What Happens To WWE And Wrestling When Vince McMahon Is Gone?
by Major on Aug 31, 2010 7:05 PM EDT
Email
PrintVincent K. McMahon is arguably the most profitable wrestling promoter in the history of the business but now at 65 years old, with his wife Linda focused on a political career, one has to wonder if we are seeing the last few years of Vince McMahon running the day to day operations and the creative direction of the WWE.
The main problem with Vince retiring is that there is no clear successor to the WWE seat of power. Stephanie McMahon is well liked but in recent years Stephanie has become a more dedicated parent than the heir apparent and future CEO of WWE. Stephanie recently had her third child and while she does bring her two daughters on the road with her, bringing a third on the road is not ideal. Young children need to have the stable home life in their formative years and Stephanie probably does not want to repeat the same life that she and Shane had as children. Stephanie has been head of creative for almost a decade and yet Vince still hasn't given her full control over the creative direction of WWE. It could be that Vince either doesn't trust her or he feels she is lacking in ability.
Triple H is another candidate to run WWE. Hunter booked the Ric Flair retirement storyline but he also buried every upper mid carder with main event talent. A huge negative on Hunter's Hall Of Fame resume is the lack of stars he made. Unlike Ric Flair, who put over even undeserving talents, Hunter was the heel version of Cena for much of the early 2000's. The fact that the Rock and Austin put over the likes of Kurt Angle, Jericho, Lesnar, Booker T, Goldberg and others when Hunter beat them clean reveals a smarmy level of insecurity in Hunter. Hunter running WWE would alienate many former stars like the Rock, Goldberg or Kurt Angle from ever appearing in WWE again.
Kevin Dunn is probably a candidate but the worst possible candidate in my opinion. Dunn is notorious for pleading for talent with height and muscles and blond diva's with large boobs and bones. He cares nothing for actual in ring wrestling but he loves the over the top stories that drive wrestling fans insane. Dunn is absolutely amazing at shooting wrestling and he creates really good video packages but his input in creative and talent has been a detriment overall.
Other possibles are Shane McMahon and Paul Heyman. Both have their strong points, Shane is great at listening to his employees and generating new business opportunities overseas. WWE's tour of China was spearheaded by Shane and Carl Demarco many years ago. Paul Heyman is no doubt the most creative man in wrestling and would probably put a new life into the product almost immediately. Both would need to mend fences and have a dramatic turn around in their relationship with Vince to have any chance.
So who takes over for Vince? What becomes of wrestling in general? Could TNA replace WWE as the #1 promotion in the world and realistically speaking how likely is that to happen? Lets hear your thoughts!
The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Cageside Seats readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cageside Seats editors or staff.
20 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I'd go Heyman
in large part because I feel like there is an extreme lack of options. I’m not sure he would do anything special with it but I would take him over anyone else at the moment. That said, it’s going to be Stephanie and by extension Triple H. Which means that once Vince dies, within 5 years the WWE will die with him.
Forget it Donny, you're out of your element.
CagesideSeats.com
Follow me on Twitter at GenoMrosko
I’d be afraid that Heyman would run WWE into the ground, financially. I remember reading somewhere that his booking was insanely good, but his business practice was just insane.
A creep from the cradle, but a hero's what I want to be
Agreed on that.
He’s a genius at translating ideas to what we see on TV but he can’t run a business to save his life.
Forget it Donny, you're out of your element.
CagesideSeats.com
Follow me on Twitter at GenoMrosko
My fear is exactly that! Stephanie takes over while Vince is alive and when he dies or loses his faculties Stephanie steps away and raises the kids while Hunter runs the show. Hunter has good idea’s but he’s too vindictive.
Freedom is a road seldom traveled by the multitudes...
He's a talent.
Talent can’t book the show. Remember Kevin Nash took over as booker at WCW and suddenly he was beating Goldberg for the title at Starrcade and ending his streak. If Triple H was lead booker he would have 70 world title reigns. It would be like Jeff Jarrett at TNA for so long.
Forget it Donny, you're out of your element.
CagesideSeats.com
Follow me on Twitter at GenoMrosko
It’s not like HHH hasn’t used his “stroke” to get about 5-6 more title reigns than he should have gotten
Freedom is a road seldom traveled by the multitudes...
You mean 11 to 12 more title reigns than HHH deserves? :P
The fact that he’s only a few more titles from breaking Flair’s record is just plain wrong and disturbing.
by FighterHayabusa on Sep 1, 2010 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
I was looking for "none of the above" in the poll.
