mr mcmahon is a brand new series Netflixdirected by Chris Smith (Tiger King) chronicles the rise and disastrous fall Vincent Kennedy McMahonfamous wrestling promoter and former chairman wwe Be creative. We have entered the “Triple H Era” of WWE; Monday night birthday The documentary is set to air on Netflix soon, but McMahon’s influence and legacy run deep and are explored in the six episodes of the docuseries.
Excerpted from over 200 hours of interviews with wrestling professionals, including promoters such as Eric Bischoff, Experts like Dave Meltzerand wrestling talent, such as Bret Hartthis documentary covers a lot in a short time. McMahon has had a decades-long career in the industry, starting in the 1970s and extending to this year. Given that, any given episode of the series would cover several years at a time, and some things don’t get as much detail as some might expect. For example, The Monday Night Wars and The Steroid Trial had more screen time than Benoit Massacre. This may be frustrating to wrestling fans with an encyclopedic knowledge of wrestling history, but it largely works in the documentary’s favor. They cover most of what they have more information on, and what various interviews are about to do. It still covers all the major events in McMahon’s career, with only WWE’s decline in the 2010s being largely a hit.
If there are two episodes in the docuseries that stand out, it’s Episodes 3 and 4. Discussing the Monday Night Wars, the Montreal Screwjobs and the legendary Attitude Era, this is where the docuseries is most focused and effective. It’s a particularly storied time for wrestling, which means they have more messages to convey to the audience, which helps. If you only watch one or two episodes of this series, I would definitely recommend these two. I can only imagine how shocked modern wrestling fans might have been to see some of the things that were going on on and off the stage at that time.
These interviews form a large part of the series and are very interesting. You’ll see a lot of people with another point of view, whether it’s Trish Stratus Talking about what it’s like to be a woman working at WWF, Cody Rhodes expressing his love for WCW, or Triple H directly discussing his relationship with Vince. It was refreshing and almost made me wish the documentary was longer and showed more footage of the various interviews they conducted in preparation for the documentary. There was never a sense that these interviews were manipulated to make McMahon look bad – he did a lot of that to himself – instead they came across as honest, both praising him and And honestly admits some of his major shortcomings and shortcomings. I particularly like Eric Bischoff, Dave Meltzer and Paul HeymanHe has a lot to say about any given incident covered in the documentary.
Vince McMahon himself was probably the funniest of all the guests interviewed. It’s a bit shocking to see him be so honest and open, quite openly discussing things that have been rumored or hinted at about him over the years. While he still clings to old lies, like attendance numbers or how the Attitude Era was family-friendly, he’s been outspoken about steroid trials and other issues. The best moments of the entire docuseries are when they directly interact with something Vince said in interviews, either ostensibly showing that it’s false or trying to show something he did or experienced. It’s interesting, and while he of course declined to comment on last year’s events, he alluded to it or its nature very clearly in the documentary, digging his own grave better than anyone.
The real highlight of the entire documentary is Shane McMahon. He’s honest, open, emotional, and not afraid to be genuine. That’s probably why he comes off as so likable here – almost everyone he interviews still withholds some information, but Shane is completely transparent. The fifth episode, “Family Business,” really highlights him and his complicated relationship with his father, both of whom want a career in wrestling but break the cycle of abuse in their father-son relationship. My biggest takeaway from the entire documentary is that we don’t appreciate Sean O’Mac enough and the absolutely mind-blowing effort he puts in in the ring to impress his father.
Technically, the docuseries is very well put together and edited. It’s very well paced and well worth watching from start to finish. It’s easy to see the whole thing in one day, and I guess that’s the goal. If there’s one section that feels clunky, it’s the final episode, which has clearly been reworked and re-edited to reflect the events of the last year or so. This comes at the expense of exploring WWE’s decline in the 2010s, but it makes the documentary feel more timely. If I were the team behind the show, I would ask Netflix to add one more episode so they don’t have to seemingly combine 15 years of events into one hour-long episode.
Overall, if the only major complaint about this documentary is that wrestling fans already know a lot of the information in it, then that’s not necessarily a major flaw. I can imagine that this documentary will be an enlightening watch for those new to the world of wrestling or completely unfamiliar with it, and for that I’m very happy that it exists. It covers most of the important information and is very vivid in its description of events. It’s truly shocking to see a WWE legend like this Steve AustinBret Hart and John Heenan Honesty about the controversy that has been shrouded in secrecy for decades, this docuseries isn’t a simple hit piece about McMahon, as much as he’s being himself. Instead, it showcases the good and bad of a legend who helped create the sport of wrestling as we know it today. As it happens, a lot of them are really, really bad. Recommend this to all your non-wrestling friends and watch them discover just how wild this sport and its industry can be.
