Vince McMahon: The wrestler?

[michael.foulds]

Now we all know Vince has been an on-air character for many years in numerous roles, announcer, interviewer, commentator, then everyone finding out he is the owner and on several occasions an active wrestler.

Now, I've heard before he got the job as an announcer when his father owned the WWWF as it was back in the day, that Vince wanted to be a full time wrestler but his father wouldn't allow it because of the risks. But when we have seen Vince in the ring he has been quite old but in some cases he has shown some of the younger guys up (his match against Shawn Michaels was match of the year I believe, mainly because of Michaels but he still put out a really good display for his age).

Now my question is, if Vince's father had let Vince become a wrestler how successful do you think he coould of been? I mean I know people will say "well his Dad was in charge he would of become champion because of that" or "he bought the company and would of made himself champion out of ego" (which he did anyway). But, Vince was/is one of the best I've ever seen on the mic and mic skills seem to get you a push more than actual wrestling these days. And, from what I've seen Vince can go at his age, imagine him in his prime? He could of been quite the performer I reckon.

Your thoughts?

 

[Kaneanite]

Way too tough to predict. I mean I could go in to any retirement home, choose a random guy that I think has a nice voice for his age, and ask what would he have done in his career had he taken up singing? I know that's very different, but not exactly.

I will talk about what he did do in the matches he's had, though. Vince is an athletic individual and he's been in the business longer than anyone. With the desire to take to the ring in his younger days, one would assume that he has the ability or at least a little knowledge of what to do in there. As an athletic and in-shape kind of guy as he his, working with each of the best in-ring and worst in-ring performers we've seen, and also watching every single ppv, smackdown, raw, saturday nights main event, and whatever else you could think of... ever? I'm sure he's learned his tricks of the trade. You also have to keep in mind that a lot of the time his matches are so great because of the hype and story-line behind them. When Vince is in the ring to fight it is because of a damn good story line (99 rumble, feud with HBK, etc). That alone can make a match seem even better than it is.

 

[Ben G]

i think vinny mac could have been pretty damn good in the ring, even if he would have made himself a multiple time champion out of his own ego, he is also a very humble man, think of all the things he has done to embarrass himself over the years: getting his head shaved, everything with DX (vince loves cocks, getting covered in shit + heaps more) and he had his head shoved up big shows ass as well!! so i think if he did have more of an in-ring role his character would have been a lot different and he MIGHT have even been good enough to be considered a legit champ regardless of his status

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Vince back in the timeframe we are talking about was not physically suited to being a wrestler, he was not of the build of a Billy Graham, didn't have the technical skill of Bob Backlund or the charisma of Bruno... The wrestling world was rife with nepotism and promoters sons donning the tights and getting the push at the expense of better talent.

Vince would have needed serious years of training to be a success, and in that era WWF I doubt many would have had the "kindness" to train him as they would have known their spots were in danger. So Vince would have had 2nd rate training or been vulnerable to the "shoot" style that saw even Hogan's leg snapped the first day... Had he been a wrestler, I doubt Vince Sr. would have sold to his wrestler son, as he was fiercely old school and I doubt Vince Jr. would have been able to make the moves he did to buy the fed as a wrestler.

When the 1980's came around it was too late, as roids were around the body took care of itself... but by then age would have been against Vince...

Now Shane, he had a legit shot at being a REAL world champion as he had been around the business his whole life and won the respect of the boys... but if Vince had been a wrestler, the WWF would have gone the way of the other territories...

 

[Dzone]

I seriously think he could have been a good wrestler... if he tried for actually wrestling and stuck to it when he was younger. He could have either ended up like a shitter Ric Flair or, more likely, a mid-carder but I do believe he would have held numerous belts if he just went into wrestling and came up the "HARD" way.

 

[Calderownz]

Good question.

Hard to predict. I remember hearing that Vince Sr. was a no-nonsense type of guy, so he might have been harder on his son and wouldn't have given him preferential treatment.

However, he also may have given him more chances then other wrestlers.

Nonetheless, on the mic, Vince would have been able to keep himself relevant. Especially if he stuck with it into the 90's and was allowed to try things with his character. I can easily see Vince being the same character, virtually, but with the twist that his father owns his opponents.

Nonetheless, territories would still exist and Vince wouldn't be able to travel with this act. Though, he could be marketed as the boy with the silver spoon, and would be hated in other territories. However, he might have legit heat with the boys in other regions.

In the ring, he might have won some friends, however. McMahon is about a 5 or 6 in the ring out of 20. At his advanced age. With 15 years experience, he could easily be a great talking, 8 or even a 9 in the ring.

 

[Dave]

I would imagine that Vince would likely have been very successful as a wrestler, especially if his father was still pulling the strings.

Now, I assume that a lot of people are going to come in here giving Triple H as an example of how being part of the family can be instrumental in your success as a wrestler but that is not it. Vince McMahon is a decent wrestler and if Vince McMahon Senior had allowed his son to compete for the company, I don’t think there would have been any doubting his success over the years.

