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[tense music playing]
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00:00:10,301 --> 00:00:12,804
[indistinct chatter]
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00:00:24,357 --> 00:00:26,943
- [man speaks indistinctly]
- [crew member 1] Take one, common mark.
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00:00:28,361 --> 00:00:30,113
- Am I addressing to you?
- [interviewer] Yeah.
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Okay.
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[crew member 2]
I think it's gotta go that way.
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The lighting's super.
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[crew member 3] Okay.
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No stray pieces.
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- Thank you, everybody.
- [crew member 4] Yeah, that sounds good.
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[tense music continues]
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- [interviewer] You good?
- I'm good, I guess.
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[interviewer] Where are we?
What are we doing?
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Uh, well, I'm talking about me,
which I have never done before.
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I don't like talking about me.
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You know, um, talking about
everybody else, I'm cool with.
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I can go perform, but this is, like...
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pretty strange, a little different,
me talking about me.
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[chuckling] So, I'll do the best I can.
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[reporter 1] Larger than life,
Vince McMahon,
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more famous than some
of the wrestling stars he helped create.
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[reporter 2] McMahon has been called
the P.T. Barnum of wrestling,
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building WWE into an international
billion-dollar business.
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[reporter 3] He's also
an on-screen presence
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as the billionaire bad guy boss.
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Where the hell have you been?
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[audience cheering]
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[McMahon] For a long period of time,
people wondered who I really am.
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The portrayal of me is I'm a bad guy.
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But no one really knows me,
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and it's been a while
for me to try and figure out myself.
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I still haven't quite figured out
who I am.
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Do I know Vince McMahon?
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I don't think anybody knows Vince McMahon.
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- [audience cheering]
- [announcer] Please welcome Mr. McMahon!
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People know who he is,
but they really don't know who he is.
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[Paul Levesque]
The person he puts out there,
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the larger-than-life promoter,
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a lot of that is a character.
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When it comes to him personally,
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he's going to show you
what he wants you to see.
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[audience cheering]
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[Dave Meltzer] Very few people
are in control of a world.
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Vince McMahon was.
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[Levesque] He has built
something so powerful,
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so big, and so ingrained
in people generationally.
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[Eric Bischoff] He did things
that no one thought were possible.
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And he took no prisoners in the process.
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[Dwayne Johnson] With Vince McMahon,
he comes as advertised.
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And what you expect,
that's exactly what you're gonna get.
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[Bret Hart] I love Vince,
and I have a lot of respect for him.
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But he was a guy that often lied to me
and let me down with his lies.
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[interviewer] Do you think
your dad gets a bad rap?
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Mm, I think my dad
gets the rap that he wants.
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[indistinct chatter]
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[Mike Greenberg] Breaking news
that was just brought to me.
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{\an8}Vince McMahon,
the legendary CEO and chairman
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{\an8}of Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment,
is stepping aside.
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[reporter 1] The Wall Street Journal
reports that WWE is investigating
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a secret $3 million settlement
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that Vince McMahon agreed to pay
a now former employee
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who McMahon is accused
of having a consensual affair with.
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[Ted Mann] It started with a tip,
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and the tip was that the board of WWE
had received an anonymous email.
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{\an8}The emailer was accusing McMahon
of having taken advantage of an employee
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{\an8}and then covered it up.
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{\an8}Another thing we heard was,
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"You're only scratching the surface,
and there's a lot more here."
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That first story in June 2022
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touched off a series of events
that included us reporting on other NDAs.
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Government investigations,
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Vince stepping down,
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Vince McMahon returning
and then selling the company,
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and then a lawsuit against him
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that contained some of the most
graphic details imaginable.
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{\an8}[reporter] A WWE mogul resigning on Friday
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{\an8}after a former employee filed a lawsuit
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{\an8}accusing him of subjecting her to
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{\an8}"countless depraved and humiliating acts."
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I wish I could tell you the real stories.
Holy shit. [clears throat]
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- [interviewer] All right, give us one.
- No.
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- [interviewer] Why?
- That's what I'm saying.
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[chuckling] I don't wanna
tell you these stories.
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I'll give you enough
that it's semi-interesting.
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I don't want anybody to really know me.
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[compelling music builds]
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[reporter 1] He's as polarizing
as he is entertaining.
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Vince McMahon is part renegade,
part mogul, and all showman.
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[reporter 2] Over decades,
McMahon turned the WWE
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into a billion-dollar juggernaut.
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[reporter 3] Throw in one part athletics,
one part theatrics,
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and more than a dash of violence,
and what do you get?
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One of America's favorite pastimes.
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One hundred percent, Grade-A Americana.
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[reporter 4] The Justice Department
announced the indictment of a man
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who runs World Wrestling Entertainment.
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[man 1] This is about crime.
This is about breaking the law.
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[man 2] This was a tyrant,
a head of this organization,
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that ruled by fear.
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[man 3] What did he know? What did he do?
And what did he try to hide?
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[man 4] This goes beyond business.
It's a family matter as well.
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[woman 1] This is like Succession
in a wrestling ring.
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[woman 2] Another corporate leader
mired in a sex scandal.
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[man 5] We're not talking about
garden-variety misconduct.
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We're talking about
some real awful things.
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[man 6] A lot of Vince McMahon,
his ability to get away with stuff,
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was because he was also this character.
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[woman 3] Where does the line between
Vince McMahon and "Mr. McMahon" end?
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You're... FIRED!
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Well, the first thing
I need to tell you is...
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[swallows]
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...you're not going to totally understand
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what happened or what is,
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because you'd have to live it
to comprehend it.
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You're only going to know
what they tell you.
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I just know wrestlers and promoters
and know this business,
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so you're not going to get,
you know, the whole enchilada.
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To explain what pro wrestling is,
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it's turning fantasy into reality.
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- [pensive music playing]
- [audience cheering]
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[referee] Go!
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[clamoring]
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- [commentator] Kane's on fire!
- [audience exclaiming]
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[Hart] I remember guys going,
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"Why do you watch that bullshit wrestling?
None of it is real."
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"Who cares? It's just phony wrestling."
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And it's like... "You're wrong."
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I look at what I did. That's an art form.
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Just watch the beauty of it.
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Wrestling's this curious phenomenon
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that allows people
to let out their aggression
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while watching a morality play.
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Most people when they're driving home,
they go, "Ah, it was all a show."
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"Son, none of that was real."
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But when they're there in the building,
you wanna believe it's real.
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I was a true artist.
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[audience clamoring]
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[Levesque] People that
weren't fans would say,
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"It's all fans that are too stupid
to realize that it's not real."
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No, it's all people that are smart enough
to accept the fact that it's a show
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and buy into characters and the storylines
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and engage in it in that matter.
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Pro wrestling
has always been a soap opera,
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just in broad primary colors.
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Here's your hero. Here's your villain.
Here's your damsel in distress.
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We give you an opportunity to feel.
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When you see everything that we do,
it's about emotion.
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- And it's about grandeur.
- [commentator] Woo!
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That's what America is.
It's larger-than-life.
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It's great stories.
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Our form of entertainment
is American culture.
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[Sharon Mazer]
Professional wrestling matters
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in that it's so much
a part of American culture,
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and nobody talks about it as mattering.
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Vince McMahon's influence and impact
is largely ignored,
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but it is affecting
the way the world around us is working.
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[audience cheering]
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[news music intro playing]
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From there, we have to swing down
to Phoenix to do some PR for March 31st.
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[reporter] This is 39-year-old
Vince McMahon,
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00:09:00,581 --> 00:09:03,584
a third-generation wrestling promoter,
sometime announcer,
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00:09:03,584 --> 00:09:06,003
and the force behind WWF.
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One day, we hope to be recognized as
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the premier source
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of sports entertainment
in the world today.
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[pulsing music playing]
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{\an8}[McMahon] I got my start in the business
because of my dad.
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My dad was considered
best promoter in the business.
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I first met Vince McMahon Sr.
in Madison Square Garden
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when I was 15 years old.
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He looked and presented himself
like the Pope of Madison Square Garden.
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[McMahon] When I was growing up,
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I didn't know my last name was McMahon
until I met Dad when I was 12 years old.
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Before that,
I grew up in a trailer park with my mom
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and this certain stepfather
who was abusive.
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I got the crap beat out of me
on almost a daily basis.
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You just live with it
until you get out of it.
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When all that physical abuse
and everything was happening,
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never heard a word from my dad.
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I saw my dad for the first time... [exhales]
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00:10:09,442 --> 00:10:11,777
It's almost like my dad
had a glow about him.
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00:10:12,820 --> 00:10:15,906
I ran up to him, open arms,
expecting to have this big hug.
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00:10:15,906 --> 00:10:17,867
[laughs]
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00:10:17,867 --> 00:10:21,245
And I got a... You know,
on the back, like, "Hey, boy."
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00:10:21,245 --> 00:10:22,997
"Mm. That was a little bit different."
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But nonetheless,
I fell in love with him right away.
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You could feel he had, at his heart,
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00:10:29,754 --> 00:10:32,632
the way that you
wanted him to be... somewhat.
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00:10:32,632 --> 00:10:36,427
Or maybe I was just bullshitting myself.
I don't know.
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00:10:37,428 --> 00:10:39,555
My dad and I never had the conversation
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00:10:39,555 --> 00:10:43,851
about why he wasn't in my life
during all those formative years.
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00:10:44,518 --> 00:10:47,563
Even when I became much older,
we never talked about that.
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[David Shoemaker] One thing that's
indisputably true about Vince McMahon
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is that he came from basically nothing.
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00:10:56,739 --> 00:10:58,824
But once his father came into his life,
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00:10:58,824 --> 00:11:03,120
whatever dreams of escape Vince had
went from the abstract to the concrete.
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00:11:04,246 --> 00:11:06,707
He could point at his dad and say,
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00:11:06,707 --> 00:11:11,003
"That's what I aspire to,
and that's gonna be my way out of this."
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00:11:11,003 --> 00:11:13,839
[percussive music playing]
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00:11:13,839 --> 00:11:17,635
[McMahon] I never saw much wrestling
on television until I met my dad,
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00:11:17,635 --> 00:11:20,721
and then, "Oh, this is what he does."
202
00:11:20,721 --> 00:11:21,972
"Mm."
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00:11:21,972 --> 00:11:24,850
"Look at these big charismatic
individuals, larger than life,
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00:11:24,850 --> 00:11:26,769
and they have problems with each other,
205
00:11:26,769 --> 00:11:29,772
and the resolution is physical,
and they fight."
