The Most Important Figure In Wrestling History (Non-Wrestlers)

[The Crock]

There have been multitudes of influential and important people throughout wrestling history. People who have started their own promotions, toppled the competition, or just been damn good at their job. Out of all those people, guys like Verne Gagne, Sam Muchnick, Jim Crockett Jr., Vincent James McMahon, Vincent Kennedy McMahon, who is your choice?

My choice would have to be Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Vince McMahon revolutionized wrestling. McMahon created the biggest wrestling company, a mega-empire, that nobody can match. McMahon branched out from regional wrestling and territories and took it nationwide and eventually worldwide. He also created the most well-known wrestling event of all-time, WrestleMania. In 1999, McMahon made the WWE a publicly traded company in what may be one of his smartest moves ever. McMahon put WCW out of business and is one of the savviest businessmen in the world, and undoubtedly the greatest wrestling promoter ever. McMahon is credited for the rise of stars such as The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin, who are the wrestling's two greatest and most popular superstars of all time. During the Attitude Era, which was another idea that McMahon came up with, wrestling was drawing record ratings and profits, the likes of which had never been seen before. Vince McMahon has a spot of the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (the only wrestling personality that has received one), and is a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame, as well as the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Even though Vince McMahon's accolades are sky-high, this wasn't as easy of a decision as it seems. Sam Muchnick was a close second, as what he did for the NWA is amazing. He was NWA President for near 25 years, and he truly cared for wrestling. He did what was right for the entire NWA, not just his territory. He groomed countless champions and legends, such as Ric Flair, Harley Race, and Terry Funk. His St. Louis territory, while he was sole promoter, was the most successful territory in the United States. He is a member of the NWA Hall of Fame, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame, and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame.

What do you guys think?

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

It is incredibly hard to argue against Vincent Kennedy McMahon. McMahon was the man who made professional wrestling what it is today. He was the first person to go take his product to the masses worldwide and he was the winner of the Monday Night Wars. Hell, he's run a wrestling monopoly since 2001 that has gone largely unchallenged. Vince McMahon can be called many things, but these two thing are for certain:

He's a gambler and he's a survivor. He's the only wrestling promoter standing from the 80's and the 90's. Vince survived through taking gambles and as long as he does both, he's likely to continue to rule the wrestling world like he has done for so long. That's why Vincent Kennedy McMahon is the most important wrestling figure in a non-wrestling spot.

 

[FatGuyIan]

Depending on how you look at it, you could say that Ted Turner could be considered. With Turner selling the GCW timeslot to WWF, there is no Black Saturday. Without Black Saturday, there is no rise of WCW and therefore no Monday Night Wars. If there was no Monday Night Wars, the WWF would have continued to parade out the campy over the top characters that defined 1980s wrestling. Case in point, look at Undertaker circa 1991 and circa 1999. Two entirely different incarnations of the same character. That change, as well as the entire Attitude Era, is a direct correlation to the competitive drive for Vince to beat Ted Turner. Without Turner, the story likely would have remained the same and the WWE as we know it today would be no where near what it became.

 

[VencomHardcore]

I have several people who are very important but I know most young fans will overlook.

Ole Anderson - Why ? He was responsible for helping get African American wrestlers on the cards. Tony Atlas, SD Jones, Butch Reed, Rocky Johnson and others can thank their territory fame to him. He did what many promoters and bookers were afraid to do: Hire non white wrestlers and put them in title bouts or main events. And all of the above stars were main eventers BEFORE EVER coming to WWE/WCW. Exception : SD Jones , A legend that never has been given credit for being the first Black Wrestler in GCW under Ole Anderson.

Gary Hart - He is another person that revolutionized the historic Texas Wrestling Industry. The Von Erichs owe everything to the man that changed the style of WCCW. He brought the missing link, chris adams, kabuki, kamala , gino hernandez, jimmy garvin, precious and the Freebirds to texas. And every fan knows that the Von Erich / Freebird Fued is one of the greatest in history.

Gordon Solie - This man wrote the book on commentary.He knew how to tell a story and was a mentor to Jim Ross. Gordon was the voice of NWA and did alot of territory work. He made wrestling interesting, fun and really is the father of the modern style of commentary.

