Vince McMahon is the Konami of wrestling: groundbreaking in the early stages of the industry but currently choking the life out of the things he created.
>Implying he doesn't have it in his will for his funeral to be live on Raw, and they don't have a match planned using his dead body as a weapon I won't believe he's done doing crazy stuff until they actually burry him and he's gone for a few months
IF they allow all the real information to be told. The story of his family life explains A LOT and that’s still only what we’ve been allowed to know or may or may not have made connections with incomplete disclosure.
In my opinion, the man has changed the face of wrestling. I think Adam said when working with WC, Vince has earned the right to be whatever the hell he wants, which in my opinion, makes him the best. Like, Vince bought his dad's shares in his company, took a financial gamble with WM and "Bought his competition".. I mean, he owns a wrestling company where he wants to piss off his own fans. No other company can say that!
Piss of the fans, they’ll cheer for the face of the company. He knows the business. It’s all about winning your fans over. Wrestling ability helps. Charisma certainly does.
i think the main big issue with vince nowadays is that he has trust issues he gets worried and doesn't trust that some new stars can be a big thing in his company he never has patience with building up his wrestlers , which is why ratings go down because he doesn't have much superstars with a lot of star power
Yeah, the reason why Vince succeeded in the attitude era is because he trusted those superstars that he pushed. Right now, he obviously doesn't, which is really unfortunate for the superstars.
I really think it's because he's old. He doesn't want to see waning success before he dies. If he pushes some young guy instead of bringing back the old there's a good chance he will die before they ever become the next Rock/Austin/Cena
Luke: Oli Davis is the best boss I've ever known. I'm very lucky to be....Hang on a min, that's not right. Lol. Love it. Worth watching just for that line alone.
I think that's partially because modern day Shane is rooted a little too much in the truth (glorified mid-life crisis). Late 90's/Early 2000's heel Shane was *chef's kiss*. But Stephanie has always been *that bitch* (in the good way), and that's why she's Vince's favorite child
@@glenndallas7171 she antagonise the talent male or female it doesn't matter who she is the "boss" of the show that's where she differs from vince because in his earlier days he wrestled people like stone cold as a heel and that rarely happened with Stephanie
@@theoutsiderjess1869 Right. That makes her a bad heel, because she never puts anyone over. Heels make faces, and Stephanie hasn't made anyone because she's unwilling to be like Vince, who would sell and take a beating when it fit the story.
Someone in the Twitter comments part of this video gave Vince credit for great signings... No. That's historically been Patterson, JR, Johnny Ace, and Triple H.
The XFL failing the second time wasn’t really his fault tho. It would’ve probably died sure but the reason it did fail was because of Corona. I love these videos though!
Actually one of the greatest entertainers in the world, whether its a story about him or a speech by him. You remember Vince McMahon. EDIT: Can I just say his voice on commentary was legendary. Opening up the show with that WELCOME TO MONDAY NIGHT RAW
Even the Mr. McMahon character has wound up hurting wrestling overall. They haven't had a new idea in 20+ years, they still drag out the heel authority figure over and over again to diminishing returns.
Really who’s the big heal authority today?...they haven’t done the McMahon angle in quite some time... that goes to show that you don’t even watch today and are just talking out your ass..and you don’t no what you’re talking about
That’s as dumb as saying Austin hurt the industry because no ones been able to do an anti-hero rebel as well as he did despite people trying for 20 years. It’s not their fault they were the best at that role
That's not fair. Its not Vince's fault that every wrestling company(including his own) have tried to copy what he did in the 90s. He did it so good that it's makes perfect sense for people to try and replicate that success. By your logic, bruno sammartino was bad because he started the whole "one babyface of the company" idea which wwe uses to today with cena, roman and now drew.
Vince McMahon never had an eye for wrestling and this video proves that because majority of his successful wrestling characters were improvised and turned out for the best. If it wasn't for that, who knows what we would have gotten. His creations have failed time and time again when its what he wants. Mr. McMahon the CHARACTER is excellent. Created from a real life situation and blew up into the biggest wrestling angle in the attitude era. No one liked him and he succeeded in that. It was such a smart move and in this area, I think I agree with Ethan Page. Sorry for the essay. Genuine thoughts and I hope whoever cares to read this has a lovely day.
I blame the lack of actually competent competition. Vince is only good when everyone else is good. Here's a mindblowing realisation, all the other companies aren't as good as you think they are. At least, not good enough for Vince to be better. If you want Vince to be better, only competition can do it.
WWE never drove off any audience outside of 2008, hate to say it but most of us kids just grew up, just like 80s kids grew up and the 90s kids grew out of it. Wrestling fans just can’t accept that wrestling just isn’t popular anymore and they’re just trying to find someone to blame.
As a performer- absolutely. I adore his match vs HBK at Mania 22. His match vs Shane, the Austin Cage match, the Hogan match, hell even the match with Punk on Raw were very good. As a foil for Austin, nobody could touch him. On air, one of the best. As a businessman, he used to be. Now he is not. Creative is so bad these days, and ultimately the buck stops with him. The wrestling world will miss him when he goes. Personally, he’s such a funny man. Hating sneezing, following through on a fart in cream coloured trousers and still going out in front of the audience, hell trying to run Court Bauer off the road. Such an interesting individual. God bless Vince McMahon.
Without Vince wrestling wouldn’t be what it is today, saying that vince’s management style really hurts the creative process which turns away viewers. So grand picture I’d say he’s good
Mr M . A Campbell As Luke pointed out he wasn’t the first. He made his name by going taking over the planet when he said he wouldn't. The only reason the Attutude Era worked is because he was forced to due to competition. He's not that good but he's a great manipulator.
From a wrestling point of view: It depends. He could've legitimately created storylines that are still talked about today, or intentionally give up and bury something that becomes pointless in the long run. From a business point of view: He is a genius, no doubt about that. WWE's revenue increase today is better than it ever has been. That doesn't necessarily equate to better wrestling, but from a business standpoint, why bother putting in extra effort when you're already making bank? It's like working overtime when your salary is already in the millions and steadily increasing for doing nothing. Vince, at the end of the day, is more of a business man rather than a current day wrestling promoter. His end goal is to make more money, and he's basically always done that every year. From a legacy point of view: It's definitely tainted now, but it cannot be denied that he made the biggest wrestling promotion in the world what it is today. Not to mention as a character in kayfabe (Mr. McMahon), he is probably the best heel to have ever lived and WILL ever live. And this something that nobody will be able to do for decades to come. So is Vince McMahon actually good? Well, it's good for himself.