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00:11:30,606 --> 00:11:31,941
"I like that."
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00:11:31,941 --> 00:11:33,192
[pensive music playing]
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00:11:33,192 --> 00:11:37,154
[McMahon] At that time, I had sort of
a strange relationship with my dad.
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00:11:37,697 --> 00:11:41,075
We didn't play ball together or--
There was no camaraderie that way.
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00:11:41,659 --> 00:11:44,412
We'd talk business, even at that age.
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00:11:44,412 --> 00:11:49,291
That was sort of what we had in common,
other than the fact that we were blood.
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00:11:50,209 --> 00:11:53,754
[Linda McMahon] Vince and I met
when I was 13 and he was 16.
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00:11:53,754 --> 00:11:57,508
I don't think I ever heard him talk
about doing anything else
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00:11:57,508 --> 00:12:03,180
other than wanting to be involved
in the business of professional wrestling.
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00:12:03,180 --> 00:12:05,307
[McMahon] I knew I wanted to be
in my dad's business.
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00:12:05,307 --> 00:12:06,892
"Come on. There's gotta be something."
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00:12:06,892 --> 00:12:10,020
That's when he allowed me
to go to Bangor, Maine.
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00:12:11,522 --> 00:12:15,609
It's the furthest northern outpost
in my dad's territory.
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00:12:16,569 --> 00:12:18,112
Bangor was a success,
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00:12:18,112 --> 00:12:21,741
and my dad was thinking,
"Ah, kid did pretty well."
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00:12:21,741 --> 00:12:22,742
[audience chatter]
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00:12:22,742 --> 00:12:26,245
[McMahon] Then, one day, I'm with my dad,
he's doing a television show,
223
00:12:26,245 --> 00:12:29,457
and our television announcer
kept asking for more money.
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00:12:29,457 --> 00:12:31,333
The show's about ready to begin,
225
00:12:31,333 --> 00:12:35,296
and he said, "Well, if you don't pay me
what I want, I'm walking out."
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00:12:35,296 --> 00:12:37,715
And my dad a lot of times
had these quarters,
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00:12:37,715 --> 00:12:41,427
and he would click these quarters
in his hand as he was thinking.
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00:12:41,427 --> 00:12:43,971
So I see him off like this,
and he's thinking.
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00:12:44,847 --> 00:12:46,974
I said, "Pop, what are you gonna do?"
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00:12:48,601 --> 00:12:50,936
"Go announce. You're the announcer."
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00:12:51,645 --> 00:12:53,939
[Vince] Show number one recording
of All-Star Wrestling
232
00:12:53,939 --> 00:12:56,609
in Hamburg, Pennsylvania.
Is this quick enough for you, Pop?
233
00:12:56,609 --> 00:12:59,487
Slated to, uh, play,
or just roll it, Daddy.
234
00:12:59,487 --> 00:13:01,489
Hello, everybody.
My name is Vince McMahon...
235
00:13:01,489 --> 00:13:05,367
So I start trying to BS my way through
as an announcer.
236
00:13:06,076 --> 00:13:08,704
Bobo, look at those neck muscles.
Big biceps.
237
00:13:08,704 --> 00:13:11,749
A great athlete, and really a deep--
Not to belabor a point,
238
00:13:11,749 --> 00:13:15,461
but it is indeed nice to have him
back here this... this week.
239
00:13:15,461 --> 00:13:18,589
Vince was a horrible commentator.
[chuckles]
240
00:13:19,298 --> 00:13:22,551
But one thing that Vince had was emotion.
241
00:13:23,135 --> 00:13:25,137
And Vince told stories.
242
00:13:25,137 --> 00:13:27,765
I realized that I'm the conduit.
243
00:13:28,390 --> 00:13:32,019
{\an8}I have to translate to the audience
what's going on in the ring.
244
00:13:32,019 --> 00:13:34,063
"Here's the story that's being told."
245
00:13:34,063 --> 00:13:36,106
Zbyszko is facing a legend.
246
00:13:36,106 --> 00:13:39,985
Our business is no different
than a play, a movie, books.
247
00:13:39,985 --> 00:13:41,070
It's all the same.
248
00:13:41,070 --> 00:13:44,490
Okay, you have an environment,
so we establish what the environment is.
249
00:13:44,490 --> 00:13:46,116
They've jam-packed this arena...
250
00:13:46,116 --> 00:13:49,703
Next thing you have to do is create
some very interesting characters.
251
00:13:49,703 --> 00:13:53,791
Zbyszko, of course, the only individual
to have been trained by Bruno Sammartino.
252
00:13:53,791 --> 00:13:55,000
The good and the bad.
253
00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:57,253
A "babyface," which meant a good guy,
254
00:13:57,253 --> 00:13:59,797
and the other was a "heel,"
which meant a bad guy.
255
00:13:59,797 --> 00:14:02,925
And Sammartino
holds the rope open for Zbyszko.
256
00:14:02,925 --> 00:14:03,926
Too much--
257
00:14:03,926 --> 00:14:04,969
Uh oh.
258
00:14:04,969 --> 00:14:06,262
Oh-- Look out!
259
00:14:06,262 --> 00:14:07,847
You introduce another character.
260
00:14:07,847 --> 00:14:09,807
Sends the referee flying out.
261
00:14:09,807 --> 00:14:11,267
Always this big finish.
262
00:14:11,267 --> 00:14:15,521
Zbyszko striking Sammartino,
and he really let him have it!
263
00:14:15,521 --> 00:14:17,398
Zbyszko couldn't take it!
264
00:14:18,148 --> 00:14:19,817
The formula is simple,
265
00:14:20,734 --> 00:14:23,737
but... not that easy to do.
266
00:14:23,737 --> 00:14:27,992
Sammartino laying in a pool of blood!
267
00:14:27,992 --> 00:14:29,076
Next week...
268
00:14:29,076 --> 00:14:31,912
Kept that job announcing for my dad.
269
00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,667
It wasn't long after that that my dad
wanted to get out of the business.
270
00:14:36,667 --> 00:14:38,252
He wanted to sell to someone.
271
00:14:38,919 --> 00:14:42,047
And when he was going to sell to someone,
he wasn't thinking about me.
272
00:14:42,047 --> 00:14:42,965
On behalf of...
273
00:14:42,965 --> 00:14:45,968
[Linda] Matter of fact, he was going
to sell it to Gorilla Monsoon,
274
00:14:45,968 --> 00:14:47,553
who was a partner at that time.
275
00:14:48,137 --> 00:14:50,472
{\an8}[announcer] Monsoon
with another little jab there.
276
00:14:50,472 --> 00:14:52,600
Ali's not finding his bark at all.
277
00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:56,395
[McMahon] When I joined the company,
Gorilla Monsoon was the heir apparent,
278
00:14:56,395 --> 00:14:58,981
and I could feel the tension right away.
279
00:14:59,565 --> 00:15:01,901
Gorilla Monsoon thinks I'm competition.
280
00:15:03,235 --> 00:15:04,486
Boy, was he right.
281
00:15:05,446 --> 00:15:08,908
When I proposed to buy my dad's business,
he made a deal with me.
282
00:15:08,908 --> 00:15:11,493
I'll give you x-number of dollars here,
283
00:15:11,493 --> 00:15:13,829
three months later this,
three months later that,
284
00:15:13,829 --> 00:15:15,706
and then the final payment.
285
00:15:15,706 --> 00:15:17,625
And if I miss a payment,
286
00:15:17,625 --> 00:15:20,377
then you get the business back
and keep the money.
287
00:15:20,377 --> 00:15:23,672
That appealed to my dad,
and appealed to his other stockholders,
288
00:15:23,672 --> 00:15:26,383
because they were thinking,
"This kid's not gonna make it."
289
00:15:26,383 --> 00:15:27,301
[cheering]
290
00:15:27,301 --> 00:15:30,137
[Linda] We took over
Vince's father's company.
291
00:15:30,721 --> 00:15:34,725
We actually were paying with money
that they would have been generating
292
00:15:34,725 --> 00:15:37,394
should they have stayed in the business.
293
00:15:37,394 --> 00:15:40,147
It was robbing Peter to pay Paul.
294
00:15:40,147 --> 00:15:43,150
Made the last payment,
and no one could believe it.
295
00:15:43,859 --> 00:15:45,778
My dad was really, really surprised.
296
00:15:46,403 --> 00:15:49,073
[interviewer] Do you think
your dad wanted you to succeed?
297
00:15:49,990 --> 00:15:52,910
I think my dad wanted me to succeed,
298
00:15:52,910 --> 00:15:55,079
but, then again,
sometimes I think he didn't.
299
00:15:56,163 --> 00:16:00,417
[Linda] I honestly thought that
he didn't want to make it easy for Vince,
300
00:16:00,918 --> 00:16:04,463
that he really wanted to let him know
what it was like to struggle.
301
00:16:04,463 --> 00:16:07,299
But it was strange
because when I bought the business,
302
00:16:08,092 --> 00:16:09,802
there was some friction there,
303
00:16:09,802 --> 00:16:13,013
because my dad, he then worked for me,
304
00:16:13,013 --> 00:16:15,474
and I knew he didn't want what I wanted.
305
00:16:15,474 --> 00:16:17,601
Hello, everyone.
Welcome to All-American Wrestling...
306
00:16:17,601 --> 00:16:20,229
[McMahon] My vision
was to upgrade the product.
307
00:16:20,229 --> 00:16:22,982
My vision was to make this mainstream,
308
00:16:23,732 --> 00:16:27,111
not the lower-class
that everyone thought it was.
309
00:16:27,111 --> 00:16:28,195
[audience clamoring]
310
00:16:28,195 --> 00:16:31,740
I didn't want to be "pro wrestling."
I don't like that term today.
311
00:16:32,449 --> 00:16:34,785
{\an8}I wanted to be
something beyond pro wrestling.
312
00:16:34,785 --> 00:16:37,162
{\an8}I wanted us to grow and compete
313
00:16:37,162 --> 00:16:40,040
{\an8}against all these other promoters
all over the country.
314
00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:44,086
During this point in time,
the wrestling industry was regional
315
00:16:44,086 --> 00:16:46,672
and operated in what was called
the "territory system."
