PLOT: WWE experienced record-breaking highs and crushing lows under Vince McMahon’s leadership and the mogul’s controversial reign.
REVIEW: When you think about Professional Wrestling, the images of Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, and Stone Cold Steve Austin likely spring to the forefront. Yet arguably the most important person in the history of the business is former WWE owner Vincent Kennedy McMahon Jr. Through his Mr. McMahon character, he was able to become the most villainous figure in all of wrestling. But it turns out that villainous persona wasn’t far off from the real-life man. Bill Simmons takes aim at it all in his Netflix documentary, Mr. McMahon.
What started as a puff piece about the CEO of the company became a different monster entirely after allegations surfaced against Vince in 2022. The documentary had actually already been completed, only for them to have to add additional material based on the allegations. And honestly, had this controversy not happened, Mr. McMahon would have been the most vanilla doc possible. There are some brutal talking points but the rest can be a bit of a slog to get to them. Rather than a doc focused on Vince, it really shifts into telling the history of WWE more often than not. Some of it is necessary as the viewer needs context for the depraved stuff happening behind the scenes by showing the depraved stuff happening on screen. But as a lifelong wrestling fan, it mostly feels old hat.
The doc establishes early that Vince is an unreliable narrator but that could be said for most in the wrestling world. Notorious overindulger, Hulk Hogan continues his streak of fibbing about events, then nonchalantly talking about how he destroyed a possible wrestling union. He just can’t seem to get the carny out of him. The same could be said of most of the talking heads, who have a history of falsely portraying events. They are wrestlers after all. The line between reality and kayfabe has always been a bit complicated.
One of the most disturbing moments comes when discussing the first ever women’s referee Rita Chatterton (known as Rita Marie in the ring). She had accused Vince of rape in the 80s, which sadly never went anywhere. But it’s very telling that, on camera, Vince says “It wasn’t rape… But if I had, the statute of limitations has run out.” Combine that with the episode stinger that stated, after the statute of limitations for rape had time passed removed, Chatterton sued again—this time Vince settled for millions. Certainly points towards a bit of guilt. Then the Janel Grant allegations are enough to make my stomach turn over.
Anyone who has been paying attention to the world of professional wrestling over the last twenty years isn’t going to be too shocked by the revelations in Mr. McMahon. The first five episodes go over basic info that has been floating around wrestling forums for years. But those on the outside of that world are certainly going to be in for a storm of information. It isn’t until episode 6 that we finally get into the new allegations against McMahon. Given that these haven’t been the subject matter of countless documentaries like the other incidents, this is where the most intrigue lies in the entire documentary. The allegations are truly horrendous. And it’s really the one episode that’s essential viewing.
As a big wrestling fan, this documentary feels more like an attempt to bring the general public up to speed on the crazy stuff McMahon has done over the years. But any hardcore wrestling fan is already going to know the information presented here. It’s well-produced and edited, but the info is mostly the same as we’ve been hearing for decades. If anything, if any of these stories interest you, I’d recommend looking into them further as there are other docs that go fully into these tragedies in more detail. Mr. McMahon is a mostly surface level at an ego-maniac, intent on power and control. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an additional episode in a few years with all the fallout from the many lawsuits against McMahon. Because this is clearly just the beginning of THAT story.
MR. MCMAHON IS STREAMING ON NETFLIX ON SEPTEMBER 25TH, 2024.
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