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[pensive music playing]
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[Paul Heyman]
The Shakespearean tragedy of this tale
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is that the great success that has been
enjoyed by Vincent Kennedy McMahon
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was driven by
the over-compensatory behavior
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rebelling against the first miserable
12 years of his life.
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And escaping that abuse
has been his life pursuit,
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in creating an atmosphere...
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[crowd cheering]
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...in which he is untouchable
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and invulnerable to outside forces,
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and in control of his own destiny.
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[pensive music continues]
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[David Shoemaker] What we know
about Vince McMahon's childhood
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we only know from Vince McMahon.
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Years ago, he did a Playboy interview
that talked about his upbringing,
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that talked about the physical abuse
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that he suffered
at the hands of his stepfather,
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and alluded to sexual abuse
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that he implied
was at the hands of his mother.
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[McMahon] I'm not big
at looking backwards at all.
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I don't know whether I'm afraid
to look back, like, "What's back there?"
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My childhood was what it was.
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It was difficult.
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I mean, there's fighting,
there's infighting, there's incest,
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and you don't like it,
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but I felt that as a kid, when you're
getting the crap beat out of you,
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once he stops, if you're still breathing,
you're still living, you win.
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[crowd cheering]
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[McMahon] I know from
a psychological standpoint,
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when you're abused as a kid,
the tendency is for you to abuse.
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I think sometimes that's just a cop-out.
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I've never subscribed to that.
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You know, anything rotten like that,
anything bad that happens to you,
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get rid of it.
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[indistinct shouting]
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Will it come forward on occasion? Sure.
Will it hurt on occasion? Sure.
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But throw it the fuck back there,
and go forward.
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[music fades]
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[crowd chanting indistinctly]
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Sorry. I'm so sorry.
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[indistinct]
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[man speaking on TV indistinctly]
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[Landsberg] Coming up next,
you will see for the first time ever
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Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon,
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the only two children
of Vince and Linda McMahon,
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talking about what it's like to have
their lives unfold before the cameras.
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I'm fascinated to know,
what was it like growing up as a McMahon?
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You wanna start? Go for it.
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[Shane McMahon] Being Vince McMahon's son,
I grew up in a very interesting world.
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[crowd cheering]
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[Shane] I always
wanted to be in the business,
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and the business
of the business, specifically.
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I start at a very early age.
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-[man over loudspeaker] One, two...
-Bleh.
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I remember being in the audience,
I remember being backstage.
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I was all over the place,
just soaking it all in.
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You know, I would sweep the ring.
I would take the guys' jackets back.
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-[crowd cheering]
-One...
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[Shane] And then I became
a referee and ring announcer,
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and you start earning your stripes.
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[announcer] Shane and Mr. McMahon!
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[Shane] My involvement as a performer
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started as a surrogate to my dad.
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[announcer] Did you see Shane
holding the ropes for his daddy?
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[Shane] If my dad pissed somebody off,
you couldn't get to the boss right away.
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You have to go through different layers.
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And it caught on,
and everybody was having fun,
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and we just ran with it.
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[announcer] A tremendous
chorus of boos for the boy wonder,
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the heir apparent to the throne...
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[Shane] And I loved it,
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getting the ability to go do something
I've always wanted to do
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since I was very little.
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[crowd cheering]
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-[announcer 1] Shane!
-[announcer 2] Shane McMahon!
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[crowd cheering]
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[Shane] So that's how
the family dynamic started to grow
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and eventually became Vince's daughter.
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Let me jump in
for just one second, please.
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I have always wanted to be
a part of this company,
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and I'm so proud to be today.
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[Stephanie] Growing up,
it was larger than life,
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and I could feel that as a kid.
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It was just the most exciting thing
to be a part of.
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[crowd cheering]
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[announcer] Unbelievable!
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[Stephanie] WWE
has always been polarizing,
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and when I was growing up,
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some people would love me
just because of who my father was,
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and some people
would not give me the time of day
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because of who my father was.
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[announcer] Vince McMahon, flanked there
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by his young daughter, Stephanie McMahon.
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{\an8}[interviewer] When did it first
get broached about you being a character?
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It was after I graduated college.
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Just relax, no pressure.
Everything will be good.
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-You're gonna take it easy on me?
-Oh, without a doubt.
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[Stephanie] A decision was made
in a very short period of time
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to give it a try and see how it went.
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-You're on!
-No!
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[Levesque] When Steph started to work
with us, it escalated incredibly fast.
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There was a storyline
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where Steph was getting married
to a talent named Test.
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But the writers,
they didn't know what the payoff was.
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There was never an ending to the story.
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So, I come up with an idea
and present it to Vince.
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You should take a look at this.
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[Levesque] "What if I was at
her bachelorette party, making her drink,
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and I end up getting married to her,
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like, at one of those
drive-thru things in Vegas?"
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He's like, "I love that."
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[announcer] Oh my God!
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I hate you!
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[Stephanie] And his line is,
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"And, Vince, it's not a question of if,
but how many times..."
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... how many times
did we consummate the marriage?
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[crowd clamoring]
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[announcer] My God. I cannot believe that.
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The first time we go back on TV
after this whole angle happens,
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the crowd turns on her,
and they're chanting "slut."
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[chanting] Slut! Slut! Slut! Slut!
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And Vince, as they're going crazy for her,
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he looks at me and he goes...
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Meaning, like, "This is money."
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[chanting] Slut! Slut! Slut!
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[McMahon] I've got
a big smile on my face 'cause that means
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the audience is participating.
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Anytime the audience is participating,
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they're loving what it is you're doing.
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[chanting] Slut! Slut! Slut!
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[McMahon]
So, Steph became this great heel.
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She was willing to do anything.
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She's always been,
"Whatever it is you want, Dad."
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She knew what I was trying to do.
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If anybody knows anything
about screwing, it's you!
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[crowd cheering]
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[Stephanie]
When I was younger in my career,
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I was just all on board
to do whatever he wanted.
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[announcer] Unhand her! Look at this!
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[Stephanie] I look back
on some of the stuff I did, and I'm like,
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"Oh my God. I can't believe I did that."
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Um... Yeah, for sure.
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[interviewer] Did you think it was weird
that your dad was having you do that?
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Um...
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Yeah, sometimes
I thought it was a little bit weird,
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but it was a different time
in our business.
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[crowd chanting] Slut! Slut! Slut! Slut!
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[Levesque] Of all the crazy stuff
that's happened in my life,
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from starting out as a fan to where I am,
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the family part of it
would probably be the craziest.
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-[officiant] You are legally married.
-Mm!
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[Levesque] So, after this storyline
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where Steph gets married to me
secretly against her will,
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it became this whole thing,
the McMahon-Helmsley Era,
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and now we're running WWE.
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The McMahon-Helmsley Era.
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That's where I'm with her every day.
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And that's how
we get to know each other, really.
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[Stephanie]
I was not allowed to date our talent,
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but it was my dad who, ironically,
sort of pushed us together.
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[McMahon] Paul, who's
a wonderful human being,
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he and I were friends,
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and I would even lead and say,
"Steph, you need to find somebody,
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a real man, you know,
someone like Triple H."
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And then my brother would say,
"Not Triple H."
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And my dad would go,
"Oh yeah, no, of course. Not Triple H,
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but a guy just like him." [laughs]
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Shane was very much against it.
Uh, vehemently so.
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-Let's go.
-[Shane] You make me sick.
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Hey, brother... Come on. Give me a hug.
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You know... [sighs] Storylines 101.
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"Don't date the boss's daughter."
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[McMahon] Shane came to me, said,
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"You're letting your daughter
date a wrestler?"
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"Shane, um, that's who I am."
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"I'm wrestling, I'm performing.
I don't know what you mean by that."
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And so, to me, it made sense for Stephanie
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to date and marry someone like Paul.
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[Levesque] As it's moving forward,
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there are moments in time
where it's Vince,
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and he's Vince McMahon-ing this,
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like, even as we're looking for locations
for the wedding at one point,
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he seriously suggests to us
holding it on pay-per-view.
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So, what if Stephanie and Paul's wedding
was live on pay-per-view?
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Wow. People would buy that.
It'd be awesome. It'd be great.
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And Steph said, "Uh... no."
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And when Steph says, "Absolutely not,"
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he's like, "Selfish."
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Like, "I can't believe you're selfish."
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[crowd cheering]
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{\an8}[Levesque] And then Vince
books Vince versus Steph,
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in, I believe, a street fight,
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six days before our legitimate wedding.
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[announcer]
He wants to humiliate his daughter!
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[Stephanie] I remember my mom
actually threatening my dad
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that if I had a black eye
or a broken ankle for my wedding,
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that she would divorce him on the spot.
[chuckles]
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Needless to say, I had no black eye.
I had no broken ankle.
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00:10:05,896 --> 00:10:09,775
I may have gotten choked out in the match,
but that's different.
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00:10:09,859 --> 00:10:13,362
Yeah, just craziness. Full-on craziness.
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00:10:13,446 --> 00:10:16,532
What the hell kind of family
did I marry into?
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00:10:16,616 --> 00:10:17,700
[announcer] Uh?! Right?
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[Levesque] You guys
have got to be the head
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00:10:20,077 --> 00:10:25,916
of the most dysfunctional family
on the planet!
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00:10:27,501 --> 00:10:30,129
[Meltzer] They create that
McMahon family soap opera,
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00:10:30,212 --> 00:10:33,674
and the kids ended up being
very popular performers. Super popular.
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00:10:34,634 --> 00:10:37,094
[interviewer] Where was Linda
during all this time?
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00:10:37,178 --> 00:10:39,221
She was definitely
a big part of all of this.
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00:10:39,305 --> 00:10:41,724
[announcer] Linda McMahon!
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00:10:42,850 --> 00:10:45,686
{\an8}[Meltzer] Linda was
very important in the company.
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00:10:45,770 --> 00:10:49,440
{\an8}World Wrestling Entertainment
is known as Vince McMahon's company.
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00:10:49,523 --> 00:10:52,276
The name that you seldom hear
was that of Linda McMahon,
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00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:57,073
and she is the Chief Executive Officer
of this company.
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There weren't a lot of titles,
okay, when I came on.
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00:11:00,201 --> 00:11:03,329
It was, Vince was the boss,
Linda was the second boss.
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00:11:04,455 --> 00:11:06,207
Linda handled the business.
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00:11:06,290 --> 00:11:09,543
Vince handled the creative and the vision.
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So, my mom introduced me
to Linda, my wife.
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I think I was 16.
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00:11:16,717 --> 00:11:19,387
Linda grew up
in a very middle-class family.
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Both parents worked, and nice houses.
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00:11:23,140 --> 00:11:28,813
Not rich, but real middle-class,
and I was just sort of attracted to that.
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[Linda] He had, kind of, you know,
the bad-boy reputation from high school,
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and so, you know,
I was the exact opposite.
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And, you know what? I liked it.
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[McMahon] Linda was, like,
17 when we got married, so very young.
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00:11:45,413 --> 00:11:48,332
And I promised her I'd always love her,
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and I promised her
that there'd never be a dull moment.
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00:11:51,502 --> 00:11:54,171
I've definitely lived up to that promise.
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[tense music playing]
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00:11:56,465 --> 00:11:57,341
[groans]
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-[announcer 1] Oh my God!
-[announcer 2] Oh no!
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00:12:00,219 --> 00:12:02,054
[announcer 1] Oh my God!
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00:12:02,138 --> 00:12:05,599
This is gonna hurt me
a lot worse than it hurts you.
235
00:12:05,683 --> 00:12:07,601
[announcer] Get her! What?
236
00:12:07,685 --> 00:12:10,146
[Stephanie] My mom
never wanted to be on TV. Ever.
237
00:12:10,229 --> 00:12:11,856
She hated being on television.
238
00:12:11,939 --> 00:12:15,317
She'd say, "Vince, please don't put me
in this position. I'm not a good actress."
239
00:12:16,193 --> 00:12:17,862
[Linda] Of the four of us, I'm probably
240
00:12:17,945 --> 00:12:20,406
the least comfortable
in front of the camera.
241
00:12:20,489 --> 00:12:22,074
And I'm not nearly as good at it
242
00:12:22,158 --> 00:12:24,034
{\an8}as Shane and Stephanie and Vince are.
243
00:12:24,118 --> 00:12:27,121
Congratulations, Triple H.
244
00:12:27,204 --> 00:12:29,790
[McMahon] She wasn't a good actress,
and she knew it,
245
00:12:29,874 --> 00:12:32,543
but Shane's involved,
Stephanie's involved, I'm involved.