316
00:16:47,339 --> 00:16:49,967
There were separate wrestling companies
around the country,
317
00:16:49,967 --> 00:16:52,011
{\an8}and they each ran shows
318
00:16:52,011 --> 00:16:56,056
{\an8}both live and on TV
within their own territories.
319
00:16:56,765 --> 00:16:59,059
[Prichard] So, you had Florida,
you had Georgia,
320
00:16:59,059 --> 00:17:01,145
you had the Mid-Atlantic, the Carolinas.
321
00:17:01,145 --> 00:17:04,398
There was San Francisco,
Portland, Seattle.
322
00:17:04,398 --> 00:17:09,486
Vince's dad had the WWE,
which was then known as WWF,
323
00:17:09,486 --> 00:17:11,739
in the Northeast territory.
324
00:17:11,739 --> 00:17:16,326
And there were these imaginary lines
that no one crossed.
325
00:17:16,952 --> 00:17:18,495
It was a good ol' boy system.
326
00:17:18,495 --> 00:17:22,082
People had agreements,
and you didn't break those agreements.
327
00:17:22,082 --> 00:17:27,046
As soon as I closed the deal,
I knew right what I wanted to do.
328
00:17:27,046 --> 00:17:29,131
Go right into their territories.
329
00:17:29,131 --> 00:17:32,926
One of the great
World Wrestling Entertainment cities,
330
00:17:32,926 --> 00:17:35,054
St. Louis, Missouri, and indeed...
331
00:17:35,054 --> 00:17:37,347
[Prichard] Vince started promoting
his own shows
332
00:17:37,347 --> 00:17:42,311
in what would traditionally
be someone else's "territory."
333
00:17:42,311 --> 00:17:44,605
And that ruffled a lot of feathers.
334
00:17:44,605 --> 00:17:49,693
Whether it's in St. Louis, Los Angeles,
Hoboken, New Jersey, or wherever,
335
00:17:49,693 --> 00:17:53,238
no doubt World Wrestling Entertainment
will be there.
336
00:17:53,822 --> 00:17:55,866
My dad was very much against that.
337
00:17:56,617 --> 00:17:59,453
He said, "Take it easy, Vinnie.
Don't rock the boat."
338
00:17:59,453 --> 00:18:03,332
It hurt my dad,
but at the same time, I'm in business.
339
00:18:04,249 --> 00:18:06,585
Other promoters
started threatening my dad.
340
00:18:06,585 --> 00:18:10,089
"You know, your kid, Vince, is going
to wind up at the bottom of a river."
341
00:18:10,089 --> 00:18:12,633
I don't know what it is.
These promoters, I guess,
342
00:18:12,633 --> 00:18:15,469
love the bottoms of rivers. [chuckles]
343
00:18:16,178 --> 00:18:19,056
Whenever I was threatened, I didn't care,
344
00:18:19,056 --> 00:18:21,850
'cause you didn't own anything.
345
00:18:21,850 --> 00:18:23,977
I'm competing with you.
346
00:18:23,977 --> 00:18:25,938
[Eric] Back with you
here on All-Star Wrestling,
347
00:18:25,938 --> 00:18:29,525
{\an8}and joining me now, former nine-time
Heavyweight Champion of the World,
348
00:18:29,525 --> 00:18:30,442
Verne Gagne...
349
00:18:30,442 --> 00:18:32,361
[Bischoff] I worked for Verne Gagne
in the AWA,
350
00:18:32,361 --> 00:18:35,197
{\an8}which was
one of the strongest territories.
351
00:18:35,197 --> 00:18:38,033
And as far as Verne Gagne was concerned,
352
00:18:38,033 --> 00:18:40,119
Vince was Satan.
353
00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:43,580
He was the devil.
He came and ruined all the territories.
354
00:18:43,580 --> 00:18:45,707
In a moment,
we'll take you to Tampa, Florida...
355
00:18:45,707 --> 00:18:50,295
Once they made their national expansion
and started shattering the territory mold,
356
00:18:51,088 --> 00:18:54,925
so many of the top talent who were
really fixtures in other territories
357
00:18:54,925 --> 00:18:59,471
decided to take a better opportunity
with Vince McMahon and the WWE.
358
00:19:00,305 --> 00:19:01,974
Our talent was making so much money,
359
00:19:02,558 --> 00:19:04,810
which attracted other talents.
360
00:19:04,810 --> 00:19:09,690
It's a virtual flood of wrestling talent
into World Wrestling Entertainment,
361
00:19:09,690 --> 00:19:11,692
the likes of which
we've never seen before.
362
00:19:12,276 --> 00:19:15,863
If you really look at what he did,
he was quite cutthroat.
363
00:19:15,863 --> 00:19:17,990
[Bret] He basically went
into almost every territory
364
00:19:17,990 --> 00:19:19,491
and bought out their top guys,
365
00:19:19,491 --> 00:19:22,619
then he'd go back to their town
with the three or four guys
366
00:19:22,619 --> 00:19:24,705
that he stole from there.
367
00:19:24,705 --> 00:19:26,707
There was nothing
anybody could do about it.
368
00:19:26,707 --> 00:19:29,042
We understand
that you're attempting to invade
369
00:19:29,042 --> 00:19:31,503
almost every area in the United States.
370
00:19:31,503 --> 00:19:32,421
That's right...
371
00:19:32,421 --> 00:19:35,382
Most wrestlers that worked for Vince
came from somewhere else,
372
00:19:35,382 --> 00:19:39,136
and somebody else did the hard work
to make that person who they were.
373
00:19:39,887 --> 00:19:41,388
And one phone call,
374
00:19:41,388 --> 00:19:45,309
they ran and left that guy
standing in the dust.
375
00:19:45,309 --> 00:19:49,021
Just like he did with me.
"I can make you more money here."
376
00:19:49,021 --> 00:19:53,567
It's a dog-eat-dog world,
and you have to get your bite out of it.
377
00:19:54,610 --> 00:19:57,946
[Vince] It was one of those things where
I'm not taking anything away from anyone.
378
00:19:57,946 --> 00:19:59,615
I'm building.
379
00:19:59,615 --> 00:20:03,410
And if you can't compete with me,
it's America.
380
00:20:04,745 --> 00:20:05,579
Tough.
381
00:20:06,705 --> 00:20:10,042
There's no doubt that the popularity
of World Wrestling Entertainment
382
00:20:10,042 --> 00:20:12,628
continues by leaps and bounds...
383
00:20:12,628 --> 00:20:16,131
At that time, I'm competing
with all these promoters successfully,
384
00:20:16,131 --> 00:20:19,801
so I then said,
"Okay, now I can do things my way."
385
00:20:21,345 --> 00:20:23,847
My dad chose Bob Backlund as a champion.
386
00:20:23,847 --> 00:20:26,767
I love to travel.
I love the fans. I love wrestling.
387
00:20:26,767 --> 00:20:28,810
Every minute of my life is a pleasure.
388
00:20:28,810 --> 00:20:30,062
All right, we appreciate...
389
00:20:30,062 --> 00:20:33,607
He was the All-American boy,
but a little too milquetoast.
390
00:20:33,607 --> 00:20:36,360
I was looking for someone
that had more charisma.
391
00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:39,738
[commentator] Look at that.
Are you kidding me? Look at this.
392
00:20:39,738 --> 00:20:42,616
The Dream just pummeling this man now.
393
00:20:42,616 --> 00:20:43,617
Oh no.
394
00:20:43,617 --> 00:20:45,869
[McMahon] Okay, there was
Dusty Rhodes as a possibility.
395
00:20:45,869 --> 00:20:49,414
You can look up in this building
in a matter of few hours, when it's full,
396
00:20:49,414 --> 00:20:52,000
and you can see
a Black man and a white man
397
00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:54,920
eating out of the same popcorn box! Whoo!
398
00:20:55,963 --> 00:20:58,715
That's funky. That's the American dream.
399
00:20:59,299 --> 00:21:03,679
I had only ever been told by my father
that he just didn't believe in it.
400
00:21:04,388 --> 00:21:06,682
It seemed too large of an endeavor.
401
00:21:06,682 --> 00:21:08,141
[commentator speaks indistinctly]
402
00:21:08,141 --> 00:21:11,144
[McMahon] Dusty could not take advantage
of the opportunity,
403
00:21:11,144 --> 00:21:14,189
and so I kept looking
for someone that would charm you,
404
00:21:14,189 --> 00:21:17,651
someone that would excite you,
someone that was larger than life.
405
00:21:17,651 --> 00:21:18,902
[solemn music playing]
406
00:21:18,902 --> 00:21:23,198
{\an8}[announcer] This man
is not a television illusion.
407
00:21:24,741 --> 00:21:26,493
[McMahon] The first time I met Hulk Hogan,
408
00:21:27,202 --> 00:21:29,788
it was years before
I bought my dad's business.
409
00:21:29,788 --> 00:21:32,291
[commentator] Wow,
what a physical specimen.
410
00:21:32,291 --> 00:21:35,127
- [McMahon] And he was Sterling Golden.
- [thud]
411
00:21:35,127 --> 00:21:37,421
[commentator] Sterling Golden...
412
00:21:37,421 --> 00:21:40,590
And my dad saw him and said,
"Nah, nah, that's not your name,"
413
00:21:40,590 --> 00:21:42,426
and he changed it to "Hulk Hogan."
414
00:21:43,010 --> 00:21:47,264
[announcer] The Incredible Hulk Hogan!
415
00:21:47,264 --> 00:21:49,975
When they brought me up,
they needed somebody
416
00:21:49,975 --> 00:21:53,270
that the people thought
could beat Andre the Giant,
417
00:21:53,270 --> 00:21:54,896
who's one of their big stars.
418
00:21:54,896 --> 00:21:55,981
[audience cheering]
419
00:21:55,981 --> 00:21:56,898
Hogan!
420
00:21:58,191 --> 00:21:59,401
Come here!
421
00:21:59,985 --> 00:22:03,488
Andre the Giant is
sports entertainment's first attraction.
422
00:22:04,323 --> 00:22:06,950
You could advertise Andre the Giant,
423
00:22:06,950 --> 00:22:08,243
draw a house.
424
00:22:08,243 --> 00:22:10,454
[commentator] Hulk Hogan going for the...
425
00:22:10,454 --> 00:22:13,498
[Terry Bollea] I was kind of like
Andre's other half.
426
00:22:13,498 --> 00:22:14,958
We'd wrestled everywhere.
