Details on Past Tensions Between Vince McMahon Jr. & Gorilla Monsoon Over Control of WWE, Monsoon’s Ownership Stake in WWE

Brian R. Soloman’s latest book, “Irresistible Force: The Life and Times of Gorilla Monsoon,” sheds light on the power struggle between Vince McMahon Jr. and Gorilla Monsoon over the control of WWE.

The book provides firsthand accounts from Monsoon’s daughter, Valerie Marella, and veteran ring announcer Gary Cappetta on how tense the sale of Capitol Wrestling Corporation in 1982 truly was and how Gorilla Monsoon, who owned a 25 percent stake in the company, was the last holdout against the deal.

Gary Cappetta revealed that the company was clearly divided into camps, led by Vince McMahon Jr. and Gorilla Monsoon, at the time. “There was always a Team Monsoon and a Team Vinny McMahon,” she said.

Meanwhile, Valerie Marella didn’t mince words while describing the relationship between her father and Vince Jr. “They were not fans of each other,” she said.

The book describes Gorilla as Vince McMahon Sr.’s “right-hand man and handpicked successor” and claims that the old guard, including Vince Sr., “never really looked at Vinny as a serious peer, or someone with the wherewithal to one day run the operation.”

The June 1982 meeting didn’t pan out as WWE has described over the years

The book claims that the June 1982 meeting was “not the warm, glowing, peaceful transition of power we’ve often been led to believe.”

It adds that the image presented by WWE over the years of Vince McMahon Sr., Gorilla Monsoon, and others handing over the keys of the company to Vince Jr. “is a simplification that obscures just how contentious it actually was.”

Gorilla Monsoon, as expected, was the last holdout to the deal

“The motherlode in the business and was now being asked to give all that up for uncertainty. He was the one with the most to gain by things staying the way they were. He was set for life and had been the unofficial successor. It was going to be his. And if Vinny hadn’t jumped in, that might have been happening sooner rather than later.”

Monsoon, the book reveals, never expected that he’d have to give up his 25 percent stake, something he has worked extremely hard for.

“It was something he’d worked hard for and something he fully intended to go to his grave with, passing the shares and the income that came along with them to his children when the time came.”

Vince McMahon Jr.’s plan described as a “plotted coup”

The book states that McMahon Jr.’s plan was “nothing short of a carefully plotted coup” that “required the complete and total takeover of the Capitol Wrestling Corporation. There would be no partners. Vinny wanted it all.”

It adds that Vince McMahon Sr. could have just dissolved the company had the partners refused, “thereby leaving the partners totally out in the cold while he and his son established a new company.”

With not many options left, Monsoon eventually gave his nod to the sale but was able to negotiate the best possible deal for himself.

Book reveals heated closed-door interaction between Vince McMahon Jr. and his father

Vince Jr. said, “I can’t have this keep happening. You work for me now. You have to let me run the company the way I see fit. I’m gonna do this with or without you. So are you with me, or not?”

His father responded, “You’re right, Vinny. F**k those guys.”

Vince McMahon Jr. and Gorilla Monsoon ultimately developed a “professional bond.”

The book details that despite not having any special affection for each other during their initial years, the two eventually developed a “kind of respect and a professional bond.”

Monsoon went on to become the voice of the company during its national expansion and also served as an on-screen WWF president. He was ultimately inducted into the company’s Hall of Fame.

“The two men, who certainly had had no special affection for each other in the early years, would develop a kind of respect and a professional bond that would be the closest thing to friendship of which the younger Vince McMahon seemed capable.”

(Quotes via WrestlingNews.co)