11/30/2024 11:52:57 AM
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| Mr. McMahon TV series poster by Netflix. Obtained via IMDB |
Mr. McMahon is a documentary television miniseries depicting the life and times of Vince McMahon, one of the most polarizing personalities – not just in the wrestling industry, but in pop culture in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Spanning five decades of being the spearhead person of sports entertainment, Vincent Kennedy McMahon Jr. took over WWE from his father Vince Sr. and transformed the Northeast-based promoter into a worldwide wrestling juggernaut, and it was done in both innovative and controversial manner. But of course, the company and he himself alone experienced numerous accounts of record-breaking highs and heart-crushing lows. From the first look, this documentary miniseries offered almost nothing really different – except with the addition of interviews with Vince McMahon himself back in 2021.
But for someone who rarely goes to see what goes beyond the curtain, Mr. McMahon can be a refreshing take that's way outside of WWE-produced shows, which are their strongest suits among all the content they have built for decades. And in contrary to what Bruce Prichard said, the documentary was at least unbiased since they discussed most of WWE and McMahon's controversies in each of the six episodes of this show, especially when executive producer Bill Simmons brought a number of people that are totally outside the WWE bubble, and we mean as a promotion and the business/sport as a whole.
Although on the flip side, it's also considered a miss when you don't have interviews from the likes of Jim Ross, Michael Cole, Chris Jericho, Julia Hart, and even Ric Flair. Whether you blame it on the duration on the interview sessions which, by the way, spanned three years, or otherwise, Mr. McMahon the series could've had more coverage when it comes to garnering insights and perspectives from the people who worked for him.
Add to that list of missing are probably is Vince's take on That Plane Ride form Hell episode off the VICE TV's Dark Side of The Ring episode; as well as the latter details of his estranged relationship with his mother, whom passed away in 2021 and put the younger VinnyMac in shambles for quite some time. His eventual abstinence from doing interviews in regards to the recent allegations thrown onto him is quite understandable, considering there may be legally grave ramifications should he give in to the request.
However, how can we sum up everything after seeing six hours of this miniseries? Simple. Vince McMahon is such a polarizing person. Catalyst of the globalization of professional wresting? Yes. An overly aggressive micromanager with an ethic of a total workaholic as a businessman? Yes, and it has both positive and negative effects. A person who went corrupt and abusive over time to the point he compromised his family, business, and his own stature – something that should've been boxed as an evil character instead of being a real evil person? Yes.
Too bad, his relentless greed eventually caught up to him and now, he got a sad bye (hell, 'good riddance' can't even be appropriate at this point) to the empire he built since the 80s; and here's the kicker: while his efforts would still be there, it's gonna be hard for the others to acknowledge them because even just a single count of grave act can wipe out whatever good shits you have done all these years. It didn't help that he looked like a crime boss nowadays after decades of putting up cartoonish characters to make wrestling appeal to kids in such same way as how songwriters would make kiddy boppy pop tunes over lyrics depicting taboo subjects and inappropriately-undertone wordings.
You can't be happy go lucky all the time and expect you'll get away from the misdeeds happening beind the curtains of the circus act we all know as professional wrestling sports entertainment.
Other than that, Mr. McMahon the docuseries is a good watch. Just don't expect that it is the entire package of everything you need to know about the sports entertainer.
The Verdict: 7.7
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