246
00:12:33,169 --> 00:12:34,587
"We can use you as a character."
247
00:12:35,296 --> 00:12:37,923
So, without further ado,
248
00:12:38,007 --> 00:12:40,885
allow me to present my wife, Linda,
249
00:12:40,968 --> 00:12:45,765
accompanied by the beautiful Trish.
250
00:12:46,724 --> 00:12:48,517
[Stratigeas] I came
into the wrestling business
251
00:12:48,601 --> 00:12:50,644
in a little bit of non-traditional route.
252
00:12:50,728 --> 00:12:53,314
I was, um, doing fitness modeling.
253
00:12:54,148 --> 00:12:57,193
[announcer] Fitness model, you know her
from the cover of Muscle magazine.
254
00:12:58,027 --> 00:12:59,361
{\an8}Trish Stratus.
255
00:13:00,738 --> 00:13:03,991
[Stratigeas] As a fan growing up,
I was heavily into when Cyndi Lauper came,
256
00:13:04,074 --> 00:13:06,368
and she was with Wendi Richter.
That was like, "Oh my God!"
257
00:13:06,452 --> 00:13:09,288
Seeing a female in the ring at my age
was very cool.
258
00:13:10,372 --> 00:13:12,541
But when I first started in 2000,
259
00:13:13,083 --> 00:13:15,961
the female role was overtly sexual,
I would say.
260
00:13:16,712 --> 00:13:18,506
Well, Trish.
261
00:13:18,589 --> 00:13:19,924
-Mr. McMahon.
-Uh...
262
00:13:20,007 --> 00:13:21,717
[Stratigeas] One of my
very first storylines
263
00:13:21,801 --> 00:13:23,636
was being paired with Vince McMahon.
264
00:13:23,719 --> 00:13:27,056
Knowing I was about to work with the boss,
and with Mr. McMahon,
265
00:13:27,139 --> 00:13:29,266
was a huge opportunity.
266
00:13:29,350 --> 00:13:31,352
-I was super excited about it.
-[McMahon moans]
267
00:13:31,435 --> 00:13:32,478
Yeah.
268
00:13:32,561 --> 00:13:35,272
I don't think the storyline was pitched
like, "What's gonna happen
269
00:13:35,356 --> 00:13:36,816
is you're gonna be Vince's mistress."
270
00:13:36,899 --> 00:13:38,692
I've been very bad, Vince.
271
00:13:38,776 --> 00:13:40,277
I deserve a spanking.
272
00:13:40,861 --> 00:13:43,697
"And then you're gonna
eventually drug his wife."
273
00:13:43,781 --> 00:13:45,825
You did double up
Linda's dosage, did you not?
274
00:13:45,908 --> 00:13:46,742
Sure did.
275
00:13:46,826 --> 00:13:49,870
[giggles] It wasn't pitched like that.
I'd have gone, "What am I gonna do now?"
276
00:13:50,454 --> 00:13:51,705
It was something that evolved.
277
00:13:51,789 --> 00:13:54,124
It was like,
"Let's see where we can take this,"
278
00:13:54,834 --> 00:13:57,253
and, well, it took some interesting turns.
279
00:13:57,336 --> 00:13:58,587
Get this now.
280
00:13:58,671 --> 00:14:03,342
I kissed, uh, Trish Stratus
in front of my wife in a wheelchair.
281
00:14:03,425 --> 00:14:04,885
[announcer] Oh, no... Oh, my God.
282
00:14:04,969 --> 00:14:09,139
And the reason why we did that
was to show what a despicable heel I was.
283
00:14:09,223 --> 00:14:11,308
I mean, you can't get any more despicable.
284
00:14:12,434 --> 00:14:14,603
[Stratigeas] We were
very aware of what we were doing
285
00:14:14,687 --> 00:14:16,814
to provide fuel for our storyline,
286
00:14:16,897 --> 00:14:19,358
and Linda was super cool about it too.
287
00:14:19,441 --> 00:14:21,485
She was in on it.
You know, we were all in on it.
288
00:14:22,069 --> 00:14:24,738
There was a scene
where I lean over and I kiss Linda.
289
00:14:25,406 --> 00:14:27,199
And that came from Linda.
Like, she's like,
290
00:14:27,283 --> 00:14:30,369
"Oh, it would irk so many people if you
would lean over and kiss me on the head."
291
00:14:31,662 --> 00:14:34,957
[Linda] What you must do is evoke emotion,
292
00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:38,002
whether it's anger,
whether it's happiness.
293
00:14:38,085 --> 00:14:42,631
Even sometimes disgust, if the bad guy,
you know, went a little too far.
294
00:14:43,299 --> 00:14:45,426
But it's always about emotion.
295
00:14:45,509 --> 00:14:47,344
Have a nice Valentine's Day, Linda.
296
00:14:48,512 --> 00:14:50,639
[interviewer]
The on-screen affair with Trish.
297
00:14:50,723 --> 00:14:53,100
What was the family's reaction
to that one?
298
00:14:53,809 --> 00:14:57,271
I don't think our family
had an objection to it,
299
00:14:57,354 --> 00:15:00,399
because they knew I was a character.
300
00:15:00,482 --> 00:15:01,692
Trish was a character.
301
00:15:01,775 --> 00:15:04,737
So, as I recall, I don't think
anyone had a problem with it.
302
00:15:05,738 --> 00:15:09,700
If anything is mentioned about my mom,
usually, my first reaction is "no."
303
00:15:09,783 --> 00:15:13,579
You know, my mom's kind of sacred to me,
so, I didn't quite like that one.
304
00:15:14,163 --> 00:15:15,789
[interviewer] Shane said he was a little...
305
00:15:15,873 --> 00:15:17,666
-Oh, okay. [chuckles]
-[interviewer] You know.
306
00:15:18,250 --> 00:15:21,128
[McMahon] Well, Shane is a bit
more conservative than the rest of us,
307
00:15:21,211 --> 00:15:24,131
so, Shane may have had
a little bit of a problem with that,
308
00:15:24,214 --> 00:15:25,466
'cause he sometimes...
309
00:15:25,549 --> 00:15:28,260
"Wait a minute, 'cause, uh,
you're getting too close to real now."
310
00:15:28,344 --> 00:15:31,555
I'm thinking, "This is a storyline.
Characters entertaining the audience."
311
00:15:31,639 --> 00:15:33,265
"Just go with it."
312
00:15:33,349 --> 00:15:36,226
[crowd cheering]
313
00:15:40,606 --> 00:15:43,734
So, 15 years later,
um, I'll do interviews,
314
00:15:43,817 --> 00:15:47,279
we'll talk about the good old days,
and it... It never fails.
315
00:15:47,363 --> 00:15:50,199
It will always be like,
"So, there was this time..."
316
00:15:50,282 --> 00:15:51,158
And I'm like, "Mm-hm."
317
00:15:51,742 --> 00:15:55,329
"...when you got on all four
and you barked like a dog."
318
00:15:55,996 --> 00:15:58,958
I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!
319
00:15:59,041 --> 00:16:00,334
[announcer] You're sorry?
320
00:16:01,085 --> 00:16:03,587
Well, I'll tell you what,
if you're that sorry,
321
00:16:03,671 --> 00:16:06,590
then prove to me just how sorry you are.
322
00:16:08,050 --> 00:16:11,303
Get on your hands and knees like a dog!
323
00:16:11,387 --> 00:16:13,389
[announcer] Oh, for God's sakes.
324
00:16:13,472 --> 00:16:15,891
The "bark like a dog" scene
obviously is very memorable,
325
00:16:15,975 --> 00:16:18,018
and it was really [chuckles] um...
326
00:16:18,102 --> 00:16:19,853
Yeah, I wish they never did that one.
327
00:16:19,937 --> 00:16:21,647
I used to have a female dog
328
00:16:21,730 --> 00:16:24,316
and that bitch
did everything I told her to do.
329
00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:27,444
-Now, damn it, get down! Get down!
-[announcer] Aw, that's just too much.
330
00:16:27,528 --> 00:16:30,698
Bark like a dog. Come on.
Tell me you're sorry.
331
00:16:31,865 --> 00:16:33,534
[barking]
332
00:16:33,617 --> 00:16:36,829
[Stratigeas] With the "barking like a dog"
segment, they want me to be like...
333
00:16:36,912 --> 00:16:39,081
[exhales] It was horrible,
334
00:16:39,164 --> 00:16:43,210
but that's exactly the feeling
we wanted you to feel. Don't you get it?
335
00:16:43,794 --> 00:16:49,049
If you're really, really sorry, Trish,
take your clothes off!
336
00:16:49,133 --> 00:16:51,093
-[audience cheering]
-[announcer] Yes! Yea...
337
00:16:51,176 --> 00:16:52,678
I said take it off now!
338
00:16:53,303 --> 00:16:55,556
[announcer] What kinda man is... This is...
339
00:16:55,639 --> 00:16:57,391
[Sharon Mazer] That is an amazing
340
00:16:57,474 --> 00:17:01,520
"have your cake and eat it too"
kind of heel performance,
341
00:17:01,603 --> 00:17:05,691
because at the same time
that he's getting everybody to know
342
00:17:05,774 --> 00:17:09,486
that we're supposed to hate him,
he's giving them a titty show...
343
00:17:09,570 --> 00:17:11,697
Oh, you're sorry! You're sorry!
344
00:17:11,780 --> 00:17:14,241
Take your bra off and take it off now!
345
00:17:14,324 --> 00:17:16,493
[Mazer] ...knowing that
he's bad for doing so.
346
00:17:16,577 --> 00:17:21,331
It doesn't get in the way of the pleasure
of watching her be humiliated.
347
00:17:23,042 --> 00:17:26,462
I thought the segment sucked
when I saw it, but you know,
348
00:17:26,545 --> 00:17:31,633
wrestling was very much for guys
and guys who fantasized over hot women.
349
00:17:31,717 --> 00:17:35,929
But also kind of hated them
because they could never get them.
350
00:17:36,013 --> 00:17:40,976
So, therefore, seeing hot women demeaned
was kind of cool to a lot of those guys.
351
00:17:41,977 --> 00:17:45,272
It's a very ugly way to say it,
but that's exactly what it was.
352
00:17:45,355 --> 00:17:46,607
[crowd cheering]
353
00:17:46,690 --> 00:17:49,902
[Stratigeas] We knew we were presenting
a sensitive scene to the fans.
354
00:17:49,985 --> 00:17:53,322
We knew that it was gonna be talked about,
and be interpreted and misinterpreted,
355
00:17:53,405 --> 00:17:54,531
but we were aware of that.
356
00:17:55,532 --> 00:17:57,618
And the thing is, when we did that scene,
357
00:17:57,701 --> 00:18:00,662
we knew the comeuppance would come
at WrestleMania, the grandest stage.
358
00:18:00,746 --> 00:18:02,581
[crowd cheering]
359
00:18:04,458 --> 00:18:07,127
[Stephanie] Ultimately,
it played out at WrestleMania
360
00:18:07,211 --> 00:18:09,546
in a match with Shane against my dad.
361
00:18:09,630 --> 00:18:11,673
[tense music playing]
362
00:18:11,757 --> 00:18:13,801
[McMahon] It was son versus father,
363
00:18:13,884 --> 00:18:17,805
and in one corner
was my girlfriend, Trish.
364
00:18:17,888 --> 00:18:19,139
Storyline.
365
00:18:19,223 --> 00:18:22,559
And in Shane's corner was Linda, my wife.
366
00:18:23,769 --> 00:18:27,189
[Shane] I had to stand up for the abuse
that was going on with my mom.
367
00:18:27,272 --> 00:18:30,567
You know, I just couldn't take it anymore,
which would be accurate.
368
00:18:30,651 --> 00:18:33,904
And my sister taking the other side,
you know, like, cutthroat,
369
00:18:33,987 --> 00:18:35,030
very much like my dad.
370
00:18:36,073 --> 00:18:39,576
I was so nervous going into that match,
371
00:18:39,660 --> 00:18:42,329
because I've never
raised a hand to my father.
372
00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:44,540
It's always been one way. [chuckles]
373
00:18:45,833 --> 00:18:48,794
When I was younger,
my dad and I would wrestle.
374
00:18:49,670 --> 00:18:52,756
One time, my dad grabbed like,
all my rib meat.
375
00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,259
You know, he went in there,
on the skin and everything else.
376
00:18:55,342 --> 00:18:58,053
I went, "Oh!" and then as I peeled back,
he grabbed my hair in the back
377
00:18:58,137 --> 00:19:01,515
and then pushed me back, and I was like...
I was like, "You totally cheated."
