Vincent Kennedy McMahon doesn’t give a damn about what society thinks he should be. “You have to be, as an individual, comfortable with yourself first and foremost, and true to yourself,” he says.
Recognized as the billionaire patriarch of World Wrestling Entertainment since buying the company in 1982, McMahon wouldn’t learn the truth about himself—or who his father was—until he was 12 years old, enduring a far-from-ideal childhood while growing up in a Moon trailer in Havelock, N.C. Though he’d spend only six weeks each summer and occasional holidays up in Connecticut with wrestling promoter Vincent James McMahon (who had succeeded his own father, Jess, in running the then-Capitol Wrestling Federation operation across the Northeast), he knew exactly how he wanted to spend the rest of his life.
For more than 20 years, casual fans thought Vince McMahon was simply an announcer behind the microphone, calling the ring action and interviewing the Superstars. Backstage, however, McMahon elevated the World Wrestling Federation from the smoky, dimly-lit arenas to national, followed by global, prominence through syndication and cable, making sports-entertainment a household word. To this day, the WWE Chairman modestly credits his success to his father’s original business plan, “some chutzpah, a strong work ethic, a little bit of imagination, and some luck.”
The “Mr. McMahon” perceived by WWE fans is a womanizer, a self-professed “genetic jackhammer” who has made his way around the Divas locker room on more than one occasion. But wife (and WWE CEO) Linda knows better. She simply remembers the two promises a 20-year-old Vince McMahon made to her on the day they were married: “He said, I will always love you, and that there will never be a dull moment. And Vince has fulfilled both of those promises,” she laughs.
History suggests “Mr. McMahon” has spent as much time battling his own family as he has any WWE Superstar; his “Street Fight” with son Shane at WrestleMania X-Seven evoke some of his fondest memories. (“Can you imagine how much fun it is for a father to be in there with his son?” he asks. “It can’t get any better than that.”) But while “family man” may be the last words you’d use to describe McMahon, “grandfather” is one he values most outside the squared circle, especially come playtime with his grandchildren. “He missed out on a lot of stuff with his own children…just because he was gone so much more,” Shane says. “He gets to relive that now, and you can see how much fun he’s having.”
Stephanie McMahon admits initially being “not too happy” about having a Father vs. Daughter “I Quit” match at No Mercy in October 2003—six days before her wedding. But she cherishes such in-ring moments with her father as much as those she spent as a little girl standing on his feet and dancing with him. “He has always made it a point to spend special time with me and Shane,” she says. “Whether it was on the back of his motorcycle and going too fast—we didn’t tell my mom—if it was talking business, or if it was just him taking me out to dinner, my dad is the most wonderful father that there could ever be.”
Like him or hate him, McMahon has also earned the respect of every WWE Superstar; after all, not many billionaire business moguls have broken their coccyx while falling off a steel cage, or severed both quadriceps tendons while entering a ring. And come back from such injuries, stronger than ever, through constant training and rehabilitation. The Chairman of the Board’s physique is a constant source of pride in front of the WWE cameras, though in private he’s loathe to call himself a bodybuilder, even after his 240 pounds of barrel-chested sinew muscled its way onto the cover of the April 2006 issue of Muscle & Fitness magazine.
Vince McMahon perhaps demonstrates his greatest strength when it comes to supporting the United States Armed Forces, personally addressing the troops overseas and thanking them for the sacrifices they’ve made to defend their country. At those moments, Linda sees “the character and the man blend”; McMahon, however, has a candid opinion about both himself and his role as a sports-entertainer.
“I don’t know if I consider myself a patriot,” he states, “but I do consider myself the luckiest man in the world.”