Stephanie McMahon – She’s probably the one who’s going to end up with the keys to the company. I don’t mind but she wouldn’t by my first choice. I think she can run the company from home and I’m sure she’ll do anything and everything to keep her family well off for as long as she can. Rich people tend to do that.
HHH – Hell no. See the above comments. Not only that – all ethnic wrestlers will be mid card fodder no matter how talented they are. I just think about his feud with Booker T and cringe. Plus he’s a dick. I don’t know how many times he’s going to invite Lilian Garcia back to the shows just to make horse face jokes if he runs the company.
Kevin Dunn – Another hell no. Here’s a quote from Jim Cornette from some UK wrestling magazine quoted by some guy on a wrestling board:
“It’s not really their fault because that’s what they’re taught by WWE. But, at the same time, they’re so obnoxious about it (laughs). Kevin Dunn hates wrestling! He refuses to allow you to call it professional wrestling while you’re in the room with him. He will argue with you about it! He makes a million dollars a year as the executive producer of a show that he doesn’t even like!”
Shane McMahon – I wish he would come back to the company. If I had no other option, I’d pick Shane. He’s a huge MMA fan which already tells me he’s ready for WWE’s style of wrestling to evolve. He’s had some great battles in the ring so the talent would respect him. He’s also the only other McMahon that gets as much pop/heat as his dad when he comes out to the ring. Steph gets some pop/heat but not as much as Shane-O.
Paul Heyman – No comment. It’s never going to happen. Vinny Mac giving the keys to the company to an over-opinionated Jew who is far more creative than Vince ever was? 0% chance. (The Jew statement is written in Vince’s perspective by the way) – not meant to be racist. Just saying the truth.
Nice read, major – thanks for this!
by FighterHayabusa on Sep 1, 2010 3:22 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
For starters, I believe Vince will run the company as long as he is able to do so. It is, after all, ‘his’ company in more ways than one.
Had Shane ever been a candidate to succeed Vince, he wouldn’t have left in the first place. Finding out that he was never going to get the top spot was possibly a large part of why he quit. Dunn and Heyman aren’t family (and as great a booker as Paul can be, he couldn’t run a company to save his life).
Therefore – Steph and Hunter, in some kind of a joint operation, I believe. If I had to pick just one, it would be Steph, but I don’t see Hunter not being an official part of the operation. However, as I said above, it might be a looong time until Vinnie Mac finally calls it quits and passes the baton. For all we know, he might still be taking his annual Wrestlemania beating ten years from now.
Don't like wrestling in MMA? Go watch K-1.
Can't deal with the occasional boring fight? Let me introduce you to ROH.
by Monday Morning Martial Artist on Sep 3, 2010 4:08 PM EDT reply actions
Love your sig.
Forget it Donny, you're out of your element.
CagesideSeats.com
Follow me on Twitter at GenoMrosko
How is that people equate active roster HHH to Booking one?
He is a huge NWA fan, and odds are he will turn it more Crockett/WCCW in style when he does full booking and not active roster.
Would it be karma if Steph/Shane gave Vince the heave-ho, like Vince did to Vince Sr.?
A creep from the cradle, but a hero's what I want to be
They wouldn't be able to do that
with the way the company is run. They are a publicly traded company. They can’t just overthrow Vince. Not to mention the fact that Shane left. Whenever Vince dies, it will go to Steph and Triple H.
Forget it Donny, you're out of your element.
CagesideSeats.com
Follow me on Twitter at GenoMrosko
Sterling Draper Cooper Price Levesque
Wrestling Observer:
WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut is undergoing a slight renovation as an office is being built for Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who was recently promoted to an executive role within the organization.
According to a company source, the multi-time wrestling champion now officially serves as WWE Chairman Vince McMahon’s creative advisor.
While Triple H has had Vince’s ear for the past several years, it was always in an unofficial capacity. From this point forward, he will have a much more authoritative say in regards to the company’s creative direction and its many performers.
i’d lvoe for it to break up a bit and get back to regional shows in hits older days. hell, i’d go see a local event that wasn’t WWE. it’s akin to what TV did to boxing and why it’s so hard to find regional boxing bouts nowadays. i think a monopoly like that was in the long run was removed it from a lot of people’s visibility.
Gatti. Dekkers. Pele. Aoki. Kang. Vanderlei. Basillio. Harry Greb.
by theworldsoldestsport on Sep 8, 2010 4:47 PM EDT reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