378
00:19:01,598 --> 00:19:02,599
I go, "You can't do that."
379
00:19:02,683 --> 00:19:07,062
He says, "That's what I do in life.
I cheat, and I win." [chuckles]
380
00:19:07,146 --> 00:19:09,857
He goes, "Learn that lesson."
He says, "Sometimes you gotta cheat."
381
00:19:09,940 --> 00:19:11,984
And I was like, "All right."
382
00:19:13,235 --> 00:19:17,573
So before I went out in that match,
I started kind of panicking a little.
383
00:19:17,656 --> 00:19:19,616
I was like,
"Oh, I can't do it. I can't do it."
384
00:19:20,659 --> 00:19:24,163
I asked Shane to strike me,
and he's like, "I can't do it."
385
00:19:24,246 --> 00:19:25,873
"Slap me. You can do that."
386
00:19:25,956 --> 00:19:26,957
"No, I can't."
387
00:19:28,041 --> 00:19:29,084
"I can slap you."
388
00:19:30,627 --> 00:19:32,296
[announcer] Slapping his own son.
389
00:19:32,379 --> 00:19:35,048
[Shane] Bell rings. My dad hits me
with about four shots to the face.
390
00:19:35,132 --> 00:19:36,758
Like, right off the bat.
391
00:19:37,426 --> 00:19:39,928
[McMahon] I waffled him a couple of times,
and got his attention.
392
00:19:40,012 --> 00:19:42,389
And then he's like,
"Okay, no problem now." [laughs]
393
00:19:42,472 --> 00:19:45,976
And I was like: "Oh! Ah!"
My eyes swelled up under immediately.
394
00:19:46,059 --> 00:19:48,812
I was like, "Well, this may be
a little easier than I thought." [laughs]
395
00:19:48,896 --> 00:19:50,147
[grunts]
396
00:19:50,230 --> 00:19:52,065
-[announcer 1] My monitor!
-[announcer 2] God!
397
00:19:52,149 --> 00:19:53,066
Shane, stop!
398
00:19:53,150 --> 00:19:54,610
[crowd cheering]
399
00:19:58,363 --> 00:20:00,032
That was my WrestleMania moment that year.
400
00:20:00,616 --> 00:20:03,994
I was able to stand up to Vince McMahon
and everything he stood for.
401
00:20:04,077 --> 00:20:06,079
I mean, I remember
working with him on that moment.
402
00:20:06,163 --> 00:20:08,457
He's like, "Do not hold back."
403
00:20:08,540 --> 00:20:10,292
And I did not.
404
00:20:10,375 --> 00:20:15,339
[announcer] Vince, now just realizing
his sedated wife, Linda, is here!
405
00:20:18,050 --> 00:20:23,055
During the match with Shane,
Linda slowly stood up. [laughs]
406
00:20:23,639 --> 00:20:25,015
[crowd cheering]
407
00:20:25,098 --> 00:20:26,433
[announcer yelling]
408
00:20:26,516 --> 00:20:29,353
Right into the McMahon family jewels!
409
00:20:29,937 --> 00:20:32,439
It was a huge bop,
and we had to finish after that.
410
00:20:32,522 --> 00:20:36,485
[announcer] Wait a minute.
Vince is in one corner, Shane in another.
411
00:20:36,568 --> 00:20:38,946
[McMahon] The audience loves it
when it looks like it's real.
412
00:20:39,696 --> 00:20:40,906
-[thud]
-[announcer] Oh my God!
413
00:20:40,989 --> 00:20:43,992
[McMahon] Sometimes it is real.
These are real-life McMahons.
414
00:20:44,743 --> 00:20:47,788
When you build up the tension,
you build up these characters,
415
00:20:47,871 --> 00:20:51,250
and then you have the resolution
of that story, ah, it feels so good.
416
00:20:51,333 --> 00:20:54,419
[announcer] Shane McMahon
has defeated his father
417
00:20:54,503 --> 00:20:58,215
in a hellacious street fight
here at WrestleMania!
418
00:21:03,011 --> 00:21:05,347
[Meltzer] For Vince,
nothing was off-limits.
419
00:21:06,932 --> 00:21:09,351
What's real? What's not real?
It doesn't matter.
420
00:21:09,434 --> 00:21:12,813
If it's gonna draw money,
if it's gonna draw interest,
421
00:21:12,896 --> 00:21:16,733
anything that makes his business stronger
is open for him.
422
00:21:16,817 --> 00:21:20,654
I want you to give your mother a message,
and that is that soon,
423
00:21:20,737 --> 00:21:25,617
after this divorce is final,
there's gonna be a new Mrs. McMahon.
424
00:21:25,701 --> 00:21:30,455
A voluptuous Mrs. McMahon that
can keep up with my sexual prowess.
425
00:21:30,539 --> 00:21:31,415
Uh-huh.
426
00:21:32,749 --> 00:21:36,461
[Hammer] Vince was a master
of blurring storylines.
427
00:21:36,545 --> 00:21:41,008
He would twist something that started out
with a piece of reality,
428
00:21:41,091 --> 00:21:44,428
and then just take it step by step
429
00:21:44,511 --> 00:21:48,682
into a place where you didn't know
what to believe, what you didn't believe.
430
00:21:49,558 --> 00:21:52,060
You owe me... Sable.
431
00:21:53,395 --> 00:21:55,647
And when people like you owe me...
432
00:21:58,442 --> 00:22:01,653
I generally... collect.
433
00:22:03,405 --> 00:22:05,073
[Meltzer] Sable is probably one of the,
434
00:22:05,157 --> 00:22:08,368
as far as pure successes in marketing
for a short period of time,
435
00:22:08,452 --> 00:22:11,913
{\an8}she's one of the more
underrated characters they ever had.
436
00:22:12,456 --> 00:22:15,292
I mean, she was an absolute ratings draw.
437
00:22:15,959 --> 00:22:17,169
Sable'd get on the air,
438
00:22:17,252 --> 00:22:20,130
half a million people would tune in
during her segments.
439
00:22:20,630 --> 00:22:23,091
The only one I remember
who'd do better was Austin.
440
00:22:24,343 --> 00:22:29,681
But she left at the peak of her popularity
and sued the company.
441
00:22:29,765 --> 00:22:30,849
[reporter] In this corner,
442
00:22:30,932 --> 00:22:34,269
former World Wrestling Entertainment
women's champion Sable.
443
00:22:34,353 --> 00:22:36,480
Her opponent, Vince McMahon.
444
00:22:36,563 --> 00:22:39,733
At the center of this feud
is a $110 million lawsuit
445
00:22:39,816 --> 00:22:42,402
that included
charges of sexual harassment.
446
00:22:42,486 --> 00:22:45,614
So they were asking you
to do things you didn't want to do?
447
00:22:45,697 --> 00:22:46,907
-Yes.
-More or less. Okay.
448
00:22:46,990 --> 00:22:49,993
They were making me do things
I did not want to do, so...
449
00:22:50,660 --> 00:22:54,373
[Landsberg] Sable sued you,
the WWE, for $110 million,
450
00:22:54,456 --> 00:22:58,168
alleging amongst other things,
she felt degraded.
451
00:22:58,752 --> 00:23:01,713
I don't think I asked her to do anything
that was degrading at all.
452
00:23:02,506 --> 00:23:04,383
[interviewer] To another lawsuit,
who was Sable,
453
00:23:04,466 --> 00:23:07,427
and how did she factor
into the organization?
454
00:23:07,511 --> 00:23:10,597
Yeah, I don't remember much about Sable
in terms of the lawsuit.
455
00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:14,142
[interviewer] You don't remember any
of the allegations that came out of that?
456
00:23:14,226 --> 00:23:16,019
No, I don't. It's kind of a blur.
457
00:23:16,103 --> 00:23:18,522
All I know is she came back to work, so...
458
00:23:19,898 --> 00:23:25,237
Stephanie McMahon, I want you to meet
your new assistant, Sable.
459
00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:27,280
-[crowd cheering]
-[announcer] Whoa!
460
00:23:27,364 --> 00:23:29,908
Does Sable's body make you forget
461
00:23:29,991 --> 00:23:33,620
that Sable sued our company
for millions of dollars?
462
00:23:33,703 --> 00:23:35,705
That Sable jumped on the bandwagon
463
00:23:35,789 --> 00:23:37,833
of any person
who's trying to sue our company?
464
00:23:37,916 --> 00:23:39,459
It's all about money to her.
465
00:23:39,543 --> 00:23:41,294
That's all Sable cares about.
466
00:23:41,378 --> 00:23:44,548
And what did Sable sue for?
Sue you, sue me?
467
00:23:44,631 --> 00:23:46,967
She sued us for sexual harassment!
468
00:23:47,884 --> 00:23:52,222
The thing with Vince
is that Vince will do anything
469
00:23:52,305 --> 00:23:55,684
if he thinks it's right for business,
including hiring someone who sued him.
470
00:23:55,767 --> 00:24:00,063
Well, I guess there are
a couple of ways to thank you.
471
00:24:01,356 --> 00:24:03,066
Why don't we start with this?
472
00:24:04,526 --> 00:24:07,654
[interviewer] When you brought her back,
there was a storyline with your character
473
00:24:07,737 --> 00:24:09,114
where there was an affair.
474
00:24:09,197 --> 00:24:10,073
With who?
475
00:24:10,157 --> 00:24:11,158
With Sable.
476
00:24:11,241 --> 00:24:12,367
-Me?
-[interviewer] With you.
477
00:24:13,994 --> 00:24:16,580
-[man] Storyline.
-[Paul Heyman] Storyline.
478
00:24:16,663 --> 00:24:18,206
[chuckles] God.
479
00:24:19,499 --> 00:24:21,460
[Mazer] Because it's in the ring,
480
00:24:21,543 --> 00:24:25,922
we can be entertainingly appalled
by whatever he says or does,
481
00:24:26,006 --> 00:24:28,425
but we have plausible deniability,
482
00:24:28,508 --> 00:24:32,262
because it's just wrestling,
it's just a performance.
483
00:24:32,345 --> 00:24:36,141
We take for granted that Vince McMahon,
in constructing Mr. McMahon,
484
00:24:36,224 --> 00:24:39,269
has pulled from his own personal story
485
00:24:39,352 --> 00:24:41,271
in order to appeal to us.
486
00:24:41,354 --> 00:24:44,941
[interviewer] Do you remember in 2001,
you did that Playboy interview?
487
00:24:45,650 --> 00:24:46,485
Yes, right.
488
00:24:48,153 --> 00:24:51,656
[interviewer] And you talked in that one
about different affairs.
489
00:24:51,740 --> 00:24:54,534
[intriguing music playing]
490
00:25:00,665 --> 00:25:04,711
[interviewer] I was curious why
you would even go there in that article.
491
00:25:05,253 --> 00:25:08,715
In that article,
I felt like I was very straightforward.
492
00:25:08,798 --> 00:25:11,218
Uh, I wasn't playing a character then.
You know?
493
00:25:11,301 --> 00:25:13,970
It was a very straightforward,
honest reaction
494
00:25:14,054 --> 00:25:15,764
to the questions that were asked.
495
00:25:15,847 --> 00:25:17,849
[intriguing music continues]
496
00:25:24,606 --> 00:25:27,901
[interviewer] Did you feel like some
of these storylines that came up later,
497
00:25:27,984 --> 00:25:30,820
that you were incorporating
those elements from your life?
498
00:25:30,904 --> 00:25:32,864
-Or was that totally unrelated?
-[scoffs]
499
00:25:32,948 --> 00:25:34,574
Uh, totally unrelated.
500
00:25:34,658 --> 00:25:37,452
You know, again, me as a human being,
generally speaking,
501
00:25:37,536 --> 00:25:39,079
is not who that character is,
502
00:25:39,162 --> 00:25:42,499
although sometimes, people think
it's the same thing, jokingly,
503
00:25:42,582 --> 00:25:44,751
uh, but, nonetheless, no.
504
00:25:47,796 --> 00:25:53,009
Vince McMahon has had
one truly monogamous relationship
505
00:25:53,093 --> 00:25:54,678
in his entire life,
506
00:25:54,761 --> 00:25:57,931
and that's with
the business that he built.
507
00:25:58,848 --> 00:26:03,770
That's his passion.
That's his love. That's his master.
508
00:26:04,521 --> 00:26:06,523
Vince doesn't own the business.
509
00:26:07,148 --> 00:26:09,693
This business owns Vince McMahon.
510
00:26:10,318 --> 00:26:17,200
And he super serves it with his heart
and his passion and his life.
