10 Most Radical Wrestler Attitude Adjustments
3. Vince McMahon
The Chairman’s acolytes often talk about McMahon’s “forgiveness” using the countless ex-performers that have made unexpected returns to the WWE fold over the years, but realities reflect that McMahon will always see green before he does red.
Just as how his former wrestler rehabilitation programme was set up for “two words: public relations”, the financial value - particularly in this era of Network-orientated super-service - of getting as many old names under the umbrella as possible has never been greater.
This wasn’t so much the case in 2002 when Booker T’s genuine shock on a July edition of Monday Night Raw was perhaps the only appropriate way of revealing the sight of a face McMahon had publicly loathed when taking his side to war five years earlier.
Eric Bischoff assuming a role as the first ever Monday Night Raw ‘General Manager’ in the early days of the original brand split was a “Never Say Never” moment unlike any before or since. The president was set with ‘Easy E’s appearance for ‘The E’ - if the only man that landed tangible blows on McMahon’s North American wrestling dominance could serve a purpose beyond making up the numbers on historic DVD projects. Jerry Lawler painted a vivid picture of a fuming Vince back in their days commentating together on losing Raw broadcasts - a brave new world had clearly been entered.