1
00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000
Downloaded from
YTS.MX

2
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000
Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

3
00:00:10,844 --> 00:00:12,572
-Earlier tonight,

4
00:00:12,596 --> 00:00:14,407
my father,

5
00:00:14,431 --> 00:00:16,826
Vince McMahon...

6
00:00:16,850 --> 00:00:19,579
retired from WWE.

7
00:00:19,603 --> 00:00:22,999
-With those nine words,
Stephanie McMahon

8
00:00:23,023 --> 00:00:25,585
stunned the world
of professional wrestling.

9
00:00:25,609 --> 00:00:28,129
-I don't think anybody
would have ever said

10
00:00:28,153 --> 00:00:31,758
that Vince McMahon
would have ever stepped down.

11
00:00:31,782 --> 00:00:34,594
-Everybody figured that he was
gonna do this until he died.

12
00:00:34,618 --> 00:00:36,513
-Welcome to "SmackDown"!

13
00:00:36,537 --> 00:00:38,181
[ Cheering ]

14
00:00:38,205 --> 00:00:41,726
-Over decades, Vince McMahon
faced financial ruin...

15
00:00:41,750 --> 00:00:44,979
-Vince mortgaged every dime
that he had.

16
00:00:45,003 --> 00:00:47,732
- battled
ruthless competition...

17
00:00:47,756 --> 00:00:51,194
-And now WCW is about to
dominate the globe

18
00:00:51,218 --> 00:00:53,112
in professional wrestling.

19
00:00:53,136 --> 00:00:56,324
- and confronted
career-ending scandals.

20
00:00:56,348 --> 00:00:58,034
-Speculation is running wild.

21
00:00:58,058 --> 00:01:01,871
Did steroids play a role,
or is there another explanation?

22
00:01:01,895 --> 00:01:03,498
-He can be a tyrant.

23
00:01:03,522 --> 00:01:07,126
-The whole thing was an abortive
kind of a screwjob.

24
00:01:07,150 --> 00:01:10,129
-So many scandals.

25
00:01:10,153 --> 00:01:13,299
-I-I don't even know if there
would be a wrestling business

26
00:01:13,323 --> 00:01:15,969
by the time all the
investigations were complete.

27
00:01:15,993 --> 00:01:18,638
{\an8}-Often close to being pinned...

28
00:01:18,662 --> 00:01:21,349
-He was down many times.

29
00:01:21,373 --> 00:01:23,268
- Vince always kicks out.

30
00:01:23,292 --> 00:01:25,770
-In every case, he bounced back.

31
00:01:25,794 --> 00:01:27,981
-That's... I've never seen
anything like that.

32
00:01:28,005 --> 00:01:31,442
-These are the nine lives
of Vince McMahon.

33
00:01:31,466 --> 00:01:34,737
-First of all,
I-I resent your tone.

34
00:01:34,761 --> 00:01:40,535
{\an8}♪♪

35
00:01:40,559 --> 00:01:44,163
-The origin story of the rich
and powerful wrestling mogul

36
00:01:44,187 --> 00:01:47,875
Vincent McMahon Jr. begins
in a poor, rundown

37
00:01:47,899 --> 00:01:49,669
North Carolina trailer park,

38
00:01:49,693 --> 00:01:51,963
where a tough, mouthy,
dyslexic kid

39
00:01:51,987 --> 00:01:54,507
named Vinnie Lupton
is living with his mom.

40
00:01:54,531 --> 00:01:56,718
-There was some kind of a
falling out in the marriage,

41
00:01:56,742 --> 00:01:59,137
{\an8}and then he and his brother Rod

42
00:01:59,161 --> 00:02:01,889
{\an8}were left to be raised
by their mother, Vicki.

43
00:02:01,913 --> 00:02:04,726
{\an8}He kind of had a chip on his
shoulder from the beginning.

44
00:02:04,750 --> 00:02:07,353
-All most people know
from this period of Vince's life

45
00:02:07,377 --> 00:02:12,358
comes from his 2001 interview
with <i>Playboy </i>magazine.

46
00:02:12,382 --> 00:02:16,487
-He alludes to his mother
sexually assaulting him.

47
00:02:16,511 --> 00:02:20,658
{\an8}He alludes to being molested
when he was six

48
00:02:20,682 --> 00:02:23,828
by other teenage kids.

49
00:02:23,852 --> 00:02:25,538
-There's stories of his mother

50
00:02:25,562 --> 00:02:28,333
bringing various different men
into their lives.

51
00:02:28,357 --> 00:02:30,960
There was, in particular,
Leo Lupton,

52
00:02:30,984 --> 00:02:33,004
who was officially
Vince's stepfather.

53
00:02:33,028 --> 00:02:35,423
He apparently was
a very abusive man.

54
00:02:35,447 --> 00:02:38,968
-And despite that abuse,
or perhaps because of it,

55
00:02:38,992 --> 00:02:42,847
Vince develops a ruthlessness
that will come to define him.

56
00:02:42,871 --> 00:02:46,184
{\an8}-Vince said that he was upset
that Leo Lupton died

57
00:02:46,208 --> 00:02:48,019
{\an8}before he had a chance
to kill him

58
00:02:48,043 --> 00:02:51,064
and that he would have really
enjoyed being able to do that.

59
00:02:51,088 --> 00:02:55,651
-At 12, Vince finally meets
his biological father,

60
00:02:55,675 --> 00:02:57,320
who happens to be
one of wrestling's

61
00:02:57,344 --> 00:02:59,072
most successful promoters,

62
00:02:59,096 --> 00:03:02,742
Vincent James McMahon,
or Vince Sr.

63
00:03:02,766 --> 00:03:06,579
-Vincent James McMahon was
the most important person

64
00:03:06,603 --> 00:03:09,791
in professional wrestling in
the northeastern United States.

65
00:03:09,815 --> 00:03:13,252
-Here's promoter Vince McMahon's
wrestling lineup

66
00:03:13,276 --> 00:03:16,297
for this arena next week.

67
00:03:16,321 --> 00:03:19,133
-Vince becomes like that
storybook teenager

68
00:03:19,157 --> 00:03:22,845
who runs away from an evil
stepfather to join the circus.

69
00:03:22,869 --> 00:03:24,555
-You know, there's stories
of Vince hanging out

70
00:03:24,579 --> 00:03:27,934
with Dr. Jerry Graham,
who is this very flamboyant

71
00:03:27,958 --> 00:03:30,687
kind of over-the-top figure
in pro wrestling,

72
00:03:30,711 --> 00:03:32,522
where Vince would ride
down the street

73
00:03:32,546 --> 00:03:35,441
in his convertible with him
while he was lighting cigars,

74
00:03:35,465 --> 00:03:37,193
you know, with $100 bills.

75
00:03:37,217 --> 00:03:39,904
-But when Vince starts
stealing cars for joyrides

76
00:03:39,928 --> 00:03:41,656
and getting into fights,

77
00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:44,117
Vince Sr. tries
sending him away.

78
00:03:44,141 --> 00:03:46,911
{\an8}-Vince went
to Fishburne Military Academy.

79
00:03:46,935 --> 00:03:49,455
{\an8}Legend has it that
he got into a lot of trouble.

80
00:03:49,479 --> 00:03:52,500
-He claimed that he was
the only student there

81
00:03:52,524 --> 00:03:54,252
to ever have been
court-martialed.

82
00:03:54,276 --> 00:03:56,462
I-I don't know how much truth
there is to that,

83
00:03:56,486 --> 00:03:59,590
but the story goes
that he was an unruly kid

84
00:03:59,614 --> 00:04:02,385
and that the military school
kind of really

85
00:04:02,409 --> 00:04:04,095
had their hands full with him.

86
00:04:04,119 --> 00:04:06,556
-Until his mom finds him a girl,

87
00:04:06,580 --> 00:04:10,393
as Vince explains
in this 1999 TV interview.

88
00:04:10,417 --> 00:04:12,603
-My mom had said, you know,
you have to come meet

89
00:04:12,627 --> 00:04:14,689
this beautiful blue-eyed girl.

90
00:04:14,713 --> 00:04:16,941
She sings in the choir,
and she's pretty,

91
00:04:16,965 --> 00:04:18,651
and you're really gonna
like her.

92
00:04:18,675 --> 00:04:22,864
{\an8}-Let's see. I think I was
13 years old and Vince was...

93
00:04:22,888 --> 00:04:24,365
-16.

94
00:04:24,389 --> 00:04:26,826
-Dare I say that you were older?
Yes. He was 16.

95
00:04:26,850 --> 00:04:31,747
-Vince and Linda married
on August 26, 1966.

96
00:04:31,771 --> 00:04:34,208
After college, Vince goes
looking for a job

97
00:04:34,232 --> 00:04:36,878
at his dad's
Capitol Wrestling Corporation.

98
00:04:36,902 --> 00:04:40,465
But Vince says his father again
turns him away.

99
00:04:40,489 --> 00:04:42,425
-Wanted me to have
a more secure future.

100
00:04:42,449 --> 00:04:44,135
Wanted me to be an accountant

101
00:04:44,159 --> 00:04:46,304
or... or an attorney
or something like that.

102
00:04:46,328 --> 00:04:48,848
And I really wasn't cut out
for... for any of the above.

103
00:04:48,872 --> 00:04:50,433
-He's right.

104
00:04:50,457 --> 00:04:53,186
Out on his own,
Vince stumbles badly.

105
00:04:53,210 --> 00:04:58,065
-He had talked about being
a salesman, selling paper cups,

106
00:04:58,089 --> 00:04:59,734
things that didn't
really thrill him

107
00:04:59,758 --> 00:05:01,986
and... and not doing very well
at it.

108
00:05:02,010 --> 00:05:04,781
{\an8}-Then, for the first
of many times,

109
00:05:04,805 --> 00:05:08,826
Vince escapes adversity,
this time aided by his dad.

110
00:05:08,850 --> 00:05:11,245
-They had an announcer
named Ray Morgan,

111
00:05:11,269 --> 00:05:13,581
who was
kind of becoming difficult.

112
00:05:13,605 --> 00:05:16,959
So Vince Sr. hired his son
officially as an announcer

113
00:05:16,983 --> 00:05:20,630
and also gave him
some small towns to promote.

114
00:05:20,654 --> 00:05:25,593
-This Monday, a fantastic card
of professional wrestling.

115
00:05:25,617 --> 00:05:29,096
-Vince, a natural-born huckster,
is soon putting those skills

116
00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:31,849
to work
on all kinds of side hustles.

117
00:05:31,873 --> 00:05:34,435
-He was promoting concerts,
rock concerts.

118
00:05:34,459 --> 00:05:36,854
-And a closed-circuit screening
of the infamous bout

119
00:05:36,878 --> 00:05:41,359
between Muhammad Ali and
Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki.

120
00:05:41,383 --> 00:05:43,778
-Just like I thought,
I'll fight him. Right, fans?

121
00:05:43,802 --> 00:05:45,696
[ Cheering ]

122
00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,825
-In 1974, Vince even gets
a chance to work

123
00:05:48,849 --> 00:05:50,660
with Evel Knievel,
learning tricks

124
00:05:50,684 --> 00:05:53,371
from that decade's
biggest self-promoter.

125
00:05:53,395 --> 00:05:54,872
-Vince is one of the promoters
of Evel Knievel's

126
00:05:54,896 --> 00:05:56,707
Snake River Canyon jump.

127
00:05:56,731 --> 00:05:59,919
{\an8}-Vince pays the daredevil
$250,000

128
00:05:59,943 --> 00:06:02,380
{\an8}for the closed-circuit rights
to the jump.

129
00:06:02,404 --> 00:06:05,800
{\an8}♪♪

130
00:06:05,824 --> 00:06:09,387
Knievel's attempt fails
spectacularly,

131
00:06:09,411 --> 00:06:11,389
and so does Vince.

132
00:06:11,413 --> 00:06:13,182
The audience willing to pay
for the event

133
00:06:13,206 --> 00:06:15,017
turns out to be paltry,

134
00:06:15,041 --> 00:06:18,062
and Vince loses
the entire quarter million.

135
00:06:18,086 --> 00:06:20,815
Just a few years later,
he and his wife, Linda,

136
00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:23,150
file for bankruptcy.

137
00:06:23,174 --> 00:06:26,320
Yet, despite his failed ventures
away from wrestling,

138
00:06:26,344 --> 00:06:28,072
Vince is still convinced

139
00:06:28,096 --> 00:06:30,616
that he can expand
his father's business.

140
00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,327
{\an8}-He really wanted to bring
his dad's wrestling company

141
00:06:33,351 --> 00:06:35,079
{\an8}to the next level.

142
00:06:35,103 --> 00:06:39,500
-But not as an employee...
As the new owner of the company.

143
00:06:39,524 --> 00:06:41,002
-I knew there was just some way

144
00:06:41,026 --> 00:06:43,379
I had to get my hands
on this company.

145
00:06:43,403 --> 00:06:45,047
-June 6, 1982.

146
00:06:45,071 --> 00:06:47,383
It's sort of a red-letter date
in wrestling history.

147
00:06:47,407 --> 00:06:50,219
Vince sat down with his father
and his father's partners.

148
00:06:50,243 --> 00:06:52,513
-The deal was for $1 million.

149
00:06:52,537 --> 00:06:55,474
-Vince mortgaged
everything he had,

150
00:06:55,498 --> 00:06:57,268
every dime that he had.

151
00:06:57,292 --> 00:06:59,854
-He bought it on a balloon loan.

152
00:06:59,878 --> 00:07:01,814
He describes it as,
you pay a little right now

153
00:07:01,838 --> 00:07:03,232
and then you pay a lot later.

154
00:07:03,256 --> 00:07:05,067
-And if he missed payments,

155
00:07:05,091 --> 00:07:07,862
then the ownership would revert
back to the original group.

156
00:07:07,886 --> 00:07:10,239
-They knew Vince knew
the business,

157
00:07:10,263 --> 00:07:11,824
and if he failed, he failed,
you know?

158
00:07:11,848 --> 00:07:13,159
They would get
their money anyway.

159
00:07:13,183 --> 00:07:14,910
-The message was,
if you can't handle this,

160
00:07:14,934 --> 00:07:17,496
if it turns out you blow it,
we're taking it back.

161
00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:19,457
-But there may have been
an even bigger reason

162
00:07:19,481 --> 00:07:23,002
why Vince Sr. was finally
willing to pass the reins.

163
00:07:23,026 --> 00:07:24,962
-He had pancreatic cancer,

164
00:07:24,986 --> 00:07:29,133
and this may have been one of
the motivations for him to sell.

165
00:07:29,157 --> 00:07:31,802
-Vince Sr. had spent decades
as one of the most

166
00:07:31,826 --> 00:07:34,430
revered owners
in professional wrestling.

167
00:07:34,454 --> 00:07:38,434
-The stories that you hear about
Vince Sr. don't revolve

168
00:07:38,458 --> 00:07:42,855
around ruthlessness
or overly competitiveness.

169
00:07:42,879 --> 00:07:46,150
Once he had control
in the Northeast,

170
00:07:46,174 --> 00:07:48,944
he was satisfied
to kind of run that territory

171
00:07:48,968 --> 00:07:51,364
and do really well with it.

172
00:07:51,388 --> 00:07:55,892
-As for Vince Jr., he will not
be so easily satisfied.

173
00:08:00,772 --> 00:08:05,419
-He had a vision to take his
father's territory in New York

174
00:08:05,443 --> 00:08:08,506
and literally make it
the biggest wrestling company,

175
00:08:08,530 --> 00:08:13,260
not only in the United States,
in the world, to make it global.

176
00:08:13,284 --> 00:08:18,933
-Vince Jr. was more willing
to take it all and be ruthless.

177
00:08:18,957 --> 00:08:22,520
-But first, Vince has to take
on his father's old friends,

178
00:08:22,544 --> 00:08:25,356
the mostly men running the other
wrestling companies

179
00:08:25,380 --> 00:08:27,066
across the country.

180
00:08:27,090 --> 00:08:30,611
-Every state had
a wrestling territory.

181
00:08:30,635 --> 00:08:33,239
New York was the WWWF.

182
00:08:33,263 --> 00:08:35,324
There was Memphis.
There was Georgia.

183
00:08:35,348 --> 00:08:37,284
There was Florida.
There was Texas.

184
00:08:37,308 --> 00:08:38,953
-There was the sense

185
00:08:38,977 --> 00:08:41,455
that everybody would respect
each other's territory.

186
00:08:41,479 --> 00:08:44,625
{\an8}-And, for the most part,
promotions all over

187
00:08:44,649 --> 00:08:46,502
{\an8}the US and Canada coexisted

188
00:08:46,526 --> 00:08:49,714
{\an8}and it was a really
thriving industry.

189
00:08:49,738 --> 00:08:52,091
-He thought, "Why do I have
to respect these boundaries?

190
00:08:52,115 --> 00:08:55,094
Why can't I just start promoting
everywhere?"

191
00:08:55,118 --> 00:08:57,805
-Because doing so threatens
the businesses

192
00:08:57,829 --> 00:09:00,850
of Vince Sr.'s
fellow wrestling promoters.

193
00:09:00,874 --> 00:09:03,894
-You had these promoters
now going to Vince Sr.,

194
00:09:03,918 --> 00:09:05,896
they were his old friends,
and saying,

195
00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:08,441
"You have to talk to your son.
He's out of control.

196
00:09:08,465 --> 00:09:10,109
Are you aware
that he's trying to,

197
00:09:10,133 --> 00:09:12,695
you know,
run us out of our towns?"

198
00:09:12,719 --> 00:09:16,490
So Vince Sr. approached
his son at some point,

199
00:09:16,514 --> 00:09:18,659
saying,
"Vinny, you can't do this."

200
00:09:18,683 --> 00:09:23,956
And eventually, Vince Jr. lost
his temper at his dad and said,

201
00:09:23,980 --> 00:09:27,668
"Look, I'm gonna do this with
or without you, Dad.

202
00:09:27,692 --> 00:09:29,712
I mean, you know,
you work for me now.

203
00:09:29,736 --> 00:09:32,965
Are you with me,
or are you against me?"

204
00:09:32,989 --> 00:09:34,759
Vince Sr. kind of took a moment

205
00:09:34,783 --> 00:09:38,012
and... and thought about it
and... and was quiet

206
00:09:38,036 --> 00:09:39,263
and then looked at his son
and said,

207
00:09:39,287 --> 00:09:40,806
"You know what, Vinny?

208
00:09:40,830 --> 00:09:43,601
You're right.
Those guys."

209
00:09:43,625 --> 00:09:48,564
-And he did, by taking from them
the thing they needed most.

210
00:09:48,588 --> 00:09:50,357
-The talent...
They all went for Vince.

211
00:09:50,381 --> 00:09:54,028
{\an8}Your talent's gone,
you can't eat, and that was it.

212
00:09:54,052 --> 00:09:55,863
{\an8}-Now, either you
got out of the way

213
00:09:55,887 --> 00:09:58,199
{\an8}or you compete
against an elephant.

214
00:09:58,223 --> 00:10:01,160
-Vince injects some competition
into the industry,

215
00:10:01,184 --> 00:10:03,370
paying wrestlers more than
they can dream off

216
00:10:03,394 --> 00:10:05,164
under the cozy old system.

217
00:10:05,188 --> 00:10:07,458
Then he buys time
from local TV stations

218
00:10:07,482 --> 00:10:10,127
to promote his shows
to sell more tickets.

219
00:10:10,151 --> 00:10:12,129
That helps generate the cash
he needs

220
00:10:12,153 --> 00:10:14,298
to begin buying up
struggling territories.

221
00:10:14,322 --> 00:10:16,383
As his vision of a national
wrestling company

222
00:10:16,407 --> 00:10:18,260
comes into focus,

223
00:10:18,284 --> 00:10:20,805
the master marketer goes looking
for someone to inject

224
00:10:20,829 --> 00:10:23,808
show business
into the wrestling business.

225
00:10:23,832 --> 00:10:29,063
-This man is not
a television illusion.

226
00:10:29,087 --> 00:10:33,818
He is not
an artist's conception.

227
00:10:33,842 --> 00:10:38,030
He is not a figment
of the imagination.

228
00:10:38,054 --> 00:10:41,158
He is the Hulk.

229
00:10:41,182 --> 00:10:46,247
{\an8}♪♪

230
00:10:46,271 --> 00:10:50,292
-Making his first appearance
in this arena,

231
00:10:50,316 --> 00:10:53,587
ladies and gentlemen,
Hulk Hogan.

232
00:10:53,611 --> 00:10:57,258
-Vince is looking
for the superhero.

233
00:10:57,282 --> 00:11:00,010
He's going national,
but it's not gonna work

234
00:11:00,034 --> 00:11:04,390
unless he has
this larger-than-life person.

235
00:11:04,414 --> 00:11:07,476
-Hogan was the guy to choose.
He had the great look.

236
00:11:07,500 --> 00:11:09,645
-I mean, to this day,

237
00:11:09,669 --> 00:11:11,522
if you ask somebody
on the street

238
00:11:11,546 --> 00:11:13,524
to name a professional wrestler,

239
00:11:13,548 --> 00:11:15,568
{\an8}they're probably still gonna
name Hulk Hogan.

240
00:11:15,592 --> 00:11:17,528
-Vince made Hogan
just a perfect offer

241
00:11:17,552 --> 00:11:19,154
that he couldn't turn down.

242
00:11:19,178 --> 00:11:20,948
{\an8}-Vince told him, "We're gonna
put the belt on you,

243
00:11:20,972 --> 00:11:22,658
{\an8}and you're gonna be
our number-one guy."

244
00:11:22,682 --> 00:11:26,537
-He came in at the beginning
of January 1984,

245
00:11:26,561 --> 00:11:27,997
and by the end of the month,

246
00:11:28,021 --> 00:11:30,708
he was the WWF World
Heavyweight Champion.

