WWE and predecessors (1969–2024) Commentator (1969–1997) Before the evolution of the Mr. McMahon character, McMahon appeared as a
commentator on television. His executive role was not publicized to maintain the illusion of wrestling's staged story lines, or
kayfabe. While McMahon did publicly identify himself as the owner of the WWF outside of WWF programming, on television his ownership of the WWF was considered an
open secret through the mid-1990s.
Jack Tunney was portrayed as the president of WWF instead of McMahon. In 1969, McMahon began appearing on untelevised WWWF events as a ring announcer. McMahon made his commentary debut in 1971 when he replaced Ray Morgan after Morgan had a pay dispute with McMahon's father,
Vincent J. McMahon, shortly before a scheduled television taping. The elder McMahon let Morgan walk instead of giving in to his demands and needed a replacement on the spot, offering it to his son. For the younger McMahon, it was also somewhat of a compromise, as it allowed him to appear on television. McMahon wanted to be a wrestler, but his father did not let him, explaining that promoters did not appear on the show and should stay apart from their wrestlers. McMahon eventually became the regular play-by-play commentator and maintained that role until November 1997, portraying himself originally as mild-mannered and diplomatic until 1984. In addition to matches, McMahon hosted other WWF shows, and introduced WWF programming to
TBS on
Black Saturday, upon the WWF's acquisition of
Georgia Championship Wrestling and its lucrative
Saturday night timeslot. McMahon sold the time slot to
Jim Crockett Promotions after the move backfired on him. He eventually acquired JCP's successor company,
World Championship Wrestling, from
AOL Time Warner in 2001. At the
1987 Slammy Awards, McMahon performed in a musical number and sang the song "Stand Back". The
campy "Stand Back" video has since resurfaced several times over the years as a
running gag between McMahon and any
face wrestler he is feuding with at that particular time, and was included on the 2006
McMahon DVD. The following night on
Raw Is War, McMahon attempted to announce a new WWF Champion. He held a presentation ceremony and introduced The Undertaker and Kane. After saying that both deserved to be the WWF Champion, Austin drove a
Zamboni into the arena and attacked McMahon before police officers stopped him, and arrested him. Because The Undertaker and Kane both failed to defend McMahon from Austin, McMahon did not name a new champion, but instead made a match at
Judgment Day: In Your House between The Undertaker and Kane with Austin as the
special referee. This prompted The Undertaker and Kane to attack Mr. McMahon, injuring his ankle because he gave them the
finger behind their backs. He also awarded Mankind the
WWF Hardcore Championship due to his status as a
hardcore wrestling legend. Originally, McMahon was acting as he if he was helping out Mankind during the match. At
Rock Bottom: In Your House, Mankind defeated The Rock to win the WWF Championship after The Rock passed out to the
Mandible Claw. McMahon, screwed Mankind once again by reversing the decision and returning the belt to his chosen champion, The Rock. McMahon participated in a "Corporate Rumble" on the January 11, 1999
Raw as an unscheduled participant, but was eliminated by
Chyna. McMahon restarted a long-running feud with Austin when, in December 1998, he made Austin face The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match with the Royal Rumble qualification on the line. Austin defeated The Undertaker with help from Kane. McMahon had put up $100,000 to anyone who could eliminate Austin from the Royal Rumble match. At
Royal Rumble, thanks to help from the corporation's attack on Austin in the women's bathroom during the match. Austin and McMahon went under the ropes, not over them as the Royal Rumble rules require for elimination to occur, along with the 'Shawn Michaels Rule', in which both feet must touch the floor after going over the top rope. The Rock distracted Austin, and McMahon lifted Austin over the top rope from behind, winning the match and earning a title shot at
WrestleMania XV against the WWF Champion The Rock. He turned down his spot, and WWF Commissioner Shawn Michaels awarded it to Austin, which infuriated McMahon. The Corporation started a feud with
The Undertaker's new faction the "
Ministry of Darkness", which led to a storyline introducing McMahon's daughter
Stephanie. Stephanie played an "innocent sweet girl" who was kidnapped by The Ministry twice. The first time she was kidnapped, she was found by
Ken Shamrock on behalf of McMahon in a basement of the stadium. The second time she was kidnapped, The Undertaker attempted to marry her whilst she was forcefully tied to the Ministry's crucifix, but she was saved by Steve Austin. This angle saw a brief friendship develop between McMahon and Austin, cooling their long-running feud. McMahon became a member of the short-lived stable
