VINCE MCMAHON FULLY MORPHS INTO HIS ‘MR. MCMAHON' CHARACTER IN TRAILER FOR NETFLIX DOCUSERIES - WATCH
In the WWE's infamous "Attitude Era," Vince McMahon morphed into the "Mr. McMahon" character and never really looked back. Or maybe he was always that guy - and that's not a compliment.
Netflix's upcoming "Mr. McMahon" docuseries, from "Tiger King" director Chris Smith and former ESPN personality Bill Simmons, follows Vince's "rise and fall," the show's synopsis begins. Production began on the unscripted series four years ago, and since its cameras were first turned on, McMahon left his own company - twice - amid several scandals.
For "Mr. McMahon," Smith, Simmons, and fellow executive producer Zara Duffy compiled more than 200 hours of interviews with Vince McMahon, his family members, business associates, and iconic professional-wrestling talent, per Netflix. The trailer alone shows McMahon, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Hulk Hogan, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, John Cena, Bruce Prichard, Eric Bishoff, Jimmy Hart, Bret Hart, and McMahon's own son-in-law, Paul "Triple H" Levesque, who is married to McMahon's daughter Stephanie McMahon.
Buried a bit in Netflix's press release for the trailer is the fact that all the McMahon interviews happened "prior to his resignation," meaning the ultimate one in January 2024. McMahon had previously (and temporarily - he'd return) retired in July 2022.
At the time of his initial retirement, the McMahon/WWE scandal was centered on alleged hush-money payments he made to several female employees with whom he carried on affairs.
McMahon was forced to resign (for real) 18 months later, when his WWE and the UFC merged as a new publicly-traded company, TKO. The merger news broke just as more serious - and now on-the-record - accusations against McMahon came out: Former WWE employee Janel Grant accused McMahon of sexual assault and sex trafficking.
In other words, the "Mr. McMahon" interviews happened before and after his retirement and return, but not after his resignation and the bigger accusations. McMahon has denied the allegations and has faced a federal criminal investigation, but he has not been charged with a crime - not as of yet, at least.
"Mr. McMahon" is produced by Library Films in association with Ringer Films. Each of its six episodes has a 60-minute runtime. The series premieres on September 25.
"The goal behind ‘Mr. McMahon' was to pull back the curtain and reveal the true Vince McMahon, obscured beneath the persona he presented to the world," director Smith said in a statement provided to IndieWire. "Over the four years of production, the story evolved in truly shocking ways, culminating in some extremely harrowing allegations. The final product is a revealing documentary that we believe offers a rich and nuanced portrait of the man and the complex legacy he left behind."
Watch the "Mr. McMahon" trailer below.