427
00:22:15,542 --> 00:22:18,420
Shea Stadium was sold out
with me and Andre the Giant,
428
00:22:18,420 --> 00:22:20,630
so I was pretty well established.
429
00:22:20,630 --> 00:22:25,135
One of the ways I would get established
was to have these so-called "TV matches."
430
00:22:26,094 --> 00:22:29,806
During those matches,
I would wrestle two guys.
431
00:22:30,599 --> 00:22:32,934
Sylvester Stallone saw that,
432
00:22:32,934 --> 00:22:36,730
so that's how I ended up getting offered
the part in the Rocky movie.
433
00:22:38,065 --> 00:22:40,984
I was talking with Vince Sr.
about doing Rocky III,
434
00:22:40,984 --> 00:22:43,403
and Vince Sr. says,
"You're not doing that."
435
00:22:43,403 --> 00:22:47,866
"You're a wrestler." You know?
"You don't act, you don't do TV stuff."
436
00:22:47,866 --> 00:22:50,494
He asked my dad,
and my dad said, "No, no."
437
00:22:51,203 --> 00:22:55,499
Because my dad had invested a lot in Hogan
and wanted to get his money out of it.
438
00:22:55,999 --> 00:22:59,961
He goes, "If you do that, you're fired,
and you'll never work here again."
439
00:22:59,961 --> 00:23:01,505
I said, "Okay, cool."
440
00:23:01,505 --> 00:23:04,049
[audience clamoring]
441
00:23:04,049 --> 00:23:05,008
Yeah!
442
00:23:05,008 --> 00:23:08,261
[Bollea] When I did the Rocky movie,
I knew it was gonna be big.
443
00:23:09,137 --> 00:23:11,056
I'm coming after you, Balboa.
444
00:23:11,056 --> 00:23:12,641
Say hello to my little friend!
445
00:23:12,641 --> 00:23:15,310
[Bollea] If you took Scarface,
if you took The Godfather,
446
00:23:15,936 --> 00:23:18,980
the Rocky franchise
was bigger than all that.
447
00:23:18,980 --> 00:23:20,941
It was Americana.
448
00:23:21,691 --> 00:23:23,860
I knew it was going to put me on the map.
449
00:23:23,860 --> 00:23:24,986
[screaming]
450
00:23:24,986 --> 00:23:26,571
It just went crazy.
451
00:23:26,571 --> 00:23:28,907
[Johnny Carson]
Would you welcome Hulk Hogan.
452
00:23:28,907 --> 00:23:30,242
[applause]
453
00:23:30,242 --> 00:23:32,035
[Carson] You are one good-sized person.
454
00:23:32,035 --> 00:23:33,328
Thank you, thank you.
455
00:23:34,162 --> 00:23:35,330
One big man...
456
00:23:35,330 --> 00:23:37,999
In the middle of this,
Verne Gagne got a hold of me,
457
00:23:37,999 --> 00:23:40,210
he goes,
"How quick can you get to Minnesota?"
458
00:23:41,128 --> 00:23:44,381
[announcer] Hulk Hogan, back in the AWA,
and I cannot believe...
459
00:23:44,381 --> 00:23:47,884
[Bollea] When I went to the AWA,
I started the Hulkamania stuff.
460
00:23:47,884 --> 00:23:49,553
I started ripping my shirt off.
461
00:23:50,137 --> 00:23:53,432
And it was growing and becoming dominant.
462
00:23:54,015 --> 00:23:58,854
I followed his career, and he was
really honing in on his talents.
463
00:23:58,854 --> 00:24:02,190
- [audience cheering]
- Here comes Hogan! Here is the leg smash!
464
00:24:02,190 --> 00:24:04,609
I am the champion! This is your belt!
465
00:24:04,609 --> 00:24:08,822
[Bollea] Vince came to me and said,
"I want to take over all the territories,
466
00:24:08,822 --> 00:24:12,784
and I want to do it with you."
And I went, "Let's go, brother."
467
00:24:13,368 --> 00:24:17,372
Hulk knew where the business was going,
and he-- he knew Vince was the direction.
468
00:24:17,372 --> 00:24:19,916
It was an easy decision.
Some guy's gonna push you
469
00:24:19,916 --> 00:24:22,919
and make you the biggest star
and you're gonna go national,
470
00:24:22,919 --> 00:24:26,465
the other guy just wants to promote
Minneapolis, Chicago, and Milwaukee.
471
00:24:26,465 --> 00:24:29,759
I'd been dreaming my whole career
about going back,
472
00:24:29,759 --> 00:24:32,429
and when Vince said
what he was gonna do with me,
473
00:24:32,429 --> 00:24:34,931
I knew what was going to happen.
474
00:24:34,931 --> 00:24:37,100
- [commentator 1] Oh!
- [commentator 2] Gotta be kidding!
475
00:24:37,100 --> 00:24:38,894
Hulk Hogan!
476
00:24:38,894 --> 00:24:42,731
I would like to thank the WWE
for bringing the Hulkster back...
477
00:24:42,731 --> 00:24:45,984
[McMahon] So somehow I had to transfer
the title from Bob Backlund
478
00:24:45,984 --> 00:24:47,152
to get to Hogan.
479
00:24:47,152 --> 00:24:50,030
I couldn't make that match.
They were two "babyfaces."
480
00:24:50,030 --> 00:24:52,699
So I used the Iron Sheik.
481
00:24:52,699 --> 00:24:54,075
Bob Backlund!
482
00:24:54,075 --> 00:24:56,161
[speaks in made-up language]
483
00:24:57,454 --> 00:24:59,706
[McMahon] The Iron Sheik from Iran
484
00:24:59,706 --> 00:25:05,420
was one of the most disliked individuals
we've ever had as a heel in our company.
485
00:25:05,420 --> 00:25:07,547
[audience booing]
486
00:25:07,547 --> 00:25:11,843
Now, there was lot of nationalism then.
A lot of "rah, rah, America."
487
00:25:12,427 --> 00:25:14,554
And for years, we had problems with Iran.
488
00:25:14,554 --> 00:25:17,599
The President met with the
National Security Council in Washington
489
00:25:17,599 --> 00:25:19,768
about the fast-breaking
developments in Iran.
490
00:25:20,435 --> 00:25:23,688
[Terry] There was American hostages
that are being held in Iran.
491
00:25:23,688 --> 00:25:27,067
It's front-page news.
There's talk about it every single day.
492
00:25:28,151 --> 00:25:30,445
[Vince] So when the Iron Sheik
would be in the ring,
493
00:25:30,445 --> 00:25:32,030
waving the Iranian flag and all that...
494
00:25:32,030 --> 00:25:33,990
Iran number one!
495
00:25:33,990 --> 00:25:36,368
...that got a negative reaction.
496
00:25:37,035 --> 00:25:41,498
[Prichard] You look at what is happening,
and you try and tell a story off of that
497
00:25:41,498 --> 00:25:44,417
and have people be able to react in a way
498
00:25:44,417 --> 00:25:46,920
they couldn't necessarily
react in real life.
499
00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:49,548
[commentator] Again, a lot of people
do not like the Iron Sheik.
500
00:25:49,548 --> 00:25:53,134
[Prichard] You can't find an Iranian sheik
walking down the street
501
00:25:53,134 --> 00:25:57,013
that you can boo and hiss at
and see him get beat up,
502
00:25:57,013 --> 00:26:00,058
but you could go
to the wrestling matches and see it.
503
00:26:00,058 --> 00:26:01,268
[crowd chanting] Iran sucks!
504
00:26:01,268 --> 00:26:03,770
[McMahon] What are they chanting?
"Iran" what?
505
00:26:03,770 --> 00:26:06,314
- [commentator] I don't wanna say, Vince.
- [laughter]
506
00:26:06,314 --> 00:26:10,193
[Prichard] It doesn't always age well,
but you look at the movies.
507
00:26:11,027 --> 00:26:15,615
Movies depicted Japan
as the evil empire attacking America.
508
00:26:15,615 --> 00:26:18,868
Anybody from Japan was not to be trusted.
509
00:26:18,868 --> 00:26:19,786
Germany.
510
00:26:19,786 --> 00:26:20,787
You are a liar!
511
00:26:21,913 --> 00:26:22,789
[Prichard] Russians.
512
00:26:22,789 --> 00:26:25,125
If he dies, he dies.
513
00:26:25,917 --> 00:26:28,587
[Prichard] You were taught
at an early age...
514
00:26:31,590 --> 00:26:36,886
these people, foreigners,
they were the bad guys.
515
00:26:36,886 --> 00:26:38,138
[announcer] From Russia...
516
00:26:38,138 --> 00:26:39,723
[Prichard] Right, wrong, indifferent,
517
00:26:39,723 --> 00:26:43,727
{\an8}in that time, your bad guy
was the Russian bad guy,
518
00:26:44,311 --> 00:26:46,771
the German bad guy, the Japanese bad guy.
519
00:26:47,522 --> 00:26:50,191
And it was easy to understand for people.
520
00:26:50,734 --> 00:26:52,152
[commentator] Banzai!
521
00:26:52,152 --> 00:26:55,322
[Anthony White] Wrestling
is an imitation of the world.
522
00:26:55,322 --> 00:26:58,366
If you want to know what America is like,
watch wrestling.
523
00:26:58,950 --> 00:27:00,201
We show you yourself.
524
00:27:00,201 --> 00:27:02,162
[interviewer] Tell me
a wrestler you don't like.
525
00:27:02,162 --> 00:27:03,788
The Sheik, man, the Sheik.
526
00:27:03,788 --> 00:27:05,832
- Sheik.
- [interviewer] The Iron Sheik.
527
00:27:06,416 --> 00:27:09,210
- How come you don't like him?
- He's from another country, man.
528
00:27:09,210 --> 00:27:10,503
He's from another country.
529
00:27:10,503 --> 00:27:13,757
Vince sees what's going on.
He followed the river.
530
00:27:13,757 --> 00:27:17,344
That's how he became rich.
He never swam upstream.
531
00:27:17,344 --> 00:27:19,929
[crowd booing]
532
00:27:19,929 --> 00:27:24,768
You can look back on anything and say,
"Oh, I bet you regret that."
533
00:27:24,768 --> 00:27:29,230
Well, you know, look back on
ten years, twenty years, five years ago,
534
00:27:29,230 --> 00:27:30,940
life was different then.
