Vince Mcmahon - The genius

[hellod245]

Hi guys , I am back with my series of threads on Vince Mcmahon. In last thread we talked about Vince Mcmahon 'the employer' and some people called him a good one and some called him a bad employer. Now this is my second thread in the series and we are going to talk about the genius businessman Vince Mcmahon is.

Vince Mcmahon bought all the rights of wwe (WWF) from his father in 1980. That time the company was not in great position. Everyone was struggling to make their shows succesful. They were surely one of the most succesful wrestling organisation even at that time in usa but that sucess was nothing compared to what he achieved few years later. Vince's first big business decision was to expand the organisation from a regional territory to form a national company. He on the way had destryoed many regional small companies by getting the rights of national tv and expanding its viewers at a national level. After the sucess of this move he hired Hulk Hogan after his father fired him years before. Then he and Hogan together took a step ahead and created wrestlemania which has become an epic and is most sucessful show in wrestling history. During 80's and 90 wwf used to be family show with no coarse language and foul signs. After the huge threat from WCW Vince made another brilliant business decisin and decided to to edgy and more adult oriented. We all know that this move saved wwf from getting out of the business. Post attitude era he made another decision to go back as family friendly company and went from TV 14 to PG. Say whatever you want to say but this is another brilliant business decision. This is for sure not a popular decision among all the attitude era fans but businees wise its a good decision. Vince trying to improve company's image in general media by going family friendly.

Besides being a brilliant businessman , Vince is genius to recognise talents and push the right people to the moon. Vince recognised the talent in Hulk Hogan and he hired him back immediately when he took over the company. Later when WCW fired Mark Callaway (The Undertaker) he jumped on the oppotunity and created one of the greatest gimmick of all time in as The Undertaker to benefit from the expression less face of him. He saw the marvellous wrestler in shawn Micheals and Bret Hart and pushed them really hard as the face of the company inspite of them being small. He knew that they would make money for the company and he was right. He then saw the crowd reaction after one line (Austin 3:16 say I just whopped your ass) and decided to push him to the moon. This was the move that saved company from getting out of the business in late 90's. He hired great talents like Steve Austin, Chris jericho, Mick Foley, Brian Pillman, HHH, Benoit, Eddie guerrero and many more from WCW which were either fired from there or were doing nothing. Post attitude era he recognise another talent in John Cena and made him face of the company and he has become one of the top superstar in terms of merchandise sales of all time. This is my favorite quality that I like about Vince. He can recognise talent underneath someone. Its being reported that he is going to push The Miz in future as a face of the company and I am sure he will be right in that decision too.

Vince also made some brilliant creative decision and one of them was going on screen as Mr Mcmahon charactor after Montreal screwjob. This awesome move not only made Austin what he was but also put base to some other brilliant storylines.

I guess most of you will agree with me on Vince being a genuis as a businessman. He has all my respect as a businessman. He surely ruined wrestling a bit by going PG or by breaking keyfabe to the public in late 90's because now everybody knows that wrestling is scripted. He made some really bad decision as well like, XFL, Fall for brawl etc. But he still is a genius.
Your thoughts :

 

[WWEWrestleFest]

He's not a genius. Sure, he's rich and successful, but that doesn't make him a genius. Is every rich, successful guy a genius? I don't think so.

A lot of what made him so successful was unethical, and a lot of is was just pure luck. I'm at work right now and don't have time to get into this in detail, but I'll type it out when I get home.

 

[Krobra]

I have to agree with you there. Many see Vince as the devil employer that will make your life hell if you work for him, and TNA are constantly taking shots at Vince and the WWE. Everyone makes mistakes, that's just our nature. We all are flawed, that includes the WWE. But Vince worked his ass off to give us the WWE today and brought wrestling to a whole new level.

It will be a sad day when Vince retires, probably by result of death because I don't see him ever giving up the chairman position until he does die. Until then, we should enjoy what he has given us. And the only reason why the WWE is PG right now is because of Linda McMahon's senate run and to bring in the younger audience. Personally, I think that is a much needed move.

 

[Ultra Awesome]

Vince McMahon is a genius, I agree, when it comes to making profit that is. While he did hire a bunch of talent that was formerly WCW and made them into stars, he also managed to purchase WCW all together along with ECW. He eliminated the competition. That left him with the Monopoly of wrestling (for a while anyways until TNA). So what does this mean? All the people that follow wrestling can only spend their money on WWE/F because their is no other wrestling business to compete with the E (excluding Mexican wrestling leagues).

His greatest achievement (business wise) however, was the PG era. Now before everyone starts ridiculing me, here me out. When Vince McMahon made the switch to PG he opened a new door to a new generation of fans...the kids. The Attitude Era had served its purpose (eliminate the competition). The post Attitude Era was the transaction to the PG Era. Vince understands the fact that a parent will most likely spoil their children and buy them what ever it is that they desire. If the WWE became more of a kids' show, than obviously more kids would start watching it. Thus, more and more families would be brought along the WWE Boat (During the Atttude Era, there would be parents that would not let their children watch wrestling because it was too "extreme"). This was a sure fire plan, and it worked (The only downfall is that older viewers would start to dislike or hate what is becoming of the thing we love to watch). The WWE has been more profitable than in recent years.