I just learned today that Vince Mcmahon never grows any facial hair because, according to him, "I can't let it win". That is a bizarre, fascinating, terrifying man.
Shane's rating got shafted, Luke picks the match the match with Miz, instead of any of the Kane matches, the Kevin Owen matches, the Triple H matches, even his matches with Test were better than anything Stephanie did (excluding the WM tag match). Shane is a far superior performer than his dad and sister, merely because you never know what he'll do.
Vince McMahon is quite possibly the evil genius of sports entertainment. Despite what fans think of him as a businessman or why many jaded fans who grew up during the Attitude Era currently bash him in the comments section on social media, he's the embodiment of living The American Dream. Is he a successful multimillionaire? Yes. Is he an out of touch old man? Yes. Is he one of the greatest wrestling characters in the history of modern pro wrestling? Also, yes. Vince McMahon is actually good.
Shane vs. X-Pac was Wrestlemania XV, not XIV. Sean Waltman didn’t debut as X-Pac and until after Wrestlemania XIV, when DX became a stable and he joined DX along with Road Dogg and Billy Gunn of the New Age Outlaws.
This is probably the most interesting question that has been asked on this series by Luke . I think that Vince is like any other major figure in history for everything good he has done in his field of expertise he has done something unsavoury or even cringeworthy. However in the outlandish world of wrestling he will be remembered as a leading figurehead so is he good ? I’d say yes and no as apart from Mr Burns which other evil genius millionaire has humiliated himself as many times on TV for the masses as much as Vince
would love to see the numbers of people actually watching commercial television and how its declining. with the rise of streaming services has the number of people watching broadcast in raws demographic halved in the 5 years where the viewership has halved.
Vince McMahon has what is needed to succeed in life and that is drive and self-confidence. I'm 37 I'm a nice guy, I'm intelligent, good looking, emotionally sophisticated and when I want to be determined. I am however also easily offended and overly sensitive and when I compare myself to my peer group I am easily one of the lower achievers and my success with women is best described as "inconsistent". This isn't because I'm no good it's because I don't have the nerve to swallow the defeats and rejections needed to get the victories and adulation we all crave. That is why Vince McMahon is one of the best in entertainment, hell that is why all the icons that have come out of pro wrestling are considered some of the best, Stone Cold, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, Jon Cena, CM Punk, The Shield, Batista all of them and I MEAN ALL of have horrific failures but they kept going, kept forgetting the shame and focused and what they believed was theirs by right. Vince McMahon is terrible in so many ways but is still one of the best.
As a business man, Vince McMahon is lucky; as wrestlers the McMahon family are good with Shane being the best due to him having more matches and by extension more experience, but even that can also be attributed to their opponents and the story being told. As a creative mind Vince McMahon is good at going to the "Attitude Era" well and boosting the ratings with edgy content that will get viewers to tune in for another week (Alexa Bliss wardrobe change from about a year ago), but he's not good at pushing new stars at the height of their popularity (CM Punk in mid to late 2011, Sami Zayn & Sasha Banks in 2016, Bayley & Finn Balor in 2017, Braun Strowman & Shinsuke Nakamura from 2017-2018, Bobby Lashley & EC3 in 2018, etc). Side note, Vince McMahon is NOT one of the best wrestlers of all time. As I said before, Shane McMahon is better than him and Stephanie.
Probably the ONLY thing I admire of Vince McMahon from what he does behind the scenes nowadays is that he's still willing to take a bump at 75 years of age (on a crash pad but it's still 'round 10ft high) to reassure guest stars.
I love Luke Owen and this series, but how does no one mention that he's heavily cherry-picking his datasets. For example, adding in Stephanie's match against Ronda Rousey to force her average up to 3*, or picking 4 matches instead of 5 or more because it's hard to find high star ratings for them past 3/4 - that's not science, that's forced bias.
I agree, but in the TV science segment, I’m not sure how you mention how much how ratings are down and also not mention how much TV has deteriorated. I think at that point you are cherry picking, streaming and other media have had really fast rises over the past 5 years. Wrestling is also just not mainstream anymore, so it’s not gonna pull in that kind of attitude era audience
As a pure performer (charisma, mic work, presence, match work not so much technical ability) Vince is definitely Top 5 of all time and the best heel of all time. As a promoter, he held on too long. If he'd given the company to Shane and Steph in say 2001 he'd be heralded as the undisputed GOAT
Looking at the star ratings vs the TV ratings; is it a wild thing to say that the McMahons are great WRESTLING minds, but terrible Entertainment minds? Because I think thats actually the case. And also hilarious.
you just love to see the energy luke brings to these videos, good stuff and something different to what i usually see on the wrestling channels i follow!
Another great video, however I do have one big hang up as the piece of paper taped to his wall says 3.67 but both times Luke says the number out loud he says 3.76
Fired yet still continue to post videos on WrestleTalk and WrestleTalk associated channels. Luke Owen is a real life SpongeBob of WrestleTalk's Krusty Krab. Fired yet still continue to put in A grade work. Respect
I have one question on the science of the viewer count: Considering that television viewing is drastically different compared to two decades ago would the viewership numbers include those who stream the show, record the show/watch on delay? I know I often don't watch the show live, but I'll catch the recording at some point. I also kept thinking (a bit morbid), but I wonder if (IF, not when) Vince McMahon dies will we all just say in general that he's good because his legacy/mark on pro wrestling was so massive? ALSO, is is is safe to say then that Linda McMahon is a 3 Star Performer, but she doesn't want to upstage the talent or maybe the other McMahons?
I love that when you were talking about Bischoff vs Austin you said "Comparing to what Vince got out of him" as if Vince was the work horse carrying the match 🤣
Kayfabe aside, Oli, *eghm*, Mr. Davis, seems like a genuine lovely person to work for, you can tell hes built a family and group of genuinely talented people, Hes very caring and gets really serious about things that actually matter. In Kayfabe though, he’s a Wiley bastard that genuinely got me when he turned heel.