247
00:11:30,732 --> 00:11:32,918
{\an8}-History being made tonight.

248
00:11:32,942 --> 00:11:37,131
{\an8}Hulk Hogan crowned the new
WWF Heavyweight Champion.

249
00:11:37,155 --> 00:11:40,718
-And, really, the linchpin
to that national expansion.

250
00:11:40,742 --> 00:11:43,053
It was Vince and it was Hogan.

251
00:11:43,077 --> 00:11:44,555
Neither one of those guys
could have done it

252
00:11:44,579 --> 00:11:46,223
without the other one.

253
00:11:46,247 --> 00:11:48,767
-While Vince is modernizing
the wrestling industry,

254
00:11:48,791 --> 00:11:51,437
some things in wrestling
remain the same.

255
00:11:51,461 --> 00:11:54,982
Most territories still practice
what's called kayfabe,

256
00:11:55,006 --> 00:11:58,652
maintaining the illusion
everything's real.

257
00:11:58,676 --> 00:12:00,821
- Oh!
- What a move.

258
00:12:00,845 --> 00:12:02,531
-Karate kick right to the side
of the head.

259
00:12:02,555 --> 00:12:04,200
-But what's not an illusion

260
00:12:04,224 --> 00:12:07,328
is the very real threat
to Vince's emerging empire,

261
00:12:07,352 --> 00:12:09,955
when news magazine "20/20's"
John Stossel

262
00:12:09,979 --> 00:12:12,249
begins investigating kayfabe

263
00:12:12,273 --> 00:12:14,960
and whether it's a fraud
on wrestling fans.

264
00:12:14,984 --> 00:12:16,754
-I was a wrestler
in high school.

265
00:12:16,778 --> 00:12:20,966
{\an8}I was always a little annoyed
that people, some people believe

266
00:12:20,990 --> 00:12:25,638
{\an8}that pro wrestling was real
rather than a scripted event

267
00:12:25,662 --> 00:12:29,391
where the winner is preordained
and people dress up

268
00:12:29,415 --> 00:12:34,313
in funny clothes and pretend
anger and... and bullshit.

269
00:12:34,337 --> 00:12:37,149
{\an8}-It had leaked out that "20/20"
was gonna do a piece.

270
00:12:37,173 --> 00:12:38,901
{\an8}And obviously,
if it's ABC network news,

271
00:12:38,925 --> 00:12:41,362
{\an8}it's gonna be an exposé.

272
00:12:41,386 --> 00:12:43,447
-I just thought
it was interesting

273
00:12:43,471 --> 00:12:45,783
that this big,
growing, successful business

274
00:12:45,807 --> 00:12:48,035
was based on bullshit.

275
00:12:48,059 --> 00:12:53,082
I mean, cleverly done,
athletic bullshit, but lies.

276
00:12:53,106 --> 00:12:55,834
{\an8}-Stossel's story could lead
to a significant exodus

277
00:12:55,858 --> 00:12:57,252
of disillusioned fans,

278
00:12:57,276 --> 00:12:59,505
just as Vince has
all his capital

279
00:12:59,529 --> 00:13:03,509
committed to building the WWF
into a national brand.

280
00:13:03,533 --> 00:13:05,761
-We either did a survey
or found a survey

281
00:13:05,785 --> 00:13:07,263
that about a third of the people

282
00:13:07,287 --> 00:13:10,391
who attended the events
thought it was real.

283
00:13:10,415 --> 00:13:12,476
- This is real?
- Yeah, I think so, yes.

284
00:13:12,500 --> 00:13:14,061
-You couldn't do a story

285
00:13:14,085 --> 00:13:18,482
unless we could find
some insider who would say,

286
00:13:18,506 --> 00:13:20,359
"Yeah, here's how we fake
this and that"

287
00:13:20,383 --> 00:13:24,321
and was willing to go
into a ring and demonstrate.

288
00:13:24,345 --> 00:13:27,199
And eventually we found
Eddy Mansfield.

289
00:13:27,223 --> 00:13:29,994
-Mansfield is a wrestler
with a cause,

290
00:13:30,018 --> 00:13:33,205
publicizing the vulnerability
of WWF wrestlers

291
00:13:33,229 --> 00:13:35,457
who have no health benefits
or pensions.

292
00:13:35,481 --> 00:13:38,544
He hopes a story on "20/20"
will raise awareness

293
00:13:38,568 --> 00:13:40,796
to the plight
of fellow pro wrestlers.

294
00:13:40,820 --> 00:13:43,132
So he agrees to spill
some secrets.

295
00:13:43,156 --> 00:13:44,466
-Is this real wrestling?

296
00:13:44,490 --> 00:13:47,594
{\an8}-No. It's not real. No.
Not at all.

297
00:13:47,618 --> 00:13:50,139
{\an8}I mean, if somebody would
believe that, they'd be stupid.

298
00:13:50,163 --> 00:13:54,226
-Nobody wanted fake blood,
so everybody bled for real.

299
00:13:54,250 --> 00:13:57,688
There's two ways to do that...
The easy way and the hard way.

300
00:13:57,712 --> 00:14:01,025
The easy way is with a blade.

301
00:14:01,049 --> 00:14:02,717
-You go just like that.

302
00:14:06,387 --> 00:14:07,906
-And then gradually,
during the match,

303
00:14:07,930 --> 00:14:09,408
it would drip
around over your face?

304
00:14:09,432 --> 00:14:12,703
-That's it. See, if I was
sweating, it'd pour.

305
00:14:12,727 --> 00:14:15,956
-I thought, "Well, we need to
have the usual person

306
00:14:15,980 --> 00:14:18,584
from the professional
organization saying,

307
00:14:18,608 --> 00:14:21,670
'Oh, this isn't fake.
This is all real.'"

308
00:14:21,694 --> 00:14:23,630
So we went
to Madison Square Garden

309
00:14:23,654 --> 00:14:25,257
and I guess
Vince McMahon okayed it

310
00:14:25,281 --> 00:14:27,468
or we wouldn't have been there.

311
00:14:27,492 --> 00:14:29,887
-Vince wants to send
Stossel a message,

312
00:14:29,911 --> 00:14:32,139
so he tells wrestler
David Schultz

313
00:14:32,163 --> 00:14:36,685
to maintain kayfabe and treat
Stossel like any other opponent.

314
00:14:36,709 --> 00:14:39,438
-Vince said,
"Listen, we got a guy out here

315
00:14:39,462 --> 00:14:41,607
making a joke
out of the business."

316
00:14:41,631 --> 00:14:43,275
Vince wanted me to tear
his ass up,

317
00:14:43,299 --> 00:14:45,611
wanted me to blast him,
stay in character.

318
00:14:45,635 --> 00:14:48,280
-Vince denies telling Schultz
to assault Stossel

319
00:14:48,304 --> 00:14:51,366
and disowns any involvement
in what happened next.

320
00:14:51,390 --> 00:14:53,827
-And then Schultz came out.

321
00:14:53,851 --> 00:14:55,454
He was a little frightening.

322
00:14:55,478 --> 00:14:56,914
- Is this a good business?
- Yeah, it's a good business.

323
00:14:56,938 --> 00:14:58,665
I wouldn't be in it
if it wasn't.

324
00:14:58,689 --> 00:15:00,667
- Why is it a good business?
- Because only the tough survive.

325
00:15:00,691 --> 00:15:02,336
That's why you ain't in it,

326
00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:04,088
and this punk holding the
camera... why he ain't in it,

327
00:15:04,112 --> 00:15:05,756
reason these rednecks out here
ain't in it.

328
00:15:05,780 --> 00:15:07,424
Because it's a tough business.

329
00:15:07,448 --> 00:15:09,635
-I think this is fake.

330
00:15:09,659 --> 00:15:11,345
- "I think it's fake."

331
00:15:11,369 --> 00:15:13,889
Now I'm thinking, "Vince wanted
me to stay in character."

332
00:15:13,913 --> 00:15:17,059
Doctor D would slap the hell out
of somebody who'd say that.

333
00:15:17,083 --> 00:15:19,019
-You think it's fake?

334
00:15:19,043 --> 00:15:20,646
What's that? Is that fake?

335
00:15:20,670 --> 00:15:23,065
-Holy shit. What the hell
just happened here?

336
00:15:23,089 --> 00:15:24,817
And then I stupidly
got up again.

337
00:15:24,841 --> 00:15:26,568
-Huh?
What the hell's wrong with you?

338
00:15:26,592 --> 00:15:27,861
That's an open-hand slap, huh?

339
00:15:27,885 --> 00:15:29,571
I was always taught, man get up,

340
00:15:29,595 --> 00:15:30,823
you got to knock him back down.

341
00:15:30,847 --> 00:15:32,241
You think it's fake, you...

342
00:15:32,265 --> 00:15:34,243
-He whacked me in the other ear.

343
00:15:34,267 --> 00:15:35,577
-My ears were ringing.

344
00:15:35,601 --> 00:15:36,829
-What do you mean fake?

345
00:15:36,853 --> 00:15:39,415
-I was stunned, a little scared.

346
00:15:39,439 --> 00:15:40,999
And that's why I crawled off.

347
00:15:41,023 --> 00:15:43,877
I didn't want to get hit again.

348
00:15:43,901 --> 00:15:47,339
-Two months later,
Stossel's report airs.

349
00:15:47,363 --> 00:15:50,342
Now it's his turn to slap
the wrestling community.

350
00:15:50,366 --> 00:15:52,261
-"You little pissant,
John Stossel."

351
00:15:52,285 --> 00:15:54,179
That's what all the wrestlers
thought about him.

352
00:15:54,203 --> 00:15:56,640
-Then Stossel delivers
a second blow,

353
00:15:56,664 --> 00:15:59,852
hitting Vince where it can
really do some damage.

354
00:15:59,876 --> 00:16:03,939
-I thought that McMahon and his
group should be taught a lesson

355
00:16:03,963 --> 00:16:06,817
that they can't go
beating up reporters.

356
00:16:06,841 --> 00:16:09,069
And I sued for damages.

357
00:16:09,093 --> 00:16:12,823
-After what became known as
the slap heard 'round the world,

358
00:16:12,847 --> 00:16:17,619
Vince fires Schultz to save
the WWE from a PR black eye.

359
00:16:17,643 --> 00:16:19,455
But it's not enough.

360
00:16:19,479 --> 00:16:22,875
In response, Vince delivers
what will become his closer...

361
00:16:22,899 --> 00:16:25,294
Throwing money at the problem.

362
00:16:25,318 --> 00:16:30,132
Stossel is bought off
for a reported $420,000.

363
00:16:30,156 --> 00:16:35,345
-I wanted some compensation
for my pain.

364
00:16:35,369 --> 00:16:38,140
-And while Vince also suffers
some pain over the allegations

365
00:16:38,164 --> 00:16:40,934
his wrestlers are faking it
in the ring,

366
00:16:40,958 --> 00:16:43,312
that proves fleeting
compared to the misery

367
00:16:43,336 --> 00:16:46,064
he's suffering over their
behavior out in the real world,

368
00:16:46,088 --> 00:16:50,611
beginning with WWF star
Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka.

369
00:16:50,635 --> 00:16:53,363
[ Cheers and applause ]

370
00:16:53,387 --> 00:16:59,453
{\an8}♪♪

371
00:16:59,477 --> 00:17:01,872
{\an8}-Jimmy Snuka was Vince's
number-one drawing card

372
00:17:01,896 --> 00:17:03,415
at the time.

373
00:17:03,439 --> 00:17:05,125
-Holy mackerel!
Nailed him right on the head!

374
00:17:05,149 --> 00:17:07,336
And Muraco went down heavy!

375
00:17:07,360 --> 00:17:12,865
-In 1983, Snuka is dating
23-year-old Nancy Argentino.

376
00:17:14,784 --> 00:17:17,429
-She ended up dead
in a hotel room

377
00:17:17,453 --> 00:17:21,350
they were sharing
an Allentown, Pennsylvania.

378
00:17:21,374 --> 00:17:23,477
-Vince calls wrestler Don Muraco

379
00:17:23,501 --> 00:17:26,188
to find out what happened.

380
00:17:26,212 --> 00:17:28,023
{\an8}-Vince, he says,
"Have you heard anything

381
00:17:28,047 --> 00:17:29,858
{\an8}about Snuka and his girlfriend?"

382
00:17:29,882 --> 00:17:31,610
{\an8}I said, "As a matter of fact,

383
00:17:31,634 --> 00:17:34,363
here I am with
Lieutenant So-and-so,"

384
00:17:34,387 --> 00:17:37,282
and I put him
on the phone to Vince.

385
00:17:37,306 --> 00:17:40,452
-Snuka claims that Nancy fell,

386
00:17:40,476 --> 00:17:43,622
then she went back to their
hotel room and went to sleep.

387
00:17:43,646 --> 00:17:45,624
But the autopsy report
raises doubts

388
00:17:45,648 --> 00:17:47,459
about Snuka's explanation.

389
00:17:47,483 --> 00:17:49,836
-It says, "The pattern
of her injuries

390
00:17:49,860 --> 00:17:52,047
is not consistent
with a single, simple fall.

391
00:17:52,071 --> 00:17:53,632
The magnitude of the injuries

392
00:17:53,656 --> 00:17:55,801
may even be suggestive
of mate abuse.

393
00:17:55,825 --> 00:17:57,928
I believe that the case
should be investigated

394
00:17:57,952 --> 00:18:01,098
as a homicide
until proven otherwise."

395
00:18:01,122 --> 00:18:05,060
{\an8}-Vince McMahon would have great
reason to defend Jimmy Snuka.

396
00:18:05,084 --> 00:18:07,896
Let's say, at the time, he is
charged with murder in 1983.

397
00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:10,482
That would be a terrible thing
for the WWF.

398
00:18:10,506 --> 00:18:14,194
{\an8}-If one of your top employees is
being investigated for murder,

399
00:18:14,218 --> 00:18:15,612
{\an8}that's bad for business.

400
00:18:15,636 --> 00:18:17,823
-So Vince rushes to Allentown.

401
00:18:17,847 --> 00:18:19,533
After he meets with police,

402
00:18:19,557 --> 00:18:22,369
Snuka is released
without charges.

403
00:18:22,393 --> 00:18:25,747
{\an8}-Jimmy said to me, "Vince came
down with his briefcase

404
00:18:25,771 --> 00:18:28,166
{\an8}and said to him, 'It's over.

405
00:18:28,190 --> 00:18:31,295
{\an8}Don't worry about it.
It's done.'"

406
00:18:31,319 --> 00:18:33,505
-Unlike all of
the other interviews

407
00:18:33,529 --> 00:18:36,174
that were done in this case,

408
00:18:36,198 --> 00:18:39,261
there is no detailed transcript
of what was said over an hour.

409
00:18:39,285 --> 00:18:41,763
And after that meeting,
the case effectively went cold.

410
00:18:41,787 --> 00:18:45,100
-Vince insists that the meeting
was entirely above board

411
00:18:45,124 --> 00:18:46,518
and that local officials
told him

412
00:18:46,542 --> 00:18:48,353
that the circumstances
of Nancy's death

413
00:18:48,377 --> 00:18:52,274
were consistent
with an accidental fall.

414
00:18:52,298 --> 00:18:56,361
{\an8}But three decades later,
in 2015, Jimmy Snuka is arrested

415
00:18:56,385 --> 00:18:58,947
{\an8}and charged
with Nancy Argentino's murder.

416
00:18:58,971 --> 00:19:00,699
{\an8}-He was a legend
in the wrestling ring.

417
00:19:00,723 --> 00:19:02,868
{\an8}Tonight, he's accused of murder.

418
00:19:02,892 --> 00:19:08,332
-The rules and the regulations
and the morals that exist

419
00:19:08,356 --> 00:19:13,086
in the real world don't exist
in the wrestling bubble.

420
00:19:13,110 --> 00:19:16,131
They've got their own way
of doing things.

421
00:19:16,155 --> 00:19:18,258
-The Jimmy Snuka story
is a foreshadow

422
00:19:18,282 --> 00:19:21,345
of the string of controversies
that will confront Vince,

423
00:19:21,369 --> 00:19:23,513
many of his own making.

424
00:19:23,537 --> 00:19:26,516
-Because nobody's gonna say no
to him.

425
00:19:26,540 --> 00:19:28,226
Nobody's going to say no.

426
00:19:28,250 --> 00:19:30,795
{\an8}♪♪

427
00:19:37,343 --> 00:19:39,738
-After buying out his father's
wrestling business

428
00:19:39,762 --> 00:19:41,239
for $1 million,

429
00:19:41,263 --> 00:19:43,575
Vince McMahon's driving ambition
is to transform

430
00:19:43,599 --> 00:19:46,661
the once regional
Worldwide Wrestling Federation

431
00:19:46,685 --> 00:19:49,039
into the national
wrestling brand.

432
00:19:49,063 --> 00:19:51,249
-He has not one, but he has...

433
00:19:51,273 --> 00:19:53,085
-To do it, he needs a way

434
00:19:53,109 --> 00:19:55,253
to reach audiences
across the country.

435
00:19:55,277 --> 00:19:59,424
One solution is to air matches
on the TV station TBS.

436
00:19:59,448 --> 00:20:01,343
{\an8}-From Turner Broadcasting
System,

437
00:20:01,367 --> 00:20:04,012
{\an8}you're watching SuperStation
WTBS Atlanta.

438
00:20:04,036 --> 00:20:07,766
-SuperStation, because it has
coast-to-coast distribution.

439
00:20:07,790 --> 00:20:09,309
It's owned by media giant

440
00:20:09,333 --> 00:20:12,687
and longtime wrestling fan
Ted Turner.

441
00:20:12,711 --> 00:20:15,565
-Hello, everybody, and welcome
to World Championship Wrestling.

442
00:20:15,589 --> 00:20:19,152
-But TBS is already home to
World Championship Wrestling,

443
00:20:19,176 --> 00:20:21,029
which airs Saturday nights.

444
00:20:21,053 --> 00:20:24,449
WCW is owned by Vince Sr.'s
longtime friend,

445
00:20:24,473 --> 00:20:25,826
promoter Jim Barnett.

446
00:20:25,850 --> 00:20:27,202
-Here's the man

447
00:20:27,226 --> 00:20:29,162
that absolutely has the strength
of 10 men.

448
00:20:29,186 --> 00:20:31,832
-But in 1984,
Vince Jr. muscles

449
00:20:31,856 --> 00:20:35,710
the lucrative TBS time slot away
from Barnett's WCW,

450
00:20:35,734 --> 00:20:39,965
introducing the WWF
to a brand-new audience.

451
00:20:39,989 --> 00:20:42,509
- Here's Vince McMahon. Vince?
- Thank you very much, Freddie.

452
00:20:42,533 --> 00:20:44,177
- Welcome aboard.
- Thank you.

453
00:20:44,201 --> 00:20:46,054
It is indeed a pleasure
to be associated with WTBS.

454
00:20:46,078 --> 00:20:48,140
And we promise to bring you
the greatest in professional

455
00:20:48,164 --> 00:20:50,267
wrestling entertainment
in the world today.

456
00:20:50,291 --> 00:20:52,894
-To the rope now. Coming up.
Double elbow.

457
00:20:52,918 --> 00:20:54,813
-The audiences rejected it.

458
00:20:54,837 --> 00:20:57,983
{\an8}They were used to the more
Southern brand of wrestling

459
00:20:58,007 --> 00:21:00,569
{\an8}that they came to love,
which Vince didn't bank on,

460
00:21:00,593 --> 00:21:04,781
and it was what became known
as Black Saturday.

461
00:21:04,805 --> 00:21:07,033
-Black Saturday for the WWF,

462
00:21:07,057 --> 00:21:08,910
because week after week,

463
00:21:08,934 --> 00:21:11,455
fans just don't tune in.

464
00:21:11,479 --> 00:21:13,415
-Ted Turner is losing patience

465
00:21:13,439 --> 00:21:16,209
and he starts entertaining
offers from other promoters.

466
00:21:16,233 --> 00:21:18,754
-Under pressure,
Vince throws in the towel

467
00:21:18,778 --> 00:21:20,881
{\an8}and sells out
to his biggest competitor,

468
00:21:20,905 --> 00:21:24,301
{\an8}Jim Crockett's mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling.

469
00:21:24,325 --> 00:21:27,345
-The figure was $1 million
that they paid for it.

470
00:21:27,369 --> 00:21:29,097
And Vince, supposedly, who was,

471
00:21:29,121 --> 00:21:30,849
you know, very bitter
about this...

472
00:21:30,873 --> 00:21:33,894
It was a defeat because
being national on TBS

473
00:21:33,918 --> 00:21:36,188
was... was a very big deal.

474
00:21:36,212 --> 00:21:38,690
-It's also a wake-up call.

475
00:21:38,714 --> 00:21:42,110
Vince needs to modernize
the WWF.

476
00:21:42,134 --> 00:21:44,821
-He decided to take the money
that he was paid

477
00:21:44,845 --> 00:21:48,450
and turn it against the people
that had paid it to him

478
00:21:48,474 --> 00:21:51,953
and use it to... to fund
his ambitions even further.

479
00:21:51,977 --> 00:21:54,623
- being one of the stronger...
There we go!

480
00:21:54,647 --> 00:21:58,001
-And that's to build not just
a national wrestling company,

481
00:21:58,025 --> 00:22:01,463
but a multifaceted
sports entertainment empire.

482
00:22:01,487 --> 00:22:02,881
It's the early 1980s,

483
00:22:02,905 --> 00:22:05,050
and cable TV
is introducing audiences

484
00:22:05,074 --> 00:22:08,220
to specialty networks
like ESPN, CNN,

485
00:22:08,244 --> 00:22:09,638
and what will be most important

486
00:22:09,662 --> 00:22:13,642
{\an8}to Vince McMahon's
immediate future, MTV.

