"It's A Family Affair"
Having devoted their lives to making World Wrestling Entertainment the most dominant force in pro wrestling today WWE chairman Vince McMahon and his wife, WWE CEO, Linda couldn't be happier about their son Shane and daughter Stephanie following in their footsteps and continuing the McMahon legacy.
With his face twisted into a snarl and veins bulging from his thick neck, Vince McMahon stands behind his slumping daughter Stephanie and mercilessly chokes her with a lead pipe. Stephanie gasps for air, unable to free herself from her father's powerful grip. Finally, her mother, Linda, throws in the towel, officially ending the first-ever father vs daughter pay-per-view match. But Vince isn't finished yet. Showing no remorse, he grabs his wife, shoves her down and then proceeds to make out with his 'mistress', Sable.
While his actions at the 2003 No Mercy pay-per-view certainly won't win the evil Mr. McMahon character any Father of the Year awards, in reality, the McMahons are a close-knit family. In face, World Wrestling Entertainment chairman Vince McMahon couldn't be more proud of his kids, Stephanie and Shane.
That's because Stephanie, 27, and Shane, 33, have followed him into the family business. And like their famous father and their mother Linda, the CEO of the company, Stephanie and Shane McMahon are intregal figures in WWE both on camera and behind the scenes.
Following in their father's footsteps.
When he's not performing daredevil stunts inside the ring or going toe-to-toe with Kane, Shane heads a division of the company that includes internet media, publishing, international television and merchandising. Stephanie, who played the on-air role of Smackdown! general manager until recently, is in charge of the writing teams for that show and Raw. 'One of the greatest things that can happen for a father is that a daughter or son would want to follow in their footsteps in the same business,' said Vince McMahon, 58. 'Although I know this sounds very trite, I would have been extremely supportive whatever it was they chose as a profession. But they both have a tremendous passion for this business, which is extremely important to me, because it was handed down in terms of legacy from my dad and my grandfather.'
Both Shane and Stephanie were exposed to the business at an early age, horsing around when they were kids with wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant. Vince said he didn't force the business on them, but he didn't exactly try to keep them away from it, either.
'Early on Shane indicated that he had an interest in the business,' McMahon reveals. 'I told him to go to school and graduate, because if he didn't, he wasn't coming into the business. So he graduated from Boston University [with a degree in communications] and didn't even bother to go to the graduation ceremony. After he took his last exam he showed up at the building and said, "I'm ready to go to work." In her junior year [at Boston University, where she also earned a degree in communications], I asked Stephanie, as all parents do, "OK, how what do you think you really want to do in life?" And she looked at me like I had two heads and said, "Well, the only thing I've ever wanted to do, is be in this business." That wasn't a shock to me, but it was a bit of a surprise.'
Vince welcomed both of his kids into the company, but he started them at the bottom. Shane performed tasks such as sweeping up the locker room, setting up the ring and, eventually, refereeing, while Stephanie worked as an all-around gofer and receptionist.
How the Vince McMahon Jnr era began.
Although Shane and Stephanie were born into the business, Vince wasn't as fortunate. Although he's grandfather, Jess McMahon, had promoted wrestling, and his father, Vince McMahon Sr, controlled the Northeast territory and founded WWE (then known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation), Vince came from a broken home and did not meet his father until he was 12. Vince McMahon Sr did not want his son to follow him into the seedy world of pro wrestling, but once the younger McMahon got a taste of it, he wouldn't be denied. 'I had been badgering my dad to get into the business somehow,' Vince McMahon said. 'He was having a problem (in the early 1970s) with his promoter in Bangor, Maine, who was stealing. So he said, "Look, I'll let you be a promoter if you make this one town successful. If it's unsuccessful, I have you your shot and you have nothing to gripe about." Of course, it was successful!'
