Vince McMahon is a work of art without the beauty, ex-WWE star says (Exclusive)
Netflix's Vince McMahon docuseries told the story of Hulk Hogan informing his former boss that wrestlers were trying to start a union behind his back. Legendary booker and manager Dutch Mantell recently gave his thoughts on how McMahon treated wrestlers during his four decades in charge of WWE.
Mantell worked for WWE in 1995 and 1996 as the Uncle Zebekiah character. The 74-year-old returned to the company in 2013 under the name Zeb Colter before leaving again in 2016.
On Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk with Sid Pullar III, Mantell reflected on McMahon buying rival wrestling territories in the 1980s:
"He is wrestling, basically. A lot of people said, 'Why do you guys hate Vince so much?' I said, 'We don't hate Vince, we just knew what he was doing.' Because he damn sure didn't have the wrestlers' welfare in mind when he started trying to take over the country and run all the Mom and Pops out." [11:34 – 11:56]
Dutch Mantell gave Vince McMahon credit for his business success, but he thinks the 79-year-old failed to take care of in-ring performers:
"He didn't give a s**t about the wrestlers, and he admits in the documentary he doesn't play fair. He admits that, right? So, I don't know, Vince, he's a work of art without the beauty." [11:57 – 12:17]
Watch the video above to hear Mantell's take on McMahon setting up the NXT developmental brand after buying his competition.
Dutch Mantell explains why wrestlers did not challenge Vince McMahon
In 1986, legendary commentator and wrestler Jesse Ventura attempted to form a union with other WWE stars before WrestleMania 2. Hulk Hogan, WWE's top name at the time, said in Netflix's Mr. McMahon that he told Vince McMahon about Ventura's secret meeting out of loyalty.
Dutch Mantell believes wrestlers were too afraid to unionize in case they hurt their chances of working for WWE:
"People used to ask me, 'Why don't you guys get a union?' I said, 'Hey, that's a great thought but where they gonna work?' Because you only got really one guy can turn on the business, it's Vince, and you do a union he's not gonna take you because you're gonna be a bad egg, you're gonna cause problems, and he'll just leave you at home. So what are you gonna do? Bag groceries? Sell cars? Drive a truck? What are you gonna do?" [10:18 – 10:40]
McMahon was in charge of WWE's creative direction for 40 years before being replaced by his son-in-law Triple H in 2022. In January, he denied sexual misconduct allegations against him before resigning from WWE's parent company TKO "out of respect."
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