10 Times KARMA WAS REAL In Wrestling

2. Vince McMahon's Pettiness Makes A Fool Of Him

Shawn Michaels
WWE

If Vince McMahon was as creative as he was malicious, there wouldn't an All Elite Wrestling.

He'd have used the unparalleled wealth and resources at his disposal to make effective, crowd-pleasing use of his monopoly before giving up that 100% market share. He got in his own way throughout the 2010s - chiefly, by telling the audience to go f*ck themselves with who they like - but this wasn't a new development.

He'd been bitten on the ass before.

In the early '90s, he decided that he wanted to push a new generation of fast, technical wrestlers who really knew their way around the craft of pro wrestling.

That is a lie; he was on the bones of his ar*e financially, so he could no longer afford Hulk Hogan, and it wasn't a capital idea legally to push his favoured type of wrestler because he was in deep sh*t with the feds.

He was left with smaller, more gifted wrestlers and pushed them as the New Generation (at first on a pay-per-view headlined by Jerry Lawler Vs. Roddy Piper). In order to really sell just how new this generation was, he - and this was so c*nty - celebrated the old-timers who'd had their day. He depicted Hulk Hogan alongside Bruno Sammartino in this compilation tribute of the good old days. Vince might as well have said that Hulk Hogan once worked George Hackenschmidt.

Then again, deluded fantasist Hogan would have said that too, to put himself over, but you get the idea.

It blew up in his face when WCW actually signed Hulk Hogan and, two years later, beat him at his own game.

 
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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!