 

[Radical Canadian Goose]

Well, this post says "Non-Wrestlers" , and well hate to break it to you, Vince McMahon is a former champ, has "wrestled" quite a few matches and is constantly on TV. As much as I would love to say Vince is the most influential, I have to consider the facts. So, I have to vote for Ted Turner, he is the only one to have a semisuccessful feud with Vince

 

[Rckstrtmmy]

No question in my mind it's VK McMahon...theres really no arguing. Not only has he turned the WWE into the most dominating wrestling promotion in history behind the scenes but on camera as well. VKM is the BEST heel ever in the history of wrestling. Without his Mr. McMahon persona there would have been no Attitude era. There would have been no Stone Cold Steve Austin. Mr. McMahon was the ultimate heel because well, who was gonna stop him? McMahon made everyones fantasy come true when we got to watch Austin beat the shit out of his boss time and time again. The entire angle seemed so lifelike and visceral that the WWE literally blew up on the heels of it and Austin became the biggest draw in history of wrestling behind Hogan. So not only is VKM an absolutely incredible businessman with an incredible wrestling mind but he also created an on screen character that will go down in history. Find one other person that can make that claim.

(I know this is non wrestlers and McMahon was in matches, but if you call him a wrestler you're ******ed)

 

[apokalypse]

it's hard to against Vince McMahon, he's one of best promoter ever and one of greatest on screen heel "Mr McMahon" character. right now if Vince enter UFC/MMA he could have kill them due to WWE popularity, alot of UFC fans is ex-WWF/E fans thats why they getting hot today.

 

[Radical Canadian Goose]

Guess what, I was having some fun, I don't consider McMahon a wrestler, No need to pull ut the "R" word on me. Geez, administrators, I get flack for something way less offensive, but this guy can call me that, cmon get on the ball

 

[Aguilac]

Vince McMahon has wrestled sometimes, indeed. But this is something about a gimmick. McMahon innovated the business, created wrestlemania, RAW (a wrestling show with live angles and live action was a revolution). AND, after the montreal screwjob, McMahon earned a huge heat as a non-wrestler. And as a non-wrestler, he became a huge figure in real-life and in storylines.
Let me remind you people, that Vince Mcmahon was scheduled to have his in-ring debut in 1998 against Stone Cold Steve Austin. This moment was the first time WWF defeated WCW in ratings. This guy wrestles for the angles, no because hes a wrestler.

Ny choice for most important nonwrestler is Vincent Kennedy McMahon absolutely

 

[GameOver]

Vincent K McMahon hands down. he took the WWF and wrestling in general on the global stage in both Wrestling and so many aspects of Society in general and was a master business man

you can argue all you want about how they went about it but the facts remain, wrestling is global because of WWF and WrestleMania primarily. AWA/NWA were already trying to buy out the territories before Vince took over WWF, Vinnie Mac just actually succeded.

Even though WWE had split into "entertainment" based shows, wrestling is still there biggest draw

Also onscreen Vince K McMahon was the biggest onscreen player of all those choices as far as im concerned. Eric Bischoff has come close at times but he always seems a pussy when it comes down to it, and is shit on the mic

oh and on the Mic - Jim Ross takes the nod for best commentator and company man, he learned from the best and continued that legacy.

 

[Quoted For Emphasis]

Okay, since VKM seems to be the obvious and popular choice, i'm going to go off the board here.

Paul E. Heyman.​

I'm sure some of you are reading this going "HERPDERP NO WAI."
Hear me out.


Paul E. had the knowledge of wrestling like Vince Lombardi of football.

He understood what he had to do to make it to the top.

From starting in a nothing gig, to getting his first break at the Florida Wrestling Championship, to the AWA, to WCW, to Eastern Championship Wrestling, to ECW, to WWF as so on. He worked his way there, brilliantly on screen and off screen as a booker.

The only flaw that he has on his record is the downfall of ECW. Which, maybe not entirely his fault, has some of the blame.

The point is that he changed wrestling.
Flaming tables, barbed wire bats, etc etc.

He raised the bar to a new level with a poor TV gig and some "shady" talent problems with WCW.

Without Paul, wrestling would be different than if what he did with a wrestling ring and a few crazy performers put out for their product. Maybe we wouldn't of had such a violent "Attitude era" in the WWF. Maybe we wouldn't have had the infamous Invasion angle. Without Paul, things would have been very different.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

I really enjoy the creativeness and genius that Paul E. Heyman provided. A lot of genius booking... But I'm going to go with a different approach.

Jim Ross...

Good Ole JR. One of the best wrestling commentators next to Bobby "The Brain" Hennan.

So much knowledge. Always a great eye for talent, and knew what it took to get a guy over.

To see that guy become a head of Wrestling Operations for the WWE or some promotion would be great.

