wrestling / Columns

WWE: We Make Movies

March 18, 2015 | Posted by Brian St. Denis

This was Vince McMahon’s quote in the 1999 documentary Beyond The Mat but he’s been trying to convince us for the last thirty years that it’s SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT. Vince has said, “pro wrestling is what my dad did”. When Ted Turner told him that he was getting in the rasslin’ business, Vince replied, “then we are in two different businesses”. Vince thinks wrestling is a dirty word. It reminds him of his father.

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Vince McMahon hates pro wrestling. It truly goes deep into his core. His father left him when he was a kid. I think Vince blames pro wrestling because in his eyes, it’s why his dad left. Vince wanted his dad to accept him so he got into the business, against his dad’s wishes.

Vince killing pro wrestling started when he bought up talent and killed territories. He went against his father’s wishes (again) and not only competed against them but ultimately put them out of business.

Vince killed kayfabe when he gave testimony in 1989 in front of the NJ State Athletic Commission where he admitted pro wrestling was a work. People ask when kayfabe died, it perished in ’89.

Vince continued his assault on pro wrestling with the “Attitude Era”, when he brought up Vince Russo to be creative and later added Ed Ferrara. Russo is a known sports entertainment guy. Which is why all the pro wrestling people hate him. But Russo and McMahon went hand and hand. The most beloved era by internet fans was an era built on sports entertainment.

Vincent Kennedy McMahon hates pro wrestling and fans on the internet need to get this through their computer screens and into their brains. But I know, everything will be okay when Triple H takes over, right? No. Stephanie McMahon will be taking over and she’s just like daddy. Steph is cut from the sports entertainment cloth. There is no winning this war against the WWE. Hell, it might as well be WSE, World Sports Entertainment. However, that doesn’t have quite the ring to it like WWE does.

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Your favorite pro wrestlers will only get pushed for so long. The guys with the best work rates will only last at the top for a short period of time. Then it’ll be the sports entertainment guy getting all the love. The Hogan, Cena, Reigns type guy. Not the CM Punk, Daniel Bryan type. Oh yeah, Vince did give us a year plus of CM Punk on top. Barely. Then he went and lost to The Rock. Just so you know, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but The Rock is a sports entertainment guy.

Vince claims to love his job-he’s never worked a day in his life. He loves sports entertaining. He doesn’t love pro wrestling. In fact, he’d much rather be doing something else…

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Making movies.

He has spent an awful lot of money trying to make movies. That’s what Vince would rather be doing. This sports entertainment thing buys the houses and pays the bills but he’d much rather be having lunch with James Cameron. That’s why Vince will never kill the “movies division” inside WWE. No matter how much money it bleeds, no matter how many straight to DVD movies it releases.

So what can you do if you want to watch pro wrestling?

You can turn on TNA iMPACT Wrestling. They are fully aware that they are a pro wrestling company. The Friday night iMPACT show has been better than RAW. I know that sounds crazy with it being “Wrestlemania season” but it’s true. TNA is not the only company aware they do pro wrestling; Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling also acknowledge it. There are choices.

Just stop trying to get the WWE to change. It’s sports entertainment. Period.

(As always feel free to comment below and/or tweet me directly with how you feel @BDenny411, just in case I miss your comments below)

article topics :

Vince McMahon, WWE, Brian St. Denis