What are the biggest mistake Vince McMahon ever did in WWE?

[PSachkovsky]

If I have to choose, it'll probably be the fact he gave the O.K. to turning the great WWE Championship belt, into a spinner belt. It is a disgrace to all the people that ever held it. It's a disgrace that it still to this day (and it appeared for the first time in 2005) still active. I'd love to see the eagle belt come back again, or at least the Undisputed belt design. What even worst is the new design that the WWE are planning. It just looks even worse....

 

[vampireblade]

For me it was when he killed all the competition making his company the only major one in the US. I say this because in that moment WWE programming started going downhill because there was no other company that could give him the competition that turned him into a creative genius he all of a sudden had security in the fact that his product was the only one fans could watch and because of that everyone suffered wrestlers and fans alike.

 

[Mr_Excitement007]

Hmm being along term fan this is one tough question , but if I had to pick one answer I would say the spinner belt. Why because one it's rather ugly and 2 I agree with the original post on it being a disgrace to all the people b4 this era in wrestling , heck imagining someone like say Andre the giant with that belt is a sad sad thought. And seeing the sight of the rumored new design ick bring back tradition the Eagle.

 

[EastCoastFan]

Vince McMahon single-handedly changed the game of professional wrestling, elevating the profile and exposure of it immensely. If Vince hadn't come along, it would have been someone else taking it national.

But Vince is far from perfect. He's made mistakes along the way. Where do I begin?

- Killing off all the territories, thus killing off the pipeline for new wrestlers.

- Trying to branch out beyond pro wrestling. He has failed at everything he's done outside of wrestling. Movies, nutritional supplements, boxing PPV's, a football league, the list goes on. I'm not sure whether to praise him or pity him.

- Not listening to people. Vince has been out of touch with his core audience since the mid-90's, yet won't listen to anyone who tries to advise him. Paul Heyman tried, but ultimately left the company because Vince never listened to him, especially about UFC and MMA taking away his audience.

 

[legendkiller1979]

Vince McMahon has made a ton of mistakes, that goes without saying. But let's be honest, there is only one answer to this question.

Vince McMahon forcing Owen Hart into the rafters was his biggest mistake. Nothing else comes close. Owen would be alive today if not for VKM. There is not debating this point.
Yes, it was an accident, but Owen didn't want to be up there to begin with. You can't argue that Vince would never force someone to do something they didn't want to do. There are a number of interviews done with people that all say Owen was very nervous about the stunt. It's not unfair at all to blame VKM for Owen's death. Owen didn't want to do the stunt but Vince forced him.

 

[kizzyturtl]

Biggest mistake - when he acquired WCW he destroyed all the newly acquired talents' credibility and really missed a phenominal opportunity to have "two" distinct companies and cross promote dream PPVs, move midcarders between WWE and WCW when they were getting stale, even move major talent to create a buzz - moving from Raw to Smackdown or vice versa isn't a big deal; moving CM Punk to WCW and Rey Mysterio to WWE that is different.

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

I would say not buying out the big guys' contracts, I really think Vince could've made shitloads if he had bought the likes of Goldberg Hogan and Sting then the Invasion angle would've been one of the greatest in pro wrestling history!

 

[whoopin' ass]

i agree that the Invasion would have been better if he had bought out some contracts and brought in the bigger names. it was a part of his revenge not to bring them in - he won and WCW lost and he was going to show them he didn't need them. no matter how you look at it, he would have made money back by bringing them in and it would have covered any costs. ultimately, this was one of his biggest mistakes but the one for me that really stands out, and would have prevented the whole WCW problem to begin with, was letting guys like Hogan, Savage, etc leave for WCW.

in some cases, it was purely money. Turner had deep pockets and Vince just couldn't compete but take a look at a guy like Savage - would still wrestle a great match but was used on commentary. what a waste. he underestimated wcw and Bischoff was able to swoop in and sign a ton of guys in a short period of time. how long between the signing of Hogan and the arrival of Hall and Nash? think of all the guys who arrived in that short period of time. it was his arrogance that allowed these guys to slip away and that was his biggest mistake. just think - Hall and Nash don't leave WWF for WCW, there is no nWo and chances are WCW wouldn't have taken off like it did.

 

[klunderbunker]

The InVasion and it's not even close.

There were hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars to be made there, but the whole thing lasted five months. Within a year, Flair, Steiner, the NWO and probably others that I'm forgetting were in the company and Goldberg was there a year and a half later. Between Vince refusing to ever let a WCW/ECW guy get a significant win over a significant WWF guy (remember that Vince OWNED ALL THREE COMPANIES, meaning that any dollar ECW or WCW made went into Vince's pocket) to having nothing but WCW C-list guys to having the titles being thrown all over the place to it being a massive Vince vs. his kids story with WCW and ECW thrown in, the whole thing was just a mess and a huge waste of money.

 

[roethlisberger78]

To me his biggest mistake is being a wrestling promoter. He in my mind has done a great job but he doesnt want to be one so he has taking his wrestling company and turned it into a entertainment company. I still watch it weekly and enjoy it weekly for the most part but I do miss some of the older styles and the belt goes into the older styles. He made an entertaining belt to sell to kids instead of keeping a real traditional styled championship belt. He's taking what should be an adult soap opera and turned it into a daytime talk show with hints of wrestling. I'll stay it again I still watch and enjoy it just think if he kept his roots it could be alot better than it is now.

 

[HBsam31]

I have to agree with Kluderbunker in that it was the Invasion and not even close. The potential Vince had there is unreal. The money making potential Vince has was unreal. His ego seemed to get in the way, and it was all flushed down the toilet. The excitement I felt as a long time fan when he bought out WCW was so high. It was a great time to be a fan. The results we got were one of the most disappointing angles ever.

