10 Secrets To Vince McMahon's Success
2. Balls The Size Of Grapefruits
Grapefruit-sized balls, stubbornness, strength of conviction: call it what you will. McMahon's single-mindedness is what has elevated WWE into the single-most successful wrestling company to have ever existed.
McMahon formally terminated kayfabe, in 1989, in order to avoid steep regulation. People were p*ssed. He was not remotely bothered. You only need watch any footage of the WWF's Golden Age to determine that 99% of those physiques were artificially inflated - and McMahon still defeated the federal government in his steroid trial. He floated his company on the stock exchange - his pro wrestling company.
Even his failures were gloriously noble; the XFL was a financial catastrophe, but there's something hilarious and telling about the mentality behind it. McMahon thought himself capable of competing with the NFL. Of course he's going to get something unforeseen over. McMahon even flaunted one of many deaths under his watch in the face of his widow, 24 hours later, in a sociopathic drive to absolve his company of it.
He resisted the urge to turn John Cena heel when virtually every wrestling fan above a certain age begged him to do it. Paradoxically, he risked the safe option - but then, that's McMahon: a fascinating maze of contradictions.