There's a dark squash match on a Smackdown he did as Earthquake in late '01. I think they were going to put him in the '02 Rumble as a suprise entrant, which would have been cool.

Tenta was a great combination of knowing when to give and what to give, having super credible offense including one of the best elbow drops in the history of wrestling, and being super strong and athletic.

Andre is a Vince Sr era guy. While Vince always treated those guys reasonably well and with respect, I don't think he gets that warm glow feeling he gets when thinking about his golden era guys. Especially 85-86 guys, but that era probably stretches as far as 91.

Vince Jr. would've been a fan of some of the older guys though. He was especially fond of Jerry Graham.

Yeah, the guys he gets the warm glow about are from his father's era. Andre, Monsoon, Skaaland and especially Blassie.

Andre is a Vince Sr era guy. While Vince always treated those guys reasonably well and with respect, I don't think he gets that warm glow feeling he gets when thinking about his golden era guys. Especially 85-86 guys, but that era probably stretches as far as 91.

A few years ago Meltzer was reporting that Vince was going around telling everyone that his favorite period was 79 to 85. Which is why you saw guys from that era suddenly showing up who hadn't been heard from in years, like Tony Atlas.

 

Vince is a complicated dude. He can be ruthless, petty and callous as fuck sometimes. Then on the flip side he paid for Sherri and Bam Bam's funeral's. Called Bret, when he had his stroke and Jarrett, when his wife died to offer support and repeatedly pays for Waltman's rehab stints, even before there was a wellness policy.

 

According to Jericho. Every time he tried to talk business with Vince. Vince was more interested about recollecting the old guys like Bobo Brazil.

I brought this up once before, but it didn't take off, but if you could cast any actor (alive or dead) to play Vince, who would you?

Gary Oldman. I can't explain it, but he could do it.

My choice is oddly enough, another Brit, Danny Huston. If ever a film is made of his life, Montreal would have to be the climax. If you look at how ruthless he was behind the scenes as a juxtaposition of his on-screen persona it's almost like the SNL sketch of Reagan playing up his dopey image in front of the cameras but is cut-throat when it comes to substance. Montreal was the first crack of that bubble that would shortly be burst by nearly half a year later from that.

My choice is oddly enough, another Brit, Danny Huston. If ever a film is made of his life, Montreal would have to be the climax. If you look at how ruthless he was behind the scenes as a juxtaposition of his on-screen persona it's almost like the SNL sketch of Reagan playing up his dopey image in front of the cameras but is cut-throat when it comes to substance. Montreal was the first crack of that bubble that would shortly be burst by nearly half a year later from that.

 

I think this part gets undersold. How he went from the dipshit in the yellow WWF suits who yelled WHATTAMANUVER~! at everything (and always being made fun of by the heel color commentators) to being the ruthless asshole Mr. McMahon in the span of a few years is really spectacular. The best parallel would be if somehow in 2015 Michael Cole ends up being the most evil bastard in WWE history.

it's not even Cole. It's Scott Stanford.

I brought this up once before, but it didn't take off, but if you could cast any actor (alive or dead) to play Vince, who would you?

I'd cast Michael Shannon as Vince in his late 30's during the part of the movie that covers the WWF's expansion period, in fact Shannon is good enough to do the entire movie, but for the sake of differences (a'la De Niro and Brando playing Vito Corleone) I'd probably cast Tim Robbins as present day Vince.

 

In fact, let's go the whole way, who would play other important characters in the life of Vince McMahon?

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Pat Patterson.

Tiffany Brissette could draw on the range she had to display as Vicki Lawson to play Linda.

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Pat Patterson.

Nah. Philip Seymour Hoffman as Bruce Pritchard. I can just picture him do the Brother love routine to a T.

 

Michael Shannon would indeed be a great idea.

I kind of like the idea of Oldman doing it, just to add him to the other biographical roles he's taken (Sid Vicious, Oswald, Beethoven).

So I have...

 

Michael Shannon as Vince McMahon

Mark Ruffalo (and CGI) as Andre The Giant

Sean Astin as Bobby Heenan

Maz Jobrani as The Iron Sheik

Viggo Mortensen as Ted Turner

Vanessa Redgrave as The Fabulous Moolah

Very valid (original) point. I agree with you that Vince did make some characters for his own amusement; similar to the way comic book writers would make new characters for their own amusement. Look at 60's and 70's super-villains for some examples.

 

Vince always seemed to have a fondness for jovial or dancing fat guys. Some examples are Uncle Elmer, Akeem, Dusty, Tugboat, Friar Ferguson and even Bubba Ray Dudley (circa 2002). Andre was Andre, but it seems that very few "fat" guys were ever taken seriously. Big Bossman and King Kong Bundy come to mind. One Man Gang (a non-WWF, non-Vince character) was something of a monster, but that went away when he became Akeem.

^

It's not just confined to wrestlers - Big Dick Johnson, one of the dancing fat guys was a member of the creative team!!

but it seems that very few "fat" guys were ever taken seriously. Big Bossman and King Kong Bundy come to mind. One Man Gang (a non-WWF, non-Vince character) was something of a monster, but that went away when he became Akeem.

There used to be tons of fat guys who were taken seriously. Yokozuna, Earthquake, Typhoon, One Man Gang (pre-Akeem), Bam Bam Bigelow, Adrion Adonis (even despite the gay gimmick), so forth and so on. As Vince got older, he got more and more obsessed with the idea that practically everyone on the roster had to have a perfect body except for his comedy acts.

but it seems that very few "fat" guys were ever taken seriously. Big Bossman and King Kong Bundy come to mind. One Man Gang (a non-WWF, non-Vince character) was something of a monster, but that went away when he became Akeem.

There used to be tons of fat guys who were taken seriously. Yokozuna, Earthquake, Typhoon, One Man Gang (pre-Akeem), Bam Bam Bigelow, Adrion Adonis (even despite the gay gimmick), so forth and so on. As Vince got older, he got more and more obsessed with the idea that practically everyone on the roster had to have a perfect body except for his comedy acts.

 

The "Vince loves certain guys/creations" discussion is a great topic. but the question raised above lends us to another topic: who was the last "fat" guy taken seriously in WWE?

 

From a pure sporting perspective, one could argue Brodus Clay, due to him being undefeated and beating the hell out of people. However, he clearly isn't being positioned as a title contender at the moment. He definitely is getting over as both a comedic dancer and an asskicker though, so I'm excited to see where he is a year from now.