Something I would like to put out there which I feel like very few people actually know about Vince McMahon, is that he should've been in prison on multiple occasions for numerous sexual crimes, as well as he has covered for many sexual assaults and similar acts from people he works closely with, such as Vince covering up pat Patterson molesting a young boy. I haven't looked it up for a while so I will not be able to give many specific examples, but for people who think Vince McMahon is just a wacky eccentric businessman who is "the biggest fan of pro wrestling" as I've heard some refer to him, I strongly advise you look up his criminal record. Many allegations, a lot of sexual misconduct and many lawsuits. Not to mention everything that he has done on TV or signed off on, such as the many segments that are so incredibly demeaning to basically all the women, saying the n-word to Booker T, along with many other racially insensitive lines or stories that he gave the ok. I acknowledge what he's provided to the wrestling industry and that shouldn't be slept on, but it sickens me to think that there are people that genuinely love him and all his contributions to wrestling, but if we're all real for a moment, he has caused so much harm in the business and provided an incredibly toxic work environment for many of the workers, in some cases driving people completely out of wrestling. And this might ruffle some feathers, but he's very close with the president, the president being another man with fucked up morals, a long criminal record filled with sexual assault and allegations, and undoubtedly racist views, to be honest they're perfect for eachother, 2 rich white businessmen that use their money and power to get themselves out of any legal situations they possibly can. Moral of the story, do some research on Vince, cuz he is far from the saint of wrestling that some people paint him out to be. TL;DR: Vince is a fucked up man who should've served time
For anyone who actually would like to get an idea of his criminal history, take a quick look to his wiki page and there's a section on it there. For those that don't trust wikipedia, check the sources
According to Meltzer the actual McMahon is fond of poop and fart jokes. He has gone on record saying he has a hard time relating to other billionaires given his upbringing. There are a few leaked photos on the net of McMahon at pool parties where he is just wearing very standard t shirt, shorts and flip flops like a regular joe schmo would. He tries to act like one of the guys behind the stage and wrestle with them. There is a story where Vince was play wrestling with Angle and Angle got the better of Vince, Undertaker was walking by and saw this with no context. Apparently Taker is very protective of Vince and when he saw this he proceeded to attack Angle thinking Vince was getting beat up. He lives, breathes, sleeps the business 24/7. Foley stated in one of his interviews with Michael Landsberg on Off The Record that Vince is the kind of guy that if you have a brilliant idea at like 4 in the morning you could call him and he would talk to you about it. Foley said this was a stark contrast to WCW because when he worked there most of the execs treated it as a 9-5 job. As a businessman he is pretty ruthless however it should be noted most owners of his generation were all fairly ruthless and crooked. It should also be pointed out that some talent can be extremely difficult to work/negotiate with. There was a letter leaked onto the net of him placing the Ultimate Warrior on suspension that gives you a good idea of how difficult the Ultimate Warrior was to deal with. It should be noted as a businessman he is known for taking large risks for better or for worse (Wrestlemania, XFL).
As we saw with the sharp decline in viewership, Vince’s biggest mistake that put WWE to where WCW was before it ended was his refusal to make Daniel Bryan the guy of WWE after John Cena. Roman could’ve still been a top guy in WWE, but specifically as Daniel Bryan’s arch nemesis as The Rock was to Stone Cold
This series is really really really (that's 3 really by the way) good. Keep it up Luke! As a Wrestling fan in his mid thirties your speaking to my "older fan" mentality
Luke is in Big Show territory with the face-heel-face turns over the last month, but in a far more wholesome, endearing, and interesting way? Am I saying Luke Owen is a better character than the Big Show? Yes.
When Luke says the show with Michaels vs Undertaker 2 is bad. And whoever else is concerned about the rest of the card, Jericho vs Edge and Cena vs Batista
Just to pick up the Friends comment by Luke, when it was filmed they had all the writers on set throughout. If ANY joke didn't get the pop from the studio audience, they would have to rewrite it on the spot. If RAW etc could be filmed like this Vince would totally do it. So they were having their ideas torn up AND have to replace it on demand.
If I might add a wrinkle to the logic behind him knowing how to elicit response from the crowd... In the late 90s this is 100% true, but as the curtain lifts more and more on the backstage stuff could you not say that a lot of his reaction is because people hate Vince the human being, not the wrestler, and they're willing to suspend their disbelief for a little while to believe he really is getting the beans kicked out of him for all his misdemeanours? I mean, I would bet my life savings that if he had a match with CM Punk in 2011 it would have gotten at least 4 stars, but I'd bet the same amount that 2 of them were because Punk was at his peak and 2 would be because it's the closest most of us will ever get to seeing Vince served for all the people he's trampled over the years (JR, Bret, Crockett, Owen, 99% of female wrestlers before 2014 etc). This would be the case with anyone. If Enzo Amore came back for one more match with, say, Brock Lesnar in front of a live crowd, it would blow the roof off. Not because either man is particularly good as a worker but because we'd just be praying that Brock goes rogue in the match.
I think it's kinda unfair to say Vince is the sole reason half the people are watching. People are watching television differently in general. For example, when I was a kid living at my parents and I watched because they have cable. I don't watch live now because I don't bother with cable I just have my fire stick/ roku and different subscriptions. I'd bet there are more fans in the same boat as this seems to be a millennial/ young millennial trend (the "demo" that evades WWE)
Adam Blampied is right. Vince McMahon is the luckiest business man in the world. CM Punk is right. A millionaire who should be a billionaire (back in 2011 mind you) who’s bad habits have doubled down and amplified. I love these deep dives. We should have more.
This is the thing. Wrestling fans know the results are decided. This means that compelling relatable storylines are needed for everyone not just the chosen few. Why should a fan invest 3 to 5 hours a week in content that the creative only invest an hour to 2 hours in
I think the Fiend is a good example of modern misfires. Everyone was into that character for the debut, even jaded fans. They royally screwed it up. Vince is still one of a kind, the wrestling world wouldn’t be the same without him. Having been watching for over 30 years it will be sad when he is not around.
@@dumbname939 Hey, I love the Fiend too. Bray's probably the main thing that's kept my attention in the last year, but he has certainly become divisive. I just think they really had something and failed to fully capitalize on it. The Fiend's the debut was amazing, it was the follow up that was the fumble. I think the character has been able to survive mainly on the strength of Bray's performance.
