10 Things We Learned From VICE’s Dark Side Of The Ring: WWE Brawl For All

9. Vince McMahon Initially "Didn't Get It"

Vince McMahon was riding high in 1998. His WWF was a money-making machine, and he had mega-hot characters like 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and D-Generation X to rely on. So, why would the boss buy into some legit shoot-fighting tourney that'd potentially injure his superstars and damage the product by acknowledging that everything else was phoney?

Russo is one hell of a salesman, that's why.

The writer told VICE that McMahon "didn't get it" ("it" being his out there call to have guys paste the p*ss out of one another for real on episodes of Raw) at first, and the writer actually had to talk him round. He did so by playing to Vinnie Mac's own predatory, alpha male instincts. That got Vinnie's juices flowing, so to speak.

Jim Ross chimed in to note that McMahon was obsessed by anything that revolved around toilet humour. It was the same with genuine competition - he grew to love the thought of men proving themselves against one another. That'd be a mistake.