How WrestleMania Almost Killed WWE
It’d have been one thing to lose company money on something as big as WrestleMania. It'd have been quite another to see your family’s entire personal finances disappear. The McMahons invested their own money, took out loans, and allegedly put their home on the line in order to see it through, and the numbers needed to add up. The company’s financial survival depended on ticket sales and closed-circuit revenue, and Linda - often seen as the reserved business-minded half of the duo - was just as much in the trenches as her now-estranged husband. She worked behind the scenes, ensuring the finances added up, handling endless logistical headaches, and keeping the books somewhat balanced while Vince focused on the big picture. Had WrestleMania failed, WWE would not only have gone bankrupt, but the McMahons themselves would have been ruined.
But McMahon was too busy trying to see through a lifelong dream. Born in 1945 in Pinehurst, North Carolina, Vince’s early years were filled with hardship. Jr. did not grow up under his father’s direct guidance after his parents divorced when he was young, and he was raised by his mother and a string of abusive stepfathers. He didn’t meet Vince Sr until he was a teenager, but despite his rough upbringing, he was ambitious. He entered the business working for his father in the 1970s, serving as a promoter and commentator. Early on, he showed the obnoxious and aggressive business style that became his calling card, pushing for expansion when his father preferred to stick to the traditional territorial system. In 1966, Vince married Linda McMahon, his high school sweetheart. The two met as teenagers, and per their own testimonies, their relationship quickly grew into a partnership built on mutual ambition and resilience. Linda was just as invested in their future as Vince, even if she wasn't interested in being the public face.
She wasn’t simply a supportive wife in the background - she was making sure WWE didn’t collapse under its own ambitions as those ambitions only grew larger and more audacious. By 1985 though, the McMahons had to go all in. They had invested every resource, burned bridges with the old wrestling world, and staked everything on the belief that wrestling could be more than just a niche sport. If WrestleMania failed, there would be no safety net. There was no going back to the territory system they themselves had pillaged. This was all the more reason why the wrestling establishment wanted it to fail.
The traditionalists of the wrestling world, still understandably bitter and concerned about Vince’s attempted hostile takeovers of their territories, actively rooted for WrestleMania to fail. If it flopped, it would serve as proof that Vince’s vision of wrestling as mainstream entertainment was a failure too. There were also whispers that certain wrestlers were being bribed to cause disruptions or no-show. Vince was at war with the old guard, and WrestleMania was the ultimate battleground.
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