511
00:26:18,451 --> 00:26:21,788
And if that hurts his wife's feelings,
Stephanie's feelings,
512
00:26:21,871 --> 00:26:26,876
Shane's feelings, his father's feelings,
or his own feelings...
513
00:26:28,461 --> 00:26:29,921
those people be damned.
514
00:26:30,005 --> 00:26:32,340
-[blast]
-[crowd cheering]
515
00:26:34,009 --> 00:26:36,219
[reporter] With wrestling's
popularity soaring,
516
00:26:36,303 --> 00:26:38,513
the owners
of World Wrestling Entertainment
517
00:26:38,597 --> 00:26:43,101
put their heads together, and they've
decided to sell stock in their circus.
518
00:26:43,602 --> 00:26:46,354
The WWE is going public.
519
00:26:48,023 --> 00:26:49,941
[McMahon] Going public
meant a number of things.
520
00:26:50,734 --> 00:26:56,072
It made us legitimate,
but the primary reason is simply business.
521
00:26:56,656 --> 00:26:59,951
The amount of money
that was available to the company,
522
00:27:00,869 --> 00:27:03,955
it allowed us
to go into the casino business.
523
00:27:06,291 --> 00:27:08,501
It allowed us
to go into the restaurant business.
524
00:27:08,585 --> 00:27:10,086
[reporter] Wrestling fans went wild
525
00:27:10,170 --> 00:27:13,465
at the opening of a new restaurant bar
in New York's Times Square.
526
00:27:13,548 --> 00:27:16,051
{\an8}We're right in the middle of it.
That's where we belong.
527
00:27:16,926 --> 00:27:18,845
To have that investment,
528
00:27:18,928 --> 00:27:22,474
you can move it around,
you can reinvest in yourself, naturally,
529
00:27:22,557 --> 00:27:23,767
which we've always done,
530
00:27:23,850 --> 00:27:27,520
and you can look at other things
that might be of value.
531
00:27:28,188 --> 00:27:29,064
[crowd cheering]
532
00:27:29,147 --> 00:27:33,151
[announcer] Welcome, everybody,
once again, to WCW!
533
00:27:33,234 --> 00:27:38,573
Kidman and The Franchise
take their personal vendetta to the ring...
534
00:27:38,657 --> 00:27:40,492
...in a Viagra-on-a-pole match.
535
00:27:41,076 --> 00:27:44,871
[Gewirtz] By 2000,
WWE had taken firm control
536
00:27:44,954 --> 00:27:47,666
of the Monday Night Wars against WCW.
537
00:27:48,166 --> 00:27:49,876
We would just kind of laugh at it.
538
00:27:49,959 --> 00:27:52,837
-[announcer 1] Oh my goodness!
-[announcer 2] Mouth is full of Viagra.
539
00:27:52,921 --> 00:27:55,006
It was a long, slow, painful decline.
540
00:27:56,925 --> 00:28:00,095
It was a lot of different people
in charge,
541
00:28:00,178 --> 00:28:01,805
and it just hit rock bottom.
542
00:28:01,888 --> 00:28:03,348
[announcer] A dozen Twinkies there!
543
00:28:03,932 --> 00:28:06,476
[Prichard] It felt like
WCW wasn't even trying.
544
00:28:08,770 --> 00:28:12,399
{\an8}[Huffman] From a war perspective,
the guys fought as hard as they could,
545
00:28:12,482 --> 00:28:14,234
but I don't think you can win a war
546
00:28:14,317 --> 00:28:17,195
if you don't have the right people
in the war room
547
00:28:17,278 --> 00:28:18,905
making the right decisions.
548
00:28:19,489 --> 00:28:21,074
Get the hell out of my office.
549
00:28:21,157 --> 00:28:24,577
And just... I dare you.
Get it right. I dare you.
550
00:28:24,661 --> 00:28:27,247
Did Eric Bischoff
do a lot of things right? Perhaps.
551
00:28:27,330 --> 00:28:29,165
Did he do a lot of things wrong? Yes.
552
00:28:29,249 --> 00:28:31,668
He was the boss, but he dropped the ball.
553
00:28:32,711 --> 00:28:35,171
[Bischoff] It would be easy
for someone to say, "Look at Eric."
554
00:28:35,255 --> 00:28:38,717
"He went from being really successful,
and he let that success get to his head."
555
00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:40,719
I understand why someone would say that,
556
00:28:40,802 --> 00:28:44,180
but it's also someone who has no idea
557
00:28:44,264 --> 00:28:46,683
what was really going on
behind the scenes.
558
00:28:47,517 --> 00:28:51,396
[reporter] The birth of the largest media
and entertainment company in the world.
559
00:28:51,479 --> 00:28:55,442
The $7.5 billion merger
of Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting
560
00:28:55,525 --> 00:28:56,901
has been completed.
561
00:28:57,736 --> 00:29:00,363
[Bischoff] Things had gotten
so bad internally at WCW
562
00:29:00,447 --> 00:29:02,866
because of the AOL-Time Warner merger,
563
00:29:02,949 --> 00:29:06,619
where I was sitting in a room full of
12, 14 executives I'd never met before
564
00:29:07,203 --> 00:29:09,164
telling me how I was
gonna produce wrestling
565
00:29:09,247 --> 00:29:11,458
when none of them
had ever watched the product.
566
00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:13,209
[announcer] Oh my God!
567
00:29:13,293 --> 00:29:18,465
[Bischoff] None of those executives
wanted WCW as a part of AOL-Time Warner.
568
00:29:18,965 --> 00:29:20,967
{\an8}Wrestling was lowbrow entertainment,
569
00:29:21,050 --> 00:29:22,802
despite the fact
that it was hugely popular.
570
00:29:22,886 --> 00:29:25,388
[announcer] Is this an end of an era?
571
00:29:25,472 --> 00:29:27,348
[Meltzer] The narrative
is that the merger comes,
572
00:29:27,432 --> 00:29:29,142
and these people don't want wrestling.
573
00:29:29,225 --> 00:29:31,811
It's a crutch.
WCW was putting out a terrible product.
574
00:29:31,895 --> 00:29:33,897
[announcer 1] Guerilla warfare
in a swimming pool!
575
00:29:33,980 --> 00:29:35,607
[announcer 2] Here comes Buzzkill!
576
00:29:35,690 --> 00:29:36,649
[announcer 3] Number 69...
577
00:29:36,733 --> 00:29:39,819
I remember being told specifically
if our ratings were what they were
578
00:29:39,903 --> 00:29:41,362
and we weren't losing so much money,
579
00:29:41,446 --> 00:29:43,156
they were fine.
580
00:29:43,239 --> 00:29:45,617
When it became a big money-losing company,
581
00:29:45,700 --> 00:29:48,203
yes, they wanted to sell it
for obvious reasons.
582
00:29:48,286 --> 00:29:50,038
And so that opened the door to Vince.
583
00:29:50,121 --> 00:29:51,956
You listen to me, all right?
584
00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:54,042
[Shane] The company
got a call from Turner to say,
585
00:29:54,125 --> 00:29:56,586
"Hey, we're thinking about selling this.
Are you interested?"
586
00:29:57,545 --> 00:29:58,797
The answer is yes.
587
00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:00,340
And in about three days,
588
00:30:00,423 --> 00:30:02,592
the whole landscape
of the business changed.
589
00:30:03,718 --> 00:30:05,887
[McMahon] I often think about Ted Turner.
590
00:30:05,970 --> 00:30:09,182
And he said,
"Yeah, when it comes to the competition,
591
00:30:09,265 --> 00:30:10,975
I'm going to squish him like a bug."
592
00:30:13,478 --> 00:30:14,604
That didn't happen.
593
00:30:16,648 --> 00:30:19,859
[Meltzer] Vince bought the company
for $2.5 million,
594
00:30:19,943 --> 00:30:23,363
which he probably recouped
a million times over.
595
00:30:23,446 --> 00:30:26,574
It was frickin' buying Manhattan for $24.
596
00:30:27,158 --> 00:30:29,702
[Gewirtz] I was lucky
to be on the charter plane
597
00:30:29,786 --> 00:30:31,871
the night he purchased WCW.
598
00:30:31,955 --> 00:30:33,706
We had a celebration on that flight.
599
00:30:35,166 --> 00:30:39,462
I remember the plane ride
was pure insanity.
600
00:30:40,338 --> 00:30:41,589
But the next day?
601
00:30:42,423 --> 00:30:44,050
Business as usual.
602
00:30:44,634 --> 00:30:47,303
It was done very quietly
from a corporate level.
603
00:30:48,304 --> 00:30:54,227
But the way we communicated
the purchase of WCW to the entire fan base
604
00:30:54,310 --> 00:30:56,104
was live on air.
605
00:31:02,527 --> 00:31:03,611
Imagine that.
606
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:07,699
Here I am on WCW television.
607
00:31:08,908 --> 00:31:10,201
How can that happen?
608
00:31:11,244 --> 00:31:12,912
Well, there's only one way.
609
00:31:12,996 --> 00:31:15,373
You see, it was just a matter of time
610
00:31:15,456 --> 00:31:21,296
before I, Vince McMahon,
bought my competition.
611
00:31:21,379 --> 00:31:25,383
That's right. I own WCW.
612
00:31:25,466 --> 00:31:27,760
In the negotiation,
one of the things I wanted
613
00:31:27,844 --> 00:31:31,264
was two live shows
on different networks to crossover.
614
00:31:31,890 --> 00:31:33,766
{\an8}[Prichard] We did a live simulcast,
615
00:31:33,850 --> 00:31:36,561
{\an8}WCW's last Nitro in Panama City,
616
00:31:36,644 --> 00:31:38,271
and WWE was in Cleveland.
617
00:31:38,354 --> 00:31:40,565
And that was the big reveal.
618
00:31:40,648 --> 00:31:43,151
{\an8}[announcer] The winner
of the Monday Night Wars,
619
00:31:43,234 --> 00:31:44,652
{\an8}ladies and gentlemen,
620
00:31:44,736 --> 00:31:46,738
Vincent K. McMahon!
621
00:31:46,821 --> 00:31:49,032
[McMahon] The audience
was shocked, you know?
622
00:31:49,115 --> 00:31:52,493
And we were able to pull this off
without it breaking beforehand.
623
00:31:53,161 --> 00:31:55,371
Obviously, you all know
624
00:31:56,039 --> 00:31:59,626
I have acquired WCW.
625
00:31:59,709 --> 00:32:01,794
[crowd exclaims]
626
00:32:04,380 --> 00:32:07,634
I was tempted to watch it,
but I couldn't get myself to do it.
627
00:32:07,717 --> 00:32:09,010
It would be like...
628
00:32:10,303 --> 00:32:12,972
finally admitting that I was really beat,
629
00:32:13,056 --> 00:32:14,891
and I couldn't get myself to do it.
630
00:32:14,974 --> 00:32:18,019
You have to grab your competition
by the throat,
631
00:32:18,102 --> 00:32:21,397
and you've got to
squeeze the life out of your competition.
632
00:32:21,898 --> 00:32:23,983
Just like I did to WCW!
633
00:32:24,067 --> 00:32:26,277
[pensive music playing]
634
00:32:28,863 --> 00:32:31,908
[McMahon] It's not like
I get this great joy by winning.
635
00:32:32,450 --> 00:32:35,912
This is really arrogant to say...
I expect to win.
636
00:32:36,704 --> 00:32:41,250
So there's not this huge euphoria of,
"Yeah. I won. Way to go."
637
00:32:41,334 --> 00:32:43,086
That doesn't happen.
638
00:32:43,169 --> 00:32:45,171
It's gratifying,
but I'm onto the next thing.
639
00:32:46,381 --> 00:32:49,550
[Gewirtz] That was a tremendous high
because they took him to the brink,
640
00:32:49,634 --> 00:32:52,929
and he emerged victorious out of it.
641
00:32:53,846 --> 00:32:55,807
But, on the one hand,
it was a little bittersweet,
642
00:32:55,890 --> 00:33:00,395
because Vince thrives under pressure
and thrives under healthy competition.
643
00:33:00,478 --> 00:33:02,313
I think that brings out the best in him.
644
00:33:03,606 --> 00:33:06,067
Something is missing
when you don't have that anymore.
645
00:33:06,150 --> 00:33:10,488
So, you know, it's a new challenge now,
like starting a football league.
646
00:33:10,989 --> 00:33:14,450
[reporter 1] Fans with football fever
about to have their craving satisfied.
647
00:33:14,534 --> 00:33:15,994
There's a new game in town...
648
00:33:16,077 --> 00:33:19,163
[reporter 2] WWE mastermind Vince McMahon.