The Union, during May 1999. McMahon's son Shane merged the corporation with The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness to form the
Corporate Ministry. On the June 7 episode of
Raw Is War, McMahon was revealed as the "Higher Power" behind the Corporate Ministry. This not only reignited McMahon's feud with WWF Champion Austin, but also caused a
kayfabe disgusted
Linda and Stephanie McMahon to give their 50% share of the WWF to Austin. At
King of the Ring, Vince and Shane defeated Austin in a
handicap ladder match to regain control of the WWF. While CEO, Austin had scheduled a WWF Championship match, to be shown on
Raw is War after King Of The Ring. During the match, Austin defeated The Undertaker once again to become the WWF Champion. At
Fully Loaded, Austin was again scheduled for a first blood match against The Undertaker. If Austin lost, he would be banned from wrestling for the WWF Championship again; if he won, Vince McMahon would be banned from appearing on WWF television. Austin defeated The Undertaker, and McMahon was banned from WWF television. McMahon returned as a
face in the fall of 1999 and won the
WWF Championship in a match against
Triple H, thanks to outside interference from Austin on the September 16
SmackDown!. He vacated the title on the following Monday's
Raw is War because he was not allowed on WWF television because of the stipulations of the Fully Loaded contract he signed. Austin reinstated him in return for a WWF title shot. Over the next few months, McMahon and Triple H feuded, with the linchpin of the feud being Triple H's storyline marriage to Stephanie McMahon. The feud culminated at
Armageddon in 1999; McMahon faced Triple H in a
No Holds Barred match which McMahon lost. Afterward, Stephanie turned on him, revealing her true colors. McMahon, along with his son Shane, then disappeared from WWF television, unable to accept the union between Triple H and Stephanie. This left Triple H and Stephanie in complete control of the WWF.
McMahon–Helmsley Faction (2000–2001) McMahon returned to WWF television on the March 13, 2000
Raw Is War helping
The Rock win his WWF title shot back from the Big Show. He also attacked Shane McMahon and
Triple H. Two weeks later, McMahon and The Rock defeated
Shane McMahon and The
Big Show in a tag team match with help from special guest referee
Mankind. This began the McMahon-Helmsley Era. in June 2000 At
King of the Ring on June 25, McMahon, Shane, and WWF Champion Triple H took on
The Brothers of Destruction (
The Undertaker and
Kane) and The Rock in a six-man tag team match for the WWF Championship. This match stipulated that whoever made the scoring pinfall would become the WWF Champion. McMahon was pinned by The Rock. McMahon was then absent from WWF television until late 2000. On the December 4 episode of
Raw Is War, McMahon questioned the motives of WWF Commissioner Mick Foley and expressed concern of the well-being of the six superstars competing in the Hell in a Cell match at
Armageddon on December 10. On the December 18 episode of
Raw Is War, McMahon faced
Kurt Angle in a non-title match which was fought to no contest when Mick Foley interfered and attacked both men. After the match, both men beat Foley and McMahon fired him. At
WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1, McMahon lost to Shane after Linda—who had been
emotionally abused to the point of a
nervous breakdown; the breakdown was caused after Vince demanded a divorce on the December 7 episode of
SmackDown!; the breakdown left her helpless as she was deemed unable to continue being CEO of the WWF at the time, giving Vince 100% authority; finally, she was heavily sedated, in the storyline—hit Vince with a
low blow. Following the collapse of The Alliance, McMahon created the "Vince McMahon Kiss My Ass Club", also known as the "Mr. McMahon Kiss My Ass Club", which consisted of various WWE individuals being ordered to kiss his buttocks in the middle of the ring, usually with the threat of suspension or firing if they refused reverting to a
heel. The club was originally proclaimed closed by
The Rock after McMahon was forced to kiss
Rikishi's buttocks on an episode of
SmackDown!. In November,
Ric Flair returned to WWF after an eight-year hiatus declaring himself the co-owner of the WWF, which infuriated McMahon. The two faced each other at the
Royal Rumble on January 20, 2002, in a
Street Fight which Flair won. Due to their status as co-owners, McMahon became the owner of
SmackDown! while Flair became the owner of
Raw. On the June 10 episode of
Raw, McMahon defeated Flair to end the rivalry and become the sole owner of WWE. On the February 13, 2003
SmackDown!, McMahon tried to derail the return of
Hulk Hogan after a five-month hiatus, but was knocked out by Hogan and received a
running leg drop. At
No Way Out on February 23, McMahon interfered in Hogan's match with The Rock. Hogan hit The Rock with a running leg drop and went for the pin, but the lights went out. When the lights came back on, McMahon came to the ringside to distract Hogan.