487
00:22:13,666 --> 00:22:17,270
Vince sees an opportunity
to retune the WWF

488
00:22:17,294 --> 00:22:19,272
by getting in bed
with rock stars.

489
00:22:19,296 --> 00:22:23,902
{\an8}-One advantage that he had
was that a lot of celebrities

490
00:22:23,926 --> 00:22:25,529
{\an8}had grown up
in the New York area

491
00:22:25,553 --> 00:22:27,364
{\an8}as fans of wrestling,

492
00:22:27,388 --> 00:22:30,200
and one of those
was Cyndi Lauper.

493
00:22:30,224 --> 00:22:35,330
-Cyndi Lauper was on an airplane
flight with Lou Albano,

494
00:22:35,354 --> 00:22:37,958
and then Lou Albano
tells everyone

495
00:22:37,982 --> 00:22:42,212
{\an8}that he was managing
Cyndi Lauper.

496
00:22:42,236 --> 00:22:45,966
-Wrestling events were
being shown on the MTV network.

497
00:22:45,990 --> 00:22:48,218
They were getting specials
on MTV.

498
00:22:48,242 --> 00:22:50,762
{\an8}- Happy New Year!
- MTV!

499
00:22:50,786 --> 00:22:53,306
{\an8}-It brought the dated look
of wrestling

500
00:22:53,330 --> 00:22:54,849
into the mainstream.

501
00:22:54,873 --> 00:22:56,685
-Whoo! I'm happy!

502
00:22:56,709 --> 00:23:00,230
-Vince decides to spotlight
his redesign of the WWF

503
00:23:00,254 --> 00:23:02,899
with an expensive,
celebrity-filled extravaganza

504
00:23:02,923 --> 00:23:05,318
he calls WrestleMania.

505
00:23:05,342 --> 00:23:07,028
{\an8}-Vince's concept
for WrestleMania

506
00:23:07,052 --> 00:23:10,782
{\an8}was the biggest wrestling event
ever held times ten,

507
00:23:10,806 --> 00:23:15,078
{\an8}an over-the-top, closed-circuit,
globally broadcast extravaganza

508
00:23:15,102 --> 00:23:18,331
{\an8}that would combine celebrities
and wrestling matches.

509
00:23:18,355 --> 00:23:21,876
{\an8}-He made it into this sort
of entertainment variety show.

510
00:23:21,900 --> 00:23:24,546
{\an8}A little bit more willing
to be ridiculous,

511
00:23:24,570 --> 00:23:27,924
{\an8}a little bit more willing
to push the envelope,

512
00:23:27,948 --> 00:23:30,135
{\an8}allowing people
to be in on the joke.

513
00:23:30,159 --> 00:23:32,888
{\an8}-The... The vision
was Barnum & Bailey.

514
00:23:32,912 --> 00:23:36,182
{\an8}The vision was Walt Disney.

515
00:23:36,206 --> 00:23:39,644
That was the vision
that this company

516
00:23:39,668 --> 00:23:43,440
could compete on that level.

517
00:23:43,464 --> 00:23:46,318
-And then they linked up
with Mr. T.

518
00:23:46,342 --> 00:23:48,987
{\an8}Mr. T was on "The A-Team"...

519
00:23:49,011 --> 00:23:50,906
{\an8}absolutely super popular
television show.

520
00:23:50,930 --> 00:23:55,327
{\an8}-People don't realize today
how big a star Mr. T was

521
00:23:55,351 --> 00:23:56,745
in the mid-'80s.

522
00:23:56,769 --> 00:23:58,854
- You want him?
- No, you take him.

523
00:24:00,064 --> 00:24:02,000
-He had a great body
and a mohawk,

524
00:24:02,024 --> 00:24:03,543
and he wore the chains.

525
00:24:03,567 --> 00:24:05,295
And he looked the part
and he talked the part.

526
00:24:05,319 --> 00:24:07,422
-Gonna teach me how to pump
iron, get my pythons ready,

527
00:24:07,446 --> 00:24:08,673
and I'm glad you
brought me here.

528
00:24:08,697 --> 00:24:10,550
-And he hooked up with
Hulk Hogan

529
00:24:10,574 --> 00:24:12,302
for the first WrestleMania.

530
00:24:12,326 --> 00:24:14,262
Hogan hitching his wagon
to Mr. T

531
00:24:14,286 --> 00:24:17,724
catapulted Hulk
into the mainstream.

532
00:24:17,748 --> 00:24:21,519
-As the scale of WrestleMania
grows, so did the cost.

533
00:24:21,543 --> 00:24:24,105
Like his youthful failed
promotion of Evel Knievel's

534
00:24:24,129 --> 00:24:28,568
Snake River jump, Vince pumps
in a lot of his own cash.

535
00:24:28,592 --> 00:24:31,446
-Vince could create a spectacle,

536
00:24:31,470 --> 00:24:34,157
and spectacles cost money.

537
00:24:34,181 --> 00:24:36,284
-WrestleMania was a huge gamble.

538
00:24:36,308 --> 00:24:38,119
They were spreading themselves
very thin.

539
00:24:38,143 --> 00:24:44,125
-Vince's entire mentality was,
"I'm banking on myself."

540
00:24:44,149 --> 00:24:48,922
{\an8}-WrestleMania is scheduled
to air on March 31, 1985.

541
00:24:48,946 --> 00:24:50,840
-As it was getting closer
to WrestleMania,

542
00:24:50,864 --> 00:24:53,385
it was very far
from a sure thing.

543
00:24:53,409 --> 00:24:56,221
-They booked about 200
buildings, and then a week out,

544
00:24:56,245 --> 00:24:58,765
the advances were so bad
they canceled, like,

545
00:24:58,789 --> 00:25:00,475
65, 67 of them.

546
00:25:00,499 --> 00:25:02,310
-It was looked at as almost like

547
00:25:02,334 --> 00:25:04,896
Vince's folly, you know,
within the business.

548
00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:06,523
There was this thought of like,
"Oh, my God.

549
00:25:06,547 --> 00:25:08,566
This is gonna
completely blow up in his face."

550
00:25:08,590 --> 00:25:11,403
-The story is, if WrestleMania
fails, that's it.

551
00:25:11,427 --> 00:25:12,946
He's done.

552
00:25:12,970 --> 00:25:15,448
-But at 11:30 on the night
before the event...

553
00:25:15,472 --> 00:25:19,035
-Mr. T and Hulk Hogan!

554
00:25:19,059 --> 00:25:20,245
[ Cheers and applause ]

555
00:25:20,269 --> 00:25:21,996
-One of the things
at the 11th hour

556
00:25:22,020 --> 00:25:24,165
that really helped
was "Saturday Night Live".

557
00:25:24,189 --> 00:25:28,336
Hulk Hogan and Mr. T, they were
a last-minute replacement.

558
00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:30,380
-Not another lawsuit, T!

559
00:25:30,404 --> 00:25:33,842
Oh, no, T!
Oh! Oh! Oh, my God!

560
00:25:33,866 --> 00:25:36,136
Oh, no.

561
00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:38,763
-It wound up leading
to a lot more interest

562
00:25:38,787 --> 00:25:40,473
in WrestleMania the next day,

563
00:25:40,497 --> 00:25:43,560
a lot more interest from
the closed-circuit exhibitors.

564
00:25:43,584 --> 00:25:45,937
-But will it be enough?

565
00:25:45,961 --> 00:25:47,981
-The whole world
knows about this, man.

566
00:25:48,005 --> 00:25:50,400
"Hulk Hogan & Mr. T
start to train..."

567
00:25:50,424 --> 00:25:52,736
-The dream team, man.
The dream team.

568
00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,071
-WrestleMania is
a nowhere-to-hide,

569
00:25:55,095 --> 00:25:57,824
life-or-death test
of Vince's strategy

570
00:25:57,848 --> 00:26:00,910
{\an8}to link
non-wrestling celebrities

571
00:26:00,934 --> 00:26:03,705
to the WWF's biggest star.

572
00:26:03,729 --> 00:26:06,082
-If there was no Hulk Hogan,
the first WrestleMania,

573
00:26:06,106 --> 00:26:08,168
I will tell you 100%,
would have flopped,

574
00:26:08,192 --> 00:26:09,669
and Vince would have
gone down with it.

575
00:26:09,693 --> 00:26:11,504
{\an8}♪♪

576
00:26:11,528 --> 00:26:14,090
{\an8}-Welcome, everyone, to
the World Wrestling Federation

577
00:26:14,114 --> 00:26:17,886
{\an8}presents the wrestling
extravaganza of all time,

578
00:26:17,910 --> 00:26:19,095
WrestleMania.

579
00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:21,890
Standing in there.
Suplex!

580
00:26:21,914 --> 00:26:24,893
-The first WrestleMania
was huge.

581
00:26:24,917 --> 00:26:29,063
-Dropkick by Santana,
and out goes the Executioner!

582
00:26:29,087 --> 00:26:31,316
-It sets sales records
for wrestling pay-per-views

583
00:26:31,340 --> 00:26:33,151
and closed-circuit.

584
00:26:33,175 --> 00:26:35,987
By gambling
the WWF's financial health,

585
00:26:36,011 --> 00:26:40,325
Vince McMahon wins the national
recognition he's been chasing.

586
00:26:40,349 --> 00:26:41,701
Even network television

587
00:26:41,725 --> 00:26:44,746
is now willing to pay him
to air the WWF,

588
00:26:44,770 --> 00:26:48,917
starting with Saturday night's
"Main Event" on NBC.

589
00:26:48,941 --> 00:26:52,045
- That ring champion.
- Oh! Right now...

590
00:26:52,069 --> 00:26:55,590
-But even as he escapes
the financial hazards

591
00:26:55,614 --> 00:26:57,217
surrounding WrestleMania,

592
00:26:57,241 --> 00:27:00,512
Vince finds himself ensnared
in another scandal,

593
00:27:00,536 --> 00:27:03,431
one that could not
just bring down the WWF,

594
00:27:03,455 --> 00:27:05,850
it could land Vince in jail.

595
00:27:05,874 --> 00:27:08,353
-If I wanted a half-a-million-
dollar-a-year contract,

596
00:27:08,377 --> 00:27:10,605
I had to satisfy him.

597
00:27:10,629 --> 00:27:14,424
He just didn't stop.
This man just didn't stop.

598
00:27:19,012 --> 00:27:20,532
-The success of WrestleMania
in the mid-'80s vindicates

599
00:27:20,556 --> 00:27:24,369
{\an8}Vince McMahon's strategy
to transform WWF wrestlers

600
00:27:24,393 --> 00:27:27,747
{\an8}into kid-friendly,
larger-than-life superheroes.

601
00:27:27,771 --> 00:27:31,042
-It is my distinct privilege

602
00:27:31,066 --> 00:27:35,463
to present to you Hulk Hogan!

603
00:27:35,487 --> 00:27:39,592
-But not everybody in the WWF
family is celebrating.

604
00:27:39,616 --> 00:27:42,136
-Rita Chatterton,
she was a referee.

605
00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:46,724
She was promoted
as the first female WWF referee.

606
00:27:46,748 --> 00:27:49,853
{\an8}According to her, she eventually
wasn't getting booked as much

607
00:27:49,877 --> 00:27:51,437
{\an8}as she wanted to get booked,

608
00:27:51,461 --> 00:27:53,314
{\an8}and she tried to have
a conversation

609
00:27:53,338 --> 00:27:54,816
{\an8}with Vince about it.

610
00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:56,860
On a certain night,
he got her in the limo,

611
00:27:56,884 --> 00:28:00,405
and according to
Rita Chatterton,

612
00:28:00,429 --> 00:28:03,324
he coerced her into sex,
essentially raped her.

613
00:28:03,348 --> 00:28:05,451
{\an8}-It was basically sex
and now you're gone.

614
00:28:05,475 --> 00:28:07,245
-Rita Chatterton told
Andre the Giant

615
00:28:07,269 --> 00:28:09,080
I believe the next day.

616
00:28:09,104 --> 00:28:12,417
She told another wrestler named
Mario Mancini the next day.

617
00:28:12,441 --> 00:28:13,793
{\an8}-You know, the day
after it happened,

618
00:28:13,817 --> 00:28:16,170
{\an8}I walked into an arena

619
00:28:16,194 --> 00:28:19,257
{\an8}and Rita was in the arena

620
00:28:19,281 --> 00:28:22,510
{\an8}leaning against the ring apron,

621
00:28:22,534 --> 00:28:24,888
and I walked up to her
with a smile,

622
00:28:24,912 --> 00:28:28,224
ready to give her
that brotherly hug, you know,

623
00:28:28,248 --> 00:28:31,102
and she just burst out in tears.

624
00:28:31,126 --> 00:28:34,898
And I said, "What happened?"

625
00:28:34,922 --> 00:28:39,485
-A few years later, Rita tells
her story on a TV talk show.

626
00:28:39,509 --> 00:28:40,820
-Next thing I know,
Vince McMahon

627
00:28:40,844 --> 00:28:42,304
is unzipping his pants.

628
00:28:44,556 --> 00:28:49,561
I was forced into oral sex
with Vince McMahon.

629
00:28:51,271 --> 00:28:55,209
When I couldn't complete
his desires,

630
00:28:55,233 --> 00:28:57,462
he got really angry,

631
00:28:57,486 --> 00:29:02,050
started ripping off my...
My jeans...

632
00:29:02,074 --> 00:29:06,512
pulled me on top of him,
and told me again,

633
00:29:06,536 --> 00:29:08,723
if I wanted a half-a-million-
dollar-a-year contract,

634
00:29:08,747 --> 00:29:10,391
I had to satisfy him.

635
00:29:10,415 --> 00:29:12,268
-I think if...

636
00:29:12,292 --> 00:29:15,855
those allegations had come to
light in more modern times,

637
00:29:15,879 --> 00:29:17,398
you know, after MeToo,

638
00:29:17,422 --> 00:29:20,109
that those would have been
a much bigger deal.

639
00:29:20,133 --> 00:29:21,819
-To avoid upsetting her parents,

640
00:29:21,843 --> 00:29:25,114
Chatterton waits until they're
dead before going public.

641
00:29:25,138 --> 00:29:28,284
But by then, the statute
of limitations has run out.

642
00:29:28,308 --> 00:29:30,870
McMahon not only denies
her allegations,

643
00:29:30,894 --> 00:29:33,456
he sues Chatterton
for defamation

644
00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:35,208
before quietly
letting the suit drop

645
00:29:35,232 --> 00:29:37,794
because he needs his lawyers
to defend him

646
00:29:37,818 --> 00:29:40,463
against the next
looming scandal.

647
00:29:40,487 --> 00:29:42,173
-She did referee
a little bit more

648
00:29:42,197 --> 00:29:44,008
through the New York State
Athletic Commission,

649
00:29:44,032 --> 00:29:46,260
but as far as WWF goes,

650
00:29:46,284 --> 00:29:48,638
her career was pretty much over
at that point.

651
00:29:48,662 --> 00:29:52,558
-As for Vince, his career
is still just getting started.

652
00:29:52,582 --> 00:29:56,020
The WWF's audience begins
growing

653
00:29:56,044 --> 00:29:58,523
as its wrestlers get bigger.

654
00:29:58,547 --> 00:30:00,274
-At that time,
the fans were responding

655
00:30:00,298 --> 00:30:02,735
to cool-looking guys
with these great physiques.

656
00:30:02,759 --> 00:30:05,279
-They were just getting bigger
and bigger and bigger,

657
00:30:05,303 --> 00:30:07,365
{\an8}and it was becoming
more of a vehicle

658
00:30:07,389 --> 00:30:09,575
{\an8}to sell merchandise
than anything else.

659
00:30:09,599 --> 00:30:12,704
-Hulkamania will live forever!

660
00:30:12,728 --> 00:30:15,039
-And wrestlers
were expected to look the part,

661
00:30:15,063 --> 00:30:16,874
no matter what it took.

662
00:30:16,898 --> 00:30:20,795
{\an8}-People do not understand
the pressure that you're under.

663
00:30:20,819 --> 00:30:23,464
Look the best you can to keep
your spot in the business.

664
00:30:23,488 --> 00:30:24,924
It was high pressure.

665
00:30:24,948 --> 00:30:28,594
{\an8}-It wasn't that Vince
was directly saying,

666
00:30:28,618 --> 00:30:30,888
{\an8}"We want you
to get on steroids."

667
00:30:30,912 --> 00:30:34,517
People that worked for him
might approach a guy and say,

668
00:30:34,541 --> 00:30:36,644
"We'd like you to put on
maybe 10, 20 pounds

669
00:30:36,668 --> 00:30:38,896
in the next, you know,
few weeks."

670
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:40,898
They weren't telling you
how to do it.

671
00:30:40,922 --> 00:30:45,278
-There are estimates that 90%
of the wrestlers

672
00:30:45,302 --> 00:30:48,239
in that time period
were all on steroids.

673
00:30:48,263 --> 00:30:51,075
-Everybody was on steroids.
That's what they were marketing.

674
00:30:51,099 --> 00:30:52,785
-If I look this way,
I'm gonna get a better push.

675
00:30:52,809 --> 00:30:54,495
I'm gonna get
a better spot on the card.

676
00:30:54,519 --> 00:30:56,622
I'm gonna...
I'm gonna make more money.

677
00:30:56,646 --> 00:30:59,709
And Vince himself was... was
taking them to get huge.

678
00:30:59,733 --> 00:31:03,212
{\an8}-We did whatever it took to give
what the people wanted to see.

679
00:31:03,236 --> 00:31:08,092
-That's the why of steroids.
The how is a ringside doctor.

680
00:31:08,116 --> 00:31:11,929
-Dr. George Zahorian
was the ringside physician

681
00:31:11,953 --> 00:31:15,224
for the Pennsylvania State
Athletic Commission,

682
00:31:15,248 --> 00:31:19,062
and he was assigned to ringside
at all of the wrestling matches

683
00:31:19,086 --> 00:31:22,440
in Allentown, Pennsylvania,
for their TV tapings.

684
00:31:22,464 --> 00:31:24,275
-And the doctor is right there
at his side.

685
00:31:24,299 --> 00:31:26,194
-He always had this
big doctor bag,

686
00:31:26,218 --> 00:31:28,863
and he would open it up
afterwards and he would say,

687
00:31:28,887 --> 00:31:31,074
"Is there anything
you would like?"

688
00:31:31,098 --> 00:31:34,744
-Valium, Tylenol 3,
Percocet, Percodan,

689
00:31:34,768 --> 00:31:38,372
Somas, pain pills, steroids.

690
00:31:38,396 --> 00:31:40,333
-He set up shop every taping

691
00:31:40,357 --> 00:31:44,087
and the guys lined up to
purchase their... their candy.

692
00:31:44,111 --> 00:31:46,839
-"And if it isn't there,
I can get it for you

693
00:31:46,863 --> 00:31:48,424
and I can send it to you."

694
00:31:48,448 --> 00:31:51,636
-But starting in 1991,
delivering steroids

695
00:31:51,660 --> 00:31:54,388
without a prescription
becomes illegal.

696
00:31:54,412 --> 00:31:56,891
-This means that trafficking
in steroids will be treated

697
00:31:56,915 --> 00:31:59,811
in much the same manner
as trafficking in cocaine

698
00:31:59,835 --> 00:32:01,938
or methamphetamines.

699
00:32:01,962 --> 00:32:04,565
-Soon after the ban,
a steroid investigation

700
00:32:04,589 --> 00:32:06,692
into weightlifting coach
Bill Dunn

701
00:32:06,716 --> 00:32:11,197
leads the FBI to the WWF's
Dr. George Zahorian.

702
00:32:11,221 --> 00:32:12,740
{\an8}-Dunn had been, I gather,

703
00:32:12,764 --> 00:32:15,076
{\an8}caught with a large amount
of steroids,

704
00:32:15,100 --> 00:32:17,078
flipped, became
a government witness,

705
00:32:17,102 --> 00:32:18,311
agreed to wear a wire.

706
00:32:29,114 --> 00:32:33,177
They used that tape of Zahorian
to then get a search warrant.

707
00:32:33,201 --> 00:32:35,096
On the wall of his office,

708
00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:38,099
they saw that famous picture
of him standing there

709
00:32:38,123 --> 00:32:41,394
with Hulk on one side and Vince
on the other side

710
00:32:41,418 --> 00:32:44,438
and thought,
"Oh, what do we have here?"

711
00:32:44,462 --> 00:32:46,899
-On June 28, 1991,

712
00:32:46,923 --> 00:32:49,026
Dr. Zahorian is convicted
of eight counts

713
00:32:49,050 --> 00:32:51,362
of distributing steroids
and four counts

714
00:32:51,386 --> 00:32:54,407
of illegally distributing
prescription painkillers.

715
00:32:54,431 --> 00:32:55,575
-And Vince McMahon
was aware of it.

716
00:32:55,599 --> 00:32:57,243
Everybody was.

717
00:32:57,267 --> 00:33:00,329
{\an8}If it was an overt agreement,
"I can get you steroids,"

718
00:33:00,353 --> 00:33:02,623
{\an8}that's Vince McMahon being a
drug dealer to his top star.

719
00:33:02,647 --> 00:33:04,709
-But Dr. Zahorian
is just the undercard

720
00:33:04,733 --> 00:33:06,043
in the government's battle

721
00:33:06,067 --> 00:33:07,503
against the illegal use
of steroids

722
00:33:07,527 --> 00:33:09,172
in pro wrestling.

723
00:33:09,196 --> 00:33:12,800
The main event is the
prosecution of Vince McMahon.

724
00:33:12,824 --> 00:33:16,429
-They wanted to have a big,
high-profile trial at that time

725
00:33:16,453 --> 00:33:18,097
to sort of get it out there

726
00:33:18,121 --> 00:33:21,309
that the law is different now
with respect to steroids.

