A lot has been said about Vince McMahon over
the years.
Some think he’s the best mind the wrestling
business has ever seen, while others think
he ruined the industry by monopolising the
territories and his competition.
He’s the mad genius behind Hulkamania, the
rise of Stone Cold Steve Austin and John Cena,
but also The Invasion, Naked Mideon and The
Dicks.
But while all of that is etched into history,
some stories remain only in the realm of rabid
speculation.
I am Luke Owen and these are some of the craziest
conspiracy theories about Vince McMahon.
Vince created the nWo
The nWo was one of the most legendary factions
in the history of professional wrestling.
Their debut was huge, and shook the wrestling
landscape.
Kevin Nash and Scott Hall had performed for
Vince in the WWF as Diesel and Razor Ramon,
but jumped ship to WCW when Eric Bischoff
was given more control and started offering
big money contracts.
“I was all about money then.
The first year was $1.2 million [for] 120
days.
Back then, guys were maybe making that money
for Vince but you were working 300 days for
it.”
- Scott Hall.
“Monday Night War”, August 26th, 2014
Nash and Hall debuted in WCW as The Outsiders,
with the insinuation they had been sent by
Vince and the WWF to kill WCW.
This was furthered when Hulk Hogan joined
the team at Bash of the Beach 1996 to form
the New World Order, along with former 123-Kid
Sean Waltman and The Million Dollar Man Ted
Dibiase - all former WWF stars.
Several conspiracies theorists claim this
was actually what was going on behind-the-scenes
- believing Hall and Nash didn’t go to WCW
for the money, but instead to destroy Vince’s
rival promotion from the inside, allowing
WWF to rule supreme once again!
This theory does fall down, though, when you
that consider the rise of the nWo put more
eyes on the WCW product in 1996 and 1997,
became the hottest thing in wrestling and
nearly destroyed Vince’s WWF in the process.
Vince Russo was sent to WCW
Sticking to a similar theme, only this time
with former WWF head writer Vince Russo.
Russo had been a huge part of the creative
direction throughout 1997, 1998 and 1999 including
the feud between Stone Cold Steve Austin and
Vince McMahon, the rise of The Rock, Undertaker’s
Ministry of Darkness and D-Generation X’s
second run.
In interviews Russo has said he left WWF in
the summer of 1999 because he felt the addition
of a second show called Smackdown would water
down his creative juices.
“I was burnt out and didn't appreciate Vince
adding Smackdown without a heads-up or help.
Vince was adding a show that would bring in
millions of dollars in revenue and our salary
did not go up one cent.”
- Vince Russo, WrestlingInc, June 4th, 2014
When Russo jumped to WCW, the company was
on the downturn.
Ratings had declined from the 1997 and 1998
heyday, and PPV buyrates were suffering.
As a result, management felt Eric Bischoff
needed to be replaced with the man who - they
thought - created the Attitude Era.
Russo’s run, though, was less than stellar.
Titles constantly changed hands, stupid storylines
ran wild, and he made David Arquette - and
himself - World Heavyweight Champion.
His plans and ideas didn’t work, and WCW’s
ratings and PPV buyrates sank further and
further before he was sent home.
So why would the head writer of the number
one promotion in the world jump to the number
two and then book an unpopular b-movie actor
to win their world championship?
Conspiracy theorists claim Vince McMahon sent
Russo to be bad on purpose, so they could
put the final nails in WCW’s coffin.
If this were true, though, you’d expect
Russo to return to the WWF when WCW was purchased.
He did briefly in 2002, but his ideas were
so poorly received he was demoted from Head
of Creative to a work-at-home consultant,
a role he quickly left to go and work with
TNA.
Maybe Vince is trying to kill them too!
Vince killed ECW
Vince McMahon funding Extreme Championship
Wrestling had been a long-running rumour in
the wrestling world.
It explained why Vince gave Paul Heyman and
his company airtime on Monday Night Raw to
promote their upcoming PPV in 1997, and how
ECW stayed in business despite constantly
verging on bankruptcy.
Heyman himself has since confirmed this, revealing
WWF paid ECW’s parent company $1,000 a week
until they folded in 2001, as well as a half-million
loan in 2000.
“In July of 2000, I had a meeting with Vince
about, 'what do we do here?'
And he said, 'what would help your company
the most?'
