. I often sat in front of the television in shock because most of what McMahon shows in the documentary is questionable.
But that’s also the reason why I couldn’t stop watching it. McMahon comes across as a cliched villain throughout most of the documentary. I often thought of characters like Mr. Burns.
The evil McMahon is tied to the television
A large part of the documentary is also about his persona in wrestling stories: Mr. McMahon. You can see how he wasn’t above becoming the big villain in public. The interesting thing is that in the documentary it comes across like this: that he was even nastier in real life than in the ring.
For one thing, he always emphasizes that he has done everything, no matter how questionable, to advance his business. He didn’t even stop at his family. He also uses his wife, his son and his daughter in the wrestling stories – also as objects of hate for the viewers. He also used rumors that he was cheating on his wife as a story in his shows.
For example, the documentary shows how he highly sexualized his daughter and many female wrestlers for the audience. In addition, an entire episode deals with the accusation of sexual harassment by a former employee.
The son, Shane McMahon, shows a certain remorse in the documentary. He didn’t want extremes. The wrestler Bret Hart also has his say and you get an idea of how much McMahon’s actions affected him.
Regarding all of his scandals, which the documentary also discusses, he mostly just says that it was a lie or that he did it for business. McMahon himself says he has no regrets.
The few human moments with him are when he talks about his father. It seems like his entire career is based on his relationship with him. The stories of the people around McMahon and how he influenced them provide emotions.
Well produced documentary series
How is the documentary produced? I really liked the documentary itself. As is typical for Netflix, it is beautifully shot and the common thread is also right. You move from era to era and from scandal to scandal.
The wrestlers interviewed are pretty empty, but that reinforces the feeling that McMahon has his hands over everything. They only criticize him superficially.
But the journalists who speak out usually provide a good context. McMahon is asked about scandals in the interview and they try not to let any of his statements stand.
I also really liked the editing, because instead of simply providing context with a voice-over, the editing is used for storytelling and to classify the many statements.
But the documentary is not a historical analysis of the wrestling business. Mr. McMahon is about the eponymous man, the scandals and the extremes that surround him.
More exciting than most films and series
I was more captivated by Mr. McMahon than by most films and series in 2024. You are fascinated, shocked, speechless, but also entertained. Wrestling is a fascinating business and McMahon is a fascinating and critical man.
Just don’t forget that these are real scandals. These are actions that are simply morally questionable. McMahon accomplished enormous things, and he made wrestling great. For example, without him there would be no The Rock. But he also harmed a lot of people and the documentary tries to deal with that.
What does McMahon say about the documentary? He commented negatively on the documentary, as Deadline reports. He himself doesn’t regret taking part in the documentary, but according to him, it was said that the documentary would be an objective story of his life and his incredible business.
He thinks: A lot of things have been misrepresented or left out entirely in order to intentionally confuse viewers.
Nevertheless, the documentary is recommended. Anyone who has had even a little to do with wrestling in their life will recognize a lot. But even if you have nothing to do with wrestling, it’s exciting to see how crazy and rampant this business has become. You can find out the story behind Netflix here: Netflix: How a video rental company became the largest streaming service in the world