Sure, you might say that the ppv's aren't doing so good, or that PG has damaged the WWE's reputation (In fact, I myself hate the PG era). But the merchandise does not stop selling. More and more children want to dress like their heroes (Cena). So what do they do? They buy Cena gear. Shirts, wrist bands, hats, and now even foam finger hands.

Vince McMahon knows how to make money (make people mad to the same time). And he will take any chance he can get to make some dough. So therefore, I agree that Business wise, Vince IS a true GENIUS.

 

[Ferbian]

Yep I would say Vince is pretty much a genius. He has accomplished to create the biggest wrestling promotion ever. He has a dominant market around the world with millions of weekly viewers. If you don't call someone a business genius in that manner, then I really don't know what you call it. Vince had a vision from the start, and he managed to make it into a reality.

Vince has been the brain behind a lot of the biggest things in wrestling. Hulk Hogan's gimmick was created by Vince, sure Hogan was over by himself, but Vince created him. The same goes for Austin, The Rock and numerous other characters in ways that he created the gimmicks for them (Perhaps with a bit of input from others, but nonetheless he's been a part of it all).

WWE has millions under it's name. It's a publicly shared company, and Vince is benefiting from pretty much all of it. So that solidifies yet another way that Vince is simply a genius in many thinkable ways.

 

[Tyler44]

His dedication and business decisions onto making the company to what it is alone makes him a genius.

But regarding character pushes and discovering talent, that can be hit or miss. It's more of the talent's job to create who they are more than Vince's, he just gave them the chance. If the talent is a success, that makes the guy who gave them the chance look good, but if the talent is a bust and unsuccessful, both are to blame and then that is forgotten easily. But in Vince's case, he had more success than busts, and the success was huge. Yes he got lucky with the Undertaker, HBK, Bret Hart, Austin, the Rock, etc. But think about it, Vince did not create what people remember them for. He gave them the opportunity. Any one of us could of signed these guys and gave them the chance. Vince obviously influenced their gimmicks, but he should not be crowned a genius because of this. These superstars made themselves who they are. HBK's in ring performance made him who he is, the Undertaker's ability to pull off the gimmick made him who he is, the Rock's promo skills and entertainment skills made him who he is, etc. Vince gave them the opportunity and may of influenced the gimmick and ideas, but the performers are the ones who made their name's known. Bottom line, I do not classify Vince a genius because of the building of superstars, that goes 10% Vince of giving them the shot and gimmick, but 90% the performer to pull it off.

 

[hellod245]

Vince McMahon is a genius, I agree, when it comes to making profit that is. While he did hire a bunch of talent that was formerly WCW and made them into stars, he also managed to purchase WCW all together along with ECW. He eliminated the competition. That left him with the Monopoly of wrestling (for a while anyways until TNA). So what does this mean? All the people that follow wrestling can only spend their money on WWE/F because their is no other wrestling business to compete with the E (excluding Mexican wrestling leagues).

His greatest achievement (business wise) however, was the PG era. Now before everyone starts ridiculing me, here me out. When Vince McMahon made the switch to PG he opened a new door to a new generation of fans...the kids. The Attitude Era had served its purpose (eliminate the competition). The post Attitude Era was the transaction to the PG Era. Vince understands the fact that a parent will most likely spoil their children and buy them what ever it is that they desire. If the WWE became more of a kids' show, than obviously more kids would start watching it. Thus, more and more families would be brought along the WWE Boat (During the Atttude Era, there would be parents that would not let their children watch wrestling because it was too "extreme"). This was a sure fire plan, and it worked (The only downfall is that older viewers would start to dislike or hate what is becoming of the thing we love to watch). The WWE has been more profitable than in recent years.

Sure, you might say that the ppv's aren't doing so good, or that PG has damaged the WWE's reputation (In fact, I myself hate the PG era). But the merchandise does not stop selling. More and more children want to dress like their heroes (Cena). So what do they do? They buy Cena gear. Shirts, wrist bands, hats, and now even foam finger hands.

Vince McMahon knows how to make money (make people mad to the same time). And he will take any chance he can get to make some dough. So therefore, I agree that Business wise, Vince IS a true GENIUS.

I totally agree with you. Since even I dont personally like the PG era but I think this was a good business move to be made. Vince is trying to establish pre wrestling in mainstream media to get more publicity and more viewers and going family freindly was the only way to do that. So now parents are ready to accept wwe as a family show and everyone can say that its a more safe place to work ot watch because it is not extreme anymore. Cena is as same as what Hogan was in 80's.

 

[sTyLnK]

Wrestling was very family oriented back in the day. After the Attitude Era ended, people lost interest in wrestling. Vince was an absolute genius for switching back to the family friendly wrestling again. It reaches out to more people worldwide and with the ban of chair shots to the head and doing much less hardcore things the wrestlers can preserve their bodies longer. In the end their health is very important. That's the way I see it anyways. Some people might disagree and miss that sort of thing but not me.

