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Vince McMahon reveals the childhood inspiration of his iconic Mr. McMahon character

Originally posted on WWE on ClutchPoints
By Matty Breisch | Last updated Sep 29, 2024 8:50 AM ET

When Vince McMahon signed up for an expansive, extensive documentary process to compare and contrast himself with his WWE persona, Mr. McMahon, it’s borderline impossible for him to imagine how the project would turn out.

With much of the filming taking place in 2021, with some more happening in 2022 before everything really hit the fan, McMahon was afforded plenty of chances to reveal who he really was behind the scenes and how his decision to join storylines as a character, instead of an impartial observer.

But where did the idea of Mr. McMahon come from? Well, like most good things, childhood, as he noted in his Netflix documentary.

“Mr. McMahon, of course, is a character derived from, uh, Vince McMahon and is a character to someone I could relate to when I was growing up. When I was growing up, I was dirt poor. Coming from that environment, I don’t like rich people, because I was around some people who thought they were better than me because, quote, more money. So, it felt like you weren’t anybody at all. You were a nobody. You learn certain things,” McMahon explained via Fightful.

“In those days, I could fight, and I loved to fight. If you could do that, well, now you’re somebody. I was good at fighting, but they would say, ‘You didn’t fight fair, you cheated.’ Yeah, I won.”

So, if Mr. McMahon’s inspiration for his character came from his childhood disdain for rich people like, well, his own father, why did he decide to use that as his public persona? Four words: because he’s a heel.

Vince McMahon wanted Mr. McMahon to be unliked by WWE fans

Continuing his comments in Mr. McMahon, Vince revealed why he decided to play a bad guy in his own promotion, especially considering he was literally the man in charge of deciding what did and didn’t come on television.

“So, with my character, Mr. McMahon, I can play someone who intimidates, because that was the way I grew up,” McMahon explained. “That was the way I thought rich people were; they’d try to intimidate you. I know how to be an arrogant person that just throws his weight around and a bully and stuff like that. It was easy for me to get into that character because I knew all the things that I disliked.”

After beginning his time in the WWF-now-WWE as a babyface announcer, McMahon really began down the heelish path in Memphis Championship Wrestling, where he served as a foil to babyface hero Jerry Lawler. While it’s impossible to know if this run was the inspiration for the career-defining character, it’s safe to assume he was happy with the results, as he agreed to a documentary as what at the time was expected to be a victory lap for the character.