10 Times Vince McMahon Sold His Soul

7. Maps To The Stars

Vince McMahon Stacy Keibler
WWE

Vince McMahon has always, almost without exception, been loyal to the concepts, ideas and talents that have been financially loyal to him. Old draws will always gain new opportunities, tired ideas will be reawakened if they worked well once, and few - if any - performers won’t be given second, third and fiftieth chances.

Celebrities were integral to the success of the very first WrestleMania, and became almost as crucial to McMahon again when he felt bereft of genuine stars a decade later. In a bind, McMahon donated his biggest night of the year to pop culture, but had most of the gesture thrown back in his face

What resulted was one of the worst ever 'Show Of Shows', with a card littered with 'stars' that contrived to matter less to the audience than the indifferent crop of performers at the time. Lawrence Taylor worked as hard as could have been expected for a non-wrestler taking a payday, but his mere presence irked expectant main eventer Shawn Michaels enough to go into business for himself in a problematic thriller with real life best mate Diesel.

'Big Daddy Cool' and 'HBK' saved an otherwise grim showcase. Even when celebrities weren't lingering (which wasn't very f*cking often), they were chasing other ones, with the hunt for Pamela Anderson taking up significant time ahead of her arrival on the Champion's arm instead of the Challenger's as planned.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett