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Lesson #2: Even a Serious Business Needs to Be Fun

Article Overview: “In a word, it's fun,” says McMahon. “Every night is Saturday night for me. This isn't work. When you can entertain millions and millions of fans all over the world, that's a great sign, a great thrill, as great as it gets in business.”

Lesson #2: Even a Serious Business Needs to Be Fun

“In a word, it's fun,” says McMahon. “Every night is Saturday night for me. This isn't work. When you can entertain millions and millions of fans all over the world, that's a great sign, a great thrill, as great as it gets in business.”

One of the secrets to McMahon’s success has been the passion and enthusiasm for his business that he both puts in and draws out. He enjoys his work, is excited by it and looks forward to what lies ahead. Unlike his critics, who McMahon charges take him “a little too seriously,” McMahon is able to have fun with his company.

“Just look at all the elements on our show,” he says. “It's action-adventure. But it's also a talk show. But someone else might say it's a cartoon beyond belief. Or it's a soap opera, or a grandiose rock concert. And the athleticism is nothing short of extraordinary. We have no boundaries or limitations. We can go anywhere we want to. We're only limited by our imagination and creativity. We take the best of show biz and roll it all into one.”

McMahon takes his imagination by the hand and runs with it, wherever it may take him, even if that includes poking fun at himself. Such is the case with his on-screen persona, Mr. McMahon, an egotistical and villainous boss that arouses both wild cheers and jeers from audiences around the world. In the ring, Mr. McMahon will shout such provoking phrases as, “I am the lord, the master and god of all sports entertainment! And all that participate in any manner, whether or not it's in the ring or you buy a ticket, you will worship me!”

From his own power walk – an over-exaggerated and cocky swagger he uses to walk into the ring with – to the dramatic and spectacularly staged storylines, McMahon isn’t afraid to have a little fun with his work. Indeed, by transforming the very nature of professional wrestling from a sport with simply two men fighting each other in a ring, to a form of entertainment involving stories of love, jealousy, betrayal, and deceit, McMahon has changed the very nature of the industry into one that is all about having fun.

“I’m in the entertainment business,” says McMahon. “Anything can happen in the WWF!” McMahon has blurred the distinction between entertaining others and amusing himself, seemingly enjoying revving up a crowd as much as they like getting revved up. “The biggest thrill in the world is entertaining the public,” he says. “The one thing you cannot get from any other form of entertainment – you cannot get the rush of 20,000 people, what they give you as a performer. No actor can get that.”

Whether he is playing the role of Mr. McMahon in the ring, or the entrepreneurial brains behind the company, McMahon ensures that he has fun along the way. After all, it’s his company and he’s “Vince McMahon, dammit!”

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Article Tags: action adventure, athleticism, audiences, betrayal, cheers and jeers, imagination, jealousy, no boundaries, phrases, professional wrestling, saturday night, screen persona, serious business, show biz, soap opera, sports entertainment, storylines, swagger, talk show, two men



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