727
00:33:21,333 --> 00:33:23,561
-Vince McMahon and
the World Wrestling Federation

728
00:33:23,585 --> 00:33:25,897
have been indicted on charges
of providing steroids

729
00:33:25,921 --> 00:33:27,732
to WWF entertainers.

730
00:33:27,756 --> 00:33:30,401
-The indictment says
that McMahon and a doctor

731
00:33:30,425 --> 00:33:33,529
conspired to distribute
steroids to the wrestlers

732
00:33:33,553 --> 00:33:36,449
{\an8}to enhance their size
and muscle development.

733
00:33:36,473 --> 00:33:38,659
-Vince McMahon denies
he facilitated

734
00:33:38,683 --> 00:33:40,536
any illegal drug activity.

735
00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:41,954
But with the trial looming,

736
00:33:41,978 --> 00:33:45,791
he decides to retool
the WWF once again,

737
00:33:45,815 --> 00:33:48,502
this time
to help protect himself.

738
00:33:48,526 --> 00:33:49,921
-Because of the steroid scandal,

739
00:33:49,945 --> 00:33:52,298
Vince McMahon couldn't
keep Hogan around.

740
00:33:52,322 --> 00:33:54,884
Vince McMahon had to shift
his focus to smaller wrestlers

741
00:33:54,908 --> 00:33:56,344
who were more athletic.

742
00:33:56,368 --> 00:34:01,682
-In 1993, the one-time
WWF savior is gone.

743
00:34:01,706 --> 00:34:03,184
-You can have everything
you want out of life,

744
00:34:03,208 --> 00:34:05,019
and I'm not ashamed
of anything I've done.

745
00:34:05,043 --> 00:34:08,814
-As Hogan begins performing
in Ted Turner's WCW,

746
00:34:08,838 --> 00:34:13,110
Vince puts on his own show
as an anti-steroid crusader.

747
00:34:13,134 --> 00:34:15,738
-I promise that
the World Wrestling Federation

748
00:34:15,762 --> 00:34:17,573
will be the standard bearer

749
00:34:17,597 --> 00:34:20,576
for drug-free sports
and entertainment.

750
00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:25,998
-But in July 1994, the steroid
trial of Vince McMahon begins.

751
00:34:26,022 --> 00:34:27,333
-There were wrestling fans
there.

752
00:34:27,357 --> 00:34:29,544
There were newsletter
writers there.

753
00:34:29,568 --> 00:34:33,214
Vince's family that would show
up every day in the courtroom.

754
00:34:33,238 --> 00:34:35,049
Vince shows up
wearing this neck brace,

755
00:34:35,073 --> 00:34:38,678
and, you know, everyone is
kind of laughing at it.

756
00:34:38,702 --> 00:34:41,555
-People are like,
"You've got to be kidding me.

757
00:34:41,579 --> 00:34:42,890
You're actually playing
on the jury

758
00:34:42,914 --> 00:34:44,642
for sympathy in a neck brace?"

759
00:34:44,666 --> 00:34:47,395
-Here we go.
It's a wrestling angle.

760
00:34:47,419 --> 00:34:51,065
-The prosecution's star witness
is none other than Hulk Hogan.

761
00:34:51,089 --> 00:34:53,442
-And there were expectations

762
00:34:53,466 --> 00:34:57,113
that Hogan was gonna go
in there and kind of bury Vince.

763
00:34:57,137 --> 00:34:59,031
-Hulk Hogan testifying

764
00:34:59,055 --> 00:35:01,075
could seal the deal
for the prosecution

765
00:35:01,099 --> 00:35:02,576
and send Vince
to prison for years.

766
00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:05,079
He is the person
the prosecution said

767
00:35:05,103 --> 00:35:06,580
bought drugs from Vince McMahon.

768
00:35:06,604 --> 00:35:08,749
-Hulk Hogan is finally here.

769
00:35:08,773 --> 00:35:10,358
What is he gonna say?

770
00:35:14,946 --> 00:35:16,549
-After convicting
a ringside doctor

771
00:35:16,573 --> 00:35:20,970
who worked WWF matches of
illegally distributing steroids,

772
00:35:20,994 --> 00:35:22,471
the government turns
its attention

773
00:35:22,495 --> 00:35:25,141
to the man running the WWF,

774
00:35:25,165 --> 00:35:26,809
Vince McMahon.

775
00:35:26,833 --> 00:35:29,478
-If convicted, McMahon faces
eight years in prison

776
00:35:29,502 --> 00:35:31,606
and half a million dollars
in fines.

777
00:35:31,630 --> 00:35:33,607
-And there's one wrestler
the government hopes

778
00:35:33,631 --> 00:35:37,236
will help secure
that conviction.

779
00:35:37,260 --> 00:35:39,363
But Hogan has other ideas.

780
00:35:39,387 --> 00:35:40,781
-And on three different
occasions,

781
00:35:40,805 --> 00:35:42,658
I had the same type
of muscle injuries.

782
00:35:42,682 --> 00:35:45,286
That is the extent
of Hulk Hogan's steroid use.

783
00:35:45,310 --> 00:35:49,248
{\an8}-And he's like, "I took steroids
three times back in 1983.

784
00:35:49,272 --> 00:35:51,584
{\an8}I tore my bicep.
I used it for rehab."

785
00:35:51,608 --> 00:35:53,836
{\an8}And it was just like,
"Oh, my God."

786
00:35:53,860 --> 00:35:55,880
{\an8}It was just a complete,
utter lie.

787
00:35:55,904 --> 00:35:58,841
{\an8}-Hogan framed it to the shock
of the prosecutors

788
00:35:58,865 --> 00:36:02,470
{\an8}and to people gasping
in the courtroom quietly.

789
00:36:02,494 --> 00:36:04,680
"We were gym buddies.
We were friends.

790
00:36:04,704 --> 00:36:06,599
Sometimes I had extra steroids.
I gave them to Vince.

791
00:36:06,623 --> 00:36:08,100
Sometimes Vince had extra
steroids. He gave them to me.

792
00:36:08,124 --> 00:36:09,518
That doesn't make him
a drug dealer."

793
00:36:09,542 --> 00:36:11,896
{\an8}-There goes their case.

794
00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:14,482
-He kind of just like
exonerated Vince

795
00:36:14,506 --> 00:36:17,276
for any implication
of his involvement at all.

796
00:36:17,300 --> 00:36:20,488
-But not everyone viewed
Hogan as Vince's savior.

797
00:36:20,512 --> 00:36:21,947
-Vince didn't see it that way.

798
00:36:21,971 --> 00:36:24,075
Vince was furious
Hogan testified against him.

799
00:36:24,099 --> 00:36:25,534
-Yeah, I think they didn't want

800
00:36:25,558 --> 00:36:27,203
any part of each other
towards the end.

801
00:36:27,227 --> 00:36:30,581
{\an8}It was kind of like,
"You go your way, I go my way,

802
00:36:30,605 --> 00:36:32,917
{\an8}and nice knowing you, pal."

803
00:36:32,941 --> 00:36:35,544
-But Hogan's testimony
is only the first blow

804
00:36:35,568 --> 00:36:37,338
to the prosecution's case.

805
00:36:37,362 --> 00:36:40,925
Other witnesses took the stand
and downplayed Vince's role.

806
00:36:40,949 --> 00:36:42,802
-You know,
maybe I'm an optimist,

807
00:36:42,826 --> 00:36:46,055
but I didn't spend one minute of
my time thinking about losing.

808
00:36:46,079 --> 00:36:49,850
They took the verdict
first against Vince.

809
00:36:49,874 --> 00:36:52,645
They said not guilty.

810
00:36:52,669 --> 00:36:55,022
-And when it was not guilty,

811
00:36:55,046 --> 00:36:56,899
it was almost like, you know,

812
00:36:56,923 --> 00:36:59,276
Hulk Hogan had just won a match
at Madison Square Garden.

813
00:36:59,300 --> 00:37:01,737
It was like people just popped.

814
00:37:01,761 --> 00:37:03,864
-This one is my favorite
one up here.

815
00:37:03,888 --> 00:37:05,700
The jury announced its verdict.

816
00:37:05,724 --> 00:37:07,910
That's Linda, me, and Vince
hugging.

817
00:37:07,934 --> 00:37:09,745
And what I always thought was
interesting is

818
00:37:09,769 --> 00:37:11,705
the hands clapping,
'cause that is what happened.

819
00:37:11,729 --> 00:37:14,458
The jury verdict
was very popular.

820
00:37:14,482 --> 00:37:17,086
{\an8}-You got a lot of money, you can
get out of a lot of things,

821
00:37:17,110 --> 00:37:20,631
{\an8}which really is the story
of his downfall.

822
00:37:20,655 --> 00:37:24,552
Got a great attorney and he
bought his way out of trouble.

823
00:37:24,576 --> 00:37:25,845
No consequences.

824
00:37:25,869 --> 00:37:27,138
What do you learn?

825
00:37:27,162 --> 00:37:28,806
You learn that
you're bulletproof.

826
00:37:28,830 --> 00:37:30,224
-As we say in the
World Wrestling Federation,

827
00:37:30,248 --> 00:37:32,768
and it could very well be
that the hunters

828
00:37:32,792 --> 00:37:35,229
soon will be the hunted.

829
00:37:35,253 --> 00:37:37,106
-What does that mean, Vince?

830
00:37:37,130 --> 00:37:39,108
-Stay tuned, Rosanna.

831
00:37:39,132 --> 00:37:41,360
-Rosanna won't have
to wait long.

832
00:37:41,384 --> 00:37:44,029
Soon after surviving
the steroid trial,

833
00:37:44,053 --> 00:37:48,325
Vince begins scanning his roster
for his next big superstar,

834
00:37:48,349 --> 00:37:52,538
turning his gaze north to Canada
and the Hart family.

835
00:37:52,562 --> 00:37:55,332
-Bret "The Hitman" Hart!

836
00:37:55,356 --> 00:37:57,209
{\an8}-The Hart Family is
one of the most famous families

837
00:37:57,233 --> 00:37:58,627
{\an8}in the history of our business.

838
00:37:58,651 --> 00:37:59,962
{\an8}The sons were all wrestlers,

839
00:37:59,986 --> 00:38:01,755
{\an8}the daughters
all married wrestlers.

840
00:38:01,779 --> 00:38:05,885
{\an8}-And Stu began the Stampede
Wrestling promotion in Alberta

841
00:38:05,909 --> 00:38:09,180
and had a very successful
company there for a long time.

842
00:38:09,204 --> 00:38:12,433
-Back when Vince first came
sniffing around his territory,

843
00:38:12,457 --> 00:38:14,602
Stu's business was on the ropes.

844
00:38:14,626 --> 00:38:17,021
So he agreed to Vince
buying him out.

845
00:38:17,045 --> 00:38:18,939
{\an8}-When he bought out
our promotion,

846
00:38:18,963 --> 00:38:22,109
{\an8}I believe it was supposed
to be for $1 million fee.

847
00:38:22,133 --> 00:38:23,777
{\an8}-My dad didn't get paid

848
00:38:23,801 --> 00:38:26,614
{\an8}and the whole thing
was an abortive screwjob.

849
00:38:26,638 --> 00:38:29,074
-He knew my dad wasn't going
to contest

850
00:38:29,098 --> 00:38:31,076
the legality of their agreement.

851
00:38:31,100 --> 00:38:34,205
He got all of our rings,
a lot of our top talent.

852
00:38:34,229 --> 00:38:37,625
-McMahon, for his part, claims
to have paid the Harts in full.

853
00:38:37,649 --> 00:38:39,710
-He took Bret Hart
and Jim Neidhart,

854
00:38:39,734 --> 00:38:42,570
who was the son-in-law,
as a team, the Hart Foundation.

855
00:38:44,364 --> 00:38:48,385
-Internationally, we're getting
reports back that we've got

856
00:38:48,409 --> 00:38:52,264
a megastar on our hands
in the form of Bret Hart.

857
00:38:52,288 --> 00:38:57,811
-So, Vince bestows on Bret
the WWF championship.

858
00:38:57,835 --> 00:39:01,524
-When you were chosen to be
a champion of a major company,

859
00:39:01,548 --> 00:39:03,317
it meant that
the promoter thought

860
00:39:03,341 --> 00:39:06,111
that you were the best talent,
that you were the best draw,

861
00:39:06,135 --> 00:39:07,404
that you would make him
the most money,

862
00:39:07,428 --> 00:39:09,323
that you were the guy.

863
00:39:09,347 --> 00:39:13,661
-But at the same time, remember
that someone made you champion.

864
00:39:13,685 --> 00:39:17,206
-Bret is soon approached
by WCW's Eric Bischoff,

865
00:39:17,230 --> 00:39:20,417
who waves a multi-million-dollar
offer in front of him.

866
00:39:20,441 --> 00:39:22,670
Vince feels he can't afford
to lose Bret

867
00:39:22,694 --> 00:39:24,505
to his number-one competitor,

868
00:39:24,529 --> 00:39:29,718
so the WWF don makes Bret an
offer he thinks he can't refuse.

869
00:39:29,742 --> 00:39:32,263
-Vince heard about them
giving me an offer

870
00:39:32,287 --> 00:39:34,682
and I remember Vince said, he
goes, "I'll make you an offer,"

871
00:39:34,706 --> 00:39:36,767
{\an8}and we worked out a contract.

872
00:39:36,791 --> 00:39:40,980
{\an8}It was $1.5 million
for 20 years, I think.

873
00:39:41,004 --> 00:39:44,858
-But before Bret can sign
his new contract with the WWF,

874
00:39:44,882 --> 00:39:48,404
Vince has second thoughts,
not about Bret's talents,

875
00:39:48,428 --> 00:39:50,322
but about his own finances.

876
00:39:50,346 --> 00:39:55,869
WCW has peeled off TV viewers
and Vince is short on cash.

877
00:39:55,893 --> 00:39:58,330
-Vince comes back and looks
at the commitment

878
00:39:58,354 --> 00:40:00,666
that he had made to Bret Hart.

879
00:40:00,690 --> 00:40:02,126
It was a drain on the company

880
00:40:02,150 --> 00:40:04,295
from what we were bringing in
at the time.

881
00:40:04,319 --> 00:40:05,879
-Bret learns a valuable lesson

882
00:40:05,903 --> 00:40:08,173
about doing business
with Vince McMahon...

883
00:40:08,197 --> 00:40:11,093
When there's a question about
who should suffer financially,

884
00:40:11,117 --> 00:40:14,346
you or Vince, it's usually you.

885
00:40:14,370 --> 00:40:17,266
-Vince told me that basically
he couldn't afford

886
00:40:17,290 --> 00:40:19,935
to pay me the contract
that he'd given me.

887
00:40:19,959 --> 00:40:23,188
Kind of broke my heart.
Like, it's like, okay, I get it.

888
00:40:23,212 --> 00:40:25,107
And I remember I got off
the phone from him and I said,

889
00:40:25,131 --> 00:40:26,734
"I guess I'm done."

890
00:40:26,758 --> 00:40:30,779
I hung up with Vince and I
signed my WCW contract.

891
00:40:30,803 --> 00:40:33,991
-Tradition says championship
wrestlers give up their belt

892
00:40:34,015 --> 00:40:37,161
or drop it before they leave
for the competition.

893
00:40:37,185 --> 00:40:39,288
And despite reneging
on his deal,

894
00:40:39,312 --> 00:40:43,000
that's what Vince expects Bret
to do in his last WWF match

895
00:40:43,024 --> 00:40:45,711
against his nemesis,
Shawn Michaels.

896
00:40:45,735 --> 00:40:47,004
-Here's the problem.

897
00:40:47,028 --> 00:40:48,547
Bret didn't want to lose
the championship.

898
00:40:48,571 --> 00:40:49,798
It's your last night
in the company.

899
00:40:49,822 --> 00:40:51,550
We need to crown a new champion.

900
00:40:51,574 --> 00:40:54,762
You know what?
We'll just take it from him.

901
00:40:54,786 --> 00:40:56,472
-As a consequence,

902
00:40:56,496 --> 00:41:00,768
they orchestrated this
limp-dick, half-assed abortion,

903
00:41:00,792 --> 00:41:04,438
a bunch of bullshit.

904
00:41:04,462 --> 00:41:07,399
-But that "bullshit" sells out.

905
00:41:07,423 --> 00:41:11,820
On November 9, 1997,
Hart and Michaels battle it out

906
00:41:11,844 --> 00:41:13,822
in Montreal's Molson Centre.

907
00:41:13,846 --> 00:41:16,909
{\an8}-The match lasted 10, 15
minutes.

908
00:41:16,933 --> 00:41:18,494
-But it's the last 30 seconds

909
00:41:18,518 --> 00:41:21,372
that everyone
is still arguing about.

910
00:41:21,396 --> 00:41:23,082
-I could see Vince McMahon,

911
00:41:23,106 --> 00:41:25,250
and Vince snaps at him
to ring the... bell.

912
00:41:25,274 --> 00:41:27,336
Oh, they're screwing me
right now.

913
00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:29,421
And I remember reaching back

914
00:41:29,445 --> 00:41:31,048
and showing
that I wasn't submitting,

915
00:41:31,072 --> 00:41:33,884
and I grabbed Shawn's leg
and started to reverse.

916
00:41:33,908 --> 00:41:36,220
But you could hear the bell.
Ding-ding-ding-ding.

917
00:41:36,244 --> 00:41:38,514
-If I hadn't rung the bell,

918
00:41:38,538 --> 00:41:40,683
Vince McMahon
was gonna ring that bell.

919
00:41:40,707 --> 00:41:42,518
-I wanted to just kill Vince.

920
00:41:42,542 --> 00:41:44,520
I wanted to jump through the
ropes and just punch him out.

921
00:41:44,544 --> 00:41:46,730
I couldn't believe he did it
to me, after all the years

922
00:41:46,754 --> 00:41:49,024
that I gave him and all the
matches and all the hard work

923
00:41:49,048 --> 00:41:50,943
and he'd disrespect me
like that.

924
00:41:50,967 --> 00:41:52,361
You son of a bitch.

925
00:41:52,385 --> 00:41:54,655
I remember I had a nice,
good gobber of spit,

926
00:41:54,679 --> 00:41:57,074
and I remember I just leaned
over the top rope.

927
00:41:57,098 --> 00:42:02,246
{\an8}♪♪

928
00:42:02,270 --> 00:42:05,958
Cameras were off, show's over.
I got screwed.

929
00:42:05,982 --> 00:42:07,501
And Vince said something to me
along the lines of,

930
00:42:07,525 --> 00:42:08,961
"This is the first time
I ever had to lie

931
00:42:08,985 --> 00:42:11,672
to one of my talent,"
which is such a lie.

932
00:42:11,696 --> 00:42:14,174
And I remember when I got tying
my last shoelace,

933
00:42:14,198 --> 00:42:16,176
I started to tie it,
and I go, "Well, this is it.

934
00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:17,553
I'm gonna punch out
Vince McMahon.

935
00:42:17,577 --> 00:42:19,346
I can't believe I'm doing this."

936
00:42:19,370 --> 00:42:21,098
And then we walked towards
each other,

937
00:42:21,122 --> 00:42:24,518
end up tying up,
just like a pro wrestling match.

938
00:42:24,542 --> 00:42:26,520
And I remember just sinking down
and kind of

939
00:42:26,544 --> 00:42:29,189
just turning my whole body
and thinking,

940
00:42:29,213 --> 00:42:33,193
14 years, and coming up
right between our arms.

941
00:42:33,217 --> 00:42:34,737
And I hit Vince McMahon

942
00:42:34,761 --> 00:42:38,490
with the most
beautiful Mike Tyson uppercut.

943
00:42:38,514 --> 00:42:41,326
I popped him literally off...
Right off the ground.

944
00:42:41,350 --> 00:42:44,329
He went straight down, out cold.

945
00:42:44,353 --> 00:42:46,457
Everybody was stunned.
No one could believe it.

946
00:42:46,481 --> 00:42:48,083
-It's like, I remember
when I was a kid

947
00:42:48,107 --> 00:42:50,502
exactly where I was standing

948
00:42:50,526 --> 00:42:52,629
when John F. Kennedy
had been assassinated,

949
00:42:52,653 --> 00:42:56,091
{\an8}and I remember just as precisely
where I was

950
00:42:56,115 --> 00:42:59,678
when I found out
about the Montreal Screwjob.

951
00:42:59,702 --> 00:43:02,097
-Vince immediately goes
on the offensive,

952
00:43:02,121 --> 00:43:04,016
appearing on TV
with the black eye

953
00:43:04,040 --> 00:43:05,976
he got from
Bret Hart's uppercut.

954
00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:09,897
-Did you or did you not screw
Bret Hart?

955
00:43:09,921 --> 00:43:11,815
-There's a time-honored
tradition

956
00:43:11,839 --> 00:43:16,069
in the wrestling business
that when someone is leaving,

957
00:43:16,093 --> 00:43:18,489
that they show
the right amount of respect.

958
00:43:18,513 --> 00:43:21,658
Bret Hart didn't want to honor
that tradition.

959
00:43:21,682 --> 00:43:24,953
-Vince was really giving
Bret Hart all kinds of shit.

960
00:43:24,977 --> 00:43:29,958
-Vince, in this interview,
just came across very cold,

961
00:43:29,982 --> 00:43:33,545
calculated, and very,
very heelish.

962
00:43:33,569 --> 00:43:38,241
-I truly believe that Bret Hart
screwed Bret Hart.

963
00:43:42,203 --> 00:43:45,641
-The Montreal Screwjob is
a seminal moment in wrestling.

964
00:43:45,665 --> 00:43:49,603
The event pulls back the curtain
to reveal Vince's true nature

965
00:43:49,627 --> 00:43:52,731
as the win-at-all-costs owner
of the WWF.