I remember the Raw after Royal Rumble 2020 and being STUNNED by the fact the show didn’t draw AT LEAST 3 Million viewers because of the amount of people talking about how good the show was and how Edge has returned something that people thought would never happen. For that show to not get 3 million is absolutely shocking. The best year the company ever had [2000] had their lowest rating of over 3 million AND THAT WAS ON CHRISTMAS DAY. Those shows would get over 5 million and even 6 million viewers. WWE has been struggling for years and it’s a real shame.
Was Vince McMahon actually good? I think the fact that the moment he had a monopoly on pro wrestling the fan base started leaving and has never stopped doing so is all you need to know about how good or not Vince is
I enjoy watching Vince, Shane, Rock, Austin and others from the Attitude Era more than a lot of technical wrestlers for the reasons you outlined: great characters and storytelling!
Vince is just one man in a long line of men that changed the world in one way or another and after he’s gone his failures will be largely forgotten. He’ll be remembered as the man that put wrestling on the map. The only difference is that right now we’re around to witness the failures up close and personal.
Honestly, I think it has something more to do with the fact that highlight reels of Raw and Smackdown are readily available. Sure, you can argue that adding that 3rd hour to Raw may have pushed viewers to watch highlights of the show instead. Also, I have to point out that wrestling is more of a 15-25 yr old demographic show than other sports out there. And we all know there are websites out there where you can watch Raw and Smackdown live for absolutely free, but may not be so legal. Are those counted as “viewers”? So really, the more our technology advances, the more the viewer system becomes flawed and irrelevant.
The Monday Night wars is like the Cold War: the wrong side won, largely because of a series of mistakes made far earlier on, and now everything stagnates and nobody knows what to do because they're stuck with retrod ideas from the 80s
A really tough question to answer without separating the business man from the performer. Vince Mcmahon, the evil wrestling boss was willing to put so much into his own product that it's hard to fault his limitations in the ring and his overall presentation made him one of the greatest heels in wrestling hands down which should make him a 'legendary' wrestler in his own right. On the other hand, as the sole leader of the biggest wrestling organization in the world, he's tied to every 'big time' good or bad decision made by the company and rating him is almost like rating the entire history of the WWE/F, including the overall direction mainstream wrestling has taken while he's been steering the ship. That said, viewership ratings don't seem like a good focal point as I genuinely believe television is a slowly dying product. You won't find half as many people willing to sit down in front of a television for three hours on a weeky basis. Viewing patterns should have changed to reflect that, so understandably those numbers have slipped. I've got no excuses for the countless creative/moral slips though. Still another interesting debate. Long live Wrestleluke!
I'd say at one point in time Vince was good but as the years have gone on he's gotten worse, and worse, and worse, to such a degree now that he's become his own worst enemy and a detriment to the WWE as whole.
Don’t forget that Trump (to which the McMahons have pretty close ties to especially with Linda being SBA and running a SuperPAC) handpicked him for his COVID-19 Recovery Taskforce last year, which seems like satire but was actually real…
Vince McMahon is the Konami of wrestling: groundbreaking in the early stages of the industry but currently choking the life out of the things he created.
when Vince McMahon dies, everyones going to take a step back and realize just how crazy of a story his life was
Honestly cause he tried doing it already he will try to use his shoot death as a storyline 😂
@@CRob172 I won't be very surprised if Vince actually has a storyline planned for when he actually dies.
>Implying he doesn't have it in his will for his funeral to be live on Raw, and they don't have a match planned using his dead body as a weapon
I won't believe he's done doing crazy stuff until they actually burry him and he's gone for a few months
All of you are wrong. The moment he dies, he will book a match against God. If he wins he will be the new God, if he loses he'll go to hell.
IF they allow all the real information to be told. The story of his family life explains A LOT and that’s still only what we’ve been allowed to know or may or may not have made connections with incomplete disclosure.
I don’t know who this Luke guy is, but WrestleTalk should consider hiring him. He presents his show really well
He actually just got fired by the tyrant Oli Davis :(
Screw that oli bloke his jackets are terrible anyway.... so Iv been told
Shapio That’s Mr. Davis to you.
🤣👍
@@bnorris771 you got there before i could 🤣👍
Thats Mr. Davis!
"...........And that' the bottomline cause lukewarm luke owens said so" should be the tagline of this series.
In my opinion, the man has changed the face of wrestling. I think Adam said when working with WC, Vince has earned the right to be whatever the hell he wants, which in my opinion, makes him the best. Like, Vince bought his dad's shares in his company, took a financial gamble with WM and "Bought his competition"..
I mean, he owns a wrestling company where he wants to piss off his own fans. No other company can say that!
True, other companies try to serve the needs of the audience instead of piss it off :D
I think Adobe would like to sue Vince for copyright infringement on that business model
@@KyleHarrisonRedacted you know what? I think Adobe would win...
Piss of the fans, they’ll cheer for the face of the company. He knows the business. It’s all about winning your fans over. Wrestling ability helps. Charisma certainly does.
i think the main big issue with vince nowadays is that he has trust issues
he gets worried and doesn't trust that some new stars can be a big thing in his company
he never has patience with building up his wrestlers , which is why ratings go down
because he doesn't have much superstars with a lot of star power
Yeah, the reason why Vince succeeded in the attitude era is because he trusted those superstars that he pushed. Right now, he obviously doesn't, which is really unfortunate for the superstars.
Jim Ross talked about this on TiJ. If he would delegate more ideas could come to the product a lot more naturally.
Old age insecurities
I really think it's because he's old. He doesn't want to see waning success before he dies. If he pushes some young guy instead of bringing back the old there's a good chance he will die before they ever become the next Rock/Austin/Cena
@@MJsPepsihair Reasonable thinking
Luke: Oli Davis is the best boss I've ever known. I'm very lucky to be....Hang on a min, that's not right.
Lol. Love it. Worth watching just for that line alone.
Besides Vince McMahon the only McMahon that can match him as a heel is Stephanie McMahon and shane is honestly just better as a face
I think that's partially because modern day Shane is rooted a little too much in the truth (glorified mid-life crisis). Late 90's/Early 2000's heel Shane was *chef's kiss*. But Stephanie has always been *that bitch* (in the good way), and that's why she's Vince's favorite child
But Steph is a bad heel. Sure, she draws heat, but has she made anyone (other than Ronda)?