Sylvain Grenier, the referee, gave The Rock a chair, which he then hit Hogan with. He ended the match with a
Rock Bottom to defeat Hogan. This led to McMahon facing Hogan in a match at
WrestleMania XIX on March 30, which McMahon lost in a Street Fight. McMahon then banned Hogan from the ring, but Hogan returned under the
gimmick of "Mr. America". McMahon tried to prove that Mr. America was Hogan under a mask, but failed at these attempts. Hogan later quit WWE and at which point McMahon claimed that he had discovered Mr. America was Hulk Hogan and "fired" him. McMahon asked his daughter Stephanie to resign as SmackDown!
General Manager on the October 2
SmackDown!. Stephanie refused to resign and this set up an
"I Quit" match between the two. At
No Mercy on October 19, McMahon defeated Stephanie in an "I Quit" match when Linda threw in the towel. Later that night, he helped
Brock Lesnar retain the WWE Championship against The Undertaker in a
Biker Chain match. This started a rivalry between McMahon and The Undertaker. At
Survivor Series on November 16, McMahon defeated The Undertaker in a
Buried Alive match with help from Kane.
Various feuds (2005–2013) McMahon returned to TV as a regular character in late 2005 after firing Raw General Manager
Eric Bischoff. He then feuded with
Shawn Michaels, losing to him in a
No Holds Barred match at
WrestleMania 22. At
Backlash, Vince and Shane McMahon defeated Michaels and "God" (characterized by a spotlight) in another No Holds Barred match. After Triple H reunited with Michaels to reform
D-Generation X, the McMahons lost to them at
SummerSlam, and the feud concluded at
Unforgiven, where DX defeated the McMahons and Big Show in a Hell in a Cell match. In January 2007, McMahon began the "Battle of the Billionaires" feud with
Donald Trump, which culminated at
WrestleMania 23 when his representative
Umaga lost to
Bobby Lashley in a match with McMahon’s hair on the line, resulting in his head being shaved. McMahon continued his rivalry with Lashley after WrestleMania, defeating him for the
ECW World Championship at
Backlash in a 3-on-1
handicap match with Shane and Umaga by his side. At
Judgment Day, McMahon defended the championship against Lashley again in another 3-on-1 handicap match, losing the match but retaining on a technicality. His reign ended at
One Night Stand after Lashley defeated him in a Street Fight. in 2012 The Mr. McMahon character was seemingly killed off on the June 11 episode of
Raw, in a segment that featured McMahon entering a limousine moments before it exploded. A three-hour memorial to his character planned for the June 25 episode of
Raw was scrapped after the
Chris Benoit double-murder and suicide, with McMahon opening the show to announce Benoit's death and confirm that his character's death had been part of a storyline. After a brief hiatus, McMahon returned as part of a storyline involving an illegitimate child that spanned late 2007 and early 2008;
Hornswoggle was initially presented as McMahon's child but was later revealed as
Finlay's. McMahon was written off television again on the June 30, 2008, episode of
Raw after celebratory explosions tied to the "Million Dollar Mania" prize giveaway caused the stage to collapse on top of him. to join his "Kiss My Ass Club" in 2008. During the later stage of McMahon's career, he made intermittent on-screen appearances, typically returning only for major storyline developments rather than appearing regularly throughout the year in favor of other onscreen authority figures. He returned in early 2009, aligning with Triple H in his feud against
Randy Orton. His next major feud was with Bret Hart following Hart's 2010 return to WWE for the first time since the Montreal Screwjob in 1997, losing to him at
WrestleMania XXVI in a No Holds Barred Lumberjack match. McMahon was later written off of television on the June 22
Raw, after an attack by
The Nexus left his character in a coma. His next major storyline was in the lead-up to
Money in the Bank 2011, amid criticism of the company by
CM Punk in his "pipebomb" promo, during which Punk left WWE with the WWE Championship. During this time, Triple H briefly replaced McMahon as the main onscreen authority figure after the board of directors lost confidence in him. In 2012, he challenged CM Punk to a match on the October 8 episode of
Raw; the match never officially started, but McMahon held his own in a brawl with Punk. McMahon was later part of Triple H's feud with Brock Lesnar in early 2013 after he was assaulted by Lesnar. McMahon booked himself into a Street Fight with Lesnar's manager, Paul Heyman, on the February 25 episode of
Raw but interference from both men led to their rematch at
WrestleMania 29.