535
00:27:30,940 --> 00:27:33,234
Things were different,
values were different,
536
00:27:33,234 --> 00:27:35,570
and you can't take the values of today
537
00:27:35,570 --> 00:27:38,615
and look back and say,
"The same values apply to that."
538
00:27:38,615 --> 00:27:41,910
It was a different time, different life,
different set of values then.
539
00:27:41,910 --> 00:27:45,664
If it were done today?
Wow. That would be a problem.
540
00:27:45,664 --> 00:27:49,167
But then?
I didn't think it was a real big deal.
541
00:27:49,668 --> 00:27:52,253
{\an8}The Iron Sheik!
542
00:27:52,253 --> 00:27:54,964
{\an8}[crowd booing]
543
00:27:54,964 --> 00:27:59,135
[McMahon] So, I wanted to transfer
the title from Backlund to the Iron Sheik,
544
00:27:59,678 --> 00:28:04,933
and then of course, setting us up
for this big, blond-haired, All-American
545
00:28:04,933 --> 00:28:07,894
to come in
and beat the Iron Sheik from Iran.
546
00:28:07,894 --> 00:28:09,854
["Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor playing]
547
00:28:09,854 --> 00:28:11,856
[Bollea] Hulk Hogan needed
the ultimate opponent,
548
00:28:11,856 --> 00:28:13,316
and the timing was impeccable.
549
00:28:13,316 --> 00:28:16,820
It's the All-American hero
versus this evil Iranian.
550
00:28:17,404 --> 00:28:21,783
[announcer] The "Eye of the Tiger"
as Hulk Hogan enters the squared circle!
551
00:28:22,409 --> 00:28:23,785
{\an8}[Bollea] Back then,
552
00:28:23,785 --> 00:28:27,163
{\an8}Vince made the decision
if I was gonna win or lose the match,
553
00:28:27,163 --> 00:28:29,833
{\an8}but what we physically did in the ring,
554
00:28:29,833 --> 00:28:32,502
I called in the ring on the spot.
555
00:28:32,502 --> 00:28:34,045
We didn't rehearse anything.
556
00:28:34,045 --> 00:28:36,172
That's the art form of wrestling.
557
00:28:36,172 --> 00:28:38,508
- [crowd cheering]
- [commentator speaks indistinctly]
558
00:28:38,508 --> 00:28:41,886
I jumped in before the bell rang.
Didn't tell him I was gonna do it.
559
00:28:41,886 --> 00:28:43,513
Felt like the right thing to do.
560
00:28:43,513 --> 00:28:47,600
[commentator] Hulk has the Sheik's robe,
and he clotheslined him with it!
561
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:50,478
[Bollea] I didn't tell him I was gonna
clothesline him and choke him out.
562
00:28:50,478 --> 00:28:52,188
It just all happens.
563
00:28:52,188 --> 00:28:53,857
[commentator] The Hulk now is in trouble.
564
00:28:53,857 --> 00:28:55,442
[Bollea] You have listen to the crowd.
565
00:28:55,442 --> 00:28:57,318
[commentator] And the noise is deafening!
566
00:28:57,318 --> 00:28:59,779
[Bollea] You kind of feel it,
you listen, you think.
567
00:28:59,779 --> 00:29:02,115
[commentator] Hulk Hogan
drops the big leg on him!
568
00:29:02,699 --> 00:29:05,034
One, two-- He's done it!
569
00:29:05,034 --> 00:29:06,035
[crowd cheering]
570
00:29:06,035 --> 00:29:09,497
[McMahon] It was a really huge response
from Madison Square Garden.
571
00:29:10,749 --> 00:29:13,334
[commentator] Hulkamania is here.
572
00:29:13,334 --> 00:29:17,130
And of course everyone knows
of Hulk Hogan to this day.
573
00:29:17,130 --> 00:29:20,967
All I asked was for the whole WWE
to stand behind the Hulkster,
574
00:29:20,967 --> 00:29:23,428
and I told them I'd bring it home
for the USA!
575
00:29:23,428 --> 00:29:25,305
Hulkamania is running worldwide!
576
00:29:25,305 --> 00:29:26,556
[screams]
577
00:29:26,556 --> 00:29:27,474
What a--
578
00:29:27,474 --> 00:29:29,684
[Bollea] To put the belt
on the Iron Sheik,
579
00:29:29,684 --> 00:29:32,979
{\an8}and then have the business direction
that the belt's coming to me
580
00:29:32,979 --> 00:29:36,816
because we need a guy to be
the hood ornament to take over the world,
581
00:29:36,816 --> 00:29:40,737
that was a business decision
that Vince had to execute creatively,
582
00:29:41,821 --> 00:29:43,656
and it worked.
583
00:29:43,656 --> 00:29:45,784
[McMahon] Many fans feel
that Hulk Hogan is perhaps
584
00:29:45,784 --> 00:29:48,703
the most exciting
pro wrestling champion ever.
585
00:29:48,703 --> 00:29:53,792
You can't overemphasize
the importance of Hulk Hogan.
586
00:29:53,792 --> 00:29:56,085
You take Hulk Hogan
out of the equation, I think, uh...
587
00:29:56,085 --> 00:29:57,712
I think Vince fails in his expansion.
588
00:29:57,712 --> 00:29:59,839
I'm relatively certain
he fails in his expansion.
589
00:30:00,882 --> 00:30:03,009
Pro wrestling is a star-driven business,
590
00:30:03,009 --> 00:30:06,221
and the ability to make stars
is what makes you popular.
591
00:30:06,805 --> 00:30:10,266
Vince was much better at making stars
than all of these other promoters
592
00:30:10,266 --> 00:30:11,518
because his father was.
593
00:30:12,185 --> 00:30:16,064
Vince McMahon Sr.
was really good at making the top guys
594
00:30:16,064 --> 00:30:17,524
come across like stars,
595
00:30:17,524 --> 00:30:20,318
which was more important
than having good wrestling matches.
596
00:30:20,318 --> 00:30:23,238
That was Vince's strength
because it was his father's strength.
597
00:30:23,863 --> 00:30:27,200
There is a point when my dad
told me he was proud of me.
598
00:30:27,826 --> 00:30:28,993
He said, "You know, Vinnie,
599
00:30:28,993 --> 00:30:30,995
all these friends of mine
aren't really friends."
600
00:30:30,995 --> 00:30:33,790
"These promoters I've worked with
all these years in their territories,
601
00:30:33,790 --> 00:30:35,375
you know, fuck them."
602
00:30:35,375 --> 00:30:37,377
"You're beating all of them."
603
00:30:37,377 --> 00:30:39,712
"I'm proud of you for what you've done.
Fuck them all."
604
00:30:39,712 --> 00:30:42,507
And I thought... "Wow."
605
00:30:43,049 --> 00:30:46,219
First time my dad ever said anything
like that, that he was on my side.
606
00:30:47,345 --> 00:30:50,473
Of course,
he waited until I was a success.
607
00:30:50,473 --> 00:30:53,893
And maybe he felt that way all along,
but he never told me.
608
00:30:53,893 --> 00:30:56,729
That was one
of the biggest moments of my life.
609
00:30:59,607 --> 00:31:01,025
Until...
610
00:31:03,361 --> 00:31:04,737
[crowd cheering]
611
00:31:04,737 --> 00:31:09,033
[announcer] We'd like to have you all rise
in a moment of silence
612
00:31:09,033 --> 00:31:12,829
for Mr. Vincent J. McMahon.
613
00:31:13,329 --> 00:31:17,667
The day before he died was the only time
that he told me that he loved me,
614
00:31:17,667 --> 00:31:20,461
but, wow. He told me. Before he died.
615
00:31:21,838 --> 00:31:23,089
God, it felt so good.
616
00:31:25,300 --> 00:31:27,552
Whether or not they care for you or not,
617
00:31:27,552 --> 00:31:30,597
it's so wonderful in life
to have someone that you care for.
618
00:31:30,597 --> 00:31:33,850
And I had that opportunity
to really care about my dad
619
00:31:33,850 --> 00:31:35,435
and to love my dad.
620
00:31:38,271 --> 00:31:41,900
I don't think he liked his father,
to be honest with you.
621
00:31:42,817 --> 00:31:45,069
- [interviewer] Why do you say that?
- [sighs]
622
00:31:46,946 --> 00:31:48,364
[White] When Jr. came along,
623
00:31:48,364 --> 00:31:51,075
he had a vision
that wrestling is going to change.
624
00:31:51,075 --> 00:31:53,119
It can't remain the same.
625
00:31:53,119 --> 00:31:58,124
And every idea that came out of his head
drove his father up the roof.
626
00:31:58,124 --> 00:31:59,709
Drove the wrestlers up the roof.
627
00:31:59,709 --> 00:32:02,837
I remember guys in the dressing room
talking about how nutty he was.
628
00:32:03,421 --> 00:32:08,843
When Vince became the owner of the company
and he and his father started to clash.
629
00:32:09,969 --> 00:32:16,601
The clashes were mostly
because of Vince Sr.'s lack of willingness
630
00:32:16,601 --> 00:32:20,647
to accept where the industry
and the business was headed.
631
00:32:20,647 --> 00:32:22,440
[grunting]
632
00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:26,486
[White] Vince come along with these ideas
that we thought were crazy.
633
00:32:27,111 --> 00:32:29,447
It was just... It was not wrestling.
634
00:32:30,031 --> 00:32:34,494
Vince had ideas about programming
to a younger audience,
635
00:32:35,078 --> 00:32:39,582
and not shying away from the fact
that this was scripted entertainment.
636
00:32:39,582 --> 00:32:42,877
Vince really wanted to grow and expand.
637
00:32:42,877 --> 00:32:45,838
While everybody else
was looking at the territories,
638
00:32:46,506 --> 00:32:49,926
Vince understood that
national cable was the future.
639
00:32:49,926 --> 00:32:52,553
It was clear to me from the very beginning
640
00:32:52,553 --> 00:32:55,682
that Vince was looking at
a bigger distribution.
641
00:32:55,682 --> 00:33:00,687
USA Network
became the marketing channel for WWE.
642
00:33:01,270 --> 00:33:05,108
{\an8}Vince always wanted to promote
something new that they were doing.
643
00:33:05,108 --> 00:33:06,484
Be careful!
644
00:33:06,484 --> 00:33:08,987
[White] Vince was never
in the wrestling business.
645
00:33:08,987 --> 00:33:11,197
He was always
in the entertainment business.
