McMahon, Vince

▪ 2001

      American wrestling promoter Vince McMahon took his act to the gridiron in 2000 when he challenged the National Football League (NFL) to a showdown. Looking to end the NFL's stranglehold on the sport, the president of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) announced the creation of the Extreme Football League (XFL). While many questioned the move, citing the failure of past ventures to compete with the NFL, McMahon displayed the bravado and marketing muscle that had turned the WWF into a billion-dollar industry, watched by some 10 million–20 million viewers weekly. Slamming the NFL as dull and the “No Fun League,” he promised a faster and more entertaining (though, unlike the WWF, unscripted) sport with no-holds-barred access, including microphones in the huddles and helmet cameras. In March McMahon signed a broadcast contract with NBC worth more than $30 million, and he later inked a deal with UPN. While the gridiron rumble was not scheduled to begin until February 2001, when the XFL would kick off in eight cities, many were already placing bets that McMahon's venture would be successful.

      Vincent Kennedy McMahon, Jr., was born on Aug. 24, 1945, in Pinehurst, N.C., the son of a wrestling promoter. In the 1970s he began working as a ringside announcer for his father's business, Capital Wrestling Corp. (later renamed the World Wrestling Federation), and in 1982 he bought the company. McMahon displayed a brash ambition and innate promotional ability that would become his trademark. Creating a unique blend of sports and entertainment, he added rock and roll, celebrities, and outrageously scripted matches, and he molded wrestlers into child-friendly stars. Outside the ring he lured performers away from rival companies and broke the long-standing regionalism of wrestling organizations as he took his eastern-based business national. Although McMahon made many enemies, his bold changes revolutionized the sport and moved it into the mainstream. WWF cable shows and live events were hits, and by the mid-1980s the WWF was the leading wrestling group.

      In the early 1990s McMahon encountered difficulties as the WWF was rocked by charges of steroid use and sexual misconduct. In addition, the National Wrestling Alliance (later bought by media magnate Ted Turner and renamed World Championship Wrestling [WCW]) experienced a resurgence, and its cable shows soon surpassed those of the WWF in numbers of viewers. McMahon responded by hiring new writers to create soap-opera story lines. Skimpily clad female wrestlers became prominent, as did “colourful language” (profanity) and “sign language” (obscene gestures). Although critics, parents in particular, complained of excessive sex and vulgarity, audiences roared their approval. By the late 1990s the WWF's programs, including Raw Is War and SmackDown!, had double the ratings of those of the WCW and dominated cable programming. McMahon had turned the WWF into a national obsession, complete with books, video games, action figures, magazines, and pay-per-view events, such as Wrestlemania. In 1999 he took the company public, raising $170 million in its initial offering.

Amy Tikkanen

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