@@glenndallas7171 she antagonise the talent male or female it doesn't matter who she is the "boss" of the show that's where she differs from vince because in his earlier days he wrestled people like stone cold as a heel and that rarely happened with Stephanie
@@theoutsiderjess1869 Right. That makes her a bad heel, because she never puts anyone over. Heels make faces, and Stephanie hasn't made anyone because she's unwilling to be like Vince, who would sell and take a beating when it fit the story.
Stephanie is boring,she has go home heat to me
Someone in the Twitter comments part of this video gave Vince credit for great signings... No. That's historically been Patterson, JR, Johnny Ace, and Triple H.
The XFL failing the second time wasn’t really his fault tho. It would’ve probably died sure but the reason it did fail was because of Corona. I love these videos though!
By all accounts it was actually quite good. I don't watch American football, but the changes seem to have been well received by those that do.
Actually it did not fail The Rock bought it idiot .
@@matthewsilerreviews6840 he bought it after it went bankrupt.
@@matthewsilerreviews6840 it did fail, it went bankrupt before The Rock bought it.
@@matthewsilerreviews6840 imagine calling someone an idiot and being the one who's wrong. clown
i think vince just needs to stop trying to not believe in these new stars and actually TRY to give the new generation of wrestlers a chance to shine
He's an old school mindset
Jay Jay 106 In the old days they still made stars
@@dumbname939 but he's stuck there with an old school mindset as in he prefers to only push what he remembers being over. He's stuck in the past
Jay Jay 106 Oh, your phrasing through me off, sorry
Actually one of the greatest entertainers in the world, whether its a story about him or a speech by him. You remember Vince McMahon.
EDIT: Can I just say his voice on commentary was legendary. Opening up the show with that WELCOME TO MONDAY NIGHT RAW
HOW DOES HE ALWAYS KNOW WHAT IM THINKING
Oh my, Big Rook was real all along 😂
JobberJJ has some competition
I think the genius of Vince is the same as most CEOs. He surrounds himself with people smarter than himself in order to succeed.
Exactly! And since he started using hollywood writers the quality of the product has taken a dive
Even the Mr. McMahon character has wound up hurting wrestling overall. They haven't had a new idea in 20+ years, they still drag out the heel authority figure over and over again to diminishing returns.
Really who’s the big heal authority today?...they haven’t done the McMahon angle in quite some time... that goes to show that you don’t even watch today and are just talking out your ass..and you don’t no what you’re talking about
He's really, really good at it though.
That’s as dumb as saying Austin hurt the industry because no ones been able to do an anti-hero rebel as well as he did despite people trying for 20 years. It’s not their fault they were the best at that role
That's not fair. Its not Vince's fault that every wrestling company(including his own) have tried to copy what he did in the 90s. He did it so good that it's makes perfect sense for people to try and replicate that success. By your logic, bruno sammartino was bad because he started the whole "one babyface of the company" idea which wwe uses to today with cena, roman and now drew.
Vince McMahon never had an eye for wrestling and this video proves that because majority of his successful wrestling characters were improvised and turned out for the best. If it wasn't for that, who knows what we would have gotten. His creations have failed time and time again when its what he wants.
Mr. McMahon the CHARACTER is excellent. Created from a real life situation and blew up into the biggest wrestling angle in the attitude era. No one liked him and he succeeded in that. It was such a smart move and in this area, I think I agree with Ethan Page.
Sorry for the essay. Genuine thoughts and I hope whoever cares to read this has a lovely day.
Imagine if Vince Senior allowed him to become a wrestler.
That would be most fascinating.
Sure it wasn’t a smooth ride...but you don’t become a billionaire by chance..Vince worked and earned the position he is in today
Back then? Maybe but arguably yes. Now? Short answer: No. Long answer: Nooooooooooooooooooo.
Oli... is that an Ace Attorney Game I see?
*OBJECTION!!!*
Yes he has Gyakunen Saiban version
All I see is Chucky
@@EaglyBeeks I saw that too!
The Raw after mania used to be a HUGE deal. But the last few years it really hasn't been, so fewer people have watched it live.
Yeah I don’t know why they stopped all the big stuff. The last really big thing was two years ago with Bobby Lashley
The last Raw after Mania that felt big was in 2017. That opening segment with Roman.
"can't take a stunner to save his life" has never been more true 🤣
I blame the lack of actually competent competition. Vince is only good when everyone else is good.
Here's a mindblowing realisation, all the other companies aren't as good as you think they are. At least, not good enough for Vince to be better.
If you want Vince to be better, only competition can do it.
Well the only direct competition at the moment is AEW vs NXT, which can only make Hunter do better
I keep coming back to this video. It's so well researched, edited, and written. Super underrated, really wish this series took off. I miss it.
WWE never drove off any audience outside of 2008, hate to say it but most of us kids just grew up, just like 80s kids grew up and the 90s kids grew out of it.
Wrestling fans just can’t accept that wrestling just isn’t popular anymore and they’re just trying to find someone to blame.
As a performer- absolutely. I adore his match vs HBK at Mania 22. His match vs Shane, the Austin Cage match, the Hogan match, hell even the match with Punk on Raw were very good. As a foil for Austin, nobody could touch him. On air, one of the best.
As a businessman, he used to be. Now he is not. Creative is so bad these days, and ultimately the buck stops with him.
The wrestling world will miss him when he goes. Personally, he’s such a funny man. Hating sneezing, following through on a fart in cream coloured trousers and still going out in front of the audience, hell trying to run Court Bauer off the road. Such an interesting individual. God bless Vince McMahon.
I was expecting my favorite Shane match vs. Steve Blackman at Summerslam 2000. That elbow drip off the Titontron.... classic.
I love Luke, Finn Baloring the behind the scenes of videos. Edge of paper, Mr Davis’ rewriting Scripts. Excellent.
Without Vince wrestling wouldn’t be what it is today, saying that vince’s management style really hurts the creative process which turns away viewers. So grand picture I’d say he’s good
Mr M . A Campbell As Luke pointed out he wasn’t the first. He made his name by going taking over the planet when he said he wouldn't. The only reason the Attutude Era worked is because he was forced to due to competition. He's not that good but he's a great manipulator.
From a wrestling point of view: It depends. He could've legitimately created storylines that are still talked about today, or intentionally give up and bury something that becomes pointless in the long run.