 

[theHeadliner]

I can think of a few mistakes that weren't monumental, but could have had a butterfly affect that prevented some things that happened. First, don't sign Bret Hart to the 20-year contract. That led to animosity, and that was the second time Bret got one over on Vince. Second, he played Bret and Shawn against each other behind the other's back, and that's why their problems escalated. Third, letting Diesel and Razor go. People will say it led to the best era of wrestling, yes, but from a strict WWF company standpoint it led to the worst ratings/buyrates/etc. period for the WWF. The Invasion angle also sucked.

 

[Owen 3:16 says I just stole your Slammy!!]

I would agree with most people here, his biggest mistake was the InVasion angle. I would love to see a WWF vs WCW with WCW's big players there. It would of been better if it was WWF vs WCW vs nWo story line. Imagine these teams: Team WWF with Stone Cold, Rock, 'Taker, Kane, and Angle. Team WCW with Goldberg, Mysterio, Steiner, DDP, and Booker T. Team nWo with Hollywood Hogan, Nash, Hall, Giant (Big Show), and Syxx (X-Pac.) WWF would been managed by Vince (Of Course.) WCW would been managed by Ric Flair. nWo would been managed by Eric Bischoff. This could of last a year or two, make money, make many memories for the fans.

 

[c13vyper]

PG Era

Will never forgive Vince for this shit. Your wife has no support and is going to get creamed.

 

[TheLoneCharles]

Like a few others have stated before me: by far the WCW Invasion.

You can't fault Vince for buying WCW. At the time it was every wrestling fans wet dream. It was a smart move, but executed poorly on TV. The war started by having random WCW guys attack midcarders...and the feud ends with Rock VS Stone Cold as the last men standing for their teams at Survivor Series 2001?....not to mention even more illogicalness when the same Stone Cold 'that tried to drive WWF out of business' was suddenly a face and a double heel/face turn was complete. Not to mention Flair appearing THE NIGHT AFTER THE INVASION ENDED!!!

Also, Vince cannot be faulted for not getting the bigger WCW names sooner. Many of the big name stars of WCW chose to ride out their existing contracts and sit at home, rather than taking a reduced contract payout to appear earlier on in the Invasion. Guys like Booker T chose to take the payout while guys like Steiner and Goldberg did nothing but sit and collect.

Vince still had the deepest roster known to man at the time and screwed it all up. While he learned from his mistakes and later introduced the Nexus the way WCW guys should have been...he still sucks at resolutions fans actually like.

 

[Pbenglish]

In a pure wrestling sense, it would have to be the invasion. How that got so fucked up can only be put down to ego. It seems that he (Vince) had such hatred for wCw, that the invasion was doomed from the start.
In a larger, MUCH more meaningful sense, it has to be Owen Hart's death. The stunt itself was nothing new to wrestling (Shawn Michaels had done something similar, Sting did it consistently), but the way it was done was just wrong, from the wrong harness being used (they used a harness that was supposed to be used for boat rigging, definitely not human beings) to the fact that Owen had no backup harness in case of an emergency, it was just entirely screwed up. Obviously Vince can't be in every single place, every moment, but when something happens in his company, at his event, that he wanted to happen (it was scripted through writers he hired and directed), then he was in charge and he is responsible. Simple safety precautions and checks would have ensured his death didn't happen.
People can argue and debate about the other deaths in wrestling, and how much of an impact Vince/the WWF/WWE/the schedule/ had on them, but the only real death that Vince had any control over was Owen's. That HAS to be his biggest mistake.

 

[Jerichoholic]

I would agree with most people here, his biggest mistake was the InVasion angle. I would love to see a WWF vs WCW with WCW's big players there. It would of been better if it was WWF vs WCW vs nWo story line. Imagine these teams: Team WWF with Stone Cold, Rock, 'Taker, Kane, and Angle. Team WCW with Goldberg, Mysterio, Steiner, DDP, and Booker T. Team nWo with Hollywood Hogan, Nash, Hall, Giant (Big Show), and Syxx (X-Pac.) WWF would been managed by Vince (Of Course.) WCW would been managed by Ric Flair. nWo would been managed by Eric Bischoff. This could of last a year or two, make money, make many memories for the fans.

I like this Idea but you would have to find a place for Sting and Jericho, the highlight of the team WWF vs Alliance match for me was Jericho attacking Rock after he had been eliminated.
mabye if HHH and HBK had been fit at the time they could have had a team kliq rather than NWO that would have been pretty epic,

And yeah im with the majority here, the invasion was his biggest mistake,it had so much potential and delivered so little.

 

[harrythem]

He is a Billionaire. You don't get to that status my making mistakes.

He was a billionaire, he's not any more...that's because he makes a truckload of mistakes that he wouldn't have done in the past.

XFL was pretty big as every minute they concentrated on that took away from WWE storylines (and it sure showed)

WCW Invasion is dreadful beyond words. Covered by others and rightfully so

To me, it was letting Mae Young flash her tits at Rumble 2000. They were literally weeks into a multi-million tv deal with Channel 4 here in the UK. They're one of the traditional big 4 channels that could've drawn a load more fans in and, from that moment onwards, Channel 4 wanted out asap...Just a dumb move

 

[Ringmaster95]

For me it was when he killed all the competition making his company the only major one in the US. I say this because in that moment WWE programming started going downhill because there was no other company that could give him the competition that turned him into a creative genius he all of a sudden had security in the fact that his product was the only one fans could watch and because of that everyone suffered wrestlers and fans alike.

I completely agree. Competition is good business, that's why I hope TNA will get their act together and try to be real competition.