While he stepped into the ring numerous times during the Attitude Era, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon reportedly got to wrestle for the WWF long before his famous Mr. McMahon heel persona appeared on television.
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In a recent interview with Wrestling News, WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter told the site that when McMahon was a young man, he often wanted to wrestle even though his father, Vince McMahon Sr., wouldn’t allow it. Apparently the future WWF Champion found a way around that one time by wrestling under a mask.
“Vince never was able to become a wrestler, his father wanted him to be behind the microphone, so he could control things a little better … One night we were driving in the car together and he says, ‘One thing I miss Sarge is getting in the ring.’ I asked him if he wants to get in the ring, he says yes, so I tell him to go put a mask on one night when we have a smaller event and I’ll wrestle you. So we did, and it wasn’t the funnest time of my life, but we got it done,” Slaughter said.
No word on what McMahon’s wrestling name was or which town he worked, but the story was an interesting insight into the mindset of a much-younger McMahon.
While the WWE continues to chug along, McMahon has been splitting time between the wrestling promotion and restarting his professional football league, the XFL. McMahon has recently sold large portions of his stock in the WWE to bankroll to rebooted league, and is reportedly expected to spend nearly $500 million to get it up and running for the planned 2020 season.
“I wanted to do this since the day we stopped the other one,” McMahon said in an interview with ESPN back in January when the league’s revival was announced. “A chance to do it with no partners, strictly funded by me, which would allow me to look in the mirror and say, ‘You were the one who screwed this up,’ or ‘You made this thing a success.’”
On Dec. 1 the league announced the eight cities that will host teams for the league’s first season will include Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis, Seattle, Tampa and Washington D.C.
The original XFL was launched back in 2001 and, despite major financial backing, a good television deal and solid opening ratings, lasted only one season due to a number of major setbacks.