For me, when you have that amount of cash and wrestling exposure at your disposal, there really isn’t any excuse for being a poor wrestler. Let’s face it, Vince has worked with the best wrestlers in the history of the business and for him not to pick up things from then, he wouldn’t deserve to succeed. However, that is not the case. He has shed-loads of money to throw at a wall to see if he could become a decent wrestler and if he did ever go down that road, I am sure that his father would have supported him in that endeavour. He would have likely put him in the ring against the best workers to ensure that he was always learning and it would have paid off.

Vince McMahon is already a decent wrestler. He has wrestled plenty of times over the years and he has always looked competitive. If he had decided to go into the business as a wrestler and not a businessman, then I am sure that he would have been successful. Wrestling runs through his veins and the passion to be successful is clearly in his mindset.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

With his Father running the company, Vince would have been given opportunites to succeed, but I think he may have even been a success on his own.

We all know he has charisma, and even at his advanced age today, can still produce an ok standard match, but if he had begun training at a young age he could have become a decent in-ring competitor, at least good enough to have a run at a mid-card title.

Vince has always shown that he can take a beating, and has been a part of many embarassing situations so he would have been willing to participate in pretty much anything required of him to make it in the business, and with his mic skills and the in-ring ability he would have developed through being in and around the business all his life, and sveral years training, I think he would have done ok.


What in-ring name do you think he would have used?? I reckon these would have worked!

The Conneticut Crusher Vince McMahon

The Greenwich Grappler Vince McMahon

The Million Dollar McMahon

Vince "Big Grapefruits" McMahon

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Vince Sr. was diametrically opposed to Vince being a worker so I doubt he would have pushed him... I think other promoters might have done to a point but Vince Sr. was notorious for his anger when someone didn't do as he wanted... He let Hogan walk out cos he didn't want him in Rocky 3 for example... We won't know the truth till Vince's inevitable memoirs are published... Vince could have been a strong wrestler, but was born 30 years to early for it to matter...

 

[Nada]

Mr. McMahon character is one of, if not the greatest heels of all time, that is how good his mic skill were/are. I truly believe that Austin only became as big as he did becuase he had a top notch heel to play off against

Take that, and lets say Vince ended up being a medicore wrestler, not a Benoit or Jericho, but not a Goldberg either, he would still be excellent as a perfomer becuase of his presence and his ability to get people to detest him

His matches with Austin, and the few matches he had at WM (bar vs Bret Hart, that one kinda sucked) were all very entertaining.

I may get flak for this but im honestly more entertained by Vince vs Shane at WM than most technical wrestling bouts with Benoit or Malenko

 

[Low_Ki]

Vince back in the timeframe we are talking about was not physically suited to being a wrestler, he was not of the build of a Billy Graham, didn't have the technical skill of Bob Backlund or the charisma of Bruno... The wrestling world was rife with nepotism and promoters sons donning the tights and getting the push at the expense of better talent.

Vince would have needed serious years of training to be a success, and in that era WWF I doubt many would have had the "kindness" to train him as they would have known their spots were in danger. So Vince would have had 2nd rate training or been vulnerable to the "shoot" style that saw even Hogan's leg snapped the first day... Had he been a wrestler, I doubt Vince Sr. would have sold to his wrestler son, as he was fiercely old school and I doubt Vince Jr. would have been able to make the moves he did to buy the fed as a wrestler.

When the 1980's came around it was too late, as roids were around the body took care of itself... but by then age would have been against Vince...

Now Shane, he had a legit shot at being a REAL world champion as he had been around the business his whole life and won the respect of the boys... but if Vince had been a wrestler, the WWF would have gone the way of the other territories...

I couldn't have said it better.

Vince during the 'Attitude Era' was a top on screen character, mainly because of Steve Austin being his bipolar opposite. In wrestling terms, you need that for a storyline to succeed.

Vince was a 'good' wrestler. He wasn't great. But he had good guys in the ring with him whenever he chose to fight. If he had been bought in to wrestle for his dad's promotion, I don't think he would have survived. He has been clever enough to realise that he made the right decision and included himself in matches only when it helped to elevate the other performer in the match (bar of course his, Shane and Big Show's handicap match against DX, that was a little crap).

Vince was too skinny in the days of his fathers ownership of the WWWF, and would never have fit in around the likes of Billy Graham and The Iron Sheik.

Vince has the wrestling mind, not the wrestling physique.

 

[S.J. Maximus]

Mr. McMahon character is one of, if not the greatest heels of all time, that is how good his mic skill were/are. I truly believe that Austin only became as big as he did becuase he had a top notch heel to play off against

Take that, and lets say Vince ended up being a medicore wrestler, not a Benoit or Jericho, but not a Goldberg either, he would still be excellent as a perfomer becuase of his presence and his ability to get people to detest him

His matches with Austin, and the few matches he had at WM (bar vs Bret Hart, that one kinda sucked) were all very entertaining.

I may get flak for this but im honestly more entertained by Vince vs Shane at WM than most technical wrestling bouts with Benoit or Malenko

i couldnt agree more, it was this fact alone that wouldve made vince a main event caliber star, and i feel like if you combined vince's character/mic skills with shanes in-ring ability... that 'Shince McMahon" would be the greatest wrestler in history

 

[Optimist Prime]

Impossible to tell...but I wish he would have stayed a commentator because his voice was distinctive and one of the best with Jesse "The Body" Ventura...