 

[hellod245]

His dedication and business decisions onto making the company to what it is alone makes him a genius.

But regarding character pushes and discovering talent, that can be hit or miss. It's more of the talent's job to create who they are more than Vince's, he just gave them the chance. If the talent is a success, that makes the guy who gave them the chance look good, but if the talent is a bust and unsuccessful, both are to blame and then that is forgotten easily. But in Vince's case, he had more success than busts, and the success was huge. Yes he got lucky with the Undertaker, HBK, Bret Hart, Austin, the Rock, etc. But think about it, Vince did not create what people remember them for. He gave them the opportunity. Any one of us could of signed these guys and gave them the chance. Vince obviously influenced their gimmicks, but he should not be crowned a genius because of this. These superstars made themselves who they are. HBK's in ring performance made him who he is, the Undertaker's ability to pull off the gimmick made him who he is, the Rock's promo skills and entertainment skills made him who he is, etc. Vince gave them the opportunity and may of influenced the gimmick and ideas, but the performers are the ones who made their name's known. Bottom line, I do not classify Vince a genius because of the building of superstars, that goes 10% Vince of giving them the shot and gimmick, but 90% the performer to pull it off.

Obviously vince is not the only one to be credited for some wrestler's sucess. But think about it what if Vince chose someone else than mar Callaway to play Undertaker. That would have been a failure. Vince saw his tapes of wrestling woth no expression on his face with no emotion showing and this was the main reason he was fired from there. Vince saw it as opportunity to use someone who was unique and productive. Why didnt WCW create Undertaker because they did not have the ability to recognise talent underneath someone. No one else could play Mankind's charactor better than Mick Foley. Bret and shawn were given opportunity at the time when only big guys were considered to be on top. Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, randy savage, Undertaker, Diesel, harly Race, Dustin Rhodes all of them were huge as compared to HBK and Bret Hart but Vince knew that they could become the face of the company and will pull it off and they did. What if Vince never gave them oppotunity by thinking that they are not huge so they should be in mid card forever. But no he thought over it and they carried the company from 1991 to 1997. There are other lot of examples where Vince made the right decision to push right talent. He surely missed some chances like he should have made Jericho champion in early 2000 whan he was way over and even could become face of the company at the time but Vince realised his mistake and made him first ever undisputed champion. So he is a genius in a way to chose right people for the right role and push them.

 

[Tyler44]

Obviously vince is not the only one to be credited for some wrestler's sucess. But think about it what if Vince chose someone else than mar Callaway to play Undertaker. That would have been a failure. Vince saw his tapes of wrestling woth no expression on his face with no emotion showing and this was the main reason he was fired from there. Vince saw it as opportunity to use someone who was unique and productive. Why didnt WCW create Undertaker because they did not have the ability to recognise talent underneath someone. No one else could play Mankind's charactor better than Mick Foley. Bret and shawn were given opportunity at the time when only big guys were considered to be on top. Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, randy savage, Undertaker, Diesel, harly Race, Dustin Rhodes all of them were huge as compared to HBK and Bret Hart but Vince knew that they could become the face of the company and will pull it off and they did. What if Vince never gave them oppotunity by thinking that they are not huge so they should be in mid card forever. But no he thought over it and they carried the company from 1991 to 1997. There are other lot of examples where Vince made the right decision to push right talent. He surely missed some chances like he should have made Jericho champion in early 2000 whan he was way over and even could become face of the company at the time but Vince realised his mistake and made him first ever undisputed champion. So he is a genius in a way to chose right people for the right role and push them.

If Vince chose someone else to play the Undertaker, that would of been a miss and a failure?...maybe. You never know that. But still, if the idea was given out, it's up to the performer to make it a success. Obviously Vince knew the talent was there, he gave him the chance. He isn't going to give an opportunity to someone he did not think would do anything, so he chose the right guy. That does not make him a genius, that makes him a good scout and a smart guy. To be a successful business owner, especially in one like the WWE, you need to take chances all the time. If you succeed by scouting out the right guys and giving them the chance and it works, you're not a genius. You're a success. Vince McMahon is a genius, just not because of scouting out the right guys. He is a genius for his other aspects and creating the WWE to what it is.

 

[mulkeymania]

as much as it pains me to say it the man is a genius at the wrestling business--i dont agree with him on much--in particular putting down ''rasslin'',wanting to seemingly bury every wrestler he did not create or not wanting anything to do with ideas that was not his brainchild ie-killing the WCW and ECW brand totally but when you look at all of his successes such as putting companies like AWA,WCW,Jim Crockett Promotions and ECW out of business and probably TNA in the future you have to admit the guy is a genius or very very lucky but i prefer the genius school of thought.

 

[Porter1989]

vinve? yeah hes a genius. to be able to buld up and run the company the way it is. you gotta know what the hell your doing. and he knows everything that needs to be done. pure genius.

 

[Dyno Kid]

To say it was a genius move in going PG is something I gotta disagree with ! Fewer kids are now watching than the Attitude era so it's not bringing in more kids, ratings are at some of the lowest points in years, PPV' are at the lowest levels since 1997, and the WWE is more irrelevant than ever !