649
00:33:19,247 --> 00:33:22,166
He's taking his marketing genius
from the ring to the gridiron.
650
00:33:22,250 --> 00:33:28,297
Today, we are confident
in announcing our new brand, the XFL.
651
00:33:29,007 --> 00:33:33,386
I announced out of nowhere that
there's going to be a new football league.
652
00:33:33,970 --> 00:33:35,972
Not being prepared,
not in the football business,
653
00:33:36,055 --> 00:33:37,640
not knowing much about football,
654
00:33:37,724 --> 00:33:41,519
but there's an opportunity
to play football when the NFL is not.
655
00:33:41,602 --> 00:33:44,939
McMahon says it will be
the most exciting game in town.
656
00:33:45,023 --> 00:33:48,568
A brand-new football league, and one
with a decidedly different attitude.
657
00:33:48,651 --> 00:33:51,154
[announcer] A league
where players must train harder
658
00:33:51,237 --> 00:33:53,406
and push themselves to the extreme.
659
00:33:53,489 --> 00:33:54,866
That was his idea.
660
00:33:55,533 --> 00:34:00,580
Take the sport and put more
of a WWE flare and spin on it.
661
00:34:00,663 --> 00:34:04,667
Cameras and microphones on players
and coaches, in the locker room.
662
00:34:05,376 --> 00:34:08,337
I wanted football
that people could really relate to.
663
00:34:08,421 --> 00:34:10,423
You know,
make characters out of everybody.
664
00:34:10,506 --> 00:34:12,467
We can follow that from a TV standpoint,
665
00:34:12,550 --> 00:34:16,637
tell those stories so that you'd be
more interested in the characters.
666
00:34:16,721 --> 00:34:18,765
I think it's gonna be successful
for a lot of reasons.
667
00:34:18,848 --> 00:34:23,102
We understand America.
We understand what America wants to watch.
668
00:34:23,186 --> 00:34:25,730
In my view, this can't fail.
669
00:34:27,023 --> 00:34:30,151
[announcer] From a sold-out stadium
in Las Vegas,
670
00:34:30,234 --> 00:34:32,612
week one of the XFL.
671
00:34:32,695 --> 00:34:38,242
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the XFL!
672
00:34:38,326 --> 00:34:40,078
[cheering]
673
00:34:40,161 --> 00:34:41,412
[announcer 1] XFL is bold!
674
00:34:42,455 --> 00:34:43,748
[announcer 2] Whoa!
675
00:34:43,831 --> 00:34:44,749
[yelling]
676
00:34:44,832 --> 00:34:46,292
[whistle blowing]
677
00:34:47,043 --> 00:34:51,047
[McMahon] The first week of XFL ratings
were awesome, huge.
678
00:34:51,130 --> 00:34:53,591
And from my standpoint, it was a success.
679
00:34:53,674 --> 00:34:57,095
[reporter] Curiosity-seekers made
the first night of the XFL a success
680
00:34:57,178 --> 00:35:00,515
with a TV rating more than double
what advertisers were told to expect.
681
00:35:01,182 --> 00:35:03,976
[Gewirtz] I think the answer to,
"Are people willing to experiment
682
00:35:04,060 --> 00:35:06,896
with a McMahon-led football league?"
was a resounding yes.
683
00:35:07,730 --> 00:35:09,232
Everybody wanted to see it.
684
00:35:09,315 --> 00:35:13,736
It was just that when they did see it,
the quality of play was bad.
685
00:35:14,695 --> 00:35:17,115
[announcer] Larry, on the Hitmen offense,
from their 45...
686
00:35:17,198 --> 00:35:18,324
They got a piece of it!
687
00:35:18,407 --> 00:35:20,743
Not even swatted away, lost it!
688
00:35:21,661 --> 00:35:25,581
[Costas] The XFL had opened with a splash
because there was heavy promotion.
689
00:35:26,082 --> 00:35:29,710
The football was not of high quality,
but that didn't bother me.
690
00:35:29,794 --> 00:35:35,258
It was the whole WWE sensibility
that surrounded it.
691
00:35:36,717 --> 00:35:40,263
I thought it was just
head-bangingly stupid.
692
00:35:40,346 --> 00:35:41,389
And crude.
693
00:35:41,472 --> 00:35:44,892
[announcer] I love America!
It's the land of milk and honeys!
694
00:35:44,976 --> 00:35:48,437
[Costas] People think I'm a little
buttoned-up about these things,
695
00:35:48,521 --> 00:35:51,399
but everything has its place.
696
00:35:51,482 --> 00:35:53,276
If there's some wit surrounding it,
697
00:35:53,359 --> 00:35:55,778
if there's some element
of art or cleverness
698
00:35:55,862 --> 00:35:57,822
{\an8}or high craft surrounding it,
699
00:35:57,905 --> 00:36:00,825
then I don't give a fuck. Okay?
700
00:36:00,908 --> 00:36:02,326
I don't give a fuck.
701
00:36:02,827 --> 00:36:05,037
But this had none of that.
702
00:36:05,121 --> 00:36:08,833
{\an8}[anchor] Any question about the fan
demographic the XFL's trying to appeal to?
703
00:36:08,916 --> 00:36:12,712
Name the team Memphis Frustrated Males
Who Still Live With Mom.
704
00:36:13,296 --> 00:36:16,424
[McMahon] NBC thought they
really had a handle on the press,
705
00:36:16,507 --> 00:36:18,467
and the press
would treat us kindly. [chuckles]
706
00:36:18,551 --> 00:36:22,096
All the NBC executives
responsible for creating the XFL
707
00:36:22,180 --> 00:36:25,433
will be thrown to their deaths.
That's right.
708
00:36:25,516 --> 00:36:27,143
[intriguing music playing]
709
00:36:27,226 --> 00:36:28,936
[Costas] The XFL was a disaster.
710
00:36:30,313 --> 00:36:32,690
By the time Vince sat down with me,
711
00:36:32,773 --> 00:36:35,651
it had already recorded the lowest ratings
712
00:36:35,735 --> 00:36:39,030
in the history
of American prime time television.
713
00:36:39,113 --> 00:36:43,367
XFL ratings are down 75% from week one.
714
00:36:43,451 --> 00:36:45,745
I said to Vince
in the green room beforehand,
715
00:36:45,828 --> 00:36:47,914
"There are gonna be
some tough questions here."
716
00:36:47,997 --> 00:36:50,833
"I think they'll be fair, but tough."
He said, "Fine."
717
00:36:50,917 --> 00:36:54,921
I thought I was gonna go on
and talk about the XFL and be friendly.
718
00:36:55,004 --> 00:36:58,090
I was told that's what it was gonna be.
Costas started baiting me.
719
00:36:58,174 --> 00:37:00,593
The pregame show, especially week one.
720
00:37:00,676 --> 00:37:01,510
We don't have those.
721
00:37:01,594 --> 00:37:03,346
One of the most mindless things I've seen.
722
00:37:04,430 --> 00:37:06,849
Bob did his job. He did it well.
723
00:37:06,933 --> 00:37:07,850
He got me.
724
00:37:07,934 --> 00:37:11,103
-Wanna let me finish for a second, pal?
-I'm asking you the question.
725
00:37:11,187 --> 00:37:14,398
Then shut your mouth
and let me answer the question.
726
00:37:14,482 --> 00:37:15,942
I'll be happy to answer.
727
00:37:16,025 --> 00:37:18,736
And I find myself
getting closer and closer.
728
00:37:18,819 --> 00:37:21,280
I could feel my hands just visualizing
729
00:37:21,364 --> 00:37:24,325
what would it be if I had my hands
wrapped around his little neck.
730
00:37:24,408 --> 00:37:26,911
You don't know what you're talking about.
731
00:37:27,411 --> 00:37:30,164
The Mr. McMahon character is,
in some sense,
732
00:37:30,248 --> 00:37:33,417
an exaggeration of traits that Vince has.
733
00:37:33,501 --> 00:37:36,462
So, maybe in that moment,
some of it melded.
734
00:37:36,545 --> 00:37:38,923
-Would you let me finish?
-Absolutely.
735
00:37:39,006 --> 00:37:41,592
What I'm going to say there, pal.
With a big smile, okay?
736
00:37:41,676 --> 00:37:44,929
-This is amusing me.
-It's amusing you. You're amusing me.
737
00:37:45,012 --> 00:37:47,139
I was angry at myself too,
because I was set up,
738
00:37:47,223 --> 00:37:50,101
and I should have seen it coming,
and I didn't, like an idiot.
739
00:37:50,184 --> 00:37:53,688
-It's not WWE enough for that crowd.
-Right.
740
00:37:53,771 --> 00:37:57,024
And it's not good enough football
for the sports-minded crowd.
741
00:37:57,608 --> 00:38:01,487
I'm an entrepreneur.
I'm what makes this company.
742
00:38:01,570 --> 00:38:05,908
I'm what makes my company,
and this country, go round and round.
743
00:38:05,992 --> 00:38:07,702
I take risk.
744
00:38:07,785 --> 00:38:12,999
The first season of the XFL,
it turns out, will be the last.
745
00:38:13,082 --> 00:38:15,626
The league never took off
with the audience,
746
00:38:15,710 --> 00:38:17,169
or certainly with the critics.
747
00:38:20,006 --> 00:38:23,759
[Costas] The XFL failed
because it wasn't a good product.
748
00:38:24,302 --> 00:38:26,137
You know, in its best years,
749
00:38:26,220 --> 00:38:32,101
the WWE, on its own terms,
was a very good product.
750
00:38:32,727 --> 00:38:34,478
This was not a good product.
751
00:38:35,187 --> 00:38:38,024
[Gewirtz] I think the XFL
folding after for one year stung.
752
00:38:38,107 --> 00:38:40,693
I mean, you know,
Vince went all out on it.
753
00:38:40,776 --> 00:38:43,487
The XFL logo that people were seeing,
754
00:38:43,571 --> 00:38:46,907
it was Vince holding the XFL ball
and looking in the camera.
755
00:38:48,034 --> 00:38:48,951
Shit.
756
00:38:50,077 --> 00:38:51,245
That was the shit.
757
00:38:51,996 --> 00:38:54,582
[Prichard] During that time,
it was not good.
758
00:38:55,291 --> 00:38:58,461
One after another
after another after another.
759
00:38:59,086 --> 00:39:03,716
[reporter] World Wrestling Entertainment
cannot use "WWF" anymore.
760
00:39:03,799 --> 00:39:07,553
It got body-slammed today
by the World Wildlife Fund.
761
00:39:08,429 --> 00:39:10,389
[McMahon] When this lawsuit was filed,
762
00:39:10,473 --> 00:39:13,184
we tried to fight it,
as we do most lawsuits.
763
00:39:13,267 --> 00:39:15,895
And it looked like, "Wait.
We're not gonna win this thing."
764
00:39:16,479 --> 00:39:20,483
They had, in fact, used the initials WWF
long before we did.
765
00:39:21,067 --> 00:39:25,988
So it changed from WWF to WWE
because we were entertainment.
766
00:39:27,698 --> 00:39:31,285
It wasn't necessarily a good thing
that we had to change our name.
767
00:39:31,369 --> 00:39:34,288
I didn't want to change,
but you can't do anything about it.
768
00:39:34,372 --> 00:39:37,666
Once something is closed,
you have to move on.
769
00:39:39,668 --> 00:39:41,087
Whenever there's a failure,
770
00:39:42,213 --> 00:39:44,465
and there've been
a lot of failures in my life,
771
00:39:45,508 --> 00:39:48,594
if you allow it to fester, like,
"I wish that would have worked."
772
00:39:48,677 --> 00:39:52,181
"If I'd have done this, that would've
worked," it'll drive you nuts.
773
00:39:52,681 --> 00:39:55,643
Let it freaking go,
and think about something positive,
774
00:39:55,726 --> 00:39:58,604
and work at something positive,
not anything that's negative.
775
00:39:59,980 --> 00:40:06,570
Vince, you know, one of his, again,
many axioms is, uh, "Don't sell."
776
00:40:07,405 --> 00:40:09,573
So it's not like he was moping around.
777
00:40:09,657 --> 00:40:11,742
If you went to work the next day
778
00:40:11,826 --> 00:40:15,704
after XFL was finally
officially not coming back,
779
00:40:15,788 --> 00:40:17,206
you'd never know it.
780
00:40:17,289 --> 00:40:20,501
His focus was, "Okay.
What do you got for Raw? Let's do it."
781
00:40:22,545 --> 00:40:25,172
[Johnson] I remember a conversation
with Vince in one of the arenas.
