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Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon.
Born	Vincent Kennedy McMahon, Jr. (1945-08-24) August 24, 1945 (age 79) Template:City-state United States
Alma mater	East Carolina University
Occupation(s)	Professional wrestling promoter Chairman and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment
Spouse	Linda McMahon (1966-present)
Children	Shane McMahon (b.1970) Stephanie McMahon-Levesque (b.1976)
Parent(s)	Vincent James McMahon Vicky Askew
Website	World Wrestling Entertainment

Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon Jr. (born August 24, 1945-June 8th 2010) was an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer and a retired professional wrestler. McMahon currently serves as the chairman and CEO of professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and is the majority shareholder of the company. After acquiring WCW and ECW, McMahon's WWE became the sole remaining major American professional wrestling promotion (prior to the national expansion of TNA and ROH).

As an on-camera character (from 1997–present), he appears on all WWE brands (though the majority of the time, he appears on Raw). McMahon plays a character known by the ring name Mr. McMahon, based on himself in the world of the WWE, and is a former WWE Champion as well as a former ECW World Champion. He was also the winner of the 1999 Royal Rumble.

Vince was the husband of Linda McMahon, with whom he ran WWE from its establishment in 1980 until she resigned as CEO in September, 2009. Linda was also active in the wrestling ring from 1999-2001. In 2010, she is running a self-financed campaign for the US Senate as a Republican.

Business career

World Wide Wrestling Federation (1971–1979)

McMahon first met the promoter for Capitol Wrestling Corporation, his father Vincent J. McMahon's company, at the age of 12. At that point, McMahon became interested in following his father's professional wrestling footsteps and often accompanied him on trips to Madison Square Garden. McMahon also wanted to be a wrestler but his father would not let him, explaining that promoters did not appear on the show and should stay apart from their wrestlers.

In 1968, McMahon graduated from East Carolina University with a business degree and after a nondescript career as a traveling salesman, he was eager to assume a managerial role in his father’s World Wide Wrestling Federation promotion (although Vince Sr. was not thrilled with the idea of his son entering the business). In 1969, McMahon made his debut as an in-ring announcer, announcing matches for the WWWF's All-Star Wrestling. In 1971, he was assigned to a small territory in Maine, where he promoted his first card. He later became the play-by-play announcer for television matches after he replaced Ray Morgan in 1971, a role he would regularly maintain until November 1997.

Throughout the 1970s, McMahon became the prominent force in his father's company, and over the next decade, Vince assisted his father in tripling TV syndication. He pushed for the renaming of the company to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The young McMahon was also behind the Muhammad Ali versus Antonio Inoki match of 1976. In 1979, Vince purchased the Cape Cod Coliseum, where he promoted hockey games and concerts in addition to pro wrestling, as he began to prove that he was capable of running the WWF after his father’s retirement. By 1980, McMahon had become chairman of the company, and Titan Sports was incorporated; in 1982, a 37-year old McMahon led Titan’s acquisition of the Capitol Wrestling Co. from his ailing father (who died in May 1984), as he and his wife Linda McMahon took control of the World Wrestling Federation.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1982–present)

1980s wrestling boom

At the time of his purchase of the World Wrestling Federation, professional wrestling was a business run by regional offices. The various promoters shared an understanding that they would not invade each other’s territories, as this practice had gone on undeterred for decades. McMahon had a different vision of what the industry could become. In 1963, the WWWF split from the National Wrestling Alliance, which was the governing body for all the regional territories across the country and as far away as Japan.

He began expanding the company nationally by promoting in areas outside of the company's Northeast U.S. stomping grounds and by signing talent from other companies, such as the American Wrestling Association (AWA). In 1984, he recruited Hulk Hogan to be the WWF’s charismatic new megastar, and the two quickly drew the ire of industry peers as the promotion began traveling and broadcasting into rival territories. Nevertheless, McMahon (who still also fronted as the WWF’s squeaky clean babyface announcer) created The Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection by incorporating pop music stars into wrestling storylines. As a result, the WWF was able to expand its fanbase into a national mainstream audience as the promotion was featured heavily on MTV programming. On March 31, 1985, he promoted the first WrestleMania to be held at Madison Square Garden while airing on closed circuit TV throughout the U.S. WrestleMania was an undisputed success. As a result, the WWF thus stood head and shoulders above all its competition, and Hulk Hogan soon became a full-fledged pop-culture icon and child role model.