 

[scottl]

I just love questions like this.The yougin's on this board seem to only know of Attitude Era/Monday Night Wars forward.
There were plenty of behind the scene people in late 70's/early 80's who were laying the groundwork for what you have today.
Pro wrestling exploded in popularity in the 80's.The characters were bigger than life.The WWF characters were cartoonish and geared toward younger audiences.Hogans cartoon and Sarge Slaughter in GI Joe helped with this.Most other promotions you had brawlers and bullies vs. the good guys.
Saturday's you could watch CWA,AWA,WCCW,NWA,and WWF from time morning cartoons went off till your momma and daddy wanted to watch Hee Haw(I thank this show for my love of tig ole bitty's in a push-up bra) or the evening movie.Then advent of PPV's and closed circuit broadcasts.
Then you had Bill Apter and his magazines that helped sell the story you seen on TV.

Those who were behind all this,and I'm sure there are many,are the most important people in wrestling history.If not for all the little steps and big chances they all took there may not be a Stone Cold,The Rock,or John Cena to talk about today.They took wrestling from not much more than a circus side-show to main stream entertainment.

 

[safeco1999]

Well Vince McMahon, even before Mr. McMahon, was and IS the Wrestling Industry outside of Japan.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Jim Ross (and im not counting him as a wrestler). A bad announcer can ruin tv shows (i.e. Mike Tenay, that garbage). But Ross was great during the peak era, made some of the best calls ever, and was such an integrated part of Raw.

 

[paledarkhorse]

I would have to agree with Vince but Good Ol' JR is a close second cause as we see now with And I quote Boy that if you dont have someone who can get you into the action it just becomes boring at times. But without vince you'd have no mania no rumble heck Hogan wouldnt of become what he Is/was today cause you know he was the driving force behind that and austin wouldnt of been austin without mcmahon to feud with they played off each other so well. Paul E would be third though cause the stuff he got his wrestlers to do night after night was insane.

 

[GameOver]

Okay, since VKM seems to be the obvious and popular choice, i'm going to go off the board here.

Paul E. Heyman.​

I'm sure some of you are reading this going "HERPDERP NO WAI."
Hear me out.


Paul E. had the knowledge of wrestling like Vince Lombardi of football.

He understood what he had to do to make it to the top.

From starting in a nothing gig, to getting his first break at the Florida Wrestling Championship, to the AWA, to WCW, to Eastern Championship Wrestling, to ECW, to WWF as so on. He worked his way there, brilliantly on screen and off screen as a booker.

The only flaw that he has on his record is the downfall of ECW. Which, maybe not entirely his fault, has some of the blame.

The point is that he changed wrestling.
Flaming tables, barbed wire bats, etc etc.

He raised the bar to a new level with a poor TV gig and some "shady" talent problems with WCW.

Without Paul, wrestling would be different than if what he did with a wrestling ring and a few crazy performers put out for their product. Maybe we wouldn't of had such a violent "Attitude era" in the WWF. Maybe we wouldn't have had the infamous Invasion angle. Without Paul, things would have been very different.

Agreed that Paul E was inovative and caused change however WWF was a big commodity well b4 ECW was ever heard of and Paul E ran ECW into the ground with poor business decisions, had he been abit more flexible, ECW may still be alive and kicking.

 

[Quoted For Emphasis]

Agreed that Paul E was inovative and caused change however WWF was a big commodity well b4 ECW was ever heard of and Paul E ran ECW into the ground with poor business decisions, had he been abit more flexible, ECW may still be alive and kicking.

Absolutely it would. Man was a genius as a booker and on screen personality. His only flaw like I mentioned in the original post was that his business handling and deals is what did him in.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

I'm taking it that this thread is working on the premise of influence outside of the ring. The guy I'm going to suggest was a wrestler but I'm putting him forward for his non wrestling contributions.

Mitsuhiro Momota, better known as Rikidozan. This Korean created the pro wrestling phenomenon in Japan and while we talk about boom periods in the NWA/WWWF/WWF/WCW/WWe, there has never been anything close to the impact wrestling had on Japanese culture. Without this guy and his JWA there would have been no Giant Baba starting All Japan Pro-Wrestling or Antonio Inoki starting New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

 

[Next Jericho]

The most important figure in wrestling history that is a none wrestler would have to be easily Vince McMahon. Vince McMahon made guys like Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Undertaker, Rock, Hogan and Stevie Austin into what they are today and their is no doubting that. Vince McMahon also took over the biggest wrestling organisation one territory at a time and that organisation is the NWA which was the boss off wrestling federations in the 80's and before. Vince McMahon also got alot more people into wrestling by going global instead off staying regional so more people could watch the quiltys programming he was putting on so people in Europe, Canada and South America could watch WWF/E.