‘You. McMahon” on Netflix and the blurred line between kayfabe and reality in WWE | News, results, highlights, stats and gossip

Netflix Mr. McMahon offers a fragmented look at pro wrestling’s most prolific and controversial figure, and an eye-opening look at the man behind the on-screen character.

The six-episode documentary quickly took social media by storm. Many clips and outrageous quotes about the theme and cast of interviewees became conversation starters on premiere day.

However, Vince McMahon released a statement on his X account two days before the docuseries aired.

In his first post of 2024, the former WWE CEO and chairman took offense to his “misleading account” that equated Mr. McMahon’s character with his real personality.

Finally, he encouraged viewers to “keep an open mind and remember that there are two sides to every story.”

The series deconstructs his on-air personality and examines how closely his work corresponds to reality. The 79-year-old may be frustrated by the discourse and the insights presented, but it is a fascinating topic nonetheless.

The man pulling the strings

In fact, the finished product is aimed primarily at casual fans with minimal knowledge of WWE history, the pro wrestling business, and the shady underbelly of the industry. As such, it doesn’t offer much new information for most longtime viewers.

The series gives us a snapshot of the many scandals that have rocked the company, including McMahon’s departure and the ongoing lawsuit filed by Janel Grant. However, he does not discuss any of them in depth, leaving us room to fill in the gaps and ask a few questions.

It’s not the hit that Bruce Prichard thinks it is, but it doesn’t grab you at times either. Instead, director Chris Smith packed a concise timeline and enough information into six 60-minute episodes for you to draw your own conclusions.

Throughout the series, McMahon contradicts himself so often that one can, to put it mildly, create an image of a man with a controversial attitude to the truth. Smith doesn’t always deny his claims or all the details, but he often illustrates how absurd he could be at best and self-centered and callous at worst.

The world-renowned pro wrestler and others have emphasized in several places that he would do anything to protect the company and his vision for pro wrestling. This seems admirable at first glance, but is often perplexing when viewed in context.

He was defensive when challenged and attacked when he felt cornered. This could manifest itself in small incidents, such as his infamous 2001 interview with Bob Costas, or in larger consequences regarding the way he submitted to scrutiny that threatened to derail his business aspirations.

It certainly showed that he would look away or enable someone’s behavior if it was useful to him. Worse still, it was easy to believe that his ruthless business tactics weren’t the only thing he might have in common with his notorious heel personality.

A thin line between fantasy and reality

The most sobering realization about Grant’s alleged history of sexual misconduct and graphic text messages is that they were consistent with the crass and deplorable role he popularized.

This immediately made anyone who had watched WWE for any length of time wonder if this was someone who had been telling us who he was all along. Eventually, Mr. McMahon’s tendency to use his power to objectify and demean women became one of his main character traits.

Even the most ardent defenders could not ignore the similarities. It makes you wonder whether his annoyance at the judgments about how close he has become to his creation is genuine, or simply a fear of being honest with himself.

At the beginning of episode 4, McMahon revealed that his favorite wrestler was Dr. Jerry Graham. It didn’t take long to see his impact on the villainous authority figure he became during the Attitude Era.

As a byproduct of the Montreal Screwjob, fans turned against him and he eventually leaned into it, becoming the most hated heel in the company’s history. His iconic feud with Steve Austin changed the industry’s trajectory and made WWE an enduring pop culture phenomenon.

His transformation into a recurring antagonist and transformation into Mr. McMahon was successful, but the charges he faces will tarnish him forever. Much of his behavior hasn’t aged well anyway, but some of it seems even more pathetic now.

However, the 79-year-old maintains that no one really knows him and for many years he has been mistaken for a man seen on TV. However, it is difficult to reconcile this opinion with his last words from the documentary:

“Sometimes in our industry the lines between reality, fact and fiction are very blurred. Sometimes performers start to believe in themselves. They begin to believe in their own character. The individual loses all sense of who he really is. It becomes Now I wonder which character is it and which one is me? I think it’s a mix. I would suggest one is a bit over the top, but I’m not sure which.

So is his wrestling persona amped up to cartoonish levels? Perhaps the character became an outlet to fulfill his darkest fantasies and release his pent-up anger and inhibitions.

This could turn into a chicken-or-egg theory about whether he’s lost in the personality he’s created or whether he’s always been this way. However, there are rape allegations and scandals that predate its introduction after the Montreal Screwjob.

It seems more likely that power corrupts everything in the end. The bigger WWE grew, the more Mr. McMahon’s character evolved and the more untouchable the man behind him seemed.