966
00:43:52,755 --> 00:43:54,233
-And then once the word got out

967
00:43:54,257 --> 00:43:56,151
{\an8}that he actually
owns the company

968
00:43:56,175 --> 00:43:58,904
{\an8}and he's the power behind
the throne and this and that,

969
00:43:58,928 --> 00:44:00,489
{\an8}Vince ran with it.

970
00:44:00,513 --> 00:44:03,534
{\an8}♪♪

971
00:44:03,558 --> 00:44:05,619
-But soon, Vince will embrace

972
00:44:05,643 --> 00:44:08,455
his on-screen character's
evil spirit.

973
00:44:08,479 --> 00:44:11,208
-I will never, ever forgive
your mother

974
00:44:11,232 --> 00:44:13,669
for giving birth to you!

975
00:44:13,693 --> 00:44:16,028
{\an8}♪♪

976
00:44:26,539 --> 00:44:29,977
-Barely a decade after buying
the WWF from his dad,

977
00:44:30,001 --> 00:44:32,062
Vince McMahon's career
is a whiplash

978
00:44:32,086 --> 00:44:36,191
of career-threatening scandals
inside and outside the ring.

979
00:44:36,215 --> 00:44:39,486
{\an8}-In the early-to-mid-'90s,
Vince was so distracted.

980
00:44:39,510 --> 00:44:42,739
{\an8}So he's fighting
on all these fronts,

981
00:44:42,763 --> 00:44:45,200
{\an8}these scandals and things
breaking all around him.

982
00:44:45,224 --> 00:44:50,038
{\an8}-There was a former referee
that was hiring young ring boys

983
00:44:50,062 --> 00:44:53,166
{\an8}and he had some type
of a toe fetish.

984
00:44:53,190 --> 00:44:56,378
{\an8}I mean, really,
really weird stuff

985
00:44:56,402 --> 00:44:59,214
was coming out to the extent of,

986
00:44:59,238 --> 00:45:01,216
"Oh, bro, that's so
unbelievable.

987
00:45:01,240 --> 00:45:03,260
It's wrestling.
That can't be true."

988
00:45:03,284 --> 00:45:05,554
-And he's perhaps not able to
put as much attention

989
00:45:05,578 --> 00:45:08,891
and care into the product,
and it was showing.

990
00:45:08,915 --> 00:45:13,353
-With the WWF's TV ratings
now in a nosedive,

991
00:45:13,377 --> 00:45:16,064
Vince McMahon is facing
his worst fear...

992
00:45:16,088 --> 00:45:17,608
No longer running the country's

993
00:45:17,632 --> 00:45:20,319
most successful wrestling
entertainment company.

994
00:45:20,343 --> 00:45:23,238
That title could soon belong
to a media mogul

995
00:45:23,262 --> 00:45:25,198
with exceptionally deep pockets.

996
00:45:25,222 --> 00:45:27,910
-Ted Turner bought out
Jim Crockett Promotions,

997
00:45:27,934 --> 00:45:29,620
and it became WCW.

998
00:45:29,644 --> 00:45:32,164
[ Cheers and applause ]

999
00:45:32,188 --> 00:45:36,585
-Eric Bischoff had been
given control of WCW.

1000
00:45:36,609 --> 00:45:39,755
{\an8}He decided that he wanted to go
head-to-head with Vince McMahon,

1001
00:45:39,779 --> 00:45:41,423
{\an8}and he talked
Ted Turner into it.

1002
00:45:41,447 --> 00:45:44,092
{\an8}-We just want to be as
successful as Vince is,

1003
00:45:44,116 --> 00:45:47,262
{\an8}and then we'd like to,
you know, kick his butt.

1004
00:45:47,286 --> 00:45:50,140
{\an8}-And according to Vince,
Ted Turner calls Vince

1005
00:45:50,164 --> 00:45:52,184
{\an8}and... and says that, "I'm in
the wrestling business."

1006
00:45:52,208 --> 00:45:54,186
{\an8}-And he goes,
"Well, that's great, Ted.

1007
00:45:54,210 --> 00:45:55,938
{\an8}I'm in the sports entertainment
business."

1008
00:45:55,962 --> 00:45:58,732
-And those are two completely
different philosophies.

1009
00:45:58,756 --> 00:46:00,943
-World Championship Wrestling
has always been

1010
00:46:00,967 --> 00:46:02,778
one of our most
popular programs,

1011
00:46:02,802 --> 00:46:06,323
and now WCW is about
to dominate the globe

1012
00:46:06,347 --> 00:46:08,283
in professional wrestling.

1013
00:46:08,307 --> 00:46:10,077
-Bischoff
immediately gets to work

1014
00:46:10,101 --> 00:46:14,539
running Vince McMahon's playbook
by stealing away WWF talent.

1015
00:46:14,563 --> 00:46:18,085
-You had Hulk Hogan, you had
the Macho Man, Randy Savage.

1016
00:46:18,109 --> 00:46:21,004
You had all of these big stars
of the '80s,

1017
00:46:21,028 --> 00:46:25,133
and Vince slowly began
taking them off television.

1018
00:46:25,157 --> 00:46:27,469
And so Eric Bischoff believed

1019
00:46:27,493 --> 00:46:31,765
that these guys still had
the ability to draw.

1020
00:46:31,789 --> 00:46:34,059
-Hogan went over,
Piper went over,

1021
00:46:34,083 --> 00:46:36,144
Rick Rude, Curt Hennig.

1022
00:46:36,168 --> 00:46:39,898
One by one,
they started signing WWE talent.

1023
00:46:39,922 --> 00:46:42,651
-I think Vince was having
a very difficult time

1024
00:46:42,675 --> 00:46:45,362
when the tactics that he used
to win the first war

1025
00:46:45,386 --> 00:46:48,740
were being used on him
and he was behind.

1026
00:46:48,764 --> 00:46:52,661
-Vince McMahon calls
a company-wide meeting,

1027
00:46:52,685 --> 00:46:56,957
and he says,
"Well, they've taken everybody,"

1028
00:46:56,981 --> 00:46:59,042
and I'm sitting there
and I'm like,

1029
00:46:59,066 --> 00:47:01,420
"Wait a minute.
You're the victim now?"

1030
00:47:01,444 --> 00:47:03,588
-It was funny to me
because he was going like,

1031
00:47:03,612 --> 00:47:05,382
"They're stealing my talent."

1032
00:47:05,406 --> 00:47:08,176
And I go, "Vince, that's how you
built your company.

1033
00:47:08,200 --> 00:47:09,845
You stole everybody's talent."

1034
00:47:09,869 --> 00:47:12,514
-Eric Bischoff put
"Monday Nitro"

1035
00:47:12,538 --> 00:47:15,058
opposite "Monday Night Raw".

1036
00:47:15,082 --> 00:47:18,520
And what happened was
you had a nostalgia effect.

1037
00:47:18,544 --> 00:47:20,397
You had these kids who were
like, "Oh, my God.

1038
00:47:20,421 --> 00:47:22,691
Hulk Hogan is...
You know, he's on WCW.

1039
00:47:22,715 --> 00:47:24,151
Macho Man Randy Savage."

1040
00:47:24,175 --> 00:47:27,029
And then Eric, he brought
in wrestlers from Japan,

1041
00:47:27,053 --> 00:47:28,530
wrestlers from Mexico

1042
00:47:28,554 --> 00:47:30,198
that worked a very
different style.

1043
00:47:30,222 --> 00:47:31,575
They were high fliers.

1044
00:47:31,599 --> 00:47:33,994
It was very, very fast,
very colorful.

1045
00:47:34,018 --> 00:47:39,332
And Vince's product felt slow,
old.

1046
00:47:39,356 --> 00:47:42,502
-Papa Shango
striking sheer terror

1047
00:47:42,526 --> 00:47:45,088
in the hearts
of this capacity crowd.

1048
00:47:45,112 --> 00:47:48,592
-I think it was '95, '96, that
he was losing $6 million a year,

1049
00:47:48,616 --> 00:47:51,303
and WCW ended up
winning the ratings war

1050
00:47:51,327 --> 00:47:55,140
for a straight year and a half
every single Monday.

1051
00:47:55,164 --> 00:48:02,981
-Ted Turner, WCW beating him
for 83 weeks at his own game.

1052
00:48:03,005 --> 00:48:06,818
That set a fire
underneath Vince McMahon.

1053
00:48:06,842 --> 00:48:10,030
-So the man who once drew
inspiration from Walt Disney

1054
00:48:10,054 --> 00:48:11,907
dramatically changes course,

1055
00:48:11,931 --> 00:48:14,367
rebranding the WWF
as more adult,

1056
00:48:14,391 --> 00:48:17,412
meaning more violent
and a lot more sexual.

1057
00:48:17,436 --> 00:48:19,748
-We've embarked upon
a far more innovative

1058
00:48:19,772 --> 00:48:21,833
and contemporary
creative campaign.

1059
00:48:21,857 --> 00:48:25,754
It is far more invigorating and
extemporaneous than ever before.

1060
00:48:25,778 --> 00:48:29,674
-Vince stole all sorts of stuff.

1061
00:48:29,698 --> 00:48:31,510
He stole a lot of the concepts

1062
00:48:31,534 --> 00:48:33,136
that Eric Bischoff
had come up with.

1063
00:48:33,160 --> 00:48:37,599
He stole the hardcore
and the violence.

1064
00:48:37,623 --> 00:48:41,770
-It was almost like
Vince's own inner self

1065
00:48:41,794 --> 00:48:46,024
kind of exploding
into the WWF product,

1066
00:48:46,048 --> 00:48:48,568
you know, violence
and class warfare

1067
00:48:48,592 --> 00:48:52,239
and just different kinds
of sexual content and edginess.

1068
00:48:52,263 --> 00:48:55,450
It was a play to win this war.

1069
00:48:55,474 --> 00:48:59,996
-The WWF's graphic story lines
target the WCW audience...

1070
00:49:00,020 --> 00:49:03,041
Angsty teens and 20-somethings.

1071
00:49:03,065 --> 00:49:05,669
-Vince McMahon's got
the Midas touch.

1072
00:49:05,693 --> 00:49:11,133
He's the guy who knows
how to reach those teenagers.

1073
00:49:11,157 --> 00:49:14,886
-Including with this guy,
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

1074
00:49:14,910 --> 00:49:17,097
-I do what I want, when I want,

1075
00:49:17,121 --> 00:49:19,599
and if I don't want to answer
no questions, I ain't got to.

1076
00:49:19,623 --> 00:49:21,393
What I do ain't none
of your business.

1077
00:49:21,417 --> 00:49:26,231
I don't give a rat's ass
if you own the WWF or not.

1078
00:49:26,255 --> 00:49:29,651
{\an8}-Steve Austin... huge star.

1079
00:49:29,675 --> 00:49:32,154
If you were a kid
in high school,

1080
00:49:32,178 --> 00:49:34,614
middle school in the '90s,
you could go to school,

1081
00:49:34,638 --> 00:49:36,491
there'd be Austin 3:16 shirts
everywhere.

1082
00:49:36,515 --> 00:49:39,369
Everybody knew
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

1083
00:49:39,393 --> 00:49:41,163
-Vince goes on air and justifies

1084
00:49:41,187 --> 00:49:43,206
the WWF's edgier rebrand

1085
00:49:43,230 --> 00:49:46,209
after getting some pushback
from parents and the press.

1086
00:49:46,233 --> 00:49:48,837
{\an8}-So when we hear some people
squawking and whatever,

1087
00:49:48,861 --> 00:49:51,173
{\an8}I think that's a good sign
because it says

1088
00:49:51,197 --> 00:49:53,925
{\an8}that we are going up
to a certain edge creatively.

1089
00:49:53,949 --> 00:49:56,011
{\an8}We don't want to go over
that edge and fall off.

1090
00:49:56,035 --> 00:49:57,637
{\an8}That's not good, either.

1091
00:49:57,661 --> 00:50:00,098
{\an8}But I think you have to open
the creative envelope.

1092
00:50:00,122 --> 00:50:03,226
-WWF slowly started kind
of chipping away

1093
00:50:03,250 --> 00:50:06,438
and getting people interested
in watching their show again.

1094
00:50:06,462 --> 00:50:08,648
-"Raw" and "Nitro" were on
at the same time,

1095
00:50:08,672 --> 00:50:10,775
Monday night
on two different networks,

1096
00:50:10,799 --> 00:50:14,738
so you already had a lot of fans
who would switch back and forth.

1097
00:50:14,762 --> 00:50:17,449
But then as it started getting
better, then they started going,

1098
00:50:17,473 --> 00:50:19,201
"Well, well, hold on.
Put the remote down.

1099
00:50:19,225 --> 00:50:20,577
We're not going back to 'Nitro'.

1100
00:50:20,601 --> 00:50:22,579
I want to see Austin kicking

1101
00:50:22,603 --> 00:50:24,623
Vince McMahon's ass
on television.

1102
00:50:24,647 --> 00:50:26,875
This has never happened before."

1103
00:50:26,899 --> 00:50:29,628
-Austin stuns Mr. McMahon!

1104
00:50:29,652 --> 00:50:31,213
{\an8}-And I don't think there's
any subject matter,

1105
00:50:31,237 --> 00:50:34,799
{\an8}by the way, that's off bounds,
that's off limits.

1106
00:50:34,823 --> 00:50:36,968
-That includes writing himself
into the show

1107
00:50:36,992 --> 00:50:38,845
{\an8}as the amoral Mr. McMahon,

1108
00:50:38,869 --> 00:50:41,097
{\an8}the power-hungry,
take-no-prisoners owner

1109
00:50:41,121 --> 00:50:42,432
of the WWF.

1110
00:50:42,456 --> 00:50:44,601
Some see it as typecasting.

1111
00:50:44,625 --> 00:50:47,962
-I enjoy destroying lives.

1112
00:50:49,630 --> 00:50:53,693
-Mr. McMahon takes on every
top-billed star of WWF,

1113
00:50:53,717 --> 00:50:56,154
from The Rock to Triple H,

1114
00:50:56,178 --> 00:50:58,365
and an infamous
head-to-butt match

1115
00:50:58,389 --> 00:51:00,575
with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

1116
00:51:00,599 --> 00:51:04,788
-You said you could beat
Vince McMahon

1117
00:51:04,812 --> 00:51:08,565
with one arm
tied behind your back.

1118
00:51:09,733 --> 00:51:11,753
-Stone Cold is...

1119
00:51:11,777 --> 00:51:15,298
Stone Cold's laying
Mr. McMahon's bare ass out

1120
00:51:15,322 --> 00:51:17,175
with a leather belt!

1121
00:51:17,199 --> 00:51:21,346
-Even Vince's family isn't safe
from the wrath of Mr. McMahon.

1122
00:51:21,370 --> 00:51:26,184
-I will never, ever forgive your
mother for giving birth to you!

1123
00:51:26,208 --> 00:51:30,188
-Your mother had
a certain... reputation.

1124
00:51:30,212 --> 00:51:36,027
A good-time-girl reputation,
if you get my drift.

1125
00:51:36,051 --> 00:51:37,862
-The father-daughter feud
culminated

1126
00:51:37,886 --> 00:51:39,656
in the "I quit" match,

1127
00:51:39,680 --> 00:51:43,868
where Vince chokes out
his own child with a steel pipe.

1128
00:51:43,892 --> 00:51:45,328
{\an8}-Mr. McMahon is one
of the greatest

1129
00:51:45,352 --> 00:51:47,330
{\an8}heel characters of all time.
Yes.

1130
00:51:47,354 --> 00:51:49,165
-Critics say the
World Wrestling Federation

1131
00:51:49,189 --> 00:51:51,668
blows away the envelope
of good taste

1132
00:51:51,692 --> 00:51:54,587
with a parade of raunchy
characters like a pimp

1133
00:51:54,611 --> 00:51:57,132
who struts into the ring
with prostitutes.

1134
00:51:57,156 --> 00:52:01,261
-And I want you to roll a fatty
for this pimp daddy.

1135
00:52:01,285 --> 00:52:03,930
Light that blunt up and say...

1136
00:52:03,954 --> 00:52:05,932
-Pimpin' ain't easy!

1137
00:52:05,956 --> 00:52:11,563
-The WWF fan never saw
this before.

1138
00:52:11,587 --> 00:52:15,567
The numbers got higher and
higher and higher and higher.

1139
00:52:15,591 --> 00:52:21,239
We turned it into must-see TV.

1140
00:52:21,263 --> 00:52:22,907
-A lot of the women, you know,

1141
00:52:22,931 --> 00:52:24,617
that started coming up
wanted to be wrestlers

1142
00:52:24,641 --> 00:52:26,578
and they didn't really want
the women to be wrestlers.

1143
00:52:26,602 --> 00:52:29,080
They thought, "People don't want
to watch women wrestle.

1144
00:52:29,104 --> 00:52:33,126
They want to see T&A
disguised as wrestling."

1145
00:52:33,150 --> 00:52:35,128
Basically, the idea
was hire people

1146
00:52:35,152 --> 00:52:37,297
who could pose in <i>Playboy,</i>

1147
00:52:37,321 --> 00:52:39,591
and many of them did
pose in <i>Playboy,</i>

1148
00:52:39,615 --> 00:52:42,177
and go out there
and wear as little as possible

1149
00:52:42,201 --> 00:52:44,054
and rip clothes off
and all this.

1150
00:52:44,078 --> 00:52:46,723
And that's when the TV ratings
with the teenagers,

1151
00:52:46,747 --> 00:52:49,434
the teenage boys...
Through the roof.

1152
00:52:49,458 --> 00:52:53,229
-After 83 straight weeks
of losing out to WCW,

1153
00:52:53,253 --> 00:52:55,982
there's finally cause
for Vince to celebrate.

1154
00:52:56,006 --> 00:52:57,817
-McMahon said there's only
one group

1155
00:52:57,841 --> 00:53:00,612
that he pays attention to,
and that's his audience.

1156
00:53:00,636 --> 00:53:02,572
And he will bend
in any direction

1157
00:53:02,596 --> 00:53:04,491
that they tell him to.

1158
00:53:04,515 --> 00:53:06,701
-Forget the morality,
forget the ethics.

1159
00:53:06,725 --> 00:53:08,328
Strictly from a business
standpoint,

1160
00:53:08,352 --> 00:53:10,747
you go too far,
then what's next?

1161
00:53:10,771 --> 00:53:12,540
A chainsaw?
You can't go there.

1162
00:53:12,564 --> 00:53:15,752
- Are you approaching that?
- I don't know.

1163
00:53:15,776 --> 00:53:17,420
I think the audience
is gonna tell us.

1164
00:53:17,444 --> 00:53:19,631
- Or he will tell the audience.
- Don't go in there!

1165
00:53:19,655 --> 00:53:21,257
Don't go in there!
[ Gunshot ]

1166
00:53:21,281 --> 00:53:22,967
-On behalf of the
World Wrestling Federation,

1167
00:53:22,991 --> 00:53:24,260
for those of you
who were offended,

1168
00:53:24,284 --> 00:53:27,138
those viewers,
we humbly apologize

1169
00:53:27,162 --> 00:53:30,374
for the incident that took place
last Monday night on "Raw".

1170
00:53:35,504 --> 00:53:36,564
-By the late '90s,
what's dubbed the Attitude Era,

1171
00:53:36,588 --> 00:53:38,316
puts Vince McMahon back on top.

1172
00:53:38,340 --> 00:53:41,986
But to stay there, he resorts to
more and more drastic theatrics,

1173
00:53:42,010 --> 00:53:45,865
including a home invasion
on a controversial 1996 episode

1174
00:53:45,889 --> 00:53:47,992
of "Monday Night Raw".
- We are live.

1175
00:53:48,016 --> 00:53:51,204
Austin is outside
of Brian Pillman's home.

1176
00:53:51,228 --> 00:53:53,915
-Steve is a dead man walking!

1177
00:53:53,939 --> 00:53:56,960
Because when Austin 3:16

1178
00:53:56,984 --> 00:53:59,587
meets Pillman 9 millimeter
Glock...

1179
00:53:59,611 --> 00:54:03,174
- Oh, my God.
- I'm gonna blow his sorry ass

1180
00:54:03,198 --> 00:54:04,759
straight to Hell!

1181
00:54:04,783 --> 00:54:06,761
-Don't go in there!
Don't go in there!

1182
00:54:06,785 --> 00:54:08,805
{\an8}-The reaction was
pretty negative to it.

1183
00:54:08,829 --> 00:54:10,432
{\an8}I mean, it was
pretty darn negative.

1184
00:54:10,456 --> 00:54:12,225
Vince had to actually go
on television and apologize

1185
00:54:12,249 --> 00:54:14,310
for that angle 'cause
it got so much negativity.

1186
00:54:14,334 --> 00:54:17,522
-We humbly apologize
for the incident

1187
00:54:17,546 --> 00:54:20,525
that took place
last Monday night on "Raw".

1188
00:54:20,549 --> 00:54:23,528
-I think that's the only angle
Vince ever apologized for.

1189
00:54:23,552 --> 00:54:26,739
-Including the ones involving
stunts in which his wrestlers

1190
00:54:26,763 --> 00:54:29,075
didn't always want
to participate.

1191
00:54:29,099 --> 00:54:32,078
{\an8}-Vince McMahon wanted wrestlers
to start being actors

1192
00:54:32,102 --> 00:54:33,746
{\an8}at this point,
and he couldn't understand

1193
00:54:33,770 --> 00:54:35,206
{\an8}why they didn't want
to go along with it.

1194
00:54:35,230 --> 00:54:37,834
-Surely the era of the superhero

1195
00:54:37,858 --> 00:54:39,377
who'd urge you to say
your prayers

1196
00:54:39,401 --> 00:54:42,630
and take your vitamins
is definitely passé.

