Hiya!

Last week, I talked about the recent Netflix documentary, Mr. McMahon. It focused on Vince McMahon, the man who took the WWE and the world of professional wrestling and made the former niche hobby of “sports entertainment” to mainstream success. I did think the Mr. McMahon documentary was just okay but the last episode, which primarily shone a spotlight on Vince McMahon’s more recent allegations regarding abuse and trafficking, just needed a counterpoint.

It is these horrifying allegations which did lead to Vince McMahon being stripped away of the company he built. He officially stepped down and “retired” from the WWE for a second time because he became more of a liability from the corporate point of view. I highly doubt the WWE will be mentioning Mr. McMahon’s name for a while. Although they do say anything can happen in the WWE, I just don’t see Vince McMahon coming back to WWE television anytime soon while his trial is still upcoming.

While it’s still unclear what will happen for Vince McMahon in the future, I do have to think about things for the long term. One of the things is how Vince will be remembered or even if the WWE will even try to remember him. He’s been scrubbed from the WWE website and searching for Vince McMahon will show Stephanie McMahon, Shane McMahon and even Vince McMahon Sr. Vince McMahon Jr. is out of the picture.

So, I do have to ask, will the WWE ever induct Vince McMahon, the man who basically made the company what it is today, into the WWE Hall of Fame? You would think this would be a no-brainer but, with the way the WWE is distancing themselves from the stink of the Vince McMahon allegations, there is a strong chance his name will ever be mentioned again. So, I gotta debate with myself, should Vince McMahon eventually get inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame?

The biggest argument as to why Vince McMahon should enter the WWE Hall of Fame is very simple. Without him, the WWE and the world of “sports entertainment” wouldn’t be as big as it is today. He was the one who had the vision to take the world of professional wrestling from the dingy bingo halls and small arenas and infuse it with the glitz and glamour we associate sports entertainment with today. There is a chance someone would have eventually done it but, as this world’s history will record it until the end of time, it was Vince McMahon who first did so. He made it so mainstream products, like Slim Jim, would be comfortable getting WWE Superstars like “Macho Man” Randy Savage to hawk their products and snap into a Slim Jim even today.

This does, however, show how much of a liability Vince McMahon’s name has become for the WWE. Even if it is sports entertainment, the WWE is still a business and a lot of their revenue comes from marketing deals. Sure, the ticket sales help but the corporate sponsorship is where the big bucks are! Of course, corporations try to avoid bad press like the plague. So, when a man like Vince McMahon becomes involved in a scandal such as the one he’s in right now, these same companies immediately wash their hands off the topic.

Remember Slim Jim? When the assault allegations lawsuit was formally filed against Vince McMahon, they immediately pulled all of their sponsorship from the Royal Rumble. They didn’t want to give even the inkling they were involved with the company where a predator was working in, much less the former head. Once Vince McMahon resigned, Slim Jim immediately reinstated their sponsorship deal with the WWE. This does give the WWE incentive to simply never mention the name Vince McMahon as they still do want these corporate sponsorships. Now, while I don’t care for the business side of things, I still don’t want the WWE to fold. I want the company to keep going. So, leaving Vince’s name out of anything which deals with the company seems like the right move for me.

Even so, leaving Vince McMahon out of the WWE does seem like a disservice to the man. Like I said, he’s primarily the reason why professional wrestling is as big as it is today. It does seem unfair to only focus on his transgressions and not take into account all he’s done for the business. A good example of this would involve a specific WWE Hall of Fame inductee, Pete Rose.

Pete Rose did not become popular because he was a WWE Superstar or even worked in the world of sports entertainment. He became popular because he was good in baseball. He won various accolades while playing baseball, including becoming the Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player and won several World Series championships. With these accolades, he should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

However, when he was caught gambling on the teams he managed after he retired from playing, the Baseball Hall of Fame declared him ineligible from ever being inducted. To this day, and especially after his recent passing, fans have clamored for Pete Rose to be allowed into the Baseball Hall of Fame. I’m sure he appreciated his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame but I still believe he would have loved to be inducted in the Hall of Fame of the sport he actually participated in.

A counterpoint to this argument would be an actual WWE Superstar who many feel should be entered into the WWE Hall of Fame: Chris Benoit. Like with Vince McMahon, the WWE has scrubbed practically all trace of Chris Benoit from their website. In fact, the WWE has pulled double duty by not only removing him from the website but also tried to get rid of all video evidence of when he was a WWE Superstar!

This is because of the very horrendous act he did of killing his wife and son before killing himself. This was major news back then and his actions on that day can still be felt to this day as the WWE had made some changes to how they conduct business in the ring to avoid the same kind of brain injuries Chris Benoit suffered throughout his wrestling career.

Even with that horrible act, fans to this day clamor for Chris Benoit’s entrance to the WWE Hall of Fame for all he’s done in the ring. He was a former WWE World Heavyweight Champion and one of the most exciting wrestlers in the ring. However, even Paul Heyman, the very man who gave Chris Benoit a job in ECW before he became really big, is totally against the idea of ever glorifying him because of what he did. Much like with Vince McMahon, that’s how big one dastardly act can color your view of a person.

So, the bottom line, do I think the WWE should induct Vince McMahon into the WWE Hall of Fame? It hurts me to say but, if any of the allegations are verifiably true, then I’m of the same mind with Paul Heyman. It may seem unfair as he did give his entire life to making the WWE and professional wrestling into the very thing I love. I just don’t think it would be right if what he built helped him to do all of the terrible things he’s done as well. Then again, this is how I feel now. Time heals all wounds, so they say. Maybe I will be more forgiving in the future but, at this very moment, my gut tells me Vince McMahon shouldn’t be glorified because of that one vile act.

Do you think the WWE should allow Vince McMahon to enter their Hall of Fame? Let me know why or why not in the comments section below!