Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America

The author of this book doesn’t like Donald Trump. Now, you might be wondering what that has to do with anything considering this a biography about Vince McMahon and this would be a valid question. And, just to be clear, the obvious answer to that question is: It doesn’t have anything to do with anything. Sure, Vince’s decades-long friendship with Trump, and Vince’s influence on Trump (and vice versa), is certainly worth exploring (and is), but the reason Abraham Riesman feels the need to pepper this book with his opinions about Trump is because Riesman’s focus is so clouded by TDS that he simply cannot write a clear, streamlined, objective, biography about Vince McMahon without crowbarring his own political opinions into the text. This is, unfortunately, where we are in 2023, and where we are in terms of writing and editing in our present-day culture. A good content editor should have left Riesman’s political opinions on the cutting room floor and it wasn’t too long ago that any content editor of any political persuasion, Left or Right, would have. If I had written this book in high school, even my English teacher would have used his red pen to write: “Are you writing a Vince McMahon biography, or a political polemic?”Enough already.It’s unfortunate that I even have to mention the off-topic bias that weaves its way through the text of this book because this is an otherwise competent and well-written biography. The life and times of Vincent Kennedy McMahon probably requires something more akin to a twelve-hour Ken Burns documentary, but for now, this book is really all we have and it covers all the important bases, as well as revealing aspects of McMahon’s life that were previously unknown. Riesman deserves particular credit for his journalistic work in uncovering facets of McMahon’s early life in North Carolina, which have always been spotty and unclear, almost to the point of mystery and mythology. Until now, we’ve only had Vince’s firsthand account of his young life, which has always been suspect because, believe it or not, Vince McMahon often has a propensity for bullshit. “Perception is reality.” Riesman, however, did a good job tracking down Vince’s old classmates and forgotten family members to give the reader a much broader sense of who Vince McMahon is as a person and, honestly, I found the first part of this book to be the most interesting and enlightening. Riesman is also good at condensing a very long and complex life into just 356 pages and his meticulously annotated endnotes are over 70 pages, which I greatly respect.It is also clear that Riesman is not a huge fan of Vince McMahon. This book could rightly be considered a full-length hit piece, but it seems *fair enough* because no matter how objectively you write about Vince McMahon, you’re eventually going to come across an aspect of his life that most sane people will find highly objectional. Riesman is clearly a wrestling fan and, in that way, I suppose his own, personal feelings about Vince McMahon are the same as most wrestling fans: “Well, it’s complicated.” Yes, on one hand, Vince McMahon is, as they say, “the modern-day P.T. Barnum” whose eccentric genius and insane work-ethic revolutionized an industry that has brought immense joy to millions of people. Yet, on the other hand, Vince McMahon is also a highly-flawed individual who has done things that any psychologist might easily classify as “sociopathic.” In this way, Vince McMahon is no different than any other type-A personality who has achieved great, historic things. When writing about Vince McMahon, a biographer has to approach him in the same way a biographer has to approach Thomas Jefferson, MLK, or, yes, even Donald Trump.It's complicated.Vince McMahon is complicated. The wrestling business is complicated. This book, however, is not, and this is another one of its strengths. It does its best to uncomplicate a complicated man in a complicated world. It doesn’t *quite* get there in my opinion, but it gets close enough to the mark (pun intended) to be interesting and enjoyable. This book doesn’t quite hit its target, but in fairness, the bullseye on this particular target is like Vince McMahon himself—constantly moving and often unclear…and that is precisely the point.

