WWE: A look at the controversial decisions by Vince McMahon
What's the story
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon is the true king of pro-wrestling as his ideas have revolutionized this industry. While most of his decisions have been top class, as they made a grave impact on WWE, he has also taken some controversial and regretful decisions in his career so far. On the same note, we take a look at some of his controversial decisions.
Montreal Screwjob
Betraying Bret Hart in front of his home crowd
Undoubtedly, the Montreal Screwjob has to be the first, where Vince cheated his way to make Bret Hart lose and award the championship to Shawn Michaels. The decision stirred a huge controversy, as Bret was unhappy with the decision. While Bret left WWE for WCW, the incident helped WWE gain immense popularity and their ratings skyrocketed in a matter of few months.
Benoit tribute
Paying tribute to Chris Benoit despite his heinous crime
In 2007, popular WWE superstar Chris Benoit passed away. In the next show of Monday Night Raw, Vince McMahon, along with entire WWE, paid tribute to the former world champion. However, after the show, it was revealed that Benoit had committed a double murder before committing suicide. This drew criticism as WWE had paid tribute to a murderer. However, Vince later cleared the air.
Ending WCW
Ending WCW for good
Winning Monday Night Wars was considered one of the pinnacles of WWE. While WCW gave true competition to WWE, Vince overpowered them through the money he had. However, what led to further controversy is that Vince decided to end the company forever. It was mostly due to him using WWE superstars in WCW shows, which led to hardcore WCW fans stop watching it.
Ending ECW
Owning and ending ECW in a similar fashion
It seems like Vince cannot take the success of his competitors. Just when it seemed he was done with WCW, it was ECW that started to gain immense popularity, challenging WWE's ratings. As usual, Vince decided to acquire the company and bring its superstars. However, as WWE entered the PG era, he was forced to end ECW's extreme concept, stirring controversy.
Million Dollar Mania
Why give away millions of dollars for free?
In 2008, Vince pulled off a publicity stunt where every week on Raw, he would come out and give away $1 million to random people. While it seemed interesting, it was controversial too. Meanwhile, he abruptly ended it by faking his injury after the stage collapsed over him. However, it was never revealed as to why he wanted to give away so much money?