Vince McMahon is already playing defense ahead of Wednesday’s premiere of a documentary he participated in.
Netflix’s Mr. McMahon, executive produced by Bill Simmons, is a six-part series that deep-dives into professional wrestling’s most influential figure while getting into some of his shortcomings and family drama. It’s named after McMahon’s WWE character. The documentary details his humble beginnings and chronicles the rise of WWE, while also discussing his intense and often chaotic nature, and reported infidelity. McMahon’s wife and kids are interviewed in the documentary.
In a statement posted to X, McMahon said he doesn’t regret participating in the documentary, but added “a lot has been misrepresented or left out entirely in an effort to leave viewers intentionally confused.” He said the documentary supports a “deceptive narrative” and hopes viewers “will keep an open mind.”
After seeing an early cut of the series, McMahon tried to buy it from Netflix, according to Puck News, but the company was steadfast in seeing it through. Most of the documentary’s interviews were conducted in 2021 and 2022, before the sexual misconduct allegations went public, but don’t appear outdated because of McMahon’s voracious personality.
McMahon is currently part of an ongoing federal investigation into allegations he paid four women as early as 2006 roughly $15 million to cover up sexual misconduct. One of the women, Janel Grant, has filed a separate lawsuit against McMahon alleging rape and sharing nude photos of her with WWE star Brock Lesnar to convince him to re-sign with WWE, among other allegations.
McMahon also took issue with the documentary taking “the predictable path of conflating the ‘Mr. McMahon’ character with my true self, Vince.” But the documentary portrays McMahon as someone who closely resembled his alter ego, who is known to be over-the-top, excessive, and sexually ravenous.
McMahon stepped down as CEO of WWE in June 2022 after an internal investigation over hush-money payments to former WWE employees, but he returned to the company as executive chairman in January 2023. That April, with help from Endeavor, WWE merged with UFC parent company Zuffa to become TKO Group Holdings. McMahon served as executive chairman for the new-look company but stepped down in January amid the sexual misconduct allegations.
Netflix entered into a major long-term partnership with WWE to become the new worldwide home of Raw starting in 2025.
