Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Based on over 100 hours of interviews conducted over four years, “Mr. McMahon” fails expectations by not providing the entire tale of wrestling’s most powerful character.

The man himself, Vince McMahon, lets you know this by beginning the six-episode docuseries by explaining that he cannot tell the “real stories” of his life. The reasoning behind this: McMahon never wants the public to know the real him.

Bill Simmons, executive producer (“30 for 30”) and filmmaker Chris Smith (“Tiger King”) had a ton to work with when it came to McMahon. The on-screen character “Mr. McMahon” and the real-life Vince McMahon are practically the same person: egomaniac, creepy, ruthless, offensive and an all-around cutthroat businessman.

The best part of this docuseries has to be all the fact-checking McMahon gets throughout it. McMahon explained that he lives all these different lives and that his on-screen character is nothing compared to him in real life. However, the producers make the funniest choice possible and that is cutting to all of his former employees who say the exact opposite.

In the fourth episode, “Attitude,” Hulk Hogan, a WWE hall of famer, said the on and off-screen McMahons are the same. Bruce Pritchard, a WWE executive producer, said that he even heard the same speeches backstage that McMahon would say on TV.

McMahon’s delusion fully kicks in when he talks about how Ted Turner leveraged his money to steal talent from WWE, although WWE rose by doing the same thing to its territories. Throughout the docuseries, Vince McMahon portrays himself as a poor, constant victim and the multibillionaire works hard to create the narrative that he is the little guy.

The docuseries does not dig that deep, which is the failing part of the whole thing. To wrestling fans, you do not learn much more about McMahon. For non-wrestling fans, you will have trouble understanding any part of the series. Yes, it goes over the huge steroid scandal in the ‘90s, but you do not learn anything new from it by watching this series. The show barely glosses over the Mel Phillips and Terry Garvin ring boy scandal (a series of sexual harrassment allegations against several WWE players), the Rena Lesnar “Sable” lawsuit and the many other lawsuits pressed against McMahon by women who worked for him.

The sexual assault lawsuits, specifically the Janel Grant case, only getting a small piece of the last episode’s time is a complete disappointment. Netflix did not get testimony from former executives or wrestlers to explore deeper into McMahon’s past. However, all we get is the public information on the case and a couple of journalists’ perspectives on it. 

Wrestling fans know that the “Mr. McMahon” on WWE TV is extremely sexually active, with the character always finding himself with women who have close to no clothes on. But instead of getting the perspectives of a lot of women who worked those segments, the docuseries only delivers one former female wrestler.

The producers were never going to get the “real stories” from a man like McMahon, so for someone who wants to learn something new about the former WWE owner, you will not find much. However, if you are a wrestling fan looking for an homage to one of the best bad guys to ever do it, this might be something you would like to watch.

Image via Netflix via YouTube