782
00:40:25,256 --> 00:40:26,549
He pulled me aside and goes,
783
00:40:26,632 --> 00:40:29,218
"I have this idea
about bringing Hulk Hogan back,
784
00:40:29,301 --> 00:40:33,013
and I'd love for you guys to
headline WrestleMania. What do you think?"
785
00:40:33,097 --> 00:40:38,102
And I immediately said,
"I fucking love it."
786
00:40:38,811 --> 00:40:39,937
Icon versus Icon.
787
00:40:42,356 --> 00:40:43,732
-[man] How are you?
-Good, brother.
788
00:40:43,816 --> 00:40:44,817
[Bollea] When I went back
789
00:40:44,900 --> 00:40:49,822
after we spent nine or ten years being
a big thorn in Vince's side with WCW,
790
00:40:50,489 --> 00:40:52,700
and trying to put him
out of business, basically,
791
00:40:53,784 --> 00:40:56,745
we did not talk about the past.
792
00:40:58,164 --> 00:41:01,208
[McMahon] He's caused me, Hogan has,
a great deal of frustration,
793
00:41:01,292 --> 00:41:03,919
and there were times
that I wished I could choke him.
794
00:41:05,546 --> 00:41:08,174
But you can't hold grudges in business.
795
00:41:08,257 --> 00:41:12,219
My philosophy is
despite what has happened personally,
796
00:41:12,303 --> 00:41:13,679
what does the audience want?
797
00:41:13,762 --> 00:41:15,514
[crowd cheering]
798
00:41:15,598 --> 00:41:17,308
[McMahon]
All they want is to be entertained.
799
00:41:17,391 --> 00:41:21,020
So, naturally, you swallow your pride
and eat a nice plate of caca
800
00:41:21,103 --> 00:41:23,481
and bring him back, and there you go.
801
00:41:25,065 --> 00:41:26,942
[announcer] This is so special, J.R.!
802
00:41:27,026 --> 00:41:30,738
This is so unique!
This truly is a dream match!
803
00:41:30,821 --> 00:41:33,199
[Johnson] But thinking back
on that WrestleMania,
804
00:41:33,282 --> 00:41:36,327
I have goosebumps now, covering my body,
805
00:41:37,077 --> 00:41:41,290
because that crowd was on fire.
And we felt it.
806
00:41:42,249 --> 00:41:44,668
There was this iconic moment,
if you watch that,
807
00:41:44,752 --> 00:41:47,505
where they start absorbing
the crowd reaction
808
00:41:47,588 --> 00:41:51,091
and simultaneously
start looking to their left and right.
809
00:41:51,675 --> 00:41:53,552
That wasn't rehearsed or talked about.
810
00:41:53,636 --> 00:41:56,055
Those were just two legends
knowing to do that
811
00:41:56,138 --> 00:41:59,225
in the heat of the moment,
and that became the most memorable thing.
812
00:42:00,434 --> 00:42:02,603
[McMahon] It was two eras colliding.
813
00:42:03,562 --> 00:42:07,358
And neither individual knew
the way the audience was gonna react.
814
00:42:07,441 --> 00:42:08,359
I didn't.
815
00:42:08,859 --> 00:42:11,403
They were just ready
for whichever way it went.
816
00:42:11,487 --> 00:42:12,488
[grunting]
817
00:42:13,447 --> 00:42:16,033
[Bollea] I'm supposed to be the bad guy.
He's the good guy.
818
00:42:17,243 --> 00:42:18,160
[Johnson grunts]
819
00:42:18,994 --> 00:42:20,829
[Bollea] But The Rock started punching me,
820
00:42:20,913 --> 00:42:23,082
and they started booing him
out of the building.
821
00:42:23,165 --> 00:42:25,084
[crowd booing]
822
00:42:25,668 --> 00:42:27,336
The script had to be changed.
823
00:42:29,296 --> 00:42:31,924
[Johnson] The moment we stepped
in the ring, the crowd let us know.
824
00:42:34,510 --> 00:42:39,139
"We love you, Rock, but tonight,
Hogan is the reason why you're here."
825
00:42:40,015 --> 00:42:46,188
I had to shift on the fly
and nuance my way through this match.
826
00:42:47,481 --> 00:42:49,316
We didn't change the finish.
827
00:42:50,359 --> 00:42:51,944
I still went over that night.
828
00:42:52,570 --> 00:42:55,406
-[bell ringing]
-But the real winner was Hulk Hogan.
829
00:42:55,906 --> 00:42:57,783
[crowd cheering]
830
00:42:59,827 --> 00:43:03,664
[interviewer] Do you think Vince
ever trusted you after going to WCW?
831
00:43:06,625 --> 00:43:10,796
I think I probably got
a higher level of trust now... [chuckles]
832
00:43:10,879 --> 00:43:11,839
...than I ever have.
833
00:43:13,882 --> 00:43:16,051
I think there's a certain level of comfort
834
00:43:16,135 --> 00:43:19,805
to know that I can't rip the shirt off
and put 100,000 people in the building.
835
00:43:19,888 --> 00:43:20,889
[chuckles]
836
00:43:22,141 --> 00:43:23,892
[Gewirtz] Every decision he makes
837
00:43:23,976 --> 00:43:26,437
is with an eye towards
what's good for business.
838
00:43:27,605 --> 00:43:29,481
Bringing people back that he's fired,
839
00:43:29,565 --> 00:43:32,192
bringing back people
who've testified against him in court,
840
00:43:32,276 --> 00:43:34,778
people who've gone on interviews
and blasted him,
841
00:43:34,862 --> 00:43:38,032
and still bringing them back
if he thinks it helps the company.
842
00:43:38,616 --> 00:43:43,078
Allow me to introduce you
to the new general manager of Raw,
843
00:43:43,162 --> 00:43:45,372
Eric Bischoff!
844
00:43:45,456 --> 00:43:47,666
-[crowd cheering]
-[announcer] I cannot believe this!
845
00:43:47,750 --> 00:43:50,836
People go, "I'm afraid
to burn my bridge with Vince,"
846
00:43:50,919 --> 00:43:53,172
and I go, "You know, if you do,
847
00:43:53,255 --> 00:43:56,800
you have a better shot of going back than
if you don't." That's how Vince operates.
848
00:43:58,302 --> 00:44:00,220
[interviewer] Do you think
it's a control thing?
849
00:44:00,304 --> 00:44:01,972
It's a challenge.
I think it's a challenge.
850
00:44:03,140 --> 00:44:04,600
If you knock him,
851
00:44:04,683 --> 00:44:07,811
he's going to want to prove at the end
that you'll come back to him.
852
00:44:07,895 --> 00:44:09,730
[Bollea] Thank you, thank you. Love you.
853
00:44:09,813 --> 00:44:10,773
[man] Five weeks...
854
00:44:11,857 --> 00:44:13,859
I don't think my personal feelings
855
00:44:13,942 --> 00:44:16,528
have ever got in the way
of doing good business.
856
00:44:16,612 --> 00:44:19,740
[rock music playing]
857
00:44:20,741 --> 00:44:23,911
There's one thing I've learned
from the Montreal Screwjob.
858
00:44:23,994 --> 00:44:26,997
There's nothing sweeter
than a good double-cross.
859
00:44:27,706 --> 00:44:29,041
[McMahon] I'm in business.
860
00:44:30,542 --> 00:44:32,044
And business comes first.
861
00:44:32,127 --> 00:44:33,796
[crowd cheering]
862
00:44:36,882 --> 00:44:38,592
[Meltzer] From a general
public standpoint,
863
00:44:38,676 --> 00:44:41,929
the hottest period they ever had
was '98 to 2002,
864
00:44:42,012 --> 00:44:46,767
when they were taking over from WCW
and then killing WCW.
865
00:44:46,850 --> 00:44:50,729
And then after that, after WCW went down,
the whole business went down.
866
00:44:51,522 --> 00:44:54,900
During the periods with no competition,
wrestling's a lot less interesting,
867
00:44:54,983 --> 00:44:58,612
and as far as the creative end,
they fell from their peak.
868
00:44:59,697 --> 00:45:03,367
[Austin] At that time, I'm riding
the lightning bolt, I'm on fire,
869
00:45:03,450 --> 00:45:06,620
but I was frustrated
with the creative process.
870
00:45:07,871 --> 00:45:10,791
[McMahon] There were times when Steve
was presented an idea,
871
00:45:11,375 --> 00:45:13,293
and he would go,
872
00:45:13,377 --> 00:45:15,087
"I'd never say this."
873
00:45:15,170 --> 00:45:16,213
"I don't like it."
874
00:45:16,296 --> 00:45:17,715
"I don't like the creative."
875
00:45:17,798 --> 00:45:20,551
{\an8}Steve, lay it all on the line.
Give us the bottom line.
876
00:45:20,634 --> 00:45:22,678
{\an8}Bottom line is everything sucks.
877
00:45:22,761 --> 00:45:25,222
{\an8}I'm not happy with the direction
Stone Cold is going.
878
00:45:25,305 --> 00:45:27,516
{\an8}Ain't happy with the direction
of the company.
879
00:45:27,599 --> 00:45:29,977
Things were not good at that point
for Vince and I.
880
00:45:30,644 --> 00:45:35,107
But I also had a lot of injuries,
and I decided I've had about enough.
881
00:45:35,190 --> 00:45:40,362
Probably be in the best of my interest
to ride off into the sunset.
882
00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:44,116
He was a huge star, and he's gone.
883
00:45:44,867 --> 00:45:47,327
[Gewirtz] It's a very malleable product,
the WWE.
884
00:45:48,036 --> 00:45:49,913
Stars leave all the time.
885
00:45:49,997 --> 00:45:54,460
Someone like The Rock,
because he took off in the movies.
886
00:45:56,170 --> 00:45:58,046
The Rock, him and Austin
887
00:45:58,130 --> 00:46:02,509
were probably 1 and 1A as far as
being the top names in the company.
888
00:46:02,593 --> 00:46:04,845
Both of them were gone by 2004,
889
00:46:04,928 --> 00:46:07,514
and so now it's time to make new stars.
890
00:46:09,516 --> 00:46:13,187
So, there was an infamous promo where
Vince was addressing the Raw roster...
891
00:46:13,270 --> 00:46:17,399
More than any one quality that makes me
the successful man that I am,
892
00:46:18,317 --> 00:46:20,778
I would have to say that one quality is...
893
00:46:21,695 --> 00:46:23,822
And he said, "Ruthless aggression."
894
00:46:24,406 --> 00:46:26,450
...ruthless aggression.
895
00:46:26,533 --> 00:46:27,659
[crowd cheering]
896
00:46:27,743 --> 00:46:31,288
He gave a speech
to the entire cast of performers,
897
00:46:31,371 --> 00:46:33,957
he'd be like, "Guys, we are searching."
898
00:46:34,041 --> 00:46:37,711
"This is the time.
I need someone with ruthless aggression."
899
00:46:37,795 --> 00:46:42,758
Who has enough ruthless aggression
to make the necessary sacrifices?
900
00:46:42,841 --> 00:46:47,054
I'm looking for someone who's gonna,
like, "Okay. I'm the fucking guy."
901
00:46:47,137 --> 00:46:51,558
Who among you wants to become a superstar?
902
00:46:52,851 --> 00:46:55,979
[Cena] At that time,
I was new and up-and-coming talent,
903
00:46:56,063 --> 00:46:59,107
so I wasn't there
for the on-camera speech,
904
00:46:59,191 --> 00:47:00,984
but three days after that,
905
00:47:01,068 --> 00:47:04,988
I was at a television taping
where The Undertaker couldn't make it.
906
00:47:05,906 --> 00:47:09,618
Come on, guys. There's gotta be somebody
back there that wants to seize the moment.
907
00:47:09,701 --> 00:47:10,786
[Cena] They needed somebody.
908
00:47:10,869 --> 00:47:14,873
And one person in the production meeting
was like, "How about John Cena?"
909
00:47:15,874 --> 00:47:18,544
And that's how I got
my first televised match.
910
00:47:18,627 --> 00:47:22,172
[announcer] This is John Cena.
We've heard a little bit about him...
911
00:47:22,256 --> 00:47:27,177
[Cena] It was against Kurt Angle,
a marquee performer in the WWE.
912
00:47:27,261 --> 00:47:30,806
What is the one quality that you possess
913
00:47:31,723 --> 00:47:33,267
that makes you think
914
00:47:34,268 --> 00:47:37,104
that you can walk out here
and come into the ring
915
00:47:37,187 --> 00:47:39,439
and face the very best in the business?
916
00:47:39,523 --> 00:47:42,192
John Cena basically says,
"Why am I gonna beat you?"
