Vince McMahon

Vincent Kennedy McMahon, Jr. is the owner of World Wrestling Entertainment, formerly the World Wrestling Federation and the World-Wide Wrestling Federation. He bought the company in 1982 from his father, Vincent Kennedy McMahon Sr. He is also the man responsible for the XFL, and formed the now-defunct World Bodybuilding Federation in 1988. In wrestling, Vince has worked as both a commentator on his own programs, and later as an on-screen character on his shows. On television, he appears as the arrogant owner of the WWE, punishing and attempting to hold down anyone who defies him. He has even wrestled on occasion, famously feuding with Steve Austin, the WWF's top draw in the late 90's and early 2000's.

Vince is alternately credited and blamed with the introduction of "sports entertainment"-style wrestling and the elimination of the territorial system in the 1980's. Under him, the World Wrestling Federation went from one of many regional promotions in the United States to a national promotion that ran shows all across the United States and Canada while wiping out most of the regional promotions in the process. It also began emphasizing wrestler gimmicks over the wrestling content of his shows and attempting to market to younger audiences throughout the 80's and early 90's. In 2001, after a prolonged ratings war, his company bought out it's biggest competitor, World Championship Wrestling, giving it a near-monopoly on major professional wrestling in the States.

'Mr. McMahon'

As with much of wrestling, the separation between fiction and reality is very blurred. McMahon's on-air alter-ego, 'Mr. McMahon' is usually portrayed as a tyrannical authority figure, abusing his power and making life miserable for popular good-guy wrestlers ('Babyfaces' in wrestling lingo). This character is generally considered to be an exagerated version of the real Vince McMahon.