McMahon is one of the most influential figures in modern history that no one wants to acknowledge.
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Managing Editor
Vince McMahon is an almost mythical figure to many professional wrestling fans, and even perhaps to those who may not like his brand of “sports entertainment.”
While his antics on television and even in the boardroom are widely accessible public knowledge, the private musings and daily activities of McMahon have largely remained a mystery, even after this last year when the 77 year old monopolizer was briefly forced into exile over various misconduct allegations. While many figures in the industry have told their own personal stories about him over the years, no one has ever truly dove into McMahon’s personal interests, and he’s only talked extensively about his childhood once over the years in a rare candid Playboy interview from 2001.
Among other topics discussed in “RINGMASTER,” author Abraham Josephine Reisman does what no journalist has ever been able to do: they expose McMahon’s lies in that Playboy interview, explaining how he took significant amounts of creative liberty when sharing his past. McMahon didn’t have the greatest childhood, and Reisman makes the case that his childhood definitively shaped who he was to become as a person in all of the wrong ways. But through extensive research, Reisman tracked down several notable figures from McMahon’s pre-wrestling past who are somehow still alive, and they all say that McMahon was not nearly the rebel he always has proclaimed to be.
The revelations on McMahon’s upbringing already help the book stand out from your typical professional wrestling tale. But there is plenty of wrestling business itself discussed. If the reader is a fan of the industry, much of this information may not be groundbreaking news, even if it has a fresh coat of paint attached to it. But for those relatively unexposed to the business, it is an eye-opening look into the formations and continuous survival of McMahon’s empire through all of its highest highs and lowest lows.
Admittedly, one of the book’s biggest shortcomings is the fact that it arguably stops a bit too early. The main narrative of RINGMASTER stops in June of 1999, although there is a lengthy coda that covers everything after that. A lot of this may have to do with the sources that Resiman was able to accumulate, many of whom worked for McMahon during his initial rise to power. For example, the circumstances around the infamous “Montreal Screwjob” incident of 1997 warrant an entire chapter, and while that event has arguably been analyzed to death, screwee Bret Hart was a major source for the book, speaking with Reisman for over 8 hours of interviews. Many sources in the current era of the business did not wish to speak to Resiman, and those who did were not willing to say anything to make McMahon look bad despite evidence of his misdeeds.
Arguably, McMahon’s most insane and noteworthy exploits (both in real life and on camera) took place post-1999. Perhaps if Reisman wants to expand further on McMahon and the events covered in the coda, there can be a second book, as it doesn’t appear as if McMahon will ever stop giving him new material to explore.
A recurring person of interest in RINGMASTER, of course because he seems to wind up everywhere, is Donald Trump. Trump and McMahon have a noted history of doing business together dating back to the fourth annual WrestleMania that was held at one of Trump’s casinos, and that relationship seems to remain strong today, with the book revealing that Trump always took Vince McMahon’s calls in private during his time in the Oval Office. Not to mention, Vince’s wife Linda has worked directly for Trump in the past, even serving as a member of his Presidential Cabinet.
Resiman has told readers of this book that he wants people to see the rise of American fascism through the lens of “kayfabe” [fake and made up stories] and be better able to resist it. That’s a daunting task, and Resiman may not have been able to fully accomplish that feat. But what Resiman delivers is a fresh, much needed look at one of America’s longest employed, and shockingly perseverant businessmen. Not many people take professional wrestling very seriously, and RINGMASTER makes the case for why you should.