917
00:47:42,276 --> 00:47:44,695
"Because of ruthless aggression."
918
00:47:46,029 --> 00:47:48,907
Ruthless aggression.
919
00:47:48,991 --> 00:47:49,908
[announcer] Whoa!
920
00:47:50,659 --> 00:47:53,620
[Gewirtz] So that kind of spawned
the next few years or so,
921
00:47:53,704 --> 00:47:57,958
and it became, after the fact,
known as the Ruthless Aggression Era.
922
00:47:58,041 --> 00:47:59,877
[intense music playing]
923
00:47:59,960 --> 00:48:02,588
[Cena] This was an era that was
coming off of pushing the envelope
924
00:48:02,671 --> 00:48:05,132
and transitioning
to an era of more realism.
925
00:48:05,215 --> 00:48:07,384
They were showcasing guys' ability.
926
00:48:07,467 --> 00:48:10,137
Guys like Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle.
927
00:48:10,220 --> 00:48:12,180
They were using people's real names.
928
00:48:12,264 --> 00:48:16,518
Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton,
Chris Benoit, Bautista.
929
00:48:16,602 --> 00:48:18,937
It was a phase of realism.
930
00:48:19,605 --> 00:48:23,442
So I had to be John Cena,
and I really didn't know who I was.
931
00:48:24,610 --> 00:48:27,029
{\an8}And I didn't have personality.
932
00:48:27,112 --> 00:48:29,197
I just kept being this guy.
933
00:48:30,073 --> 00:48:31,241
It was uninteresting.
934
00:48:32,200 --> 00:48:33,911
[boy] You suck, John Cena!
935
00:48:33,994 --> 00:48:37,247
Like, I almost got fired
for being that bad.
936
00:48:38,290 --> 00:48:40,125
[announcer] Frustration by John Cena.
937
00:48:40,208 --> 00:48:42,419
[Cena] But when you kinda knew
you were on your way out,
938
00:48:42,502 --> 00:48:44,379
I really wanted to have a little more fun.
939
00:48:45,255 --> 00:48:49,217
Some of the guys just happened
to be rapping on the back of the tour bus,
940
00:48:49,843 --> 00:48:52,763
and I got up in my seat,
made my way to the back,
941
00:48:53,347 --> 00:48:57,059
and for five minutes,
I shredded everybody.
942
00:48:57,809 --> 00:49:00,354
I didn't realize
that Stephanie McMahon was on the bus.
943
00:49:00,437 --> 00:49:02,397
She said,
"Would you like to do that on TV?"
944
00:49:03,774 --> 00:49:05,609
I said, "Fuck yes, I would."
945
00:49:06,526 --> 00:49:09,279
♪ Besides open mic
One thing that gets me boiled ♪
946
00:49:09,363 --> 00:49:11,990
♪ Is an old-school 30-man battle royal ♪
947
00:49:12,074 --> 00:49:14,701
♪ I'mma witness
I'mma make my impression ♪
948
00:49:14,785 --> 00:49:17,871
♪ Show Vinnie Mac
That I got ruthless aggression... ♪
949
00:49:17,955 --> 00:49:19,498
[McMahon] John had the ability to rap.
950
00:49:20,082 --> 00:49:20,916
Bingo.
951
00:49:20,999 --> 00:49:25,754
Instead of being someone that you
might want to cut from the roster,
952
00:49:25,837 --> 00:49:30,509
it was like, "Hang on. This is different.
This is very different."
953
00:49:30,592 --> 00:49:34,972
John Cena, the Doctor of Thuganomics.
954
00:49:35,055 --> 00:49:38,767
[McMahon] He went out there
balls to the wall and did it so well.
955
00:49:39,643 --> 00:49:43,063
All of a sudden, he was a huge star,
and the audience loved him.
956
00:49:43,772 --> 00:49:49,236
[announcer] ...for the new WWE Champion,
John Cena!
957
00:49:49,319 --> 00:49:51,571
[crowd chanting] Cena! Cena! Cena!
958
00:49:51,655 --> 00:49:53,198
[Cena] When you become popular,
959
00:49:53,865 --> 00:49:57,327
and the audience understands you
and reacts to you,
960
00:49:58,161 --> 00:50:01,999
that's when you begin
to garner Vince's attention.
961
00:50:02,749 --> 00:50:04,626
[McMahon] You kinda remind me of myself.
962
00:50:04,710 --> 00:50:06,586
You come out here,
you say what's on your mind.
963
00:50:06,670 --> 00:50:09,172
You don't give a damn
about anybody else, do you?
964
00:50:09,673 --> 00:50:13,010
That's when our relationship
really began to... to pick up.
965
00:50:14,052 --> 00:50:17,597
Vince taught me a ton about the business
and how to perform.
966
00:50:18,598 --> 00:50:23,270
As the rap persona, I took so many things
that I saw and didn't like
967
00:50:23,353 --> 00:50:25,981
and crafted them into this character.
968
00:50:27,524 --> 00:50:30,986
It's the same thing Vince did
with Mr. McMahon.
969
00:50:31,069 --> 00:50:33,071
[crowd cheering]
970
00:50:34,990 --> 00:50:38,243
[McMahon] In terms of getting heat
with my character, Mr. McMahon,
971
00:50:38,744 --> 00:50:41,455
one of my problems
and one of my assets in life
972
00:50:41,538 --> 00:50:44,958
is when I think about doing something,
I go try it.
973
00:50:45,042 --> 00:50:46,960
-[announcer] What's that? [indistinct]
974
00:50:47,044 --> 00:50:48,587
[crowd cheering]
975
00:50:48,670 --> 00:50:54,009
Blessed be the name
of Vincent Kennedy McMahon!
976
00:50:54,092 --> 00:50:55,177
[thunder rolls]
977
00:50:55,260 --> 00:50:57,220
The highway to hell!
978
00:50:57,304 --> 00:50:58,513
[kid] No!
979
00:50:59,306 --> 00:51:01,183
[interviewer] Was there a point
during that time
980
00:51:01,266 --> 00:51:05,187
where you got a script or something
and were just like, "This is too far"?
981
00:51:05,270 --> 00:51:06,104
Yeah.
982
00:51:06,188 --> 00:51:08,690
I screwed your brains out.
983
00:51:08,774 --> 00:51:10,776
Vince would make me do it anyways.
984
00:51:11,359 --> 00:51:13,862
There was a bit of a concern
amongst performers
985
00:51:13,945 --> 00:51:17,365
that if you didn't do what you were asked,
that you would get punished,
986
00:51:17,449 --> 00:51:22,204
and, yeah, it did happen to some
on occasion, sometimes.
987
00:51:23,121 --> 00:51:25,791
There was one time
where I was the champion at the time,
988
00:51:25,874 --> 00:51:29,961
and then suddenly I was in a scene where
I was gonna be making out with a female,
989
00:51:30,045 --> 00:51:33,507
which I didn't think
my character wanted to do.
990
00:51:35,550 --> 00:51:39,096
Was it a coincidence that
I lost the championship the next week?
991
00:51:39,179 --> 00:51:43,308
[announcer] ...Stratus. Will it be enough?
Yes, it is! We got a new champion!
992
00:51:43,391 --> 00:51:44,893
Maybe. [chuckles]
993
00:51:44,976 --> 00:51:46,978
Maybe I got punished. I'm not sure.
994
00:51:47,479 --> 00:51:49,022
[announcer] The new women's champion...
995
00:51:49,106 --> 00:51:52,109
[interviewer] You said there were
a few times that you said no.
996
00:51:52,192 --> 00:51:54,736
Do you remember
some of the things you said no to?
997
00:51:55,487 --> 00:51:56,446
Yes.
998
00:51:56,530 --> 00:51:57,531
Um...
999
00:51:57,614 --> 00:51:58,782
[chuckles]
1000
00:51:59,616 --> 00:52:01,785
Yeah. There were a couple, but...
1001
00:52:02,369 --> 00:52:06,039
Yeah, I'm... not going to tell the one.
1002
00:52:06,123 --> 00:52:07,332
[laughs]
1003
00:52:08,125 --> 00:52:12,212
So, one of my storyline ideas
was that Stephanie gets pregnant,
1004
00:52:12,879 --> 00:52:16,591
and I think... [chuckles]
...I was the one who impregnated her.
1005
00:52:16,675 --> 00:52:18,135
My character.
1006
00:52:18,218 --> 00:52:20,053
I think it was something like that,
1007
00:52:20,137 --> 00:52:22,848
and it was like, "No."
That one didn't make it.
1008
00:52:25,225 --> 00:52:29,020
[Levesque] Steph has
Mr. McMahon the character,
1009
00:52:29,604 --> 00:52:32,149
Vince McMahon the boss of WWE,
1010
00:52:32,899 --> 00:52:34,651
and her father.
1011
00:52:35,152 --> 00:52:37,612
It's hard to separate.
1012
00:52:37,696 --> 00:52:40,448
-[screaming, grunts]
-[crowd cheering]
1013
00:52:41,241 --> 00:52:44,995
[Stephanie] I call him "Vince"
in business, and I call him "Dad" at home.
1014
00:52:45,078 --> 00:52:48,039
My father is different than my boss.
1015
00:52:48,623 --> 00:52:51,001
My boss can be tougher than my dad.
1016
00:52:51,084 --> 00:52:56,631
He expects results. He demands results,
especially from his family.
1017
00:52:57,424 --> 00:53:01,052
[Gewirtz] Vince, he didn't
wanna do total nepotism.
1018
00:53:01,136 --> 00:53:04,055
It wouldn't reflect good on Vince
or on Shane and Stephanie,
1019
00:53:04,139 --> 00:53:07,184
so he had them in the trenches
working various jobs
1020
00:53:07,267 --> 00:53:09,811
before they came on
in prominent positions.
1021
00:53:09,895 --> 00:53:11,855
And he was tough on them.
1022
00:53:11,938 --> 00:53:14,107
When Shane and Stephanie
were pitching ideas,
1023
00:53:14,191 --> 00:53:15,400
he'd flat-out reject them.
1024
00:53:15,483 --> 00:53:17,194
He'd flat-out say they sucked.
1025
00:53:17,903 --> 00:53:20,280
He wants to hold them
to a higher standard.
1026
00:53:20,780 --> 00:53:23,366
[interviewer] Would you say your dad
was tough on you growing up?
1027
00:53:23,450 --> 00:53:26,786
My dad was definitely tough on me
growing up. Still is to this day.
1028
00:53:27,287 --> 00:53:32,292
I was harder on my kids in the business
than anybody else.
1029
00:53:33,418 --> 00:53:36,713
I guess it's because I wanted them
to be better than everybody else.
1030
00:53:36,796 --> 00:53:40,091
Their last name is McMahon,
so step the hell up.
1031
00:53:40,175 --> 00:53:41,635
[photographer] One, two...
1032
00:53:41,718 --> 00:53:44,679
[Shane] Always a higher standard.
You know, I represent him,
1033
00:53:44,763 --> 00:53:48,516
and it's very important
to represent him correctly.
1034
00:53:48,600 --> 00:53:49,893
Mariss, come down here.
1035
00:53:49,976 --> 00:53:51,436
-Attagirl.
-[photographer] One, two...
1036
00:53:52,270 --> 00:53:55,607
[Stephanie] He was certainly
easier on me than Shane, for sure,
1037
00:53:55,690 --> 00:53:58,276
but I didn't challenge him
the same way my brother did.
1038
00:53:58,360 --> 00:54:02,280
I think there's a unique relationship
with fathers and sons.
1039
00:54:02,364 --> 00:54:03,615
[announcer 1] Father and son!
1040
00:54:03,698 --> 00:54:04,866
[announcer 2] Wait a minute.
1041
00:54:04,950 --> 00:54:09,162
[Levesque] People send you articles
and books or whatever on family business.
1042
00:54:09,246 --> 00:54:12,457
I've never seen one that was like,
"Dad was great."
1043
00:54:12,540 --> 00:54:14,251
"Got along great with my dad,
1044
00:54:14,334 --> 00:54:16,544
then he gave me the business,
and it went great."
1045
00:54:16,628 --> 00:54:18,296
"We got along great till he passed..."
1046
00:54:18,880 --> 00:54:20,423
Doesn't happen. It's tough.
1047
00:54:20,507 --> 00:54:22,217
Shane, what are you doing?
1048
00:54:24,010 --> 00:54:26,221
You gotta look no further than Shane.
1049
00:54:26,304 --> 00:54:28,348
[Shane] You never cared about me!
1050
00:54:28,431 --> 00:54:30,642
I couldn't do anything right for you!