646
00:33:13,074 --> 00:33:16,703
Like, for example,
when he first came in and took over,
647
00:33:16,703 --> 00:33:21,040
he made that talk show,
and we thought he was off his deep end.
648
00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:23,209
- [applause]
- Thank you and welcome to TNT...
649
00:33:23,209 --> 00:33:25,962
It was so much fun.
650
00:33:26,546 --> 00:33:27,588
That's right!
651
00:33:27,588 --> 00:33:31,092
It was the Wild West
in a talk show format,
652
00:33:32,051 --> 00:33:33,011
It was a riot.
653
00:33:33,011 --> 00:33:34,387
- [gunshot]
- Whoa!
654
00:33:34,387 --> 00:33:35,930
You stupid idiot!
655
00:33:35,930 --> 00:33:39,183
[Linda] Vince was experimenting
with different kinds of ways
656
00:33:39,183 --> 00:33:42,145
to expose the talent
to different audiences.
657
00:33:42,145 --> 00:33:44,272
I'm in favor of that, for sure.
658
00:33:44,272 --> 00:33:49,277
He always wanted to use wrestling
as a stepping stone into other stuff.
659
00:33:50,194 --> 00:33:54,073
Our company was growing,
and things just started opening up.
660
00:33:54,073 --> 00:33:57,285
And it's like,
"Yeah, let's do this. Let's do that."
661
00:33:57,869 --> 00:34:02,415
The voice of World Wrestling Entertainment
and host of TNT, Mr. Vince McMahon.
662
00:34:02,415 --> 00:34:04,250
[laughter]
663
00:34:04,250 --> 00:34:08,755
{\an8}Dave, as you know, um, there are lots
of mothers in New York City...
664
00:34:08,755 --> 00:34:11,841
{\an8}[interviewer] There was an overlap
that you and Vince had early on.
665
00:34:11,841 --> 00:34:14,260
Oh! Yeah, yeah.
666
00:34:14,260 --> 00:34:17,430
{\an8}[Bob Costas] It was Letterman's
third anniversary show,
667
00:34:17,430 --> 00:34:21,601
and they decide
if a baby was born during the show,
668
00:34:21,601 --> 00:34:25,063
then that baby
would become the "Late Night Baby."
669
00:34:25,063 --> 00:34:29,942
And so they sent Vince McMahon
to one maternity ward, and me to another.
670
00:34:29,942 --> 00:34:32,653
- Vince, I have a question for you.
- Yes, David.
671
00:34:32,653 --> 00:34:34,155
Is that your tuxedo?
672
00:34:34,155 --> 00:34:36,240
- Uh, no, actually, it's not.
- Okay.
673
00:34:36,240 --> 00:34:38,242
[laughter]
674
00:34:38,242 --> 00:34:41,079
[Costas] I think Vince enjoyed
being on David Letterman.
675
00:34:41,079 --> 00:34:44,248
It was as culturally hip a show
as you could find.
676
00:34:44,957 --> 00:34:46,834
It was a mark of credibility
677
00:34:46,834 --> 00:34:49,712
if David Letterman
gave you a figurative thumbs up.
678
00:34:49,712 --> 00:34:52,215
- Question, Larry. Is that your tux?
- [Letterman laughs]
679
00:34:52,215 --> 00:34:55,051
- No, it's not.
- All right. Back to you!
680
00:34:55,676 --> 00:34:57,678
[Linda] Vince always looked at
681
00:34:57,678 --> 00:35:02,433
how could he connect different aspects
of the world of entertainment.
682
00:35:02,433 --> 00:35:04,393
How can we co-brand with something
683
00:35:04,393 --> 00:35:07,563
and make both of our brands
bigger and stronger?
684
00:35:07,563 --> 00:35:09,941
[rock music playing]
685
00:35:09,941 --> 00:35:14,278
Hi! You're listening to MTV,
Music Television,
686
00:35:14,278 --> 00:35:16,114
and I'm Cyndi Lauper.
687
00:35:16,114 --> 00:35:21,577
Cyndi Lauper was on MTV at that time,
and she was a huge star.
688
00:35:21,577 --> 00:35:25,581
♪ Oh, girls just wanna have fun... ♪
689
00:35:25,581 --> 00:35:28,000
[announcer] For the uninitiated,
this is Cyndi Lauper,
690
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:32,547
whose debut album, She's So Unusual,
placed four singles in the top five.
691
00:35:32,547 --> 00:35:35,341
On the video for one of them,
"Girls Just Want to Have Fun,"
692
00:35:35,341 --> 00:35:38,302
Captain Lou Albano
appeared as Cyndi's father.
693
00:35:38,302 --> 00:35:41,597
Cyndi Lauper met Captain Lou Albano
on a plane...
694
00:35:41,597 --> 00:35:43,349
Let me in! I wanna see Cyndi Lauper!
695
00:35:43,349 --> 00:35:46,060
[Linda] ...and felt that
there could be some connection.
696
00:35:46,060 --> 00:35:48,271
- Heavy metal wrestling goes.
- [Lou] Heavy metal...
697
00:35:48,271 --> 00:35:52,191
And there's an opportunity
to grow our businesses. Both of us.
698
00:35:52,859 --> 00:35:56,237
Cyndi, tell all these people out here
how I made you a superstar.
699
00:35:56,237 --> 00:35:59,031
Tell them how you came
off my reputation, Cyndi!
700
00:35:59,031 --> 00:36:01,576
- How all women are nothing, Cyndi!
- What?!
701
00:36:01,576 --> 00:36:03,411
[indistinct yelling]
702
00:36:03,411 --> 00:36:07,623
[McMahon] Cyndi was associated with us,
and that made MTV think,
703
00:36:07,623 --> 00:36:10,668
"Here's Cyndi,
she's going into this other genre."
704
00:36:10,668 --> 00:36:13,045
"Let's work with
this other genre as well."
705
00:36:13,045 --> 00:36:15,882
[announcer] This week on MTV.
The Brawl, Sunday...
706
00:36:15,882 --> 00:36:18,342
[McMahon] We did
two television shows on MTV.
707
00:36:18,342 --> 00:36:22,388
Got great ratings for MTV,
and it was a great storyline.
708
00:36:22,388 --> 00:36:24,974
I challenge you, you fat bag of wind!
709
00:36:24,974 --> 00:36:27,894
At that time, women's wrestling was...
710
00:36:27,894 --> 00:36:28,936
[sighs]
711
00:36:29,729 --> 00:36:32,398
...déclassé in a déclassé business.
712
00:36:32,398 --> 00:36:33,649
Let me tell you something...
713
00:36:33,649 --> 00:36:34,859
[McMahon] So I thought,
714
00:36:34,859 --> 00:36:37,528
"I'll have Cyndi connect
with one of our female performers."
715
00:36:37,528 --> 00:36:39,572
"That'll make that division mean more."
716
00:36:39,572 --> 00:36:40,990
[rock music playing]
717
00:36:40,990 --> 00:36:42,950
- Yeah!
- Moolah's going down!
718
00:36:42,950 --> 00:36:44,952
- That's right!
- [men chanting]
719
00:36:44,952 --> 00:36:48,080
[McMahon] Wendi Richter
was the choice to represent Cyndi.
720
00:36:48,664 --> 00:36:51,167
[Wendi Richter] I just got a call
from her out of the blue
721
00:36:51,167 --> 00:36:54,670
asking if I could
represent her in the ring.
722
00:36:54,670 --> 00:36:57,131
And I said, "Sure." [chuckles]
723
00:36:57,131 --> 00:37:02,470
[announcer] Managing the challenger,
Cyndi Lauper!
724
00:37:02,470 --> 00:37:04,388
[audience cheering]
725
00:37:04,388 --> 00:37:09,352
There was a buzz in the arena,
and it was because of her involvement.
726
00:37:09,352 --> 00:37:11,437
[announcer] This crowd is on their feet!
727
00:37:12,396 --> 00:37:16,108
At this point, many of my friends,
we were wrestling fans.
728
00:37:16,108 --> 00:37:19,654
We liked the whole
tongue-in-cheek aspect of it.
729
00:37:19,654 --> 00:37:23,908
Like, here's a mainstream sports guy,
and now he's lending his voice
730
00:37:23,908 --> 00:37:27,578
to introducing Hulk Hogan
and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper,
731
00:37:27,578 --> 00:37:29,121
and he's doing it straight.
732
00:37:29,121 --> 00:37:31,666
Thank you, Howard.
This is indeed an honor.
733
00:37:31,666 --> 00:37:33,834
It was funny. I loved it.
734
00:37:33,834 --> 00:37:35,169
[announcer] Oh, they're at it!
735
00:37:35,169 --> 00:37:37,672
- [bell ringing]
- [crowd cheering]
736
00:37:37,672 --> 00:37:39,465
[announcer 1]
Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection!
737
00:37:39,465 --> 00:37:41,133
- [announcer 2] Wow!
- [announcer 1] Oh!
738
00:37:41,133 --> 00:37:43,135
- [announcer 2] Look out!
- [announcer 1] Oh!
739
00:37:43,135 --> 00:37:46,931
You've gotta be kidding me!
Here comes Mr. T, ladies and gentlemen!
740
00:37:46,931 --> 00:37:51,769
[Bollea] I had made friends with Mr. T,
and Mr. T was white-hot at the time,
741
00:37:51,769 --> 00:37:53,396
{\an8}just really on fire.
742
00:37:53,396 --> 00:37:54,313
♪ Mr. T... ♪
743
00:37:54,313 --> 00:37:57,066
So you bring the celebrity into our world.
744
00:37:57,066 --> 00:37:58,067
[crowd cheering]
745
00:37:58,067 --> 00:38:01,195
[announcer 1] We've got a madhouse.
What is going on? Ladies and gentlemen--
746
00:38:01,195 --> 00:38:02,405
[announcer 2] Pandemonium!
747
00:38:02,405 --> 00:38:04,699
{\an8}[bell ringing]
748
00:38:04,699 --> 00:38:07,451
To have this partnership with MTV,
749
00:38:07,451 --> 00:38:10,621
it was quite a step up
from what we had been doing.
750
00:38:10,621 --> 00:38:12,540
MTV was red-hot back then,
751
00:38:12,540 --> 00:38:16,210
so this product
that Vince McMahon put together
752
00:38:16,210 --> 00:38:19,505
just wasn't in the back rooms
for people that smoke cigars.
753
00:38:19,505 --> 00:38:21,590
I mean, this was getting to be mainstream.
