5 Ways The Vince McMahon Biopic And Real Life Might Be Very Different

If you can’t wait for the Vince McMahon biopic “Pandemonium” because you want the true story of how he rose to power, you might need to keep waiting. Although there are many things in the upcoming movie that will be on point, several facts are smudged for the sake of the movie’s plot.

PWInsider has given us several details about early script drafts for the film. We understand due to time constraints the film can’t be a five-hour epic to get all the facts in line. But some of these details are pretty big fabrications.

The film starts out with a warning saying the following story is as true as anything in pro wrestling. That should give us a pretty clear indication that what we’re about to see is kayfabe.

Young Vince McMahon

We get nothing about Vince McMahon’s childhood. Reports are the movie will start with Vince already married to Linda. Vince is frustrated with his job prospects and Linda is working as a waitress at a strip club.

Early on in the film, there is a scene where Vince and Linda make a comment about how they would never get into politics. That clever nod might be true, but they obviously didn’t stick to that.

When Linda tells Vince she is pregnant with their son Shane, Vince tells her the mother of his child won’t be working at a strip club. After that, Vince gets in a fight with the owner of the strip club and punches him out. The script heavily implies Vince’s violence turns Linda on. That is interesting. Little did she know how close to the violence she would later get while confined to a wheelchair.

The Vince McMahon Sr. Character

Vince McMahon Sr is portrayed as a rough around the edges old-school wrestling promoter. He is playing to half-full houses and sees no value in drama or theatrics. Vince is shown at a Led Zepplin concert where he is inspired. This scene is a “eureka moment” in the film where Vince realizes the importance of lighting, music, and showmanship in a performance.

In a scene that very well might be dead on, Vince realizes his wrestling family is exempt from paying their employees union wages. He is brought in by his father to be an announcer because Vince Sr. doesn’t want to pay announcers national union wages. Yet again, another “eureka moment.”

Vince Jr. later negotiates a one million dollar buyout of his father’s company and keeps Gorilla Monsoon on as his right-hand man. It’s been said Vince paid his father in four installments over the next year and got much of the payments from WWF’s profits. But we’ll see how they play that out in the film. Monsoon’s role in the film is said to be greatly exaggerated and encapsulates much of what Pat Patterson actually did for the company as well.

In real-life, Vince McMahon Sr. passed away before the first WrestleMania. But, in the upcoming film, he dies during McMahon’s steroid trial. This is obviously an escape from reality. Sr will see his son’s success instead of passing before the WWF really took off. To put it bluntly, the movie will feature a touching father/son “hug it out” scene that never happened IRL.

The Steroid Trial

There is a big dramatic moment in the film during the steroid trial scene where McMahon says the government shouldn’t interfere in the business of blue collar people. Vince will turn the stand into his pulpit and he transfixes the courtroom. It is said to be very “People vs Larry Flint.” Yet again, that didn’t happen. If you want to hear the true story about the WWF steroid trial, we highly suggest you check out Bruce Prichard’s podcast about it.

All of Vince’s infidelities come out during the steroid trial as well. After the trial, Vince is confronted by his family during a limo ride and he tells them he was creating WWF’s next great heel character. In this Vince McMahon biopic The Montreal Screwjob didn’t create the Mr. McMahon character, the steroid trial did.

There is also a scene where Shane and Stephanie are being picked on in school because of the steroid trial. The McMahon children beat their bullies down in a school hallway hardcore match. #BeAStar

The Monday Night Wars

The Monday Night Wars are also greatly changed for the film. Ted Turner’s infamous call to Vince where he tells him he’s in the “rasslin’ business” is in the script. But Eric Bischoff is not. Eric Bischoff might have wanted too much for his likeness rights, who knows?

But for whatever reason, Jim and David Crockett are the ones working for Turner that go after Hogan. All in all, reports are The Monday Night Wars aren’t a major factor in the script.

In reality, The Monday Night Wars was one of the most important times in Vince McMahon’s life. That is the kind of stuff fans want to hear the “true story” about, but it doesn’t look like they’re going to get it in this film

How Wrestlers Are Portrayed

The film also portrays how Vince found some of his biggest stars in very interesting (and untrue) ways. In a scene that reminds us of “The Mighty Ducks” Vince finds Junkyard Dog as a construction worker, Roddy Piper was discovered in jail, Jimmy Snuka as a porn actor, etc.

After that, Vince transforms them into pro wrestlers. The cherry on top is when he finds Andre The Giant as the owner of a French restaurant in Montreal. Yup, that’s not how anything actually happened. It also might be the only mention of Montreal in the film.

All in all, the film looks like it will at least be entertaining. The script features lots of racy elements including drug use, steroids, ring rats, and vulgarity.

There’s a scene where the Hulk Hogan character is concerned his steroid use made his genitals smaller and is hurting his sex drive. Vince and the Randy Savage character have a conversation about how Randy is popular with girls “Stephanie’s age” but promises he would never touch her. Hmmm…Wrestling With Wregret is going to have a wonderful time reviewing this movie.

If you’re looking forward to this film, so are we. But while watching the upcoming Vince McMahon biopic, it is best to take it with a big fat grain of salt. After all, it is being produced with approval from WWE. So some elements will be straight-up false.

Of course, there are some things that have come out to the public that can’t be hidden. But in the end, it is still the story about Vince McMahon World Wrestling Entertainment wants to be told.