WWE’s Vince McMahon Movie Script Review - 10 Things You Need To Know About Pandemonium
5. The First Act
Staring in 1969, Pandemonium tries to cover as much of Vince's backstory as possible, but begins in his early 20s, and mostly ignores his turbulent upbringing in a single-parent household. It makes a real point of emphasising McMahon's resentment for his early work as a door-to-door salesman, however, and his first job breaking rocks in a quarry.
The script opens on a snowy night in Washington DC. Having just started working for his father, Vince's old, beaten-up Lincoln dies on his way to the arena, and after much frustration, he's forced to walk to the show. Vince Jr. is presented as a fledgling ring announcer who has just taken over from a former employee who was in the midst of a financial dispute with his father, which is exactly what happened in real life.
The first act follows Vince Jr.'s initial forays into the business, and his growing frustration with the WWWF's old-fashioned approach to wrestling, and dwindling ticket sales (which wasn't the case at all). A eureka moment at a Led Zeppelin concert convinces him that the company need to take a more entertainment-focused route, with Vince Sr. growing increasingly irritated by his son, and effectively banishing him to Maine. There, Vince Jr. is given his own territory, and starts acting on the ambition that would eventually make him the sport's most successful promoter.