Vince McMahon
Titles Won:
- WWF Championship
- ECW World Championship
- Royal Rumble (1999)
- Boys and Girls Club of America Hall of Fame (Class of 2015)
- Guinness World Records – Oldest WWE Champion (September 1999)
- Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Sacred Heart University
- Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the world’s largest professional wrestling company, of which he is still majority owner. He is also the founder and owner of Alpha Entertainment.
McMahon was born in Pinehurst, North Carolina, and graduated from East Carolina University with a degree in business in 1968. He commentated for his father Vincent J. McMahon’s then-WWWF for most of the 1970s, bought it in 1982, and almost monopolized the industry, which previously operated as separate entities across the United States.
This led to the development of the annual WrestleMania, which became one of the most successful professional wrestling events. WWE faced industry competition from World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the 1990s, before purchasing the competing company in 2001. WWE also purchased the assets of the defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 2003.
McMahon has embarked on a number of WWE-related ventures. In 2014, he launched the WWE Network, a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. McMahon also owns other WWE multimedia subsidiaries and a professional wrestling school. Outside of wrestling, McMahon joint-owned and operated the XFL, a football league, twice; both iterations folded after a single season, with the second due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also headed the short-lived World Bodybuilding Federation and co-owns the clothing brand Tapout.
McMahon has appeared on-screen for WWE since 1969, initially as a personable, play-by-play commentator. From 1997, McMahon adopted the gimmick of Mr. McMahon, playing an irascible, villianous, swaggering tyrant who obsessed over maintaining control of his company, growling the catch phrase “You’rrre firrred!!!” Under the Mr. McMahon gimmick, he occasionally competed in wrestling matches and became a two-time world champion, a Royal Rumble match winner, and multi-time pay-per-view headliner.
Following claims of hush-money agreements McMahon paid over alleged affairs with former WWE employees, McMahon stepped down as CEO and chairman of WWE on June 17, 2022 pending the conclusion of an internal investigation and was replaced by his daughter, Stephanie McMahon. On July 22, 2022, McMahon announced his retirement.
Notable Feuds: vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, vs. D-Generation X, vs. Donald Trump, vs. Bret Hart, vs. Eric Bischoff, vs. Shane McMahon
