10 Secrets To Vince McMahon's Success

6. Kevin Dunn

Vince McMahon WWE Champion
WWE.com

Kevin Dunn is persona non grata within the wrestling fandom, largely as a result of his documented hatred of - but massive influence over - professional wrestling. When he isn't making you sick with his various prejudices, he makes you motion sick with his multiple camera angles.

All that said: while Dunn has lost his touch in recent years (he seems to hate wrestling fans so much that he obscures them under garish lighting), his production nous propelled the WWF into elusive glitz territory.

Even Jim Crockett Promotions, the WWF's closest competitor, looked positively retrograde in comparison. Revisiting one of their major events, Starrcade '86: The Night of the Skywalkers, presents a stark comparison. The Greensboro Coliseum is cloaked in dingy darkness. Worked or otherwise, the publicised attendance of 30,000 just feels wrong; at times, the show looks deserted - and, consequently, small fry. Meanwhile, over in the WWF, the DayGlo bombast and the bright lights framed an inferior in-ring product as ultra-glamorous.

Credit, too, must go to David Sahadi - the man whose virtuoso vignettes ushered in an era of epic, borderline cinematic hype videos. And Jim Johnston, whose iconic, sting-laced entrance themes have firmly embedded themselves into the earlobes for decades.

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!