Posted in: Fox, Opinion, Sports, TV, TV, WWE | Tagged: fox, opinion, Smackdown, Vince McMahon, wwe

WWE SmackDown: So Was That Vince McMahon & Mr. McMahon "Together"?

Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that the WWE board was investigating Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon in regards to a $3M money settlement McMahon paid a female paralegal over an alleged affair. In addition, several nondisclosure pacts connected to misconduct claims from other women who worked for the company involving McMahon & WWE talent executive John Laurinaitis also surfaced and are being investigated. That brought us to this morning when we learned that McMahon had  "voluntarily stepped back" from his corporate responsibilities (but not creative, because for some reason WWE viewers have to be punished, too?) pending the investigation and that the special committee convened by the board to handle the investigation appointed Stephanie McMahon as interim CEO and Chairwoman. So with all of that in play, was anyone really surprised when the WWE put the word out that McMahon's "Mr. McMahon" persona will appear on FOX's WWE SmackDown tonight to apparently address the situation. Yes, it appears the all-too-real Vince McMahon is going to address a serious and all-too-real issue as Mr. McMahon… a wrestling character?! But is that what really ended up happening? Let's take a look as we offer our thoughts while WWE SmackDown aired:

7:40 pm ET: "Of course he is." That's what CNN anchor Jake Tapper had to say when he learned that McMahon would be appearing as "Mr. McMahon" on tonight's SmackDown. And of course, Tapper's right. It's not surprising at all… because it's Vince. In the real world? There isn't a marketing team, public relations company, or media consulting group worth a damn that would think this is a good idea. Considering the accusations floating around and now being investigated, I'm not really sure reminding everyone of your "sleazy, shady boss" persona is a great move. But we'll see. It's not eight minutes…

8:00 pm ET: Here we go! And Mr. McMahon is starting things off! Well, the Minneapolis crowd doesn't seem to be hating him too much. Wow. The reaction from the crowd was intense, though we heard some boos. A little sickening & weird. Yup, folks singing his theme song. The crowd "mob mentality" is some scary shit. Not surprising. In all honesty, there was no way to know if that was McMahon or "Mr. McMahon." He references the WWE opening tagline, with an emphasis on "together" before welcoming the crowd to SmackDown, flipping the mic onto the mat, and walking out while slapping hands with acolytes.

8:04 pm ET: It's showtime! Like nothing ever happened… good luck with that, Vince.

And huge thanks to the amazing Denise Salcedo (seriously… big fan), TV host & producer (Wrestling Observer, Fightful Wrestling, WrestleTalk), for the following video:

See why Salcedo rocks? Had that video up before the WWE…

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