From a business point of view: He is a genius, no doubt about that. WWE's revenue increase today is better than it ever has been. That doesn't necessarily equate to better wrestling, but from a business standpoint, why bother putting in extra effort when you're already making bank? It's like working overtime when your salary is already in the millions and steadily increasing for doing nothing. Vince, at the end of the day, is more of a business man rather than a current day wrestling promoter. His end goal is to make more money, and he's basically always done that every year.
From a legacy point of view: It's definitely tainted now, but it cannot be denied that he made the biggest wrestling promotion in the world what it is today. Not to mention as a character in kayfabe (Mr. McMahon), he is probably the best heel to have ever lived and WILL ever live. And this something that nobody will be able to do for decades to come.
So is Vince McMahon actually good? Well, it's good for himself.
I just learned today that Vince Mcmahon never grows any facial hair because, according to him, "I can't let it win".
That is a bizarre, fascinating, terrifying man.
Shane's rating got shafted, Luke picks the match the match with Miz, instead of any of the Kane matches, the Kevin Owen matches, the Triple H matches, even his matches with Test were better than anything Stephanie did (excluding the WM tag match). Shane is a far superior performer than his dad and sister, merely because you never know what he'll do.
Is John Cena actually good?
....
Clearly he's the GOAT, but I would love to see the science
Vince McMahon is quite possibly the evil genius of sports entertainment. Despite what fans think of him as a businessman or why many jaded fans who grew up during the Attitude Era currently bash him in the comments section on social media, he's the embodiment of living The American Dream. Is he a successful multimillionaire? Yes. Is he an out of touch old man? Yes. Is he one of the greatest wrestling characters in the history of modern pro wrestling? Also, yes. Vince McMahon is actually good.
I'm totally not rewatching this based on recent events
Shane vs. X-Pac was Wrestlemania XV, not XIV. Sean Waltman didn’t debut as X-Pac and until after Wrestlemania XIV, when DX became a stable and he joined DX along with Road Dogg and Billy Gunn of the New Age Outlaws.
One day I will find where PartsFunKnown is located!
This is probably the most interesting question that has been asked on this series by Luke . I think that Vince is like any other major figure in history for everything good he has done in his field of expertise he has done something unsavoury or even cringeworthy. However in the outlandish world of wrestling he will be remembered as a leading figurehead so is he good ? I’d say yes and no as apart from Mr Burns which other evil genius millionaire has humiliated himself as many times on TV for the masses as much as Vince
With the benefit of hindsight and to quote his biggest rival “OH HELL NO!”
This is my new favourite show on RUclips by far. Please don't stop this show
"Josh Alexander and that other guy." Lol.
Can you make a vid on how HHH and Steph is keeping Wrestling good, even evolving. Also mention people like Regal helping them.
The _Destroy All Monsters_ case in the background alone is worth a like.
I think the main problem for wwe is everyone even in nxt are at the stage were they need to be top stars
Mr. Davis your generosity in letting this Luke guy still post his videos here shows how you know what the people want
Hogan versus Vince might be the most underrated matching wrestlemania history.
would love to see the numbers of people actually watching commercial television and how its declining. with the rise of streaming services has the number of people watching broadcast in raws demographic halved in the 5 years where the viewership has halved.
Thank you for not forgetting the injustice they did to Shinsuke. (and the so many talented talents they've let down)
Vince's best ever match was against Shaun Michaels at Wrestlemania 22, that's just an objective fact.
Vince McMahon has what is needed to succeed in life and that is drive and self-confidence. I'm 37 I'm a nice guy, I'm intelligent, good looking, emotionally sophisticated and when I want to be determined. I am however also easily offended and overly sensitive and when I compare myself to my peer group I am easily one of the lower achievers and my success with women is best described as "inconsistent". This isn't because I'm no good it's because I don't have the nerve to swallow the defeats and rejections needed to get the victories and adulation we all crave. That is why Vince McMahon is one of the best in entertainment, hell that is why all the icons that have come out of pro wrestling are considered some of the best, Stone Cold, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, Jon Cena, CM Punk, The Shield, Batista all of them and I MEAN ALL of have horrific failures but they kept going, kept forgetting the shame and focused and what they believed was theirs by right.
Vince McMahon is terrible in so many ways but is still one of the best.
It’s seems like Luke would be better running WrestleTalk than Mr. Douche (Oli).
Luke's "seductive" pose with the Watchmen book is what I'm here for. Oh err miss!
00:13 literally had me in stitches because I was eating cereal and done the exact same thing! 😳😂 illuminati confirmed! 😳😂
As a business man, Vince McMahon is lucky; as wrestlers the McMahon family are good with Shane being the best due to him having more matches and by extension more experience, but even that can also be attributed to their opponents and the story being told. As a creative mind Vince McMahon is good at going to the "Attitude Era" well and boosting the ratings with edgy content that will get viewers to tune in for another week (Alexa Bliss wardrobe change from about a year ago), but he's not good at pushing new stars at the height of their popularity (CM Punk in mid to late 2011, Sami Zayn & Sasha Banks in 2016, Bayley & Finn Balor in 2017, Braun Strowman & Shinsuke Nakamura from 2017-2018, Bobby Lashley & EC3 in 2018, etc). Side note, Vince McMahon is NOT one of the best wrestlers of all time. As I said before, Shane McMahon is better than him and Stephanie.
The best way to put this is when vince is on a match you know it’s going to be interesting, not always good, not always bad but always interesting.
Probably the ONLY thing I admire of Vince McMahon from what he does behind the scenes nowadays is that he's still willing to take a bump at 75 years of age (on a crash pad but it's still 'round 10ft high) to reassure guest stars.
I love Luke Owen and this series, but how does no one mention that he's heavily cherry-picking his datasets. For example, adding in Stephanie's match against Ronda Rousey to force her average up to 3*, or picking 4 matches instead of 5 or more because it's hard to find high star ratings for them past 3/4 - that's not science, that's forced bias.
I agree, but in the TV science segment, I’m not sure how you mention how much how ratings are down and also not mention how much TV has deteriorated. I think at that point you are cherry picking, streaming and other media have had really fast rises over the past 5 years. Wrestling is also just not mainstream anymore, so it’s not gonna pull in that kind of attitude era audience
By far my favorite series on PartsFunKnown! #JusticeForLuke !