My answer was pretty bluntly, 'I'm pretty
behind on payroll - a $500,000 loan would
help me through this PPV and help me last
the summer.
And he gave ECW a $500,000 loan.”
- Wrestlers Talking Sense, Aug 30, 2016
ECW was in a quandary in 2000 and 2001.
They were too big to be a small-time company,
but too small to expand to compete with WCW
and WWF.
That opportunity did arise when Dusty Rhodes
called Tommy Dreamer about doing an ECW invasion
in World Championship Wrestling.
“I said, 'Paul this could help save the
company'.
And he said, 'no Vince will go crazy'.
And I was like, 'who the f*** cares what Vince
wants?'
Right then and there, I felt something was
up.”
Tommy Dreamer, Steve Austin Unleashed Ep 132,
July 2014
In March 2001, WWF won the Monday Night War
when Vince purchased WCW.
A few weeks earlier, ECW had closed its doors
and Paul Heyman walked into a job at WWF as
a commentator on Monday Night Raw.
And this is where the conspiracy theory comes
in.
Some believe that because Vince had Paul in
his back pocket from WWF funding of ECW, he’d
asked Heyman to foreclose ECW so they could
do the Invasion angle.
The accepted narrative is that ECW couldn’t
afford to stay open, but Tommy Dreamer argues
otherwise.
"I felt he gave up.
I stayed in ECW longer than the owner…
ECW didn't have to go out of business.
I had saved the company.
I had millions of dollars offered to me, but
they didn't want Paul running the show.
" - Tommy Dreamer, Steve Austin Unleashed
Ep 132, July 2014
The Screwjob was a “work”
The Montreal Screwjob is one of the most famous
stories in the history of professional wrestling.
Everyone knows it, and everyone has their
own thoughts on who was in the right, and
who was in the wrong.
If you’re not aware of the story, here’s
a quick recap.
Bret was WWF champion and didn’t want to
drop the belt in Canada.
Bret was also going to WCW.
Vince didn’t want Bret to leave with the
belt in fear he’d drop it in the trash like
Medusa did with the Women’s Championship
two years earlier.
So Vince changed the finish of Survivor Series
and had Earl Hebner call for the bell when
Shawn Michaels put Bret in the Sharpshooter,
declaring HBK the new WWF Champion - all without
telling The Hitman.
Bret spat on Vince, punched him backstage
and went to the competition.
But the question is, was it all a work?
Vince McMahon soon became an onscreen character
following Survivor Series 1997, and turned
into the company’s biggest heel in 1998
to feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin.
This was the rivalry that turned the tide
for WWF in their war against WCW.
Not only that, but all of Bret and Vince’s
backstage discussions were filmed for the
documentary Wrestling With Shadows - which
had an unprecedented amount of access behind-the-scenes.
Vince made money, Bret made money, and WWF
didn’t lose anything when their top star
went to the rival company.
But it’s not just the tinfoil hat brigade
who reckon it was all a work; a few wrestlers
believe in the conspiracy too:
“It was all a work.
I don't believe all that.
I'm sorry.
Maybe it was true, maybe it wasn't.
Vince, I didn't bite.
You didn't catch me.”
- Road Dogg, RF Shoot Interview, 2005
“When they showed the whole f***ing deal,
and they showed Vince come out with his hair
messed up and selling the punch.
Anyone who knows Vince knows he doesn't sell
three years of the federal government up his
f***ing ass, he doesn't sell spinal fusion,
he didn't sell a double quad injury, but he's
going to sell a punch he got from one of his
boys backstage on f****** film?
Come on.”
- Kevin Nash, Title Match Wrestling, Feb 18,
2014
“I still think it was a work.
No way does Vince let anyone [write WCW] in
the air like Bret did.”
- Scott Hall, YouShoot, 2015
“What really smells is that Bret let Shawn
put him in his own finisher in the first place.
I think that work was so compartmentalised
that the guys in on it don't even know who
else is in on it.”
- Sean Waltman, Breaking Kayfabe with Sean
"X-Pac" Waltman, 2012
Whether it was a work or not, Bret Hart wouldn’t
return to WWE until 2010 on an episode of
Monday Night Raw, an episode that - coincidentally
- was going up against a live episode of TNA
Impact.
Make of that what you will.
Want to know 8 wrestlers who hate each other
in real life?
And what was the real reason Batista left
WWE in 2006?
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I’ve been Luke Owen and that, was a list.
