How WWE’s Vince McMahon Reinvented American Identity, Business and Politics

The WWE sports entertainment brand has always been true to itself. sometimes perfectly alienated and sometimes similar to ours with a satirical volume. It’s a universe where someone can be in two places at once. Especially someone like Vince McMahon. He was last mentioned in the company for the past four decades while also portraying McMahon.” whose on-screen appeal drew McMahon’s true reputation as the Lynchian’s chief villain. He lied to wrestlers about their matches. was involved in a petty business feud and was accused of abuse of power backstage. When facing allegations of sexual misconduct last summer He tweeted his resignation in July. and will return to the presidency only in January. But from all the past Little is known about the real Vince – his early life. His personal struggle – so far

For her new book, “Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America,” Abraham Josephine Riesman has spent the past three years visiting McMahon’s young North Carolina region to connect with friends. in his childhood (Many people don’t know. The “Vinny Lupton” they know is the billionaire they’ve been watching WWE for years.) She also interviewed dozens of people who knew him at WWE, compiling numerous tales about how. Where “Mr. McMahon” carries, Riesman interviewed The Times about McMahon’s self-invention, the diversion of the WWE, and the role it might play in threatening American democracy in the Trump era. The interview was edited to be lengthy and clear.

You mentioned in the book that before you started you hadn’t followed WWE for about 20 years. Was there any news event that inspired you to revisit it?

The beginning of this book was a conversation with my spouse about my second book. One of us said, “Vince McMahon,” and that was a really good idea. Most of them are just intuition. and find out why you have that intuition When I came up with this idea in 2020, Vince wasn’t in the news. When I started poking around, I realized that no one really did this. I didn’t have to look far to find that there are many interesting stories in Vince’s life. no controversy problem

Abraham Josephine Riesman’s latest book, “Ringmaster,” discovers the man behind WWE President Vince McMahon’s personality.

(SI Rosenbaum)

You’ve interacted with a lot of people since Vince’s early days, has anyone contacted them before?

Not at all. Almost everyone has never been asked about Vince. And, of course, no one has seen Vince lately. Vince walked out of North Carolina and never looked back. He decided that his childhood was what he wanted to bury. except for a short time At the turn of the millennium he will talk about (it), but all is distorted as it appears. It serves a purpose. He wanted to create Mr. McMahon’s personality. which at the time was one of his top priorities. He recounts the origins of this silly alternate character — from day one, but everyone I’ve spoken to, who’s known Vince since the sixth grade. until high school They said he was a good boy, friendly, well educated. He said that he was the first member of his military academy to be convicted by a military court; I couldn’t find any evidence of that.

It’s a really interesting dichotomy: You started your pro wrestling career in his military school. He is immensely proud of his professional wrestling career and the reason he hides is because he is interested in his professional wrestling career. He wanted people to think that he got into physical combat at such a young age and never stopped. as opposed to his introduction of combat as “Theatrical battle”

You’ve been researching WWE’s mainstream coverage for decades. Did you notice a change in his company presentation?

He definitely presents his company differently from time to time. The strange thing is that this type of media consumes all of it. What about wrestling? Because the end product was seen as “stupid”, people also thought the process had to be silly. And nothing could be further from the truth. The process of making wrestling is extremely cruel and unfair. And no one bothered to check that part. There was a time when the media turned to WWE, but it didn’t last forever.

Vince has provided a very different diet over the years. In the early ’90s, when he was hit with steroid scandals and other scandals, his response was a little vague. It was very different from today’s Vince, but in 1995 after his defeat. (Department of Justice) in federal steroid ruling There was a real change in that he was presenting the WWF (then) as a defiant and proud organization that would no longer accept criticism. “Come out to us,” and that slightly changed the public perception.

The idea that made WWE so popular at the turn of the millennium was “We don’t do anything vain. We’ll do anything.” When they become a confrontation, that’s when they become the most popular. Vince has overturned his company’s moral abilities many times. just like a wrestler And usually it works.

Are you surprised that Vince returns as cHairdresser in January?

I’m not surprised, no, I thought something would happen. I didn’t conclude in the book that he’s “not coming back.” The Vince McMahon era lasts as long as Vince kicks, which is probably a very long time. His mother lived to be 101 years old, and he was still the highest power there. I know he’ll be back

Two interviews in your book really surprised me. One was ‘WWF Women’s Championship 1980s Wendy Richter and one with WWF Gulf War-era villains. (and Saddam Hussein’s real-life friend) General AdnanIn the book, their feelings for Vince are warmer than expected. Do you find it challenging to separate truth from Kayfeb – Wrestling ring?

of course It’s wrestling! I did my best. If anything, it’s helpful to have a basic knowledge that everyone in wrestling is trying to “work” for you. I hope people will take my version of the research and build on it. i am a journalist I did my best And I have good intuition when it comes to working hard. I try to avoid anything that isn’t cross referenced. It’s a unique medium when lies are made public.

It’s also surprising to see how many political figures pop up in the book. We know about Vince’s longstanding friendship with Donald Trump, but also Ron DeSantis and Rick Santorum. It calls to mind the parallels between modern WWE and modern politics. Does wrestling influence modern politics or does it just reflect it?

This is a good question. I’m not trying to say It’s not “Vince McMahon Unmade America,” it’s “Vince McMahon and the Unmake of America.” Vince’s experience trained Trump to be the rally speaker he is. And there is a changeable reality strategy in his way. But I’m not trying to say that wrestling made politics what it is now. What I’m trying to say is that the model Vince used to seize power is the same one used to seize power in both politics and business. The theme of this book is You can’t understand politics right now. If you don’t understand “Kayfabe”

I don’t think anyone could argue after reading this book that wrestling is not a useful model for understanding what happens to the rest of society. when you say “I am a liar and a bad person” in today’s social structure. There are very few ways to punish that person. I want to see people like that stop talking. But it’s a harder proposition than checking the facts and saying, “You suck.” Unfortunately, that’s still a strategy for many. I think understanding how Vince succeeded is one of the first steps in understanding how those who want to fix this society can access those jobs.