He’s the greatness sports entertainer of all time in my opinion. I like this convo.
Loving this line of videos, the thought process put into them is great.
But what happened to the 'Explained' series?
As a pure performer (charisma, mic work, presence, match work not so much technical ability) Vince is definitely Top 5 of all time and the best heel of all time.
As a promoter, he held on too long. If he'd given the company to Shane and Steph in say 2001 he'd be heralded as the undisputed GOAT
Another great video. Love the music as well.
Looking at the star ratings vs the TV ratings; is it a wild thing to say that the McMahons are great WRESTLING minds, but terrible Entertainment minds?
Because I think thats actually the case. And also hilarious.
you just love to see the energy luke brings to these videos, good stuff and something different to what i usually see on the wrestling channels i follow!
So, the two greatest wrestlers of all time Bret Heart and Vince couldn't even pull a 2/10 match.
Another great video, however I do have one big hang up as the piece of paper taped to his wall says 3.67 but both times Luke says the number out loud he says 3.76
Big up for Luke for being an ace attorney fan
OBJECTION
Fired yet still continue to post videos on WrestleTalk and WrestleTalk associated channels. Luke Owen is a real life SpongeBob of WrestleTalk's Krusty Krab. Fired yet still continue to put in A grade work. Respect
I have one question on the science of the viewer count: Considering that television viewing is drastically different compared to two decades ago would the viewership numbers include those who stream the show, record the show/watch on delay? I know I often don't watch the show live, but I'll catch the recording at some point.
I also kept thinking (a bit morbid), but I wonder if (IF, not when) Vince McMahon dies will we all just say in general that he's good because his legacy/mark on pro wrestling was so massive?
ALSO, is is is safe to say then that Linda McMahon is a 3 Star Performer, but she doesn't want to upstage the talent or maybe the other McMahons?
I love that when you were talking about Bischoff vs Austin you said "Comparing to what Vince got out of him" as if Vince was the work horse carrying the match 🤣
Yeah that phrasing was a little odd lol
@@dumbname939 He probably just misspoke but it made me laugh
Vince looks like a bond villain as he grows older.
Kayfabe aside, Oli, *eghm*, Mr. Davis, seems like a genuine lovely person to work for, you can tell hes built a family and group of genuinely talented people, Hes very caring and gets really serious about things that actually matter.
In Kayfabe though, he’s a Wiley bastard that genuinely got me when he turned heel.
Something I would like to put out there which I feel like very few people actually know about Vince McMahon, is that he should've been in prison on multiple occasions for numerous sexual crimes, as well as he has covered for many sexual assaults and similar acts from people he works closely with, such as Vince covering up pat Patterson molesting a young boy. I haven't looked it up for a while so I will not be able to give many specific examples, but for people who think Vince McMahon is just a wacky eccentric businessman who is "the biggest fan of pro wrestling" as I've heard some refer to him, I strongly advise you look up his criminal record. Many allegations, a lot of sexual misconduct and many lawsuits. Not to mention everything that he has done on TV or signed off on, such as the many segments that are so incredibly demeaning to basically all the women, saying the n-word to Booker T, along with many other racially insensitive lines or stories that he gave the ok. I acknowledge what he's provided to the wrestling industry and that shouldn't be slept on, but it sickens me to think that there are people that genuinely love him and all his contributions to wrestling, but if we're all real for a moment, he has caused so much harm in the business and provided an incredibly toxic work environment for many of the workers, in some cases driving people completely out of wrestling. And this might ruffle some feathers, but he's very close with the president, the president being another man with fucked up morals, a long criminal record filled with sexual assault and allegations, and undoubtedly racist views, to be honest they're perfect for eachother, 2 rich white businessmen that use their money and power to get themselves out of any legal situations they possibly can. Moral of the story, do some research on Vince, cuz he is far from the saint of wrestling that some people paint him out to be.
TL;DR: Vince is a fucked up man who should've served time
For anyone who actually would like to get an idea of his criminal history, take a quick look to his wiki page and there's a section on it there. For those that don't trust wikipedia, check the sources
According to Meltzer the actual McMahon is fond of poop and fart jokes. He has gone on record saying he has a hard time relating to other billionaires given his upbringing. There are a few leaked photos on the net of McMahon at pool parties where he is just wearing very standard t shirt, shorts and flip flops like a regular joe schmo would.
He tries to act like one of the guys behind the stage and wrestle with them. There is a story where Vince was play wrestling with Angle and Angle got the better of Vince, Undertaker was walking by and saw this with no context. Apparently Taker is very protective of Vince and when he saw this he proceeded to attack Angle thinking Vince was getting beat up.
He lives, breathes, sleeps the business 24/7. Foley stated in one of his interviews with Michael Landsberg on Off The Record that Vince is the kind of guy that if you have a brilliant idea at like 4 in the morning you could call him and he would talk to you about it. Foley said this was a stark contrast to WCW because when he worked there most of the execs treated it as a 9-5 job.
As a businessman he is pretty ruthless however it should be noted most owners of his generation were all fairly ruthless and crooked. It should also be pointed out that some talent can be extremely difficult to work/negotiate with. There was a letter leaked onto the net of him placing the Ultimate Warrior on suspension that gives you a good idea of how difficult the Ultimate Warrior was to deal with.
It should be noted as a businessman he is known for taking large risks for better or for worse (Wrestlemania, XFL).
As we saw with the sharp decline in viewership, Vince’s biggest mistake that put WWE to where WCW was before it ended was his refusal to make Daniel Bryan the guy of WWE after John Cena. Roman could’ve still been a top guy in WWE, but specifically as Daniel Bryan’s arch nemesis as The Rock was to Stone Cold
I love these videos and the fact that Stone Cold Luke Owen is narrating these.... You get the loudest pop from me every single time, Man.
This series is really really really (that's 3 really by the way) good. Keep it up Luke! As a Wrestling fan in his mid thirties your speaking to my "older fan" mentality
Luke is in Big Show territory with the face-heel-face turns over the last month, but in a far more wholesome, endearing, and interesting way? Am I saying Luke Owen is a better character than the Big Show? Yes.
