One Moment WWE Wants You To Forget From Every Year (1985 to 2026)
38. 1989 - Wrestling Is Fake, Pal
Long before he alienated everybody else attached to pro wrestling, Vince McMahon raised the ire of every territorial promoter when he bulldozed the entire localised industry at the first opportunity. Having taken audiences and wrestlers away from them throughout the decade, he then tried to take away kayfabe itself during a meeting with New Jersey Senate at the tail-end.
During the minuted and documented meeting, he admitted/confirmed/clarified that pro wrestling was pre-determined, pulling back the curtain in order to get it deregulated by the sports commission. Though not exactly brand new information to even the most casual of observers (nor even picked up on by them), the reveal was a hot topic amongst industry insiders and promoters, who considered it McMahon's latest act of sacrilege. The Mega Powers were about to draw an all-time WrestleMania number on pay-per-view, but he was thinking beyond one singular buyrate, looking to save small fortunes forever.
The move existed to dodge the task of acquiring medical clearance and various legal registration for wrestlers, as well as ensuring fees and taxes that other sports faced could now be waived. McMahon was happy to reclassify his product 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", formally rebranding it Sports Entertainment in the process.