1197
00:54:42,654 --> 00:54:45,675
-It was that tipping point
that we reached at that time

1198
00:54:45,699 --> 00:54:48,344
between "We're not gonna
use great wrestlers

1199
00:54:48,368 --> 00:54:50,221
just 'cause
they're great athletes.

1200
00:54:50,245 --> 00:54:54,809
They have to be willing to put
on goofy outfits and do skits."

1201
00:54:54,833 --> 00:54:56,728
-But many of these new gimmicky
story lines

1202
00:54:56,752 --> 00:54:58,563
don't land with fans.

1203
00:54:58,587 --> 00:55:02,317
So Vince is once again forced
to find the next big superstar

1204
00:55:02,341 --> 00:55:05,069
to re-energize the WWF.

1205
00:55:05,093 --> 00:55:08,948
And like before, it's the
Hart family that delivers.

1206
00:55:08,972 --> 00:55:11,910
-Owen Hart. As a rookie,
he was spectacular.

1207
00:55:11,934 --> 00:55:14,078
His acrobatics were amazing.

1208
00:55:14,102 --> 00:55:15,788
He could flip backwards
off the ropes.

1209
00:55:15,812 --> 00:55:18,041
He could land on his feet
from every direction.

1210
00:55:18,065 --> 00:55:20,251
-Number one, baby!

1211
00:55:20,275 --> 00:55:21,920
-Owen has the athleticism,

1212
00:55:21,944 --> 00:55:23,546
but not
the over-the-top personality

1213
00:55:23,570 --> 00:55:26,216
of a Hulk Hogan
or "Stone Cold" Steve Austin,

1214
00:55:26,240 --> 00:55:28,927
the traits that have always
resonated with Vince.

1215
00:55:28,951 --> 00:55:31,596
-In the new entertainment,
Attitude Era,

1216
00:55:31,620 --> 00:55:33,431
{\an8}they didn't know
what to do with Owen.

1217
00:55:33,455 --> 00:55:39,687
{\an8}-They had him doing one
horseshit persona after another.

1218
00:55:39,711 --> 00:55:42,732
{\an8}The Blue Blazer.
The American Eagle.

1219
00:55:42,756 --> 00:55:45,443
I was shaking my head.

1220
00:55:45,467 --> 00:55:48,571
-Here it comes. It's Owen Hart!
The Blazer!

1221
00:55:48,595 --> 00:55:51,282
-Vince can be very spiteful
for his own amusement,

1222
00:55:51,306 --> 00:55:54,452
{\an8}give them very demeaning
characters or roles,

1223
00:55:54,476 --> 00:55:57,288
{\an8}and kind of have fun
at their expense

1224
00:55:57,312 --> 00:55:58,998
because he's their boss.

1225
00:55:59,022 --> 00:56:00,625
He can be a tyrant.

1226
00:56:00,649 --> 00:56:03,545
-Vince tries to write Owen
into edgier story lines,

1227
00:56:03,569 --> 00:56:05,797
but Owen refuses,

1228
00:56:05,821 --> 00:56:07,882
but perhaps because of how
he treated Owen's brother

1229
00:56:07,906 --> 00:56:12,345
Bret in the Montreal Screwjob,
Vince keeps Owen around.

1230
00:56:12,369 --> 00:56:15,473
Then Vince decides to put
Owen's athleticism to the test.

1231
00:56:15,497 --> 00:56:18,643
{\an8}♪♪

1232
00:56:18,667 --> 00:56:22,564
On May 23, 1999,
Owen travels to Kansas City's

1233
00:56:22,588 --> 00:56:27,569
Kemper Arena for a WWF event
called "Over the Edge."

1234
00:56:27,593 --> 00:56:32,323
From eight stories up, Owen
will be lowered into the ring.

1235
00:56:32,347 --> 00:56:35,034
{\an8}-Owen did not want to come down
from the rafters.

1236
00:56:35,058 --> 00:56:37,245
{\an8}They talked him into it.

1237
00:56:37,269 --> 00:56:39,122
-He's done the gimmick before.

1238
00:56:39,146 --> 00:56:41,833
-The idiot is stuck
in the harness!

1239
00:56:41,857 --> 00:56:44,836
-Riggers experiment
with a quick-release harness

1240
00:56:44,860 --> 00:56:47,672
so Owen can get back
into the action quicker.

1241
00:56:47,696 --> 00:56:51,009
Some claim the WWF replaced
their original riggers

1242
00:56:51,033 --> 00:56:54,137
with a cut-rate crew
who say they can make it happen.

1243
00:56:54,161 --> 00:56:56,306
But the poorly designed
quick-release mechanism

1244
00:56:56,330 --> 00:56:58,808
they use proves deadly.

1245
00:56:58,832 --> 00:57:02,061
-I looked at my monitor, and
all of a sudden, I looked up.

1246
00:57:02,085 --> 00:57:06,190
{\an8}I just caught Owen come
into my line of vision.

1247
00:57:06,214 --> 00:57:08,276
{\an8}A blur. Foof.

1248
00:57:08,300 --> 00:57:10,028
-But, like, all the fans
are watching,

1249
00:57:10,052 --> 00:57:12,405
and at first, they're thinking,
"That's weird.

1250
00:57:12,429 --> 00:57:15,908
They dropped
a dummy from the rafters.

1251
00:57:15,932 --> 00:57:21,080
{\an8}-I thought I heard screaming,
and then I felt something brush

1252
00:57:21,104 --> 00:57:23,958
{\an8}against the side of my head
and my shoulder.

1253
00:57:23,982 --> 00:57:28,296
And I'm thinking in my head,
"What the heck was that?"

1254
00:57:28,320 --> 00:57:30,673
And when I turned and looked,
there was Owen.

1255
00:57:30,697 --> 00:57:33,635
He was, like, laying
in the ring, like, faceup.

1256
00:57:33,659 --> 00:57:37,805
And I just started
screaming for help.

1257
00:57:37,829 --> 00:57:42,060
-I thought he hit the turnbuckle
or the ring post

1258
00:57:42,084 --> 00:57:45,021
'cause it really sounded sick,
sick, sick.

1259
00:57:45,045 --> 00:57:47,690
{\an8}-Somebody said,
"Owen just fell."

1260
00:57:47,714 --> 00:57:50,652
{\an8}And I went, "Owen fell? What?"
He goes, "Owen just fell."

1261
00:57:50,676 --> 00:57:52,570
-Well, it's one of the most
shocking things I've ever seen.

1262
00:57:52,594 --> 00:57:56,115
This is not a... your typical
wrestling story line.

1263
00:57:56,139 --> 00:57:59,494
This is a real situation.

1264
00:57:59,518 --> 00:58:02,163
-I said, "...never seen anything
like that."

1265
00:58:02,187 --> 00:58:04,957
Not on any wrestling program,
not on any television program.

1266
00:58:04,981 --> 00:58:06,959
It's never happened before.

1267
00:58:06,983 --> 00:58:08,920
-I was just reiterating
to the fans

1268
00:58:08,944 --> 00:58:11,339
this is not a part of the show.

1269
00:58:11,363 --> 00:58:12,757
We're here to entertain
and have fun.

1270
00:58:12,781 --> 00:58:14,342
But this is neither.

1271
00:58:14,366 --> 00:58:16,344
-As emergency workers
tend to Owen

1272
00:58:16,368 --> 00:58:18,429
and his shocked colleagues
look on,

1273
00:58:18,453 --> 00:58:21,349
someone calls Vince to decide
what to do next.

1274
00:58:21,373 --> 00:58:25,210
-And they wheeled Owen past us
to go to the ambulance, and...

1275
00:58:27,546 --> 00:58:29,440
{\an8}Mm.

1276
00:58:29,464 --> 00:58:32,860
-Vince's decision sends
shockwaves through the WWF.

1277
00:58:32,884 --> 00:58:34,862
-They didn't want
to stop the show.

1278
00:58:34,886 --> 00:58:37,907
So Jeff Jarrett,
who was real close with Owen,

1279
00:58:37,931 --> 00:58:40,576
did a promo,
and he was in tears.

1280
00:58:40,600 --> 00:58:43,871
-Owen Hart,
I'm praying for you, buddy.

1281
00:58:43,895 --> 00:58:45,415
-The show must go on.

1282
00:58:45,439 --> 00:58:46,666
They got to go in there
and do their match

1283
00:58:46,690 --> 00:58:48,292
with Owen's blood in the corner.

1284
00:58:48,316 --> 00:58:50,044
-Kevin Dunn,
the executive producer,

1285
00:58:50,068 --> 00:58:53,297
thought that I had been told
what the deal was.

1286
00:58:53,321 --> 00:58:55,675
And I said, "Kevin,
nobody's told us anything.

1287
00:58:55,699 --> 00:58:57,093
What is the update?"

1288
00:58:57,117 --> 00:59:00,763
And he said..."He's dead.

1289
00:59:00,787 --> 00:59:03,224
And you're back in 10, 9..."

1290
00:59:03,248 --> 00:59:06,644
-And I have the...

1291
00:59:06,668 --> 00:59:10,523
unfortunate responsibility

1292
00:59:10,547 --> 00:59:14,193
to let everyone know
that Owen Hart has died.

1293
00:59:14,217 --> 00:59:16,237
Owen Hart has tragically died

1294
00:59:16,261 --> 00:59:19,574
from that accident here tonight.

1295
00:59:19,598 --> 00:59:21,909
-It's only after deciding
to continue the show

1296
00:59:21,933 --> 00:59:24,454
that Vince finally reaches out
to Owen's wife

1297
00:59:24,478 --> 00:59:26,789
to tell her
that there was an accident.

1298
00:59:26,813 --> 00:59:28,207
But he leaves it to the doctor

1299
00:59:28,231 --> 00:59:31,502
to deliver the news
that devastates her.

1300
00:59:31,526 --> 00:59:33,379
-I miss my husband,

1301
00:59:33,403 --> 00:59:38,342
and I'm sad for myself
that I'm a widow at 32

1302
00:59:38,366 --> 00:59:41,721
and I have two children
that are fatherless now.

1303
00:59:41,745 --> 00:59:44,390
-A police investigation
into Owen Hart's death

1304
00:59:44,414 --> 00:59:45,850
begins immediately.

1305
00:59:45,874 --> 00:59:47,935
If criminal negligence is found,

1306
00:59:47,959 --> 00:59:52,440
Vince's WWF could very well
get shut down.

1307
00:59:52,464 --> 00:59:54,609
-I think a lot of fingers
were being pointed.

1308
00:59:54,633 --> 00:59:58,404
Did they cut corners?
Was it a cut-rate kind of thing?

1309
00:59:58,428 --> 01:00:02,283
-Owen was such a loyal
and dependable

1310
01:00:02,307 --> 01:00:04,035
and reliable and safe performer,

1311
01:00:04,059 --> 01:00:07,872
and, you know, it's so upsetting
that he needlessly died

1312
01:00:07,896 --> 01:00:10,333
just for a silly ring entrance.

1313
01:00:10,357 --> 01:00:14,462
-What hurt Vince at the time
and the company, image-wise,

1314
01:00:14,486 --> 01:00:16,923
and this can't
really be overstated,

1315
01:00:16,947 --> 01:00:19,842
was the decision
to continue the show.

1316
01:00:19,866 --> 01:00:23,387
And that's something that has
been second-guessed ever since,

1317
01:00:23,411 --> 01:00:24,806
even to this day.

1318
01:00:24,830 --> 01:00:26,224
-Should the show go on?

1319
01:00:26,248 --> 01:00:28,017
Should we cancel the show?

1320
01:00:28,041 --> 01:00:29,519
Come on, man.

1321
01:00:29,543 --> 01:00:32,814
Nobody was in their right mind
that day

1322
01:00:32,838 --> 01:00:37,485
to make any kind of a decision,
including Vince McMahon.

1323
01:00:37,509 --> 01:00:39,821
-Owen Hart's death
makes national news.

1324
01:00:39,845 --> 01:00:42,782
When a reporter questions
Vince about his culpability,

1325
01:00:42,806 --> 01:00:45,117
she's immediately met
with Vince's first rule

1326
01:00:45,141 --> 01:00:46,536
of crisis management...

1327
01:00:46,560 --> 01:00:49,855
The best defense
is an obnoxious offense.

1328
01:00:55,360 --> 01:00:58,422
{\an8}-First of all,
I resent your tone.

1329
01:00:58,446 --> 01:00:59,656
{\an8}Um...

1330
01:01:01,575 --> 01:01:04,387
{\an8}No, no.
I resent your tone, lady, okay?

1331
01:01:04,411 --> 01:01:06,597
You know, this was
a tragic accident.

1332
01:01:06,621 --> 01:01:12,895
-On June 15, 1999, Martha Hart
begins her pursuit for justice.

1333
01:01:12,919 --> 01:01:16,357
-My legal counsel filed
a wrongful death lawsuit

1334
01:01:16,381 --> 01:01:19,902
against WWF,
Vince McMahon, and all others

1335
01:01:19,926 --> 01:01:23,698
I believe are responsible
for my husband's death.

1336
01:01:23,722 --> 01:01:26,158
-Vince denies acting spitefully
towards Owen

1337
01:01:26,182 --> 01:01:28,619
or any culpability
for this accident

1338
01:01:28,643 --> 01:01:30,663
and successfully sues
the manufacturer

1339
01:01:30,687 --> 01:01:32,665
of the quick-release device.

1340
01:01:32,689 --> 01:01:37,920
Martha Hart eventually settles
with the WWF for $18 million,

1341
01:01:37,944 --> 01:01:41,072
using the money to start
The Owen Hart Foundation.

1342
01:01:51,999 --> 01:01:55,104
As Martha and her children
try to rebuild their lives,

1343
01:01:55,128 --> 01:01:56,647
Vince finds himself

1344
01:01:56,671 --> 01:01:58,858
in the middle of yet
another shocking incident,

1345
01:01:58,882 --> 01:02:01,193
when a plane full of
his employees travel on

1346
01:02:01,217 --> 01:02:04,780
{\an8}a WWF chartered transcontinental
flight from Europe.

1347
01:02:04,804 --> 01:02:07,658
{\an8}-I remember sitting in
the first-class section.

1348
01:02:07,682 --> 01:02:09,327
{\an8}I think Jim Ross was up there.

1349
01:02:09,351 --> 01:02:11,495
{\an8}-Normally the coaches
and the managers sat up there,

1350
01:02:11,519 --> 01:02:14,081
{\an8}and in this case,
the wrestlers were in the back.

1351
01:02:14,105 --> 01:02:17,501
-Wrestlers would behave badly
on the road, on planes,

1352
01:02:17,525 --> 01:02:19,587
in hotels, and in bars.

1353
01:02:19,611 --> 01:02:23,758
And on this privately chartered
flight, they got out of control.

1354
01:02:23,782 --> 01:02:26,385
-As alcohol and pills
flow freely,

1355
01:02:26,409 --> 01:02:28,095
a couple of wrestlers
begin assaulting

1356
01:02:28,119 --> 01:02:29,388
the flight attendants.

1357
01:02:29,412 --> 01:02:31,182
-And I was in the galley.

1358
01:02:31,206 --> 01:02:33,100
He had me back
against the back door,

1359
01:02:33,124 --> 01:02:34,602
and I couldn't...
I couldn't move.

1360
01:02:34,626 --> 01:02:36,771
I couldn't get away from him.

1361
01:02:36,795 --> 01:02:39,565
He was spitting around his penis
and he wanted me to touch it.

1362
01:02:39,589 --> 01:02:45,613
And he... he took my hand
and... and put it on him.

1363
01:02:45,637 --> 01:02:47,615
-After a wrestler intervenes,

1364
01:02:47,639 --> 01:02:50,785
another moves in
on the still-shaken stewardess.

1365
01:02:50,809 --> 01:02:54,080
-He grabbed my shirt
and pulled me down

1366
01:02:54,104 --> 01:02:56,123
and my shirt buttons got ripped.

1367
01:02:56,147 --> 01:02:57,667
He told me he was gonna lick me,

1368
01:02:57,691 --> 01:03:00,461
and then he proceeded
to try to do that.

1369
01:03:00,485 --> 01:03:03,113
It was a moment of great...

1370
01:03:05,448 --> 01:03:06,968
violation, discomfort,

1371
01:03:06,992 --> 01:03:10,429
to have a person
put their hands on you

1372
01:03:10,453 --> 01:03:13,057
without you wanting them
to do that.

1373
01:03:13,081 --> 01:03:15,351
And then he passed out.

1374
01:03:15,375 --> 01:03:17,269
-Once safely back on the ground,

1375
01:03:17,293 --> 01:03:18,938
the two flight attendants sue.

1376
01:03:18,962 --> 01:03:21,857
Vince intervenes
and does one of the things

1377
01:03:21,881 --> 01:03:25,319
he does best...
Throw money at the problem.

1378
01:03:25,343 --> 01:03:27,029
-They offered us a settlement.

1379
01:03:27,053 --> 01:03:29,907
Money is... Money is what ends
up on the table, I think,

1380
01:03:29,931 --> 01:03:32,827
and... and then it also buys
you silence,

1381
01:03:32,851 --> 01:03:35,871
which then can add to another
layer of the guilt of a victim.

1382
01:03:35,895 --> 01:03:40,251
Like, it can... it can be
a cycle that's not good, yeah.

1383
01:03:40,275 --> 01:03:41,919
Perpetually bad.

1384
01:03:41,943 --> 01:03:44,630
-Paying people off becomes
Vince's go-to strategy

1385
01:03:44,654 --> 01:03:46,507
to make bad press disappear,

1386
01:03:46,531 --> 01:03:48,175
but he'll eventually
learn the danger

1387
01:03:48,199 --> 01:03:49,719
in buying people's silence.

1388
01:03:49,743 --> 01:03:52,471
It only works
until somebody talks.

1389
01:03:52,495 --> 01:03:56,350
-If these stories from
the actual people

1390
01:03:56,374 --> 01:04:01,480
inside started coming out,
I-I don't even know

1391
01:04:01,504 --> 01:04:04,191
if there would be
a wrestling business by the time

1392
01:04:04,215 --> 01:04:06,009
all the investigations
were complete.

1393
01:04:11,306 --> 01:04:12,908
-For decades, Vince McMahon
proves to be uniquely skilled

1394
01:04:12,932 --> 01:04:14,785
at surviving scandals,
from claims of sexual harassment

1395
01:04:14,809 --> 01:04:16,537
to illegal steroid use,

1396
01:04:16,561 --> 01:04:18,748
even an accidental death lawsuit

1397
01:04:18,772 --> 01:04:22,251
by first unequivocally denying
responsibility for any of them.

1398
01:04:22,275 --> 01:04:24,879
So it's business as usual
in 2006,

1399
01:04:24,903 --> 01:04:28,299
when he quickly dispenses
with an ugly new allegation.

1400
01:04:28,323 --> 01:04:31,093
{\an8}-That was another story
back in the day,

1401
01:04:31,117 --> 01:04:35,431
{\an8}where he went to a tanning salon
called Tanzabar.

1402
01:04:35,455 --> 01:04:38,184
{\an8}-In the police report,
it says a 22-year-old

1403
01:04:38,208 --> 01:04:40,811
{\an8}tanning salon employee
met Vince McMahon

1404
01:04:40,835 --> 01:04:44,273
when he went in to
buy 20 minutes of tanning.

1405
01:04:44,297 --> 01:04:47,318
He asked her to take a photo
of him

1406
01:04:47,342 --> 01:04:51,614
so that he could send it back
to his girlfriend in New York.

1407
01:04:51,638 --> 01:04:55,493
And then when she handed
his phone back to him,

1408
01:04:55,517 --> 01:04:58,245
he sort of scrolled
through a number of photos

1409
01:04:58,269 --> 01:04:59,955
that he had taken of himself.

1410
01:04:59,979 --> 01:05:03,709
{\an8}-He ends up, I believe,
showing pictures of himself,

1411
01:05:03,733 --> 01:05:06,796
{\an8}naked pictures of himself
to the tanning salon attendant.

1412
01:05:06,820 --> 01:05:10,174
-He allegedly grabs her,
touches her,

1413
01:05:10,198 --> 01:05:12,009
tries to lift up her blouse,

1414
01:05:12,033 --> 01:05:16,013
tries to kiss her,
according to her allegations,

1415
01:05:16,037 --> 01:05:19,809
and then she rebuffs him,
ends up putting both her hands

1416
01:05:19,833 --> 01:05:22,186
on his chest to push him away,

1417
01:05:22,210 --> 01:05:24,605
and then he responds by saying,
you know,

1418
01:05:24,629 --> 01:05:26,524
"I was only trying to have
a little fun."

1419
01:05:26,548 --> 01:05:30,611
-And the woman ran out of
the room yelling and screaming,

1420
01:05:30,635 --> 01:05:32,655
"Call the police!"

1421
01:05:32,679 --> 01:05:35,366
Found out it was Vince McMahon.

1422
01:05:35,390 --> 01:05:38,035
-The police determined
there's probable cause

1423
01:05:38,059 --> 01:05:40,538
that McMahon
had committed a crime.

1424
01:05:40,562 --> 01:05:43,499
So they refer that to the local
prosecutor's office,

1425
01:05:43,523 --> 01:05:46,627
who, in turn,
decline to prosecute

1426
01:05:46,651 --> 01:05:49,130
because there's...
There's not enough evidence.

1427
01:05:49,154 --> 01:05:51,132
-While Vince's lawyer
fervently denies

1428
01:05:51,156 --> 01:05:53,259
that the woman was paid
to drop the charges,

1429
01:05:53,283 --> 01:05:55,136
others aren't so sure.

1430
01:05:55,160 --> 01:05:57,721
-Well, when you have
that kind of money,

1431
01:05:57,745 --> 01:06:00,516
I gue... I guess things go away.

1432
01:06:00,540 --> 01:06:03,144
-Any time there's accusations,

1433
01:06:03,168 --> 01:06:06,856
{\an8}no court case,
you presume payoff.