During the late 1980s, McMahon shaped the WWF into a unique sports entertainment brand that reached out to family audiences while attracting fans who had never before paid attention to pro wrestling. By directing his storylines towards highly-publicized supercards, McMahon initiated a brand-new revenue stream by promoting these events live on PPV television, a concept that would completely revolutionize event programming for all sports while catapulting the WWF into a multi-million dollar empire. In 1987, McMahon reportedly drew 93,173 fans to the Pontiac Silverdome (which was called the "biggest crowd in Sports entertainment history") for WrestleMania III, which featured the blockbuster main event of Hulk Hogan versus André the Giant. The actual attendance number, however, is debatable.

1990s Attitude era

After several years struggling behind Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling (WCW), McMahon cemented his place as the industry’s preeminent promoter in the late 1990s, when he initiated an entirely new brand strategy that would eventually return the WWF to prominence. Sensing a public shift towards a more hardened and cynical fan base, McMahon redirected storylines towards a more adult-oriented model. The concept became known as WWF Attitude, and McMahon personally commenced the new era when he manipulated the WWF Championship away from Bret Hart at Survivor Series in what is now known as the "Montreal Screwjob." From then on, McMahon, who for years had downplayed his ownership of the WWF and was thus better known as merely an affable announcer and foil to heel color commentators, immersed himself into WWF storylines as the evil “Mr. McMahon,” who later began a feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin, who challenged the boss’ authority. As a result, the WWF suddenly found itself back in the midst of national pop-culture, drawing millions of viewers for its weekly Monday Night Raw broadcasts, which ranked among the highest-rated shows on cable television.

Other business dealings

In the early 1980s, McMahon briefly promoted ice hockey in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. His Cape Cod Buccaneers played at the Cape Cod Coliseum and were founding members of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League, an AA circuit. Historically, the ACHL is considered a forgotten link between the rough and tumble loops of the 1970s like the NAHL, lampooned in the classic movie Slap Shot, and today's more credible East Coast Hockey League. When all prospective investors, including the NHL's Boston Bruins (who once used the Cape Cod Cubs as a farm team), either balked at the idea of placing a new franchise at a venue with a mediocre track record or simply could not pay the entrance fee, he had to step in to ensure the building (which he owned) would have a main tenant. Amid tensions with other owners, McMahon soon withdrew his support. He folded the franchise in early 1982, before the league's first season had even ended.

In October 1999, McMahon led the WWF in an Initial public offering of company stock. On March 23, 2001, he purchased the fading WCW for a mere $5 million. Three days later, his “victory speech” was simulcast on both WWF Raw and WCW Nitro.

In 2000, McMahon again ventured outside the world of professional wrestling by launching the XFL. The league eventually began in February 2001 with McMahon making an appearance at the first game. The league, however, quickly folded after lack of publicity. In the summer of 2003, McMahon acquired Extreme Championship Wrestling in bankruptcy court, leaving McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation as the only major wrestling promotion left in North America.

In 2009, McMahon indicated interest in starting a brand new cable network.

In 2010, McMahon announced plans to launch the brand new cable network by summer 2011.

Professional wrestling

Mr. McMahon is the on-screen character of Vince McMahon, with the gimmick of being an often egotistical heel boss. The character was spawned from the real-life hatred many wrestling fans had for McMahon following the Montreal Screwjob, at the 1997 Survivor Series.

Several other gimmicks have become integral parts of McMahon's on-camera persona, such as his throaty exclamation of "You're fired!", and his "power walk"—an over-exaggerated strut toward the ring, swinging his arms and bobbing his head from side to side in a cocky manner. This is usually accompanied by a comment from Jim Ross, such as "There's only one man I know that walks like that." The power walk is used to get a reaction out of the audience (especially when he's a heel), but it also provides comic relief as well. WWE Superstar John Cena had joked on the WWE Exposed special that aired before WWE Homecoming, that McMahon "somehow walks like he's got a broomstick shoved up in his ass". According to Jim Cornette, the power walk was inspired by one of Vince McMahon's favorite wrestlers as a child, Dr. Jerry Graham. The Fabulous Moolah, however, claims in her autobiography that "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers was the inspiration for the walk.

McMahon has occasionally dropped his character performance upon real-life events affecting WWE, such as the death of Owen Hart at Over the Edge in 1999, the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the death of ]. wade bareeeettttttttttttt

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