Vince says he is nothing like “Mr. McMahon”, but his environment disagrees

In his statement condemning the Netflix documentary series in which he is the focus, Vince McMahon accused Mr McMahonThe makers of “The 4000” are taking “the predictable route of mixing the character ‘Mr. McMahon’ with my real self, Vince.”

The team behind the six-part show, which is available in its entirety on Netflix today (September 25), anticipated this criticism (or perhaps heard it from the now-disgraced former WWE chairman himself when he withdrew his support for the project). Mr McMahon In episode four, we examine the WWE’s Attitude Era for the umpteenth time, including perhaps the most famous feud in pro wrestling of all time – Stone Cold Steve Austin versus Mr. McMahon.

When asked by director Chris Smith what he has in common with the character of Mr. McMahon, Vince answers:

“The figure, Mr. McMahon, with me? Not at all.”

Then we cut to McMahon’s son Shane, who says:

“The character of Mr. McMahon is an extension of Vince McMahon, but completely exaggerated.”

Several other interviewees are then shown, all of whom seem to believe that Mr. McMahon is more than just an extension of their former boss.

Shawn Michaels: The difference between Mr. McMahon and Vince McMahon? Probably not that big. (laughs)

Hulk Hogan: Exactly the same person. That’s not far-fetched.

Bruce Prichard: The character of Mr. McMahon is actually just Vince. He’ll tell you otherwise – no. Mr. McMahon is Vince. A lot of the commercials and rants that have been thrown at other people have been thrown at me in real life. “Oh, I would never say that.” I would say, “Yes, you would. You told me so!”

Vince gets the chance to respond to Prichard’s opinion and laughs before we hear:

“I’m very, very passionate about our business, and sometimes that passion gets a little excessive. So I can probably go a little overboard.”

Before we go any further, let’s hear what Austin has to say about the man/character who helped him become the biggest star in the business at the turn of the century. Stone Cold’s answer most closely matches Shane’s, but neither agrees with Vince’s “not at all”:

“The character of Mr. McMahon is very similar to Vince the human, but of course, very exaggerated. The best characters in wrestling are guys who are down to the wire and have the volume turned up. What you saw of me as Stone Cold was me with the volume turned up, just like Vince.”

Given the way fans, critics and the media have re-examined WWE storylines in the wake of the disturbing allegations in Janel Grant’s sex trafficking trial against Vince, the company he once ran and one of his key deputies (along with Prichard) John Laurinaitis, it is understandable that he would not want Mr McMahon to “merge” him with his character.

But if you’ve been following WWE long enough, you don’t even need to watch the Netflix docuseries to form your own opinion on the matter. We doubt we’re the only ones who have an opinion like Michaels, Hogan, and Prichard.