7 Deadly Wrestling Sins (And Who Committed Them)

"I know what you people want better than you do!"

This was an old Mr. McMahonism - an in-character line delivered by a fictional despot - but then, Mr. McMahon and Vince McMahon were one and the same. Vince McMahon has spent his entire career as a promoter thinking he knows best. Strictly speaking, he's not wrong; he's the objectively most successful promoter in the history of the industry. But he's fading in his old age.

AEW should never have happened. That can never be overstated. Vince McMahon monopolised the North American TV industry, and that in itself meant he should never have relinquished his grip before one even considers that the advertising industry hates wrestling. They consider (or considered) it a dumb racket watched by low income dolts. All Vince had to do was listen to his most dedicated base and not f*ck them in the ear. But he knows what they want better than they do, which is odd, since, gauging by ticket sales, they want to go to AEW shows more than they wish to attend WWE events. AEW shouldn't have happened, but it did.

It happened because Vince through his grotesque prideful hubris failed to acknowledge the shifting landscape because the shifting landscape did not meet his own bizarre specifications.

Adam Cole isn't a star. He's too short, and needs a haircut for some reason! Keith Lee is too exciting. Big men can't do that, he has mandated, even though the fact that Keith Lee can somehow do wild sh*t is literally his core appeal. Stone Cold Steve Austin was boring, and not a wildly entertaining midcard breakthrough act. Roman Reigns was a glad-handing dandy. The Royal Rumble was a "stupid" battle royal. Brothers "don't fight" because he and his brother didn't, almost scuppering one of the greatest WWE matches in history.

WWE almost happened in spite of Vince, and yet he possesses the hubris to think it was all him.