| Vinnie Mac |
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| STATS Name: Vincent Kennedy McMahon Chairman of WWE Height: 6' 2" Birthdate: August 24, 1954 Place of Birth: Pinehurst, North Carolina Wife: Linda E. McMahon Children: Shane Brandon McMahon, Stephanie Marie McMahon Parents: Vince McMahon Sr. and Vickie Siblings: Rod McMahon In-laws: Marissa Ann Mazzola McMahon (daughter-in-law), Henry Edwards (father-in-law), Evelyn Edwards (mother-in-law) |
| Biography Vincent Kennedy McMahon was born on August 24, 1945 Pinehurst, North Carolina to Vicki and Vince McMahon Sr. Vince McMahon�s mother was married a countless amount of times and Vince was often abused by his step-fathers. As a child Vince McMahon suffered from dyslexia. Vince McMahon met his father for the first time when he was 12 years old. Vince was the third generation of wrestling promoters. He had plan for finding his way into his fathers business. Vince, who attended Fishborne Military School as a youth, was a star wrestler in high school. At the age of 16 Vince was introduced to 13-year-old Linda Edwards in a church by his mother. Their �friendship� had just begun. Four years later when Linda was 17 and Vince was 20, the two were married. They attended the University of East Carolina. In an article Vince recalls how he had made it into college: MCMAHON: I had to go back to a couple of professors to get them to change me from a B plus to an A, or I wouldn't have made it [passing college]. PLAYBOY: Why did they agree? Just because you didn't steal their cars? MCMAHON: I guess they didn't expect a knock on the door from a student who wouldn't take no for an answer. Someone who was saying he's been here five years, and his wife's been here three and she's graduating and she's pregnant. Now they figure this kid has either made up a hell of a story or maybe it's true. Either way, it didn't hurt them to change the grade. Vince eventually graduated with a degree in marketing. It was the day before they got their diplomas when they learned that they were going to Have their son Shane. The young couple then moved to Gaithersburg, Maryland where Shane was born. Linda stayed t home and Vince had finally convinced his father to give him a job as a promoter for the Capitol Wrestling Corporation; known as the World Wide Wresting Federation (WWWF). He promoted his first WWWF wrestling card in 1971 (in Bangor, Maine); the event was a rousing success. This began Vinnie Mac�s wrestling glory. in 1972 Vince replaced the retired Ray Morgan as an announcer and a play-by-play commentator. At the same time, Vince also helped increase market clearances for the WWWF�s television program airing on nine stations in the U.S. By 1980, this had more than tripled! In June of 1982, Vince McMahon finally purchased the Capitol Wrestling Corporation from his father who wanted to retire from the wrestling business. It cost him one million dollars; a small price to pay for building his future, along with his childrens�. With his wife as CEO and himself as Chairman, the company was renamed as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). This was different from how his father ran the company. Vince combined wrestling with elements of the entertainment world. This made the shows more interesting and brought a much broader audience. The WWF shows were then on regular weekly cable and satellite TV and PPV�s. The WWF had not only become national but also global. In 1984, as Vince was planning the first Wrestle Mania, his father passed way from cancer: PLAYBOY: By 1984 you had achieved it [making the WWF national]. You were planning the Wrestle Mania, the first of those huge national shows. But it was also the time your father was dying. MCMAHON: Dying of cancer. I went to the hospital and I kissed him. I've always been demonstrative. If I don't like you, I'll tell you. If I love you, male or female, I'll hug you and say I love you. But my dad was old Irish. The old Irish, for some reason I don't understand, they don't show affection. That's not how I live my life. It's certainly not the way that my kids, Shane and Stephanie, were brought up--I don't know how many times a day I tell them I love them. But my dad, no. He never said it. Maybe he would say something complementary about me to somebody else, but not to my face. That time in the hospital, I kissed him and said I loved him. He didn't like to be kissed, but I took advantage of him. Then I started to go. I hadn't quite gotten through the door when I heard him: "I love you, Vinnie!" He didn't just say it, he yelled it. The following year, in 1985, the first Wrestle Mania took place. Celebrities such as Mohammed Ali, Liberace, and baseball's Billy Martin turned the extravaganza into a media spectacle. Today, Wrestle Mania is know as the most popular Pay-Per-View in sports entertainment. History was made on the day of Wrestle Mania III. WWF was crowned as a national powerhouse when over 78,000 fans jammed the Pontiac Silverdome, creating a new record. This even beat the Rolling Stones! After this still, Vince McMahon continued commentating, and interview wresters. He also served as an announcer at weekly shows and pay per views. WWF seemed like nothing could ever slow it down; then the 90�s came. In 1993, Vince McMahon was charged with steroid distribution and had to stand trial. Fortunately he was found �not guilty.� all was well again, until Ted Turner crossed Vince McMahon�s path. Ted Turner had purchased the what was left of some old beaten down wrestling organization. He hired new wrestlers and renamed his brand World Championship Wrestling. The WCW, had much better presentation and its ratings where higher than WWF�s. Many of the WWF superstars had left the company that had created them to join WCW. Vince McMahon finally made the decision to change the direction of his product. In the fall of 1997, WWF developed a more tasteful and sophisticated style. Finally the night came. It was April 13, 1998 when Raw is War beat Monday Nitro�s ratings. While Vince McMahon has been doing an outstanding job as chairman of WWE, in the past he has tried to experiment with other things; which have not been as successful. These include the World Bodybuilding Federation (very self-explanatory) and the XFL. the Xtreme Football League started pretty well, but went out of business after the first season. (I don�t know why because personally, I enjoyed it more the NFL). Most people say it was simply because a lot of people hate Vince McMahon. (They probably don�t realize that he is a business-genius). At first Vince McMahon was recognized as a pretty nice guy. It took only one pay per view event to turn all of this around. On November 9, 1997, at a Survivor Series in Montreal, Canada is when it happened. Vince McMahon had just �double-crossed� Bret Hart, who was then the WWF Heavyweight Champion, and a fan favorite. Shawn Michaels (heel), had just put Bret in a sharpshooter. Vince McMahon cued Earl Hebnar (referee) to call for the bell; declaring Shawn Michaels as the new champion. From there on the crowd would often chant �You screwed Bret� and to this day Vince is still known as a heel. Later on in 1998, Vince McMahon�s son Shane was introduced to the audience, soon followed by Stephanie. In the year 2001, the WWF purchased their completion, the WCW (on March 23). Later that year WWF was forced into changing its name to WWE after a court battle with the World Wildlife Fund. The on-stage saga continued with story lines of Vince making and breaking his relationships with his children and wife. Of course in real-life they are all very different. Vince even helped encourage younger people to vote for the president in 2001 and still does. Two days after the September 11 attacks, Vince took a break from playing his hell character to deliver a stirring speech to a sold out Houston crowd. Today Vince lives in Greenwich, Connecticut with his wife of 37-years, with their dog Ruckus; given to him by Linda. He continues his on screen role of the boss who everybody hates. His life story of still inspires many people. Recently people have been pressuring him to retire and let Steph and Shane take over, but he wont. I think his trying to show everyone that he�s not done yet, and he still has a lot more to do for the WWE. |
| Facts -Vince McMahon suffered from dyslexia as a child -Vince�s high school number football number was 61 -Vince owns a dog named Rujus given to him by Linda - Vince pinned Triple H for the World Title -Vince once pretended to beat up Dracula in a closet because 4-year-old Shane was convinced that Dracula was in there. |