10 Greatest Vince McMahon Creations

3. Mr. McMahon

Strowman Green
WWE.com

Much like the Attitude Era McMahon helped to define, he embraced the Mr. McMahon character with some reluctance.

McMahon has always been out of touch, to an extent. He genuinely thought fans would take his side in the aftermath of the Montreal Screwjob. When they didn't, if you can take Vince Russo at face value, he embraced the hatred and, with Russo's apparent urging, slowly dusted off his old McMemphis heel act and re-contextualised it as corporate antagonist to Steve Austin's renegade working class hero.

McMahon was so, so good in the role. He was a slimy menace in the USWA of 1993 - all hand-rubbing, leering arrogance. Five years later, his hilarious, high camp hatred of Austin was such that it appeared he had become rabid. His guttural delivery and Christmas ham facial expressions were such a memorable riot that they still pepper the social media feeds of fans and non-fans alike in 2017.

The crooked authority figure he played to perfection did monster business for the WWF and created a shared universe of storytelling that allowed many of the acts associated with him - Austin, Rock, Mankind - to get over to a heights they had never before managed.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!