1051
00:54:30,725 --> 00:54:32,143
Nothing is ever right!
1052
00:54:32,227 --> 00:54:35,146
My business deals,
no matter how much money I made you,
1053
00:54:35,230 --> 00:54:37,565
was never good enough for you!
1054
00:54:37,649 --> 00:54:41,611
What the McMahon family has about it
is a lot of people don't know
1055
00:54:41,695 --> 00:54:45,073
the internal dynamics
of what goes on in real life.
1056
00:54:45,156 --> 00:54:48,285
Like, "Is it that cutthroat
behind the scenes?"
1057
00:54:48,368 --> 00:54:50,453
The only thing I ever wanted from you...
1058
00:54:50,537 --> 00:54:53,915
The only thing I ever wanted
is for you to be proud of me!
1059
00:54:53,999 --> 00:54:55,417
Of me!
1060
00:54:56,960 --> 00:55:00,380
But I finally figured it out.
That's never ever gonna happen,
1061
00:55:00,463 --> 00:55:02,340
because it's never been about me.
1062
00:55:02,424 --> 00:55:05,552
It's always been about you! You, Dad!
1063
00:55:06,219 --> 00:55:09,055
[Shane] But you don't
peel back that curtain all the way,
1064
00:55:09,139 --> 00:55:12,267
because why would you ever
straighten that out? Let people talk.
1065
00:55:12,350 --> 00:55:14,936
This is about family business.
1066
00:55:15,020 --> 00:55:18,481
This is about us, Dad.
This is about you and me.
1067
00:55:18,982 --> 00:55:22,277
Oh, no, no, no.
This is not family business anymore.
1068
00:55:22,360 --> 00:55:25,447
This is my business.
1069
00:55:26,239 --> 00:55:29,784
I would suggest
that you get the hell out of here,
1070
00:55:29,868 --> 00:55:31,661
whether you're my son or not.
1071
00:55:31,745 --> 00:55:33,455
Right now.
1072
00:55:35,582 --> 00:55:37,917
[Hammer] I never really quite understood
1073
00:55:38,001 --> 00:55:41,463
where Shane fit into everything
over the years.
1074
00:55:41,546 --> 00:55:46,426
Sometimes he was being embraced.
Sometimes he was completely invisible.
1075
00:55:46,509 --> 00:55:49,012
I never understood what was going on,
1076
00:55:49,095 --> 00:55:53,183
but I always felt he was a bit
of the black sheep of the family,
1077
00:55:53,266 --> 00:55:55,935
and I never knew what the actual story was
1078
00:55:56,019 --> 00:55:59,397
behind what happened
with his relationship with his dad.
1079
00:56:00,982 --> 00:56:04,611
[Meltzer] Shane absolutely
wanted to be the next McMahon,
1080
00:56:04,694 --> 00:56:06,529
and he always figured he would be.
1081
00:56:06,613 --> 00:56:11,659
At one point, he wanted his dad
to buy him a company that he could run
1082
00:56:11,743 --> 00:56:15,497
and prove that he was
the next generation McMahon promoter
1083
00:56:15,580 --> 00:56:17,665
before he takes over WWE.
1084
00:56:18,666 --> 00:56:20,460
[announcer] Let's get it on, baby.
We've been...
1085
00:56:20,543 --> 00:56:23,922
[Shane] At the time, the UFC,
they got in some financial problems
1086
00:56:24,005 --> 00:56:28,426
and came to us and said,
"Would you like to purchase the UFC?"
1087
00:56:29,177 --> 00:56:32,597
I go, "This is cool."
I said, "Dad, let's go for this one."
1088
00:56:33,723 --> 00:56:36,434
I felt we could really grow that brand,
1089
00:56:36,518 --> 00:56:39,938
because it's tailor-made for what we do.
1090
00:56:40,021 --> 00:56:42,982
We have a production team,
live events team, merchandising team.
1091
00:56:43,066 --> 00:56:45,610
We have all of it just ready to go.
1092
00:56:45,693 --> 00:56:47,695
So, to me, it was plug-and-play.
1093
00:56:48,530 --> 00:56:51,241
[McMahon] When it was presented
in terms of buying UFC,
1094
00:56:51,324 --> 00:56:53,535
I didn't like that business model,
1095
00:56:54,411 --> 00:56:57,622
{\an8}because our business model
is you create characters,
1096
00:56:57,705 --> 00:56:59,582
{\an8}much like Disney or someone else,
1097
00:56:59,666 --> 00:57:01,543
{\an8}and we can use them forever,
1098
00:57:02,377 --> 00:57:06,005
{\an8}as opposed to a boxer/UFC.
1099
00:57:06,089 --> 00:57:09,259
Once you're beat,
hurt or something, your career is over.
1100
00:57:09,342 --> 00:57:11,845
{\an8}This is the real deal.
There's no acting involved.
1101
00:57:11,928 --> 00:57:14,597
There's no way these guys
could act this good.
1102
00:57:15,265 --> 00:57:17,725
We're in show business. That's a sport.
1103
00:57:18,226 --> 00:57:21,479
So anyway,
he thought about it and passed and...
1104
00:57:22,230 --> 00:57:25,150
He passed on the opportunity,
and that was that.
1105
00:57:26,484 --> 00:57:28,570
[interviewer] Would it have been
a good investment?
1106
00:57:28,653 --> 00:57:32,073
Hindsight's always 20/20. I think it
would've been an excellent investment.
1107
00:57:33,783 --> 00:57:37,620
{\an8}[McMahon] Ten years later or something,
UFC was sold for a lot of money,
1108
00:57:37,704 --> 00:57:42,041
and Shane, I think, wants to take credit
for the idea of buying UFC.
1109
00:57:42,125 --> 00:57:44,961
Shane really thought that's the way to go.
1110
00:57:45,044 --> 00:57:48,631
So, if that's the way you think, "Shane,
take your money and put it in." [chuckles]
1111
00:57:48,715 --> 00:57:51,634
Which didn't work... It wouldn't work, but...
1112
00:57:51,718 --> 00:57:54,762
'Cause it would take a huge investment,
and Shane only had a little,
1113
00:57:54,846 --> 00:57:57,015
so that's not a good investment.
1114
00:57:58,683 --> 00:58:02,812
[Heyman] Most definitive moment
I've ever seen between Vince and Shane
1115
00:58:03,396 --> 00:58:06,566
was a creative argument
that happened one night.
1116
00:58:06,649 --> 00:58:11,070
Shane had an idea
that he really believed in,
1117
00:58:11,154 --> 00:58:13,198
and Vince totally disagreed with it.
1118
00:58:13,698 --> 00:58:17,285
And with most things
that happen with Vince,
1119
00:58:17,827 --> 00:58:21,164
once they start to escalate,
they escalate really fast.
1120
00:58:22,123 --> 00:58:26,336
And Vince finally turned to Shane,
and he said, "Not while I'm alive."
1121
00:58:27,170 --> 00:58:30,089
And Vince, who was eating something,
1122
00:58:30,173 --> 00:58:32,675
took his knife and handed it to Shane,
1123
00:58:32,759 --> 00:58:36,888
and he says,
"Right there. Come on. Right there."
1124
00:58:36,971 --> 00:58:41,726
"If you want this so bad,
stick the dagger right here,
1125
00:58:42,268 --> 00:58:44,896
because that's what
you're gonna have to do
1126
00:58:44,979 --> 00:58:46,814
to make that decision."
1127
00:58:47,398 --> 00:58:50,235
"And if you don't
stick the dagger right here,
1128
00:58:51,194 --> 00:58:53,488
then I'll know
you're not man enough to do it,
1129
00:58:53,571 --> 00:58:56,366
and I have to take that
into consideration as well."
1130
00:58:56,866 --> 00:58:59,702
"Or you can buy me out...
1131
00:59:00,912 --> 00:59:02,956
the way I bought out my father."
1132
00:59:03,498 --> 00:59:05,625
"And if I don't get out of your way,
1133
00:59:06,668 --> 00:59:09,337
be prepared to get rid of me
1134
00:59:09,420 --> 00:59:12,340
the way I would have
had to get rid of my father
1135
00:59:12,423 --> 00:59:15,677
when he wasn't doing things
my way at all."
1136
00:59:17,136 --> 00:59:20,265
[tense music playing]
1137
00:59:20,348 --> 00:59:24,227
[Shane] It was a really hard decision
for me to leave the only thing that I love
1138
00:59:24,310 --> 00:59:27,230
and the only business
I ever wanted to work in my life,
1139
00:59:27,313 --> 00:59:30,775
but my dad, especially then,
was strong at the helm,
1140
00:59:30,858 --> 00:59:34,320
and I was like, "If this is the time
for me to go try certain things,
1141
00:59:34,404 --> 00:59:35,613
then that's the time."
1142
00:59:37,282 --> 00:59:38,950
[McMahon] The reason why Shane left...
1143
00:59:39,033 --> 00:59:41,452
Shane wanted to take the chair,
so to speak,
1144
00:59:41,536 --> 00:59:43,454
and thought it was time for me to leave.
1145
00:59:44,706 --> 00:59:48,793
Shane had a lot of value,
but it wasn't his company.
1146
00:59:48,876 --> 00:59:49,794
It was mine.
1147
00:59:50,295 --> 00:59:53,881
It's so difficult for family business.
Damn, it's difficult.
1148
00:59:54,465 --> 00:59:57,385
It was almost like
we were opposed on everything,
1149
00:59:57,468 --> 00:59:59,178
and we grew apart.
1150
00:59:59,846 --> 01:00:02,098
[Shane] Just weren't seeing eye-to-eye
on certain things.
1151
01:00:02,181 --> 01:00:04,183
But he's the boss.
1152
01:00:04,684 --> 01:00:07,228
When he says to paint something blue,
we're painting it blue.
1153
01:00:07,979 --> 01:00:12,567
And I was just like, "I can either
stay in here and watch us implode,
1154
01:00:12,650 --> 01:00:15,653
or it's time to step back."
1155
01:00:15,737 --> 01:00:19,782
He's my dad, you know?
I'm not gonna jeopardize that.
1156
01:00:19,866 --> 01:00:21,868
So I decided to step away.
1157
01:00:24,412 --> 01:00:27,790
So I thanked him and gave him a hug,
and that was it.
1158
01:00:28,916 --> 01:00:31,502
[McMahon] Everyone has
to understand their place.
1159
01:00:31,586 --> 01:00:35,131
And when a family member thinks,
"Wait a minute. I've got this..."
1160
01:00:35,214 --> 01:00:38,885
Get to stepping! This is my show!
I'm running things here!
1161
01:00:39,886 --> 01:00:41,721
...they don't quite have the vision...
1162
01:00:41,804 --> 01:00:42,930
I have the power!
1163
01:00:43,014 --> 01:00:45,933
...as someone who's grown
and created a business.
1164
01:00:46,934 --> 01:00:49,812
They have a different vision,
and it may work.
1165
01:00:49,896 --> 01:00:52,690
But you know what?
We're gonna go with my vision. [chuckles]
1166
01:00:53,691 --> 01:00:58,029
[announcer] Nothing that Shane McMahon
planned has gone right for him tonight!
1167
01:00:58,112 --> 01:01:01,032
I would advise anyone,
don't bring your family into the business.
1168
01:01:01,115 --> 01:01:01,949
It's brutal.
1169
01:01:02,033 --> 01:01:04,243
Somewhere along the line,
it's going to explode.
1170
01:01:04,327 --> 01:01:05,662
[firecrackers exploding]
1171
01:01:06,621 --> 01:01:09,582
[reporter 1] Over decades,
McMahon turned the WWE
1172
01:01:09,666 --> 01:01:12,835
into a billion-dollar
entertainment juggernaut.
1173
01:01:13,920 --> 01:01:17,423
{\an8}But recent events indicate
that leadership could be changing.
1174
01:01:17,507 --> 01:01:19,676
{\an8}[reporter 2] New bombshell allegations
of sexual abuse.
1175
01:01:19,759 --> 01:01:22,136
{\an8}-[reporter 3] I mean, this is damning.
-[reporter 4] Insane!
1176
01:01:22,220 --> 01:01:24,555
[reporter 5] Are they gonna
jettison Vince? I don't know.
1177
01:01:24,639 --> 01:01:27,058
[reporter 6] The future of this company
hangs in the balance.
1178
01:01:27,141 --> 01:01:31,646
[reporter 7] This most recent scandal
is going to shock everyone.
1179
01:01:31,729 --> 01:01:33,731
[music fades]
1180
01:01:43,825 --> 01:01:47,787
[closing theme music playing]