Last week, Netflix released the first trailer for its six-part documentary series, Mr. McMahon. What once looked set to be a puff piece delivering a WWE-approved project about the former Chairman's many achievements will now combine those interviews with an in-depth exploration of the sexual abuse allegations he's faced in recent years.
Podcaster and occasional insider Conrad Thompson recently shared his thoughts on the show and revealed some inside information he's heard from sources within WWE.
Apparently, the plan is for Mr. McMahon to be a "burial" of Vince and some in WWE (one of Thompson's co-hosts, Bruce Prichard, we'd guess) aren't happy about it "It’s a hit piece they don’t like," Thompson added. "[Bill Simmons] is talking to [David] Shoemaker and [Dave] Meltzer. It’s an absolute double shovel burial."
He'd then go on to share what came across like a bizarre defence of McMahon and the fact he's been accused of sexual assault and trafficking. In fact, Thompson suggested fans put that to one side similar to Chris Benoit murdering his wife and child before taking his own life.
"If you read the original report, certainly it was slanted to read a certain way," he said of the lawsuit. "Either way, it’s hard to read that and not be a little taken aback. Now it’s like okay, not everybody is all good or all bad. He created some real magic for millions of people, myself included. But he wasn’t always a great guy."
"I think if you go back and look up almost any of our heroes, whether they’re in entertainment, music or whatever, those folks disappoint you. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up enjoying their previous work."
In related news, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross confirmed he was never approached about sharing his thoughts on McMahon in the documentary.
Given what he's said about how his former boss treated him over the years, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised as those interviews seemingly took place when WWE was still involved with the project.
"No one closer to Vince than me at certain times in my tenure. Right hand man type material, but I never got a call. Maybe they didn’t feel like I was viable enough to follow up. I would have been happy to do an interview if I had been approached, but that didn’t occur and I’m not sure why because I know every secret, every corner, the whole nine yards. My feelings aren’t hurt because I wasn’t involved in it. It might be better that I wasn’t because it will make it easier to watch because a lot of us hate seeing ourselves on television."
"I don’t know what Tony Khan would have thought about it, and I certainly would have got his blessing before I proceeded because I’m loyal to who I work for and Tony has been awfully good to me. This assignment that I have where I’m doing the main events at the AEW pay-per-views is significant. It’s a unique schedule. Nobody in my kind of work has ever had anything like this offered to them and I’ve taken advantage of it. I like to think, I hope, that my work on TV is holding up well and working out good. I don’t want to jeopardize that. I wouldn’t jeopardize that for anything. I don’t need it. I don’t need the money, but I would have done an interview."