754
00:38:22,300 --> 00:38:24,051
[Richter] It changed wrestling.
755
00:38:24,051 --> 00:38:27,888
Now, it's... it's okay for people to say,
"I watch wrestling."
756
00:38:27,888 --> 00:38:32,059
Andy Warhol, your impressions
of what took place earlier on here.
757
00:38:32,059 --> 00:38:33,436
I'm speechless.
758
00:38:33,436 --> 00:38:36,897
Uh, it's just so exciting.
I just don't know what to say.
759
00:38:36,897 --> 00:38:38,399
[Okerlund] I don't think it's over.
760
00:38:38,399 --> 00:38:42,194
I think we have just seen
the tip of the iceberg.
761
00:38:43,821 --> 00:38:47,325
[McMahon] At that time, the business
was growing leaps and bounds
762
00:38:47,325 --> 00:38:49,327
and I enjoyed putting in the work.
763
00:38:49,327 --> 00:38:52,872
But my wife, finally,
"You need a vacation."
764
00:38:52,872 --> 00:38:56,375
So I went to the Caribbean someplace
for two days.
765
00:38:57,043 --> 00:39:00,588
I came back the next day and announced,
"We're gonna have one big event a year,
766
00:39:00,588 --> 00:39:04,133
just like the Super Bowl,
and we're gonna call it WrestleMania."
767
00:39:04,133 --> 00:39:06,510
She turned to me and she said,
768
00:39:06,510 --> 00:39:08,679
"You weren't relaxing
or enjoying any of that."
769
00:39:08,679 --> 00:39:10,723
[chuckling] "You were thinking
about business."
770
00:39:11,432 --> 00:39:14,727
[announcer] On Sunday afternoon,
March 31st, it's WrestleMania.
771
00:39:14,727 --> 00:39:17,063
Mr. T risks it all
wrestling for the first time,
772
00:39:17,063 --> 00:39:19,023
teaming up with champion Hulk Hogan...
773
00:39:19,023 --> 00:39:23,694
You will see the greatest
production of wrestling ever in the world.
774
00:39:23,694 --> 00:39:25,446
Wrestling history will be made.
775
00:39:25,446 --> 00:39:27,615
The Woodstock of professional wrestling.
776
00:39:28,240 --> 00:39:31,327
WrestleMania was obviously
just, again, common sense.
777
00:39:31,952 --> 00:39:33,037
There was a Super Bowl
778
00:39:33,037 --> 00:39:36,040
and other big culminations
of sports and things of that nature,
779
00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:40,961
so why wouldn't we have
one big end-of-the-season type deal?
780
00:39:40,961 --> 00:39:42,505
- WrestleMania.
- WrestleMania.
781
00:39:42,505 --> 00:39:43,464
WrestleMania.
782
00:39:43,464 --> 00:39:46,133
Maybe we could take this one huge event
783
00:39:46,133 --> 00:39:48,969
and put it on
what was known as "closed-circuit."
784
00:39:48,969 --> 00:39:52,348
There will be over a million people
watching on closed-circuit television
785
00:39:52,348 --> 00:39:54,266
all over the, uh, United States.
786
00:39:54,266 --> 00:39:57,603
[McMahon] Closed-circuit
was simply a very large projector
787
00:39:57,603 --> 00:40:01,607
projecting on a screen
in an arena what you were presenting.
788
00:40:01,607 --> 00:40:05,569
And you paid money, as if it were
a live event, to come in and watch.
789
00:40:05,569 --> 00:40:09,824
That concept today sounds ridiculous,
but that's the way it was then.
790
00:40:10,408 --> 00:40:14,620
[host] Closed-circuit television,
every major city in the United States.
791
00:40:14,620 --> 00:40:15,704
Not only that, Jack.
792
00:40:15,704 --> 00:40:20,543
but it's going to 24 foreign countries
on big screen.
793
00:40:20,543 --> 00:40:23,170
[reporter] The hype worked so well
that Hulk Hogan and Mr. T
794
00:40:23,170 --> 00:40:25,214
have been granted
the ultimate yuppie honor:
795
00:40:25,214 --> 00:40:27,049
co-hosting Saturday Night Live.
796
00:40:27,049 --> 00:40:31,387
- [announcer] Mr. T and Hulk Hogan!
- [crowd cheering]
797
00:40:31,387 --> 00:40:33,097
[Bollea] We got a big match coming up.
798
00:40:33,097 --> 00:40:36,267
Madison Square Garden.
WrestleMania, that is. Hulk Hogan...
799
00:40:36,267 --> 00:40:38,227
[McMahon] In terms of publicity
for WrestleMania,
800
00:40:38,227 --> 00:40:41,814
you wanted to invite the media
as much as you possibly could.
801
00:40:41,814 --> 00:40:42,940
[cheering]
802
00:40:42,940 --> 00:40:44,984
[McMahon] We had an event
in Madison Square Garden.
803
00:40:44,984 --> 00:40:47,695
{\an8}This isn't really wrestling.
This is wrassling.
804
00:40:47,695 --> 00:40:50,281
{\an8}And John Stossel,
from one of the networks,
805
00:40:50,281 --> 00:40:52,491
wanted to interview
some of our performers.
806
00:40:53,117 --> 00:40:55,369
[Bollea] John Stossel's there
under the premise
807
00:40:55,369 --> 00:40:58,080
that he wants to find out
if Hulk Hogan's really as popular
808
00:40:58,080 --> 00:40:59,415
as the New York Times said.
809
00:40:59,415 --> 00:41:03,627
And as we're walking, he goes,
"Do you guys use razor blades to bleed?"
810
00:41:03,627 --> 00:41:06,422
And I said, "Are you kidding me?
Isn't that kind of masochistic?"
811
00:41:06,422 --> 00:41:09,800
My head was already carved up
from the last couple weeks, you know?
812
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:12,261
Man, I make a beeline to Vince.
813
00:41:12,261 --> 00:41:17,766
I say, "Vince, this guy is not here
to find out how popular Hulk Hogan is,
814
00:41:17,766 --> 00:41:19,810
he's here
to expose the wrestling business."
815
00:41:20,394 --> 00:41:22,730
[White] And Vince come
into the dressing room,
816
00:41:22,730 --> 00:41:26,150
and he said there was a reporter here
that run around asking wrestlers,
817
00:41:26,150 --> 00:41:27,276
"Is wrestling fake?"
818
00:41:27,860 --> 00:41:31,447
[Stossel] Fans, I'm afraid
I have to tell you, it is fake.
819
00:41:32,031 --> 00:41:34,492
He said, "I wish somebody'd
do something with that guy."
820
00:41:35,159 --> 00:41:40,039
I did not hear Vince McMahon say anything
about putting him in his place.
821
00:41:40,039 --> 00:41:41,499
That's verbiage I never heard.
822
00:41:42,082 --> 00:41:44,210
He didn't tell us to do it,
823
00:41:44,210 --> 00:41:48,589
but he said, "I wish someone
would take care of that guy,"
824
00:41:48,589 --> 00:41:50,424
and walked out of the dressing room.
825
00:41:51,217 --> 00:41:53,552
[McMahon] There was a wrestler
by the name of David Schultz,
826
00:41:53,552 --> 00:41:55,971
decided he would step into the shot.
827
00:41:55,971 --> 00:41:58,140
- [Stossel] I think this is fake.
- You think it's fake?
828
00:41:58,140 --> 00:41:59,391
[thud]
829
00:41:59,391 --> 00:42:03,938
[McMahon] Out of nowhere, David Schultz
just slaps the crap out of Stossel.
830
00:42:03,938 --> 00:42:05,898
- You think it's fake? Come--
- [loud slap]
831
00:42:06,857 --> 00:42:08,776
- Cut!
- [Schultz] Huh? What do you mean?
832
00:42:08,776 --> 00:42:12,988
[interviewer] Do you remember
Vince's reaction to John getting hit?
833
00:42:12,988 --> 00:42:14,573
We all celebrated.
834
00:42:15,074 --> 00:42:16,450
Not just Vince, everybody.
835
00:42:16,450 --> 00:42:19,495
David was getting pats on the back,
people was buying him drinks.
836
00:42:20,079 --> 00:42:23,499
Well, at the time,
we were very protective of the business,
837
00:42:23,499 --> 00:42:27,795
because wrestling is not fake.
It's predetermined, it's exhibition,
838
00:42:27,795 --> 00:42:31,674
but I can tell you, in the last 10 years,
I've had 23 surgeries.
839
00:42:31,674 --> 00:42:32,675
In 10 years.
840
00:42:32,675 --> 00:42:35,678
So if that's fake,
please explain it to me.
841
00:42:35,678 --> 00:42:36,929
I didn't get the memo.
842
00:42:36,929 --> 00:42:41,225
At the time, you gotta realize, you know,
they were protecting the business.
843
00:42:41,225 --> 00:42:42,643
We loved it.
844
00:42:43,143 --> 00:42:46,522
Until the lawsuit came down.
That's when the shit hit the fan.
845
00:42:46,522 --> 00:42:47,982
How is it, physically?
846
00:42:48,566 --> 00:42:51,735
A doctor now says I have ear damage
that's probably permanent...
847
00:42:51,735 --> 00:42:54,863
[Shoemaker] Mainstream culture
was coming to pro wrestling.
848
00:42:54,863 --> 00:42:58,450
But pro wrestling
wasn't quite ready for prime time.
849
00:42:58,450 --> 00:43:00,953
You see a similar thing
on The Richard Belzer Show,
850
00:43:01,745 --> 00:43:05,207
when Hulk Hogan,
who's the most media ready
851
00:43:05,207 --> 00:43:06,834
of anybody in that crew,
852
00:43:06,834 --> 00:43:11,505
finds himself in this incredibly bizarre
and unfortunate situation.
853
00:43:11,505 --> 00:43:13,382
Apparently,
you don't know what's going on.
854
00:43:13,382 --> 00:43:15,467
- You must've been in a log cabin.
- [Belzer] I know--
855
00:43:15,467 --> 00:43:17,011
I'll lay it out for you, little dude.
856
00:43:17,011 --> 00:43:18,637
- Let me tell you how it is.
- Okay.
857
00:43:18,637 --> 00:43:19,555
You know, Mr. T...
858
00:43:19,555 --> 00:43:22,308
It's tough when people
try to undermine our business.
859
00:43:22,308 --> 00:43:24,393
The thing is, I fear no man.
