10 Times WWE Got Buyer's Remorse
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It's legitimately difficult to imagine Vince McMahon ever owning up to regretting anything.
If asked, he'd surely say that kickstarting the World Bodybuilding Federation afforded him the opportunity to experience talent from a completely different world that would help him get closer to the ones in his existing "universe". If queried, he'd likely argue that putting Lex Luger on a bus only to win by count-out at the final destination was actually a good use of company money because of all the USA b-roll they had bottled for video packages in the years that followed. If pushed, he'd be only too happy to say the XFL was so groundbreaking during its first life that he had no f*cking doubt, pal, that he'd be able to bring it back 20 years later.
These three misfires cost McMahon millions of dollars and almost certainly damaged his entrepreneurial reputation in the process, but they were so inherently him in their planning and execution that's it's laughable to even suggest he'd have a shred of remorse. And they're far from the only examples of the time he's sent good money after bad on some wild whim stored at the back of his batsh*t brain.
If only he had as much patience for all of his wrestlers...
10. Bret Hart
Working an angle after re-securing Bret Hart's signature in 1996, Vince McMahon cut a relieved figure at the commentary desk as the 'Hitman' pledged to be with WWE "forever" during his 21st October Raw return.
McMahon was acting then, just as he was a year later when he agreed to a "schmoz" in Montreal.
In his incredible autobiography, Hart theorised that McMahon regretted the unprecedented 20-year contract almost immediately after he'd agreed to it. Only really audible to trained ears - and Bret's were more trained than most - McMahon and Jim Ross subtly reduce Hart's typical excellence in his return match against Stone Cold Steve Austin at that year's Survivor Series, despite his execution being as on-point as ever.
'The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be' wasn't just believable ballyhoo by that point - it had never been truer. Keen to earn his money and retain industry-wide respect in contrast to bitter rival Shawn Michaels, Hart was as masterful as he'd ever been in his iconic, earth-shifting feud with 'The Rattlesnake'.
1997 was arguably his best ever year, but the ruthless and shrewd McMahon had already started imagining it as his last.