When Luke says the show with Michaels vs Undertaker 2 is bad. And whoever else is concerned about the rest of the card, Jericho vs Edge and Cena vs Batista
It was Stephanie and the thick layer of bureaucracy that she added. Her as creative leader is the point where everything went south
*Kevin Dunn cam* 😂😂😂 Brilliant
Just to pick up the Friends comment by Luke, when it was filmed they had all the writers on set throughout. If ANY joke didn't get the pop from the studio audience, they would have to rewrite it on the spot. If RAW etc could be filmed like this Vince would totally do it. So they were having their ideas torn up AND have to replace it on demand.
Mr. Davis was so gracious to still let this video go up! Thank you Mr. Davis!!! ❤️ Grateful
If I might add a wrinkle to the logic behind him knowing how to elicit response from the crowd...
In the late 90s this is 100% true, but as the curtain lifts more and more on the backstage stuff could you not say that a lot of his reaction is because people hate Vince the human being, not the wrestler, and they're willing to suspend their disbelief for a little while to believe he really is getting the beans kicked out of him for all his misdemeanours? I mean, I would bet my life savings that if he had a match with CM Punk in 2011 it would have gotten at least 4 stars, but I'd bet the same amount that 2 of them were because Punk was at his peak and 2 would be because it's the closest most of us will ever get to seeing Vince served for all the people he's trampled over the years (JR, Bret, Crockett, Owen, 99% of female wrestlers before 2014 etc).
This would be the case with anyone. If Enzo Amore came back for one more match with, say, Brock Lesnar in front of a live crowd, it would blow the roof off. Not because either man is particularly good as a worker but because we'd just be praying that Brock goes rogue in the match.
It’s a difficult one. This is the most difficult one of these
I think it's kinda unfair to say Vince is the sole reason half the people are watching. People are watching television differently in general. For example, when I was a kid living at my parents and I watched because they have cable. I don't watch live now because I don't bother with cable I just have my fire stick/ roku and different subscriptions. I'd bet there are more fans in the same boat as this seems to be a millennial/ young millennial trend (the "demo" that evades WWE)
I actually need more Luke the science guy like lots more 😂😂😂
Adam Blampied is right. Vince McMahon is the luckiest business man in the world. CM Punk is right. A millionaire who should be a billionaire (back in 2011 mind you) who’s bad habits have doubled down and amplified.
I love these deep dives. We should have more.
Remember when raw used to have a celebrity every week to beef with a heel, I can imagine that being a Vince thing.
As a side note, am absolutely loving the Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations cover in the background ❤
This is the thing. Wrestling fans know the results are decided. This means that compelling relatable storylines are needed for everyone not just the chosen few. Why should a fan invest 3 to 5 hours a week in content that the creative only invest an hour to 2 hours in
I think the Fiend is a good example of modern misfires. Everyone was into that character for the debut, even jaded fans. They royally screwed it up. Vince is still one of a kind, the wrestling world wouldn’t be the same without him. Having been watching for over 30 years it will be sad when he is not around.
Disagree, it’s still great
@@dumbname939 Hey, I love the Fiend too. Bray's probably the main thing that's kept my attention in the last year, but he has certainly become divisive. I just think they really had something and failed to fully capitalize on it. The Fiend's the debut was amazing, it was the follow up that was the fumble. I think the character has been able to survive mainly on the strength of Bray's performance.
Where did they get this 8bit cover of Vince's theme?
I remember the Raw after Royal Rumble 2020 and being STUNNED by the fact the show didn’t draw AT LEAST 3 Million viewers because of the amount of people talking about how good the show was and how Edge has returned something that people thought would never happen. For that show to not get 3 million is absolutely shocking.
The best year the company ever had [2000] had their lowest rating of over 3 million AND THAT WAS ON CHRISTMAS DAY. Those shows would get over 5 million and even 6 million viewers. WWE has been struggling for years and it’s a real shame.
WWE has also devalued the advertising prices for wrestling product as a whole.
Was Vince McMahon actually good? I think the fact that the moment he had a monopoly on pro wrestling the fan base started leaving and has never stopped doing so is all you need to know about how good or not Vince is
I enjoy watching Vince, Shane, Rock, Austin and others from the Attitude Era more than a lot of technical wrestlers for the reasons you outlined: great characters and storytelling!
Vince is just one man in a long line of men that changed the world in one way or another and after he’s gone his failures will be largely forgotten. He’ll be remembered as the man that put wrestling on the map. The only difference is that right now we’re around to witness the failures up close and personal.
Honestly, I think it has something more to do with the fact that highlight reels of Raw and Smackdown are readily available. Sure, you can argue that adding that 3rd hour to Raw may have pushed viewers to watch highlights of the show instead. Also, I have to point out that wrestling is more of a 15-25 yr old demographic show than other sports out there.
And we all know there are websites out there where you can watch Raw and Smackdown live for absolutely free, but may not be so legal. Are those counted as “viewers”?
So really, the more our technology advances, the more the viewer system becomes flawed and irrelevant.
The Monday Night wars is like the Cold War: the wrong side won, largely because of a series of mistakes made far earlier on, and now everything stagnates and nobody knows what to do because they're stuck with retrod ideas from the 80s
A really tough question to answer without separating the business man from the performer. Vince Mcmahon, the evil wrestling boss was willing to put so much into his own product that it's hard to fault his limitations in the ring and his overall presentation made him one of the greatest heels in wrestling hands down which should make him a 'legendary' wrestler in his own right. On the other hand, as the sole leader of the biggest wrestling organization in the world, he's tied to every 'big time' good or bad decision made by the company and rating him is almost like rating the entire history of the WWE/F, including the overall direction mainstream wrestling has taken while he's been steering the ship. That said, viewership ratings don't seem like a good focal point as I genuinely believe television is a slowly dying product. You won't find half as many people willing to sit down in front of a television for three hours on a weeky basis. Viewing patterns should have changed to reflect that, so understandably those numbers have slipped. I've got no excuses for the countless creative/moral slips though. Still another interesting debate. Long live Wrestleluke!
I'd say at one point in time Vince was good but as the years have gone on he's gotten worse, and worse, and worse, to such a degree now that he's become his own worst enemy and a detriment to the WWE as whole.
Don’t forget that Trump (to which the McMahons have pretty close ties to especially with Linda being SBA and running a SuperPAC) handpicked him for his COVID-19 Recovery Taskforce last year, which seems like satire but was actually real…