‘Mr. McMahon’ Details Disgrace and Drama

Content Warning: This article includes mentions of sexual assault and death.

The Netflix documentary “Mr. McMahon” details the damning rise and fall of disgraced former World Wrestling Entertainment chairman Vince McMahon.

Amidst rumors McMahon attempted to prevent Netflix from releasing the series, his reasoning becomes understandable given the unflattering light the series sheds on the media mogul’s life.

The six-episode limited series covers the many scandals McMahon and his company, the WWE, have faced since McMahon purchased the company from his father in 1982. The miniseries tackles allegations of doping, sexual assault and murder-suicide that occurred within the WWE under McMahon’s stewardship.

The documentary searches for McMahon’s true self beyond his public persona. The producers practically hand McMahon a shovel to dig his own grave, given his outward, abrasive persona. 

WWE Executive Bruce Prichard in the final episode of the series, “The Finish,” said, that after watching the first few episodes of the documentary, it comes across as a “gotcha piece” against McMahon.

Despite staying silent for years, McMahon addressed each incident throughout the series.

“Based on an early partial cut I’ve seen, this doc falls short and takes the predictable path of conflating the ‘Mr. McMahon’ character with my true self, Vince,” McMahon wrote in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Mr. McMahon”  features interviews with some of the biggest names in wrestling, including “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, John Cena and Paul “Triple H” Levesque. Many of the wrestlers interviewed appeared to view him not as their boss, but rather as a father figure.

“I mean, I’d honestly take a bullet for that man,” Mark “The Undertaker” Calaway said while discussing his relationship with McMahon.

Most of McMahon’s former employees had nothing but positive things to say about their boss.

However, a majority of these interviews were filmed in 2021, before the newest batch of allegations against McMahon were made public. 

The most compelling piece of the puzzle is McMahon’s relationship with his children, Stephanie and Shane. Their dynamic is comparable to the one portrayed in the series “Succession,” with both children vying to take over the company once their father retires. While Stephanie has her father’s work ethic, Shane is portrayed as the black sheep of the family.

Both Shane and McMahon detail the complexities of their relationship, including an intense argument that led Shane to leave the company in 2008. As it pertains to Stephanie, the series fails to ask hard-hitting questions regarding her personal and professional relationship with her father. 

“Mr. McMahon” spends too much time on the surface level of the media figure’s life, leaving audience interpretation to fill in the gaps.

The series’ handling of Janel Grant’s lawsuit against McMahon disappoints in its lack of care. Grant’s allegations of sexual assault, trafficking and emotional abuse — which ultimately led to McMahon resigning from his position as TKO Group Holdings’ Executive Chairman — aren’t discussed until the last 15 minutes of the final episode. 

Considering the trailer’s emphasis on the case and the heavy significance of the allegations, the brief retelling of the lawsuit is glaringly insufficient.

It was assumed the series would also provide new details regarding the case and those closest to McMahon would speak on the matter — instead, producers missed the mark as there were just montages of news networks covering the lawsuit and journalists speculating on what happened.

For viewers unfamiliar with McMahon, the documentary succeeds in holding McMahon accountable and forces him to answer for the many controversies that have shaped his professional career.

While McMahon, throughout the documentary, said that his WWE persona is merely an “overly exaggerated version of himself,” the docuseries provides enough details for the audience to determine his assertion as untrue.

“Mr. McMahon,” rated TV-MA, is available now on Netflix.