I’ve been an off and on wrestling fan for nearly my entire life. The author and I are close in age and have many of the same touchstones. And, like the author, I am fascinated by the person and character of Vince McMahon. The strongest segment of the book, and perhaps the most revelatory, was the section that covers Vince’s early life. Great research, great coverage and insight. Even the early years of Vince pre-WrestleMania I are full of interesting peaks behind the curtain. In the second section of the book, though, anyone with a reasonable knowledge of WWF/E in the 1980s/90s will find a lot of similar ground peppered with insightful sound bites. Certainly, the expansion on Rita Chatteron and Tom are important parts of the story, but some things feel heavily glossed. The book doesn’t really ever talk about the mystery surrounding how Vince bought the company. Many other books have hinted at how this came to be (using the old company’s money to buy the old company?). There are minor miscues throughout the book. Never a wrong fact, but just things that aren’t really mentioned or dived into as much as they could be. By the end, you’re reading any “top 10 wrestling angles” video with a few quotes from those that were there.The book is well researched and well written. It’s an engaging, even breezy read. However, the oddest choice for the book is to just end in 1999. A curious choice, since it’s before the WCW buyout, it’s before some of his more infamous issues. No mention of the bizarre story arc with a catatonic Linda and Vince and Trish. Stuff that aligns so well. The author makes a case that 1999 presents a defining moment of Vince’s ultimate success and since then we’ve been in Vince’s world. And I do concur. But it just feels so odd for the book to end with nearly 25 years uncovered. A Sequel? Will Ringmaster 2 feature Reisman bodyslamming Vince McMahon at the Silverdome? Still, a very good read. And I felt like I learned a lot from the first half of the book. It will be a good read to the uninitiated in the world of ProGraps, I don’t know how new some of this will feel to veteran fans.Lastly, the biggest theme of the book is about how much wrestling - especially Vinny Mac’s wrestling - is in entrenched in the social and political atmosphere of the US. RIck Santorum and Donald Trump are key players in this narrative. The relationship between politics and wrestling is at once diametric and parallel. Wrestling reflects us, reflects who we are and it is embodies and emboldens our politics. It is the King of Sports, our nadir, our purest storytelling medium and our worst vices.

I watched my fair share of pro wrestling in the 1970s and 1980s, even took in some live shows. As a result, I was always fascinated by how Vince McMahon rose from the son to the overlord of pro wrestling.Abraham Riesman, who did a stellar jib profiling Stan Lee, does an equally creditable job with the Lord of the Ring. There is a ton of context for the more casual reader and plenty of insight into the man, the myth, and the business of legend-making.Sadly, as with so many bios of the living, the last 15-20 years feel compressed and rushed. The reviewers have made much of the McMahon-Trump friendship, but it could have gotten more analysis along with more on the changing fortunes of the WWE.Still, this was an entertaining read.

I enjoyed it. Finished in a few days. NotMuch new information here especially after Vince takes over Wwe. Loved the parts of Vince childhood and growing up. So much we still don’t know, probably have to wait for Vince to put something out. Author seems to want to paint Vince in a bad light. No one who watches wrestling thinks he’s good person, none of these stories are new. Every book talks about the screwjob and how wrestlemania 1 came to be. It does end kinda out of nowhere. A book about wwe from non wrestling fan

The author interviews folks from Vince's past, cousins, childhood friends, and others to give new insight into Vinnie Mac. Separating his promoted reality from his real past is difficult, but this book is the best yet to give us some insight into who Vince was before he was Mr. McMahon.

I had high hopes for this bit they really fell apart. While there was some great research into the past of the subject, about halfway through, the book abandons any attempt at talking about Vince McMahon in favor of retelling the author's favorite wrestling storyline.More page space is given to the Montreal Screwjob than both of the XFLs put together. More page space is inexplicably given to the Ministry of Darkness angle than to Linda McMahon's entire political career.I'm not even particularly mad at the book's attempt to compare wrestling kayfabe and modern "alternate fact" post-news politics, but the point is completely undeveloped and seems to rely on a terminally-online view of the media landscape from a centrist-liberal democratic party perspective and the generally accepted set of points that come with such a world view.Ultimately, it is a great 1/3 of a book with what feels like a rushjob to meet a publishing deadline comprising the second two acts.