Lee looks at the families of wrestling

[Lee]

Ok there are a lot of things that keeps the world going round, but the tie that is never broken is that of family. In pro wrestling there are quite a few of these knocking about, so I thought I'd take a look at some of them. My aim is to do one a day and I'll keep this completly kayfabe (for example I'll do the Dudleys at some point even though they're not a real family!)

So I will start today with the family that everyone loves to hate...the McMahons.

The McMahons started as a wrestling family in 1925 when Jess McMahon started promoting wrestling, this went to his son Vince in 1954 which in turn went to his son Vince in 1982.

Rodrick 'Jess' McMahon was born in 1880 and dies in 1954...In that time he stuck at the US North East and kick started the legacy of the McMahons. he married Rose and had three kids.

It is Vincent J. McMahon that was to carry on the family professional wrestling name. He took what Jess had done and grew it at a phenomenal rate, forming the WWWF. He was also the first promoter to put wrestling on TV. He is in the WWE hall of fame.

Vincent Kennedy McMahon shaped the business to what it is today, through ending the territories, going main stream, Hulkamania, the attitude era to being a promoter actively on TV. He's also a former WWE and ECW champion.

Linda McMahon has done shit laods backstage being president and CEO among others. She also is very active in the charity work, and has appeared a number of times on TV.

Shane McMahon former European and Hardcore champion Shane has held his own in the ring, as well as refereeing he currently oversees International Television Distribution, Live Event bookings, Digital Media, Consumer products, and Publishing.

Stephanie McMahon aaah stephanie, how I loved thee when I was 14! A former womans champion Steph again has done well in the ring, but it's her backstage roles that have had the impact. She's the vice president of Creative Development and operations. She's married to non other than....

Paul Levesque aka Triple H, aka the game aka 13 time champion Triple H...there is no denying that he is one of the top in WWE, and this isn't because of his love for the girl with the amzing breasts!

So guys...what is your thoughts on the McMahon clan?

 

[Phoenix]

Well if you're going to first think about Wrestling, then this is the one name you will surely come around first. McMahon and Wrestling are bread and butter, they will always go together. They are no doubt the biggest legends of wrestling and the first lot to do it to be recognised outside of working the ring (until the late 90s). Essentially the McMahons put wrestling on the map, I mean it goes back to Greek times, but these were the promoting family that provided more recognition for it and giving it life for the past century.

Vince McMahon Senior is the legend that laid the foundations to do it all and his son is the one that finished the job. Both were geniuses at running business and VKM did the unthinkable by buying out his father's company and taking it internationally. He did things to fight against other companies, he outlasted his biggest rivalry and is still going today. I don't think anyone can accomplish what the two Vinces have done to wrestling and somehow everything has worked greatly on a family front for the McMahons, he's got a wife who backs him and 2 out of his 3 children have backed him and look to carry on the business.

Where Vince might be losing his touch these days as he's getting older, he's untouchable with the wrestling world. Where he may be in his own mind and world of sports entertainment and kayfabe, you can't deny that the McMahon family made wrestling what it is today!

 

[The Todd]

The McMahon's are wrestling. I believe without them, this forum wouldn't be going. It was Vince Snr who got wrestling on tv giving it more exposure. It was Vince who abolished the territory system and went national and then global. NWA/WCW followed on from Vince's lead. If it was still small territories in the US I am sure plenty of people on here would still be fans of them and follow them closely but for many it was the entertainment side of wrestling that they got invested into, certainly I was one of the latter. Vince brought this about.

The McMahon's will continue to control wrestling for many years down the line. Shane, Stephanie and Paul Levesque know the company inside out and will be more than ready to take over from Vince and Linda. The Mcmahon's and wrestling go together and will continue to do so for many years in the future.

 

[Lee]

Well guys it's time for my second look at the families of professional wrestling....With that it's time to go black and pink for the Hart family.

At tthe head of the family we have Stu and Helen Hart...they in turn seemed to be VERY busy and had 12 kids;

Taken from wiki;

1. Smith (born 1949), former professional wrestler.
2. Bruce (born 1951), a wrestler.
3. Keith (born 1952), wrestler and firefighter
4. Wayne (born 1953), wrestling referee
5. Dean (1954-1990), Canadian professional wrestler, referee
6. Ellie (born 1955), married the wrestler Jim Neidhart
7. Georgia (born 1956), married the wrestler and firefighter B.J. Annis.
8. Bret (born 1957), a former WWF and WCW wrestler.
9. Alison (born 1959), married to wrestler Ben Bassarab
10. Ross (born 1961), wrestling producer and part-time wrestler
11. Diana (born 1963), married to wrestler Davey Boy Smith
12. Owen (1965-1999), WWF wrestler.

Then we have the In laws;

British Bulldog
Dynamite kid was Brets in law through his wife.
Jim Neidhart

The new generation;
Natalyia Neidhart
DH Smith
Teddy Hart

Now that's one hell of a family, the impact these guys have had an wrestling is amazing, whether it's Bret, Owen and davey boy in the the WWF, or if it's Stu training every damn canadian wrestler who's good...these guys really had an impact.

Add to that the future with the Hart dynasty...this is a name that will go down for generation to generation in teh wrestling world.

 

[Milkyway!]

The Hart Foundation was a very efficent wrestling team, straight out of Canada. They reigned, in the wrestling world, as Canada's golden boys even to this day. They were always very strong on the mic, and even stronger inside the ring. I keep The British Bulldogs in my top 5 best tag teams ever for the simple fact of how strong they were in the ring.

While the Harts never really had many accomplishments together (I think they had like a total of 6 tag title reigns) Each one in their own right had great singles career, and that really made the stable strong. I would have expected MANY more great things out of the Harts, if only the Screwjob didn't happen, and Owen/Smith didn't die. This team would have impacted the wrestling world shittons more than what they actually did, in my opinion.

The new incarnation of the Harts is growing slowly. I would expect them to be one of the most credible teams in the world, if only they could get Bret Hart to come back and manage them. He would make a great mouthpiece, and the reign of the Harts would rise once again. Either way, I expect great things from the Harts.