1434
01:06:06,880 --> 01:06:08,399
{\an8}But I don't know that.

1435
01:06:08,423 --> 01:06:13,821
{\an8}These rumors have been in
a wrestling forever.

1436
01:06:13,845 --> 01:06:16,198
The tanning salon story
came out,

1437
01:06:16,222 --> 01:06:18,576
but whether it's true or not,

1438
01:06:18,600 --> 01:06:20,369
these were not
isolated incidents.

1439
01:06:20,393 --> 01:06:22,246
-Vince was a known womanizer.

1440
01:06:22,270 --> 01:06:24,081
But I don't want to say

1441
01:06:24,105 --> 01:06:27,459
{\an8}it was kind of expected
in the... in that industry

1442
01:06:27,483 --> 01:06:29,461
{\an8}'cause, you know, everybody was.

1443
01:06:29,485 --> 01:06:31,046
-But for many wrestling fans,

1444
01:06:31,070 --> 01:06:33,507
Vince's alleged abhorrent
personal behavior

1445
01:06:33,531 --> 01:06:35,968
proves less concerning
than his apparent willingness

1446
01:06:35,992 --> 01:06:38,596
to exploit the tragic deaths
of his wrestlers,

1447
01:06:38,620 --> 01:06:40,431
beginning with Eddie Guerrero.

1448
01:06:40,455 --> 01:06:42,433
-Wrestling fans, of course,
all know who Eddie Guerrero is.

1449
01:06:42,457 --> 01:06:45,728
{\an8}He's considered as one of
the absolute best wrestlers

1450
01:06:45,752 --> 01:06:47,521
{\an8}of all time.

1451
01:06:47,545 --> 01:06:50,399
-When Eddie dies tragically
at 38 from a heart condition,

1452
01:06:50,423 --> 01:06:53,903
Vince McMahon immediately
organizes a tribute show.

1453
01:06:53,927 --> 01:06:56,363
-Eddie Guerrero has passed away.

1454
01:06:56,387 --> 01:06:59,408
-But months later,
Vince sees an opportunity

1455
01:06:59,432 --> 01:07:01,869
to generate some heat
off Eddie's death,

1456
01:07:01,893 --> 01:07:04,371
and authorizes wrestler
Randy Orton

1457
01:07:04,395 --> 01:07:06,290
to trash Eddie's memory.

1458
01:07:06,314 --> 01:07:08,751
-Let me tell you something, bro.

1459
01:07:08,775 --> 01:07:10,878
Eddie ain't in Heaven.

1460
01:07:10,902 --> 01:07:12,963
[ Crowd boos ]

1461
01:07:12,987 --> 01:07:17,259
Eddie's down there...
in Hell!

1462
01:07:17,283 --> 01:07:19,428
-Some fans are furious
at the idea

1463
01:07:19,452 --> 01:07:21,597
that Vince would
exploit Eddie's death

1464
01:07:21,621 --> 01:07:24,516
in a naked grab for TV ratings.

1465
01:07:24,540 --> 01:07:28,020
Nearly two years later, everyone
will be shocked at Vince's

1466
01:07:28,044 --> 01:07:31,607
"fire, ready, aim" response
to another tragic event,

1467
01:07:31,631 --> 01:07:34,485
one that will leave folks openly
questioning if Vince cares

1468
01:07:34,509 --> 01:07:38,614
at all about the health and
safety of wrestlers in the WWE.

1469
01:07:38,638 --> 01:07:40,407
{\an8}-If you're a wrestling fan,

1470
01:07:40,431 --> 01:07:42,701
{\an8}how could you not be a fan
of Chris Benoit's work?

1471
01:07:42,725 --> 01:07:46,830
-In June 2007, Benoit is
scheduled to perform in Texas,

1472
01:07:46,854 --> 01:07:48,123
but no one's heard from him.

1473
01:07:48,147 --> 01:07:49,917
So just hours before the show,

1474
01:07:49,941 --> 01:07:52,044
police are dispatched
to Benoit's house,

1475
01:07:52,068 --> 01:07:53,879
where they discover
the bodies of Chris,

1476
01:07:53,903 --> 01:07:56,924
his wife, Nancy,
and young son, Daniel.

1477
01:07:56,948 --> 01:07:59,677
-At this time,
no one knew what happened.

1478
01:07:59,701 --> 01:08:02,721
Did someone break in?
Did carbon monoxide happen?

1479
01:08:02,745 --> 01:08:04,223
No one has answers.

1480
01:08:04,247 --> 01:08:06,642
-Police notify the extended
Benoit family,

1481
01:08:06,666 --> 01:08:08,102
while inside the arena,

1482
01:08:08,126 --> 01:08:10,229
word spreads quickly
among the wrestlers

1483
01:08:10,253 --> 01:08:12,648
about what happened
to Chris and his family.

1484
01:08:12,672 --> 01:08:15,818
-Vince McMahon,
the chairman of the board,

1485
01:08:15,842 --> 01:08:17,945
couldn't go on the air
and not do anything.

1486
01:08:17,969 --> 01:08:21,282
So we went on the air and did
what we thought was right.

1487
01:08:21,306 --> 01:08:23,284
-Tonight, this arena here
in Corpus Christi, Texas,

1488
01:08:23,308 --> 01:08:28,789
was to have
been filled to capacity...

1489
01:08:28,813 --> 01:08:31,625
with enthusiastic WWE fans.

1490
01:08:31,649 --> 01:08:33,585
-We tried to honor the guy,
we tried to honor his family,

1491
01:08:33,609 --> 01:08:38,799
we tried to honor his fans,
but we didn't have a full story.

1492
01:08:38,823 --> 01:08:42,845
-So tonight will be
a three-hour tribute

1493
01:08:42,869 --> 01:08:49,435
to one of the greatest
WWE superstars of all time.

1494
01:08:49,459 --> 01:08:51,270
-Vince is premature
in the tribute,

1495
01:08:51,294 --> 01:08:54,106
because not long after
calling him one of the greatest,

1496
01:08:54,130 --> 01:08:56,233
the real story comes out.

1497
01:08:56,257 --> 01:08:57,318
-Right now,
it's being investigated

1498
01:08:57,342 --> 01:08:58,819
as a murder-suicide.

1499
01:08:58,843 --> 01:09:03,407
However, until we get
the crime lab reports,

1500
01:09:03,431 --> 01:09:05,868
it's undetermined exactly
what happened.

1501
01:09:05,892 --> 01:09:07,328
-On Friday evening,

1502
01:09:07,352 --> 01:09:09,330
it appears that there was
some sort of altercation

1503
01:09:09,354 --> 01:09:11,081
between Chris and Nancy,

1504
01:09:11,105 --> 01:09:14,251
that Chris restrained Nancy
with duct tape

1505
01:09:14,275 --> 01:09:17,588
and then utilized
a telephone cord to strangle her

1506
01:09:17,612 --> 01:09:20,090
{\an8}and then placed a Bible
next to her body.

1507
01:09:20,114 --> 01:09:22,676
{\an8}Next morning, on Saturday,

1508
01:09:22,700 --> 01:09:25,012
{\an8}Chris, we assume,
gave his son Daniel Xanax,

1509
01:09:25,036 --> 01:09:28,182
and then murdered him
in his room,

1510
01:09:28,206 --> 01:09:30,309
being suffocated by his father.

1511
01:09:30,333 --> 01:09:32,936
A Bible was then placed
next to Daniel as well.

1512
01:09:32,960 --> 01:09:35,814
On Sunday, Chris then went down
to his home gym

1513
01:09:35,838 --> 01:09:37,900
with a half drunken
bottle of wine,

1514
01:09:37,924 --> 01:09:39,860
he wrapped a towel
around his neck,

1515
01:09:39,884 --> 01:09:42,863
and he took the metal cord
from the lat pulldown machine

1516
01:09:42,887 --> 01:09:45,741
and put it around his neck.

1517
01:09:45,765 --> 01:09:49,536
He adjusted the weights
to 240 pounds,

1518
01:09:49,560 --> 01:09:51,705
and then he released it.

1519
01:09:51,729 --> 01:09:53,624
-We did not know
all the information.

1520
01:09:53,648 --> 01:09:55,376
That's our fault.

1521
01:09:55,400 --> 01:09:57,419
We were trying to serve
the audience.

1522
01:09:57,443 --> 01:09:58,879
It was a major story,

1523
01:09:58,903 --> 01:10:00,756
it was hitting
all the news sources,

1524
01:10:00,780 --> 01:10:03,050
and we had a TV show.

1525
01:10:03,074 --> 01:10:05,469
-Vince attempts damage control
for his decision

1526
01:10:05,493 --> 01:10:07,429
to publicly canonize Benoit.

1527
01:10:07,453 --> 01:10:09,223
-Last night on
"Monday Night Raw",

1528
01:10:09,247 --> 01:10:12,226
the WWE presented
a special tribute show

1529
01:10:12,250 --> 01:10:15,396
recognizing the career
of Chris Benoit.

1530
01:10:15,420 --> 01:10:17,898
However, now,
some 26 hours later,

1531
01:10:17,922 --> 01:10:22,319
the facts of this horrific
tragedy are now apparent.

1532
01:10:22,343 --> 01:10:24,029
Therefore,
other than my comments,

1533
01:10:24,053 --> 01:10:27,950
there will be no mention
of Mr. Benoit's name tonight.

1534
01:10:27,974 --> 01:10:30,411
-But soon, the story shifts away
from Vince's

1535
01:10:30,435 --> 01:10:33,414
ill-advised statement
following the murder-suicide

1536
01:10:33,438 --> 01:10:36,083
and to the more damning question
of the role wrestling itself

1537
01:10:36,107 --> 01:10:38,335
played in the deaths
of the Benoit family.

1538
01:10:38,359 --> 01:10:39,962
-Speculation is running wild.

1539
01:10:39,986 --> 01:10:44,007
Did steroids play a role,
or is there another explanation?

1540
01:10:44,031 --> 01:10:47,302
We have an exclusive interview
with WWE chairman Vince McMahon.

1541
01:10:47,326 --> 01:10:49,596
-WWE did everything they could
to combat any coverage

1542
01:10:49,620 --> 01:10:52,933
in the news media that indicated
that drug abuse or steroid abuse

1543
01:10:52,957 --> 01:10:54,601
was the cause of the homicides.

1544
01:10:54,625 --> 01:10:56,270
-And obviously,
this was not an act of rage.

1545
01:10:56,294 --> 01:10:57,771
It's an act of deliberation.

1546
01:10:57,795 --> 01:10:59,565
When you do something like this
over three days,

1547
01:10:59,589 --> 01:11:02,443
it's not an act of rage,
be it steroid rage or roid rage,

1548
01:11:02,467 --> 01:11:05,612
whatever it's called,
or any other rage.

1549
01:11:05,636 --> 01:11:07,656
-In his autopsy,
Chris Benoit was shown

1550
01:11:07,680 --> 01:11:10,284
to have enormous amounts
of testosterone in his body.

1551
01:11:10,308 --> 01:11:12,828
Testosterone is still a steroid
that's banned

1552
01:11:12,852 --> 01:11:14,329
in all major sports.

1553
01:11:14,353 --> 01:11:15,831
-Despite a wellness program

1554
01:11:15,855 --> 01:11:18,667
Vince set up to monitor
his wrestlers for drugs,

1555
01:11:18,691 --> 01:11:23,005
critics say the system
he created too often failed.

1556
01:11:23,029 --> 01:11:25,716
-Preposterously, Chris Benoit
passed the wellness checks

1557
01:11:25,740 --> 01:11:28,343
leading up to the murder,
despite the irrefutable fact

1558
01:11:28,367 --> 01:11:30,596
he was taking enormous
amounts of steroids.

1559
01:11:30,620 --> 01:11:33,265
[ Cheers and applause ]

1560
01:11:33,289 --> 01:11:36,685
-But neuroscientist and former
wrestler Chris Nowinski

1561
01:11:36,709 --> 01:11:38,812
has a hunch that Chris's
behavior was informed

1562
01:11:38,836 --> 01:11:40,606
by a little understood condition

1563
01:11:40,630 --> 01:11:45,235
that is also adversely affecting
some football players... CTE.

1564
01:11:45,259 --> 01:11:48,155
-Chronic traumatic
encephalopathy, or CTE,

1565
01:11:48,179 --> 01:11:50,949
{\an8}is a progressive,
degenerative brain disease

1566
01:11:50,973 --> 01:11:54,495
{\an8}that appears to be started
by hits to the head.

1567
01:11:54,519 --> 01:11:56,955
-Oh, my God!

1568
01:11:56,979 --> 01:12:00,250
-With Chris, he actually had
what would be defined as

1569
01:12:00,274 --> 01:12:02,294
a severe case of CTE
at 40 years old.

1570
01:12:02,318 --> 01:12:04,713
-Three years after
the shocking murders,

1571
01:12:04,737 --> 01:12:07,966
Vince is finally forced
to address the appalling policy

1572
01:12:07,990 --> 01:12:10,177
surrounding his wrestlers'
health and safety.

1573
01:12:10,201 --> 01:12:11,762
After a thorough review,

1574
01:12:11,786 --> 01:12:15,974
the WWF permanently bans
all chair shots to the head.

1575
01:12:15,998 --> 01:12:18,852
But like the NFL,
violence in pro wrestling

1576
01:12:18,876 --> 01:12:21,688
has never been a bug,
but a feature.

1577
01:12:21,712 --> 01:12:23,482
So, it's a problem

1578
01:12:23,506 --> 01:12:26,818
Vince McMahon has never been
anxious to move center stage,

1579
01:12:26,842 --> 01:12:29,363
especially back when his
company embarked on a move

1580
01:12:29,387 --> 01:12:31,782
that would transform the WWF

1581
01:12:31,806 --> 01:12:35,142
while helping set the stage
for Vince's ultimate demise.

1582
01:12:40,314 --> 01:12:41,458
-The seeds of Vince McMahon's
downfall

1583
01:12:41,482 --> 01:12:43,043
were planted back
in the late '90s.

1584
01:12:43,067 --> 01:12:45,170
Despite being rocked
by a series of personal

1585
01:12:45,194 --> 01:12:46,630
and professional scandals

1586
01:12:46,654 --> 01:12:49,049
that might have taken down
other businesses,

1587
01:12:49,073 --> 01:12:51,176
Vince McMahon's
World Wrestling Federation

1588
01:12:51,200 --> 01:12:54,012
was a cash-printing
financial juggernaut,

1589
01:12:54,036 --> 01:12:56,974
so Vince decided his company
needed to go to the place

1590
01:12:56,998 --> 01:12:59,893
where that kind of success
is rewarded...

1591
01:12:59,917 --> 01:13:01,144
Wall Street.

1592
01:13:01,168 --> 01:13:04,147
[ Cheering ]

1593
01:13:04,171 --> 01:13:06,900
-[ Yelling indistinctly ]

1594
01:13:06,924 --> 01:13:11,113
{\an8}-WWF in 1999 was having its
hottest period of business ever,

1595
01:13:11,137 --> 01:13:13,365
{\an8}even hotter
than the hot run with Hogan

1596
01:13:13,389 --> 01:13:15,158
in the mid-'80s.

1597
01:13:15,182 --> 01:13:17,744
Vince liked the idea of being
a stock that you could trade

1598
01:13:17,768 --> 01:13:19,663
in the New York Stock Exchange.

1599
01:13:19,687 --> 01:13:22,291
-With an eye towards
this initial public offering,

1600
01:13:22,315 --> 01:13:24,960
from 1998 to 1999,

1601
01:13:24,984 --> 01:13:28,547
Vince went to work,
doubling the WWF's revenue

1602
01:13:28,571 --> 01:13:32,884
{\an8}to over $250 million.

1603
01:13:32,908 --> 01:13:34,511
{\an8}-He made huge money.

1604
01:13:34,535 --> 01:13:37,222
{\an8}And so, just like that,
Vince is a billionaire.

1605
01:13:37,246 --> 01:13:40,475
-But with great power
comes great responsibility,

1606
01:13:40,499 --> 01:13:42,811
or maybe just greater oversight.

1607
01:13:42,835 --> 01:13:45,897
{\an8}-The WWF...
It had to be more above board.

1608
01:13:45,921 --> 01:13:48,900
{\an8}It couldn't be the secret
company with the secret moneys

1609
01:13:48,924 --> 01:13:50,944
and the, you know, payoff.

1610
01:13:50,968 --> 01:13:53,405
Your finances had to be
a lot more transparent.

1611
01:13:53,429 --> 01:13:56,533
{\an8}-The IPO for WWF
put the final nail

1612
01:13:56,557 --> 01:13:58,869
{\an8}in the coffin of defeating WCW.

1613
01:13:58,893 --> 01:14:00,829
-WCW was still relying
on Hulk Hogan

1614
01:14:00,853 --> 01:14:02,914
and Randy Savage
and Roddy Piper,

1615
01:14:02,938 --> 01:14:04,916
and didn't realized
that in wrestling,

1616
01:14:04,940 --> 01:14:06,585
everybody has a shelf life.

1617
01:14:06,609 --> 01:14:08,712
There was nothing they could do
to stop Steve Austin

1618
01:14:08,736 --> 01:14:13,383
and The Rock from getting
this young audience back in.

1619
01:14:13,407 --> 01:14:16,595
-From 1997 to 2000,

1620
01:14:16,619 --> 01:14:20,057
WCW went from making
$125 million a year

1621
01:14:20,081 --> 01:14:22,768
to losing $65 million a year.

1622
01:14:22,792 --> 01:14:24,895
That's a lot of mistakes.

1623
01:14:24,919 --> 01:14:26,938
-Vince blew them away
very quickly.

1624
01:14:26,962 --> 01:14:29,274
-The major concern was just
putting them out of business,

1625
01:14:29,298 --> 01:14:31,318
was just eliminating them
from competition.

1626
01:14:31,342 --> 01:14:33,111
-And at the end of the day,

1627
01:14:33,135 --> 01:14:35,113
Vince bought
World Championship Wrestling

1628
01:14:35,137 --> 01:14:38,158
for essentially, you know,
$2.5 million, $4 million.

1629
01:14:38,182 --> 01:14:40,452
It's inconceivable.

1630
01:14:40,476 --> 01:14:43,705
- "Nitro" had its last episode
in March 2001.

1631
01:14:43,729 --> 01:14:47,125
-Here I am on WCW Television.

1632
01:14:47,149 --> 01:14:50,128
-When Vince bought WCW,

1633
01:14:50,152 --> 01:14:53,924
they kicked it off
by this almost surreal angle.

1634
01:14:53,948 --> 01:14:59,513
-It was just a matter of time
before I, Vince McMahon,

1635
01:14:59,537 --> 01:15:01,723
bought my competition.

1636
01:15:01,747 --> 01:15:03,892
-And actually,
he appeared on "Nitro".

1637
01:15:03,916 --> 01:15:05,268
-That's right.

1638
01:15:05,292 --> 01:15:08,522
I own WCW.

1639
01:15:08,546 --> 01:15:11,608
-I don't know if anybody else
could have done

1640
01:15:11,632 --> 01:15:15,445
what Vince did without being
as cutthroat as he was.

1641
01:15:15,469 --> 01:15:19,449
He was tunnel vision on
"I will build this.

1642
01:15:19,473 --> 01:15:20,784
I will see success."

1643
01:15:20,808 --> 01:15:24,663
{\an8}-He wasn't going to allow
himself to fail.

1644
01:15:24,687 --> 01:15:26,331
-By the early 2000s,

1645
01:15:26,355 --> 01:15:29,543
Vince essentially owns
all professional wrestling,

1646
01:15:29,567 --> 01:15:31,420
or at least the kind
of professional wrestling

1647
01:15:31,444 --> 01:15:33,588
{\an8}you can watch on mainstream TV.

1648
01:15:33,612 --> 01:15:36,091
{\an8}While that will be good
for his investors,

1649
01:15:36,115 --> 01:15:38,135
it will leave many fans
wondering what happened

1650
01:15:38,159 --> 01:15:41,555
to the WWF
they loved in the '90s.

1651
01:15:41,579 --> 01:15:43,306
-There were a lot
of people internally,

1652
01:15:43,330 --> 01:15:44,975
particularly marketing people,

1653
01:15:44,999 --> 01:15:47,853
they wanted to have
a family friendly product again

1654
01:15:47,877 --> 01:15:51,314
that was more maybe advertising
friendly, sponsor friendly.

1655
01:15:51,338 --> 01:15:53,942
They wanted to be able
to sell merchandise to children,

1656
01:15:53,966 --> 01:15:55,485
which they had stopped doing.

1657
01:15:55,509 --> 01:15:56,778
-They don't want to sponsor
a show

1658
01:15:56,802 --> 01:15:58,071
where this dude
hit this other guy

1659
01:15:58,095 --> 01:15:59,406
in the head
12 times with a chair,

1660
01:15:59,430 --> 01:16:01,032
he's bleeding everywhere,
blah, blah, blah.

1661
01:16:01,056 --> 01:16:03,744
-You can't have
the half-naked women.

1662
01:16:03,768 --> 01:16:07,289
We can't have story lines
involving porn stars

1663
01:16:07,313 --> 01:16:09,082
and that kind of thing.

1664
01:16:09,106 --> 01:16:11,835
-There is a sentiment from
the audience, "This is too tame.

1665
01:16:11,859 --> 01:16:13,003
It's not wild enough.

1666
01:16:13,027 --> 01:16:14,796
Bring back the Attitude Era."

1667
01:16:14,820 --> 01:16:18,550
-A lot of fans blamed it for
the declining popularity of WWE.

1668
01:16:18,574 --> 01:16:20,635
-WWE sucks.

1669
01:16:20,659 --> 01:16:22,929
I have watched
the slow and steady

1670
01:16:22,953 --> 01:16:25,557
regression of this company.

