'Truly Shocking' Vince McMahon Docuseries Coming To Netflix - Here's When You Can Watch It
Wrestling fans have been through quite a bit in the past few years as scandals have rocked World Wrestling Entertainment. Longtime chairman and CEO Vince McMahon stepped down in July 2022 to likely avoid being fired for his role in sexual assault and harassment claims, including concerns around paying out hush money and creating a massive cover-up for his alleged ill deeds. This is by no means the first time McMahon or the WWE have come under fire — hell, there's an entire excellent documentary series called "Dark Side of the Ring" about all of the awful things that have happened in wrestling over the years — but it was definitely the nail in the coffin for his complicated and controversial career.
A documentary about McMahon was in the works at Netflix but reportedly dropped despite being deep in post-production when the allegations were released. Now, a new documentary series, "Mr. McMahon," is set to premiere on the streaming service on September 25, giving fans a much deeper look into the life and legacy of one of the most powerful and problematic men in all of sports television history.
The shocking story of Vince McMahon
Netflix shared in a press release that "Mr. McMahon" will have six hour-long episodes, directed by "Tiger King" producer Chris Smith and executive produced by Bill Simmons ("30 for 30"). The series pulls from more than 200 hours of interviews with not only friends, family, and business associates of McMahon's, but also with the man himself prior to his resignation from WWE. The doc series also contains interviews with the journalists who helped break the news of McMahon's allegations, which will help provide context and hopefully help ensure that things don't get too biased in McMahon's favor.
In the release, Smith explained his goal behind the series, to "reveal the true Vince McMahon," saying:
"Over the four years of production, the story evolved in truly shocking ways, culminating in some extremely harrowing allegations. The final product is a revealing documentary that we believe offers a rich and nuanced portrait of the man and the complex legacy he left behind."
It will be interesting to see how the doc handles the more controversial parts of McMahon's long career and whether it lionizes him or holds him fully accountable for his alleged actions.
A biographical drama about McMahon called "Pandemonium" was in the works as far back as 2017, with Bradley Cooper potentially tapped to play the CEO, but McMahon himself gave that project the axe by 2023 because he couldn't have complete control over how he was depicted. Thankfully, with a documentary like "Mr. McMahon," no one needs WWE approval.
"Mr. McMahon" will premiere globally on Netflix on September 25, 2024.