From there, he became a television announcer for his father's wrestling programmes after the regular announcer, Ray Morgan, walked out in a dispute over money just before the show was about to start. 'Ray said he was going to walk off the job if he didn't get what he thought he should earn,' Vince recalled. 'My dad said, "Well, goodbye." I happened to be in the room at the time. When he did that, I said, "Jeez, Pop, way to go. You didn't back down from that guy. I'm so proud of you." The old man said, "Yeah, the only thing now is, who can I use as an announcer?" And he turned around and looked at me and said, "It's you." I said, "What? I've never done that before!" He said, "You'll be fine. Get out there." He just threw me right in!' Vince McMahon went on to buy the company from his father and other shareholders in 1982, and his vision of making WWE an international success quickly came to fruition. One thing Vince could not have envisioned at that point, however, was that one day he would be wrestling his own kids on pay-per-views.
Wrestling's dysfunctional family hits our screens.
Vince's on air transformation from announcer to heel owner paved the way for the rest of the family to get in on the act. Pro wrestling is often referred to as a soap opera for men, and one of the staples of any traditional soap opera is a powerful, often dysfunctional, family. Past storylines involving the McMahons include Vince keeping Linda in a mental hospital while he had an affair with Trish Stratus and Shane and Stephanie conspiring against their father to pull a hostile takeover of the company.
Shane and Vince have wrestled each other many times, including a brutal street fight at Wrestlemania X-Seven, and Stephanie once slapped her mother's face as part of the show. While all the family feuding makes for compelling television, the McMahon's on-screen conflicts do take an emotional toll on them. 'I'll never forget when I made the first match against Shane,' Vince McMahon said. 'Tears welled up in his eyes. He said, "Dad, I'm going to have to hit you." I said, "Yeah, I know. Lay it in." He did his job, and he did it well, but it was difficult. It was the same when Stephanie had to slap Linda. Stephanie broke down right after that scene was over.'
The McMahons certainly suffer for their art.
Demonstrating just how far the McMahons will go for the sake of their art, 54-year-old Linda allowed herself to be on the receiving end of a tombstone piledriver by Kane last summer. The maoeuvre is a risky one, as evidenced by Stone Cold Steve Austin's temporary paralysis and the permanent damage to his neck and spine after taking the move wrong from Owen Hart in 1997. 'We walked through it a couple of times in the afternoon,' Vince McMahon said of the tombstone on his wife of 37 years. 'I walked up to him and said, "Kane..." And he said, "Don't worry, Vince. Don't even say it." I didn't have to go there and I didn't want to put undue pressure on him, because then he's going to be scared to death and probably make a mistake. Mistakes do happen and those are risks that we take to entertain our audience. They are calculated risks, and hopefully they won't backfire on us one day.'
Few take more risks than Shane McMahon, who specialises in absorbing bumps that would make Mick Foley proud. Shane has won over fans who may have resented him for being the boss' son by diving off 20ft platforms and executing flying elbow drops from the top rope through the announcers' table.
Are we getting tired of the clan McMahon?
Some critics believe the McMahons have been overexposed on television, and that they are putting themselves over at the expense of some more talented wrestlers. At least as far as his character is concerned, Vince McMahon embraces the notion of less screen time. 'My character is great, but I prefer being on the other end of the camera, producing and directing,' he said. 'Hopefully, I'll wind up that character this year. It will always be there on the shelf, and if we want to take it off and put it back in, we can. I take up space and I prefer that some young upstart have that space so that we can get other people over.'
Life is good away from the ring.
Off camera, the McMahon family recently added a new member, and they are planning on expanding again soon. Stephanie and Triple H, who have already been married and divorced in the storylines, were married for real in October 2003 and in February, Shane's wife, Marissa, who used to work for the company as a publicist, is scheduled to give birth to the couple's first child. "I'm thrilled to be a grandfather and I can't wait,' Vince McMahon said. "Linda and I love kids. We've often said to each other that we should have had a dozen instead of two. With Shane and Marissa having a baby, hopefully there will be a fifth generation of McMahons in this business.'
It doesn't take a genius to see the shape of things to come and just by glancing into our crystal ball we can give you a pretty realistic idea of exactly where this one's going. Coming to pay-per-view in 2025, WWE proudly presents the first ever grandfather vs grandchild match!
Source: Total Wrestling Magazine.