1671
01:16:25,581 --> 01:16:30,061
-From 2001 to 2022,

1672
01:16:30,085 --> 01:16:34,900
the ratings have gone down
every single year.

1673
01:16:34,924 --> 01:16:37,068
-Sometimes, you sacrifice
popularity for money,

1674
01:16:37,092 --> 01:16:40,030
and... and WWE... WWE's
done that in many decisions

1675
01:16:40,054 --> 01:16:42,908
that it's made in recent years.

1676
01:16:42,932 --> 01:16:45,035
-Even though the audience
declined,

1677
01:16:45,059 --> 01:16:47,078
they have become
a more profitable company

1678
01:16:47,102 --> 01:16:49,414
than they ever were before.

1679
01:16:49,438 --> 01:16:51,958
They are, at this stage
of the game,

1680
01:16:51,982 --> 01:16:56,087
getting the majority of their
revenue from TV rights fees,

1681
01:16:56,111 --> 01:17:00,467
where you have Fox or you have
Comcast NBCUniversal

1682
01:17:00,491 --> 01:17:04,137
that are paying
large amounts of money,

1683
01:17:04,161 --> 01:17:08,558
{\an8}totaling in billions to get
this programming on the air.

1684
01:17:08,582 --> 01:17:11,561
I don't think
that these media giants

1685
01:17:11,585 --> 01:17:13,313
would be as quick to do business

1686
01:17:13,337 --> 01:17:15,732
if you were back
in the Attitude Era,

1687
01:17:15,756 --> 01:17:18,276
where you had an elderly
female wrestler

1688
01:17:18,300 --> 01:17:20,403
giving birth to a hand
on television.

1689
01:17:20,427 --> 01:17:22,072
-A hand?

1690
01:17:22,096 --> 01:17:26,409
-So, despite the grumblings
from longtime WWE fans,

1691
01:17:26,433 --> 01:17:28,578
Vince is making
more money than ever,

1692
01:17:28,602 --> 01:17:30,956
and that's when,
according to some experts,

1693
01:17:30,980 --> 01:17:32,624
he starts getting lazy.

1694
01:17:32,648 --> 01:17:34,501
-He had the monopoly.

1695
01:17:34,525 --> 01:17:37,129
He's making billions of dollars.

1696
01:17:37,153 --> 01:17:38,964
He's got a contract with Fox.

1697
01:17:38,988 --> 01:17:41,258
He's got a contract with USA.

1698
01:17:41,282 --> 01:17:43,260
He's getting millions
of dollars,

1699
01:17:43,284 --> 01:17:46,138
whether the product
is good or bad,

1700
01:17:46,162 --> 01:17:49,266
and I-I really think from that
point forward, man,

1701
01:17:49,290 --> 01:17:51,059
I think he just coasted.

1702
01:17:51,083 --> 01:17:55,647
{\an8}-Nowadays, it's kind of this
stagnant, stale, sterile style

1703
01:17:55,671 --> 01:17:59,651
that's kind of lame
and uninspiring.

1704
01:17:59,675 --> 01:18:01,611
The fan base has dwindled.

1705
01:18:01,635 --> 01:18:03,864
-And Bruce Hart attributes
that to Vince

1706
01:18:03,888 --> 01:18:05,448
getting everything he wanted

1707
01:18:05,472 --> 01:18:08,285
when he took over
his father's territory.

1708
01:18:08,309 --> 01:18:10,954
-Ultimately, it's been
one of the worst things

1709
01:18:10,978 --> 01:18:12,873
that ever happened
to the business.

1710
01:18:12,897 --> 01:18:17,502
It's kind of destroyed
the grassroots of the business.

1711
01:18:17,526 --> 01:18:20,672
Back in the day, there was
all these different styles.

1712
01:18:20,696 --> 01:18:22,799
You know, Calgary had
a unique style,

1713
01:18:22,823 --> 01:18:24,676
and San Francisco had a style.

1714
01:18:24,700 --> 01:18:28,972
Charlotte, North Carolina,
had certain style varieties,

1715
01:18:28,996 --> 01:18:30,348
the spice of life,

1716
01:18:30,372 --> 01:18:32,934
and that was the case
with wrestling.

1717
01:18:32,958 --> 01:18:36,396
-And fan satisfaction
is at an all-time low.

1718
01:18:36,420 --> 01:18:38,023
-Dude, I can't watch the show.

1719
01:18:38,047 --> 01:18:41,026
It's too long.
It doesn't make sense.

1720
01:18:41,050 --> 01:18:42,694
-Absolute torture for me.

1721
01:18:42,718 --> 01:18:46,990
I would rather be watching
ballet, bocce, darts,

1722
01:18:47,014 --> 01:18:48,783
anything but this show.

1723
01:18:48,807 --> 01:18:51,494
-$2.3 billion television deal
over five years.

1724
01:18:51,518 --> 01:18:53,246
You can write
the worst show ever,

1725
01:18:53,270 --> 01:18:54,915
you're gonna be fine.

1726
01:18:54,939 --> 01:18:59,711
-And in his mind, this is still
the end all, be all,

1727
01:18:59,735 --> 01:19:01,504
the greatest show out there.

1728
01:19:01,528 --> 01:19:04,799
That... That's how delusional
he is.

1729
01:19:04,823 --> 01:19:08,219
-But he's about to get
snapped back to reality.

1730
01:19:08,243 --> 01:19:11,139
-The billionaire CEO
and primary shareholder

1731
01:19:11,163 --> 01:19:12,849
of World Wrestling Entertainment

1732
01:19:12,873 --> 01:19:14,309
stepping back temporarily

1733
01:19:14,333 --> 01:19:16,543
from his leadership roles
within the company.

1734
01:19:21,131 --> 01:19:22,692
-In July of 2022,

1735
01:19:22,716 --> 01:19:24,486
the Houdini of professional
sports finds himself

1736
01:19:24,510 --> 01:19:28,156
trapped by past misdeeds
from which he cannot escape.

1737
01:19:28,180 --> 01:19:30,659
{\an8}-The former WWE chief executive,
Vince McMahon,

1738
01:19:30,683 --> 01:19:34,120
{\an8}paid hush money to four women
to cover up allegations

1739
01:19:34,144 --> 01:19:36,706
{\an8}of sexual misconduct
and infidelity.

1740
01:19:36,730 --> 01:19:41,795
{\an8}-Vince McMahon has agreed to pay
four women over $12 million

1741
01:19:41,819 --> 01:19:43,588
{\an8}over the past 16 years
to keep quiet

1742
01:19:43,612 --> 01:19:45,757
{\an8}about allegations
of sexual misconduct.

1743
01:19:45,781 --> 01:19:47,550
{\an8}-That's according to
"The Wall Street Journal".

1744
01:19:47,574 --> 01:19:52,138
{\an8}-Vince had a number of payouts
to various women over the years.

1745
01:19:52,162 --> 01:19:54,724
{\an8}-Payouts he expected
to remain secret

1746
01:19:54,748 --> 01:19:58,061
{\an8}by using non-disclosure
agreements, or NDAs.

1747
01:19:58,085 --> 01:20:01,231
{\an8}-There were a total
of at least four NDAs

1748
01:20:01,255 --> 01:20:03,066
{\an8}that "The Wall Street Journal"
reported on.

1749
01:20:03,090 --> 01:20:06,111
A former paralegal,
a former contractor,

1750
01:20:06,135 --> 01:20:08,530
a former WWE talent,
a former manager.

1751
01:20:08,554 --> 01:20:12,742
{\an8}-Apparently, one agreement
included a 2006 pact,

1752
01:20:12,766 --> 01:20:14,577
{\an8}and that involved
a former manager

1753
01:20:14,601 --> 01:20:18,164
{\an8}who he allegedly initiated
an intimate relationship with,

1754
01:20:18,188 --> 01:20:20,750
{\an8}and paid her $1 million
to keep quiet about it.

1755
01:20:20,774 --> 01:20:24,421
-Reportedly, he wired money
from his personal accounts

1756
01:20:24,445 --> 01:20:25,863
to pay for the NDAs.

1757
01:20:29,324 --> 01:20:31,803
{\an8}-I think within the world
of wrestling

1758
01:20:31,827 --> 01:20:34,889
{\an8}and certainly within
the company, everybody knew.

1759
01:20:34,913 --> 01:20:38,101
{\an8}Yes. But I mean, as far as
wrestling fans know,

1760
01:20:38,125 --> 01:20:39,561
they didn't know.

1761
01:20:39,585 --> 01:20:41,354
-And for those in the audience
long entertained

1762
01:20:41,378 --> 01:20:43,732
by the evil Mr. McMahon
character,

1763
01:20:43,756 --> 01:20:48,403
the new accusations sound like
business as usual in the WWE.

1764
01:20:48,427 --> 01:20:49,863
-The first story in
"The Wall Street Journal"

1765
01:20:49,887 --> 01:20:51,948
about these allegations
came out,

1766
01:20:51,972 --> 01:20:53,783
and next thing you know,

1767
01:20:53,807 --> 01:20:56,202
Vince is strutting out
on "SmackDown".

1768
01:20:56,226 --> 01:20:57,537
-Ladies and gentlemen,

1769
01:20:57,561 --> 01:21:02,375
please welcome Mr. McMahon!

1770
01:21:02,399 --> 01:21:06,629
[ Cheers and applause ]

1771
01:21:06,653 --> 01:21:09,966
-I'm here to simply remind you
of the four words we just saw

1772
01:21:09,990 --> 01:21:13,303
and what we call
the WWE signature.

1773
01:21:13,327 --> 01:21:18,475
Those four words are
"Then", "Now", "Forever",

1774
01:21:18,499 --> 01:21:21,728
and the most important word
is "Together".

1775
01:21:21,752 --> 01:21:23,563
-Everybody cheers "Yeah!"

1776
01:21:23,587 --> 01:21:25,899
Goes about his day
like nothing had happened.

1777
01:21:25,923 --> 01:21:27,609
That was his response
to that first

1778
01:21:27,633 --> 01:21:29,319
"Wall Street Journal" story.

1779
01:21:29,343 --> 01:21:32,405
-Vince eventually claims
that he never did anything wrong

1780
01:21:32,429 --> 01:21:34,491
and points to clauses
in the settlement agreement,

1781
01:21:34,515 --> 01:21:37,577
specifically disavowing
any wrongdoing.

1782
01:21:37,601 --> 01:21:40,330
But unlike with his other
indiscretions and misdeeds,

1783
01:21:40,354 --> 01:21:43,792
McMahon quickly discovers
he can't just turn these charges

1784
01:21:43,816 --> 01:21:45,502
into part of the show.

1785
01:21:45,526 --> 01:21:47,462
-This is a publicly traded
company.

1786
01:21:47,486 --> 01:21:49,380
These are SEC violations.

1787
01:21:49,404 --> 01:21:52,509
-And that has apparently led
to the Department of Justice

1788
01:21:52,533 --> 01:21:55,887
and the SEC
making their own inquiries.

1789
01:21:55,911 --> 01:21:58,598
-The billionaire CEO
and primary shareholder

1790
01:21:58,622 --> 01:22:00,517
of World Wrestling Entertainment

1791
01:22:00,541 --> 01:22:03,061
stepping back temporarily
from his leadership roles

1792
01:22:03,085 --> 01:22:05,063
within the company.

1793
01:22:05,087 --> 01:22:07,107
-And then another story broke.

1794
01:22:07,131 --> 01:22:10,151
That one was talking
about coercing a woman...

1795
01:22:10,175 --> 01:22:12,862
You know,
paying a woman $7.5 million

1796
01:22:12,886 --> 01:22:16,032
and coercing her
to have sex through his power.

1797
01:22:16,056 --> 01:22:19,619
And then when she stopped having
sex with him, he demoted her.

1798
01:22:19,643 --> 01:22:21,412
And I read this
and it was just like,

1799
01:22:21,436 --> 01:22:23,289
I don't know
that he can survive this.

1800
01:22:23,313 --> 01:22:28,044
{\an8}-Nobody has said one time,
"I am innocent.

1801
01:22:28,068 --> 01:22:29,879
{\an8}I did not do that."

1802
01:22:29,903 --> 01:22:33,716
-If you write something about
Vince that is negative to him,

1803
01:22:33,740 --> 01:22:36,136
he goes after you right away.

1804
01:22:36,160 --> 01:22:37,428
I thought,
"Vince and his lawyers

1805
01:22:37,452 --> 01:22:38,847
are gonna go after
those writers."

1806
01:22:38,871 --> 01:22:40,140
He did not touch them.

1807
01:22:40,164 --> 01:22:42,559
And I go,
"Oh, my God, it's all true."

1808
01:22:42,583 --> 01:22:47,647
-The... The silence
is just absolutely deafening

1809
01:22:47,671 --> 01:22:51,317
because that's not Vince,
not when he's not guilty.

1810
01:22:51,341 --> 01:22:53,903
{\an8}-The accumulation of all
the things

1811
01:22:53,927 --> 01:22:55,822
{\an8}that occurred over the years,

1812
01:22:55,846 --> 01:22:57,448
{\an8}whether you want
to call it karma

1813
01:22:57,472 --> 01:22:59,075
or whatever you want to call it,

1814
01:22:59,099 --> 01:23:02,996
they... they did finally
catch up with him.

1815
01:23:03,020 --> 01:23:04,706
-And at least one person

1816
01:23:04,730 --> 01:23:07,750
essential to Vince McMahon's
success has jumped ship...

1817
01:23:07,774 --> 01:23:09,419
Linda McMahon.

1818
01:23:09,443 --> 01:23:12,589
-Well, you have to
remember that Vince and Linda,

1819
01:23:12,613 --> 01:23:14,340
they really built it together.

1820
01:23:14,364 --> 01:23:19,762
So there was that sense of
even though all these things

1821
01:23:19,786 --> 01:23:22,265
are happening to our marriage
and these scandals,

1822
01:23:22,289 --> 01:23:24,767
and Vince himself has admitted
many times

1823
01:23:24,791 --> 01:23:28,980
that he was certainly a lot less
than faithful to Linda,

1824
01:23:29,004 --> 01:23:31,566
they continued on,
and I think part of it was

1825
01:23:31,590 --> 01:23:34,777
because of this empire
that they had built together.

1826
01:23:34,801 --> 01:23:38,323
-They've been separated
for quite some time.

1827
01:23:38,347 --> 01:23:42,911
I-I was told this around 2012,

1828
01:23:42,935 --> 01:23:45,914
but again, we get back
to wrestling.

1829
01:23:45,938 --> 01:23:47,707
Everything's a secret.

1830
01:23:47,731 --> 01:23:50,543
-Well, now it looks twice
as bad for Vince

1831
01:23:50,567 --> 01:23:54,088
because now it looks like
he was cheating on his wife

1832
01:23:54,112 --> 01:23:57,675
when the reality
was they weren't together.

1833
01:23:57,699 --> 01:24:00,011
-But now her involvement
with the company is nil.

1834
01:24:00,035 --> 01:24:02,555
-Are you concerned at all
about the investigation,

1835
01:24:02,579 --> 01:24:03,640
the hush money?

1836
01:24:03,664 --> 01:24:05,099
-Come on. Come on.

1837
01:24:05,123 --> 01:24:07,393
I told you I was here
to talk about AFPI.

1838
01:24:07,417 --> 01:24:10,480
-And after 40 years
at the helm of WWE,

1839
01:24:10,504 --> 01:24:14,317
Vince McMahon steps down,
using those same four words

1840
01:24:14,341 --> 01:24:18,238
he delivered defiantly
to his fans just days earlier.

1841
01:24:18,262 --> 01:24:19,763
He sent out a tweet.

1842
01:24:28,981 --> 01:24:30,458
-Earlier tonight,

1843
01:24:30,482 --> 01:24:32,627
my father,

1844
01:24:32,651 --> 01:24:35,088
Vince McMahon,

1845
01:24:35,112 --> 01:24:38,091
retired from WWE.

1846
01:24:38,115 --> 01:24:41,010
[ Crowd booing ]

1847
01:24:41,034 --> 01:24:43,554
-I don't think anybody
would have ever said

1848
01:24:43,578 --> 01:24:46,557
that Vince McMahon
would have ever stepped down.

1849
01:24:46,581 --> 01:24:49,060
-The idea that Vince is gone...

1850
01:24:49,084 --> 01:24:52,605
It was bizarre because
everybody figured

1851
01:24:52,629 --> 01:24:54,649
that he was gonna do this
until he died.

1852
01:24:54,673 --> 01:24:59,070
-The WWE is his life.

1853
01:24:59,094 --> 01:25:00,655
-And of course, it's wrestling,

1854
01:25:00,679 --> 01:25:03,950
so a lot of fans believed, eh,
he'll be back,

1855
01:25:03,974 --> 01:25:05,493
or he's not really gone.

1856
01:25:05,517 --> 01:25:09,789
-I'm sure wherever
he's hunkered down,

1857
01:25:09,813 --> 01:25:15,795
he is doing as much WWE work
as he can get away with.

1858
01:25:15,819 --> 01:25:17,839
-It's a complicated ending

1859
01:25:17,863 --> 01:25:21,426
for the most divisive
figure in sports entertainment.

1860
01:25:21,450 --> 01:25:26,597
-Obviously, he was
extremely flawed,

1861
01:25:26,621 --> 01:25:29,350
but as a businessman,

1862
01:25:29,374 --> 01:25:32,312
as a wrestling promoter...

1863
01:25:32,336 --> 01:25:34,063
fantastic.

1864
01:25:34,087 --> 01:25:36,065
-I think he'll be remembered
as the most dominant

1865
01:25:36,089 --> 01:25:37,692
wrestling promoter
there ever was.

1866
01:25:37,716 --> 01:25:41,362
-And to his daughter,
now left to manage the WWE,

1867
01:25:41,386 --> 01:25:43,865
he remains a man
worthy of admiration.

1868
01:25:43,889 --> 01:25:47,702
-Thank you, Vince.
Thank you, Vince.

1869
01:25:47,726 --> 01:25:51,831
[ Crowd chanting
"Thank you, Vince" ]

1870
01:25:51,855 --> 01:25:56,169
-The bad of Vince McMahon
is what he did to get there,

1871
01:25:56,193 --> 01:25:59,172
the bodies that were left in the
wake for one reason or another.

1872
01:25:59,196 --> 01:26:02,842
We're slowly cleaning up
this mess that Vince had left,

1873
01:26:02,866 --> 01:26:05,511
and the show
is improving dramatically.

1874
01:26:05,535 --> 01:26:09,474
There was concern that stock
price was gonna plummet.

1875
01:26:09,498 --> 01:26:14,228
Vince McMahon, the only guy
that can make wrestling work

1876
01:26:14,252 --> 01:26:16,147
in this country, is gone,

1877
01:26:16,171 --> 01:26:19,776
{\an8}and instead, he is gone and
it's actually doing better now

1878
01:26:19,800 --> 01:26:22,236
{\an8}than it was doing
before he left.

1879
01:26:22,260 --> 01:26:26,699
-To me, it's really all
about money and power.

1880
01:26:26,723 --> 01:26:29,577
When you reach a certain status

1881
01:26:29,601 --> 01:26:32,538
and when you reach
a certain level,

1882
01:26:32,562 --> 01:26:39,003
I do believe you
believe you are bulletproof.

1883
01:26:39,027 --> 01:26:43,049
How could you have done
these things

1884
01:26:43,073 --> 01:26:47,345
without the fear
of it coming out?

1885
01:26:47,369 --> 01:26:52,725
You honestly thought these women
were gonna sign a piece of paper

1886
01:26:52,749 --> 01:26:56,270
and you were just gonna
get off scot-free?

1887
01:26:56,294 --> 01:27:00,775
-When Vince McMahon dies, he did
not want the tombstone to say,

1888
01:27:00,799 --> 01:27:03,361
"Vince McMahon, world's greatest
wrestling promoter."

1889
01:27:03,385 --> 01:27:06,739
Vince wanted to be that guy
who had a movie studio,

1890
01:27:06,763 --> 01:27:08,366
who promoted boxing,

1891
01:27:08,390 --> 01:27:12,120
who ran the rival
football league to the NFL.

1892
01:27:12,144 --> 01:27:14,497
That's the guy he wanted to be.

1893
01:27:14,521 --> 01:27:18,042
And at the end of the day,
he tried in all those places,

1894
01:27:18,066 --> 01:27:21,254
and he failed everywhere,
except one.

1895
01:27:21,278 --> 01:27:23,965
-Would I call him
an evil person?

1896
01:27:23,989 --> 01:27:25,508
I would not.

1897
01:27:25,532 --> 01:27:27,760
I would call him
a complicated person

1898
01:27:27,784 --> 01:27:31,722
who was enabled by an industry

1899
01:27:31,746 --> 01:27:35,351
that allows people
with a dark side

1900
01:27:35,375 --> 01:27:41,065
to entertain that dark side
with impunity.

1901
01:27:41,089 --> 01:27:43,693
{\an8}-And in the end,
his legacy is that he was

1902
01:27:43,717 --> 01:27:49,282
{\an8}a... a guy with a lot of money,

1903
01:27:49,306 --> 01:27:53,619
{\an8}and he thought he was
above it all, and he wasn't.

1904
01:27:53,643 --> 01:27:56,831
{\an8}-I really believe it's the tip
of the iceberg.

1905
01:27:56,855 --> 01:27:58,708
{\an8}It's the carny business.

1906
01:27:58,732 --> 01:28:01,961
{\an8}And what happens in wrestling
stays in wrestling,

1907
01:28:01,985 --> 01:28:05,131
{\an8}but all it takes is one person,

1908
01:28:05,155 --> 01:28:07,383
{\an8}and then those floodgates open.

1909
01:28:07,407 --> 01:28:12,662
{\an8}So, I-I... unfortunately, I just
think you're gonna see more.