The Authority (2013–2017) Beginning in mid-2013, McMahon aligned himself with Triple H and Stephanie's new faction,
The Authority, which became the promotion’s controlling on-screen regime. In December 2015, McMahon feuded with
Roman Reigns; the storyline included a segment in which McMahon was arrested for assaulting an
NYPD officer and resisting arrest after a confrontation with Reigns. McMahon later ordered Reigns to defend his WWE Championship at the
Royal Rumble against 29 other men in the
Royal Rumble match, which was won by Triple H. Upon the disbandment of The Authority and the return of Shane McMahon to the promotion in 2016, McMahon reinstated the brand extension, with Shane acting as commissioner of Raw and Stephanie controlling SmackDown. McMahon continued to make occasional appearances in storylines, including an attack from
Kevin Owens during his feud with Shane on the September 5, 2017, episode of
SmackDown.
Sporadic appearances and retirement (2018–2022) On January 22, 2018, McMahon returned on
Raw 25 Years to address the WWE Universe, only to later turn on them by calling them "cheap" turning heel once again. He was later confronted, and
stunnered, by
Stone Cold Steve Austin. On March 12, McMahon made an appearance in a backstage segment with
Roman Reigns, announcing that Reigns would be suspended for his recent actions. On SmackDown 1000 McMahon returned as face once again after dancing on TruthTV. McMahon returned once again to WWE television on the December 17, 2018, episode of
Monday Night Raw, accompanied by his son
Shane, daughter
Stephanie McMahon, and his son-in-law
Triple H, promising to shake things up as they admitted they weren't performing as well as they should have. McMahon announced that the four of them would now
run both
Monday Night Raw and
SmackDown Live collectively. In early 2019, McMahon involved himself in the feud between
Daniel Bryan and
Kofi Kingston, refusing the latter of receiving a
WWE Championship match at
WrestleMania. McMahon returned to WWE television on the April 24, 2020, episode of
Friday Night SmackDown, in celebration of
Triple H's 25th anniversary in WWE. He also appeared at
Survivor Series introducing The Undertaker to the ring during his retirement celebrations, and in night 1 of
WrestleMania 37 on April 10, 2021, to welcome the fans back in person at the
Raymond James Stadium after a year of halting live events due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. On the November 22, 2021, episode of
Raw, McMahon held an investigation to find out who stole Cleopatra's Egg, a gift given to him by
The Rock the previous night at
Survivor Series. Later that night,
Austin Theory revealed that he had stolen the Egg. McMahon rewarded Theory a
WWE Championship match against
Big E in the main event for "showing intestinal fortitude", and over the next several months, McMahon gave career advice to Theory. In addition to being Theory's mentor leading up to
WrestleMania 38, he also promised
Seth Rollins a match against a mystery opponent of his choosing. At WrestleMania 38, after
Pat McAfee defeated Austin Theory, McMahon was challenged to an impromptu match by McAfee, which McMahon accepted, and in which McMahon defeated McAfee. This was McMahon's first match in 12 years, as well as McMahon's first win at WrestleMania. Following the match,
Stone Cold Steve Austin interrupted McMahon and Theory celebrating the win and gave them both Stone Cold Stunners. McMahon made his last appearance on WWE programming on the June 27, 2022, episode of
Raw, introducing the returning John Cena on the 20th anniversary of his debut. In July 2022, McMahon retired from WWE. In 2023, McMahon stated in an interview with
Ari Emanuel that "Mr McMahon is dead" signifying the permanent end to the character.
United States Wrestling Association (1993) While the Mr. McMahon character marked the first time that McMahon had been portrayed as a villain in WWF, in 1993, McMahon was engaged in a feud with
Jerry Lawler as part of a cross-promotion between the WWF and the
United States Wrestling Association (USWA). As part of the angle, McMahon sent various WWF wrestlers to
Memphis to dethrone Lawler as the "king of professional wrestling". This angle marked the first time that McMahon physically interjected himself into a match, as he occasionally tripped and punched at Lawler while seated ringside. During the angle, McMahon was not acknowledged as the owner of the WWF. The feud was not acknowledged on WWF television, as the two continued to provide commentary together (along with
Randy Savage) for the television show
Superstars. The feud also helped build toward Lawler's match with
Bret Hart at
SummerSlam. The peak of the angle came with
Tatanka defeating Lawler to win the
USWA Championship with McMahon gloating at Lawler while wearing the championship belt. This storyline came to an abrupt end when Lawler was accused of raping a young girl in Memphis, and he was dropped from the WWF. He returned shortly afterward, as the girl later stated that the rape accusations were lies. == Professional wrestling style and persona ==