860
00:43:24,393 --> 00:43:25,894
- [Belzer] I believe you.
- You dig it?
861
00:43:25,894 --> 00:43:27,354
- I can dig it twice.
- Are you a man?
862
00:43:27,354 --> 00:43:28,981
- What do you think?
- I really don't know.
863
00:43:28,981 --> 00:43:30,733
- You wanna step outside?
- [crowd cheering]
864
00:43:30,733 --> 00:43:32,901
Like when Richard Belzer says,
865
00:43:32,901 --> 00:43:35,237
"Hey, put one of those
wrestling moves on me."
866
00:43:35,237 --> 00:43:37,740
Tell me, brother, when you
want him to quit squealing.
867
00:43:37,740 --> 00:43:38,824
[Mr. T] All right.
868
00:43:39,700 --> 00:43:41,702
Brought him over,
hooked him in a front chin lock.
869
00:43:41,702 --> 00:43:42,620
[crowd laughing]
870
00:43:42,620 --> 00:43:45,372
- How about it, T?
- [Mr. T] Keep it like that for a while.
871
00:43:45,372 --> 00:43:46,582
[crowd laughing]
872
00:43:46,582 --> 00:43:49,084
[Bollea] And when I let him go,
he fell and hit his head.
873
00:43:49,084 --> 00:43:51,337
[crowd gasping]
874
00:43:51,337 --> 00:43:56,717
[Linda] Belzer just flopped,
and Hulk thought it was a pratfall.
875
00:43:57,301 --> 00:43:59,887
In actuality...
[chuckles incredulously] ...he was hurt.
876
00:43:59,887 --> 00:44:01,430
[crowd cheering]
877
00:44:01,430 --> 00:44:03,265
- [Mr. T] Your head is bleed--
- We'll be back.
878
00:44:03,265 --> 00:44:05,768
[Linda] He hit his head when he fell,
and it was bleeding.
879
00:44:05,768 --> 00:44:07,394
This was not good.
880
00:44:07,394 --> 00:44:11,607
I sued Mr. T, Hulk Hogan, Vince McMahon,
World Wrestling Entertainment...
881
00:44:11,607 --> 00:44:12,650
I sued them all.
882
00:44:12,650 --> 00:44:14,985
Yeah. Vince wasn't real happy with me.
883
00:44:14,985 --> 00:44:19,740
We were at a very, very vulnerable stage
with WrestleMania I
884
00:44:19,740 --> 00:44:22,785
for me to be going around
choking people out and stuff.
885
00:44:22,785 --> 00:44:24,578
WrestleMania was a big risk.
886
00:44:25,329 --> 00:44:28,582
{\an8}Vince banked everything
on this WrestleMania being a success.
887
00:44:28,582 --> 00:44:30,167
{\an8}He put a lot of money into it.
888
00:44:30,167 --> 00:44:32,711
The story is if it had failed,
he'd have been belly-up.
889
00:44:32,711 --> 00:44:36,548
And, you know...
um, it's very possibly true.
890
00:44:36,548 --> 00:44:41,345
Well, my parents mortgaged everything
they owned to make WrestleMania I happen.
891
00:44:42,346 --> 00:44:46,934
I was so young,
I didn't truly understand what that meant.
892
00:44:46,934 --> 00:44:50,688
My parents never really talked finance
in front of us, uh, but you can feel it.
893
00:44:50,688 --> 00:44:53,399
My dad would just keep saying,
"This is going to work,"
894
00:44:53,399 --> 00:44:56,276
and, uh,
"We're betting a lot on this one."
895
00:44:56,276 --> 00:44:59,822
You know, at this point, I'm a teenager,
and I'm just like, "Hm."
896
00:44:59,822 --> 00:45:01,615
We didn't have the money to do it,
897
00:45:02,199 --> 00:45:05,577
and if it was a huge failure,
then we were in trouble.
898
00:45:06,537 --> 00:45:08,664
I'd say that's an accurate statement.
899
00:45:09,373 --> 00:45:12,376
{\an8}Welcome, everyone!
Gorilla Monsoon here at ringside
900
00:45:12,376 --> 00:45:14,920
{\an8}as World Wrestling Entertainment presents
901
00:45:14,920 --> 00:45:18,924
the wrestling extravaganza
of all time, WrestleMania.
902
00:45:19,633 --> 00:45:22,261
I knew that
if we didn't pull this thing off,
903
00:45:23,053 --> 00:45:25,723
that we were completely out of business.
904
00:45:25,723 --> 00:45:29,268
- ["Eye of the Tiger" playing]
- [crowd cheering]
905
00:45:29,268 --> 00:45:31,895
[Gorilla] Thirty-five thousand plus
on their feet!
906
00:45:31,895 --> 00:45:34,565
The electricity is unbelievable!
907
00:45:35,107 --> 00:45:37,651
[announcer] The crowd definitely
behind Hulk Hogan and Mr. T.
908
00:45:40,112 --> 00:45:42,448
It was a roll of the dice. A big one.
909
00:45:45,075 --> 00:45:46,577
[commentator] Going nose-to-nose.
910
00:45:47,536 --> 00:45:50,414
[McMahon] But so many things
that night went right.
911
00:45:50,998 --> 00:45:52,875
It was a big success.
912
00:45:54,209 --> 00:45:57,504
[Bollea] From Vince's perspective,
you could not hit a bigger home run.
913
00:45:58,255 --> 00:46:01,383
It really was the sum of all the parts.
914
00:46:01,383 --> 00:46:03,469
[McMahon] When you think back
to WrestleMania I,
915
00:46:03,469 --> 00:46:07,139
I was trying to make a statement
as to what our business really is.
916
00:46:07,139 --> 00:46:10,559
We wanted to be all forms of entertainment
all rolled into one.
917
00:46:10,559 --> 00:46:11,602
[bagpipes playing]
918
00:46:11,602 --> 00:46:13,437
{\an8}[McMahon] When you have
extraordinary people
919
00:46:13,437 --> 00:46:17,065
{\an8}from all different parts
of entertainment combined,
920
00:46:17,065 --> 00:46:19,777
{\an8}that is sports entertainment.
That's what we're about.
921
00:46:21,236 --> 00:46:23,989
[Bollea] If there was ever
a perfect storm, this was it.
922
00:46:23,989 --> 00:46:26,825
Vince was very excited and very happy.
923
00:46:26,825 --> 00:46:29,244
You could tell. He was vibrating, man.
924
00:46:29,244 --> 00:46:31,955
He was on a high.
He knew we pulled it off.
925
00:46:31,955 --> 00:46:33,165
[applause]
926
00:46:33,165 --> 00:46:36,460
[reporter] Hulk Hogan and Mr. T
in a tag-team grudge match?
927
00:46:36,460 --> 00:46:38,253
They called it WrestleMania,
928
00:46:38,253 --> 00:46:41,632
the biggest event in pro wrestling
since Gorgeous George.
929
00:46:41,632 --> 00:46:44,718
Everybody in Madison Square Garden,
all the way around the world,
930
00:46:44,718 --> 00:46:46,804
now you know what it's all about...
931
00:46:46,804 --> 00:46:50,307
Right before the first WrestleMania,
the whole business was looking good.
932
00:46:51,058 --> 00:46:55,103
Vince was the strongest, but there were
still all these territories going on.
933
00:46:55,896 --> 00:46:58,440
After WrestleMania I, nobody knew it yet,
934
00:46:58,440 --> 00:47:01,568
other promoters didn't know yet,
but Vince won the war with that.
935
00:47:02,778 --> 00:47:05,030
{\an8}[McMahon] I don't know
if it was good for the industry.
936
00:47:05,030 --> 00:47:08,450
{\an8}It was good for me and my organization.
That's all I cared about.
937
00:47:08,450 --> 00:47:09,993
[crowd cheering]
938
00:47:09,993 --> 00:47:12,454
[Jimmy Hart] After WrestleMania,
in whatever city we were in,
939
00:47:12,454 --> 00:47:16,208
all of a sudden, more TV cameras
were everywhere in the buildings,
940
00:47:16,208 --> 00:47:18,335
and people wanted
to do interviews with us.
941
00:47:18,335 --> 00:47:22,047
It was such a major success,
it put a skyrocket on the company.
942
00:47:22,756 --> 00:47:26,885
[Bollea] This whole momentum
changed the wrestling business
943
00:47:26,885 --> 00:47:30,222
from cigar smokers and beer drinkers
who wanna see violence
944
00:47:30,806 --> 00:47:34,393
to having families in the front row
that wanna buy a ton of merchandise.
945
00:47:34,393 --> 00:47:38,730
It definitely made wrestling so mainstream
946
00:47:39,481 --> 00:47:42,234
there was no denying
that we were here to stay.
947
00:47:43,235 --> 00:47:47,072
[crowd cheering]
948
00:47:47,072 --> 00:47:49,408
[Shoemaker] WrestleMania I
is a huge success.
949
00:47:50,075 --> 00:47:50,909
It achieves
950
00:47:50,909 --> 00:47:54,413
more than Vince could've possibly
imagined for his company.
951
00:47:55,372 --> 00:47:58,333
But with greater success
comes greater scrutiny.
952
00:47:59,459 --> 00:48:01,295
And Vince becomes a target.
953
00:48:02,129 --> 00:48:04,923
[McMahon] That expression of
"there's no such thing as bad publicity..."
954
00:48:05,924 --> 00:48:07,551
That's BS, 'cause there is.
955
00:48:07,551 --> 00:48:10,679
[reporter] A special investigation
has turned up allegations
956
00:48:10,679 --> 00:48:13,682
that could outrage
the biggest wrestling fan.
957
00:48:13,682 --> 00:48:17,227
{\an8}A legal fight is in store for the head
of World Wrestling Entertainment.
958
00:48:17,227 --> 00:48:19,605
{\an8}It's a scandal that threatens
to knock him out of the ring.
959
00:48:20,314 --> 00:48:23,150
[Shoemaker] Right on the heels
of this huge success,
960
00:48:23,150 --> 00:48:26,653
Vince finds himself caught up
in a series of scandals
961
00:48:26,653 --> 00:48:29,114
that threaten to upend his entire world.
962
00:48:29,114 --> 00:48:32,242
[reporters overlapping]
963
00:48:32,242 --> 00:48:33,619
[tense music builds]
964
00:48:54,640 --> 00:48:58,352
[closing theme music playing]