20 Days That Changed WWE Forever

16. 10 February 1989 - Vince McMahon Outs The Industry

Chris Benoit Vince Mcmahon
WWE

Wrestling has always had a complicated relationship with the truth. Though results have been predetermined for over a century and newspapers have printed articles bringing the flimflam to light for as long, wrestlers still maintained a loyal adherence to kayfabe - the protection of the illusion. As such, many fans continued to believe wrestling was a competitive contest.

Vince McMahon never really cared much about the illusion. The style of wrestling he promoted after taking over the WWF made it harder and harder to believe in the legitimacy, and if that didn't do it for you, his constant claims that the WWF was "entertainment" and that the company was "competing with Disney" might have raised red flags. Still, it wasn't really out in the open until 10 February 1989.

On that day, McMahon went before the New Jersey State Senate in order to request that pro wrestling be classified as "an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators rather than conducting a bona fide athletic contest." His reasoning? If wrestling wasn't a sport, it would no longer be subject to regulations from athletic commissions, which would save the WWF many thousands of dollars a year. The Senate voted in McMahon's favor, and the book of kayfabe was closed forever.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013