Vince McMahon "was not acting" and is the same as Mr. McMahon, WWE veteran says (Exclusive)
Netflix's Mr. McMahon docuseries revolved around whether Vince McMahon's villainous on-screen character was a true reflection of the former WWE Chairman's real-life personality. Legendary booker and manager Dutch Mantell recently addressed how he feels about the 79-year-old.
Mantell performed as the Uncle Zebekiah character in 1995 and 1996 before returning to WWE between 2013 and 2016 as Zeb Colter. Although he has vast experience in the wrestling business as a creative team member, the 74-year-old only worked for WWE as a television character.
On Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk with Sid Pullar III, Mantell said Mr. McMahon and Vince McMahon are the same person:
"Vince may not have stayed in that character 24/7, but when he got to that building and they're gonna do TV that night, he'd just roll into the Mr. McMahon and he did it so well. I mean, you could tell people when they're acting. Vince was not acting. He was putting forth what he thought that he was, and he was very, very good at it and very believable." [5:53 – 6:25]
Watch the video above to hear Mantell discuss how women in WWE reacted when McMahon's name was mentioned backstage.
Dutch Mantell compares Vince McMahon's character to Randy Savage and Steve Austin
During his days as a wrestler, Dutch Mantell sometimes traveled with WWE Hall of Famers "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Aside from Vince McMahon, Mantell named Austin and Savage as two people in the wrestling business whose characters were the same on-screen and off-screen:
"Stone Cold, when he goes out there and talks, he talks that way driving down the road, and another one like that is Randy Savage. When you would meet Savage, Randy Savage was the same guy at six o'clock in the morning as he would be at 12 o'clock at night 'cause he stayed in that character 24/7. Stone Cold Steve Austin stayed in it 24/7." [5:22 – 5:53]
Mantell also gave his thoughts on ECW's unique brand of entertainment and revealed one thing he refused to do in wrestling.
Do you think Mr. McMahon and Vince McMahon are the same? Hit the discuss button and let us know.
Dutch Mantell and his wife Cathy have battled life-threatening health issues in recent months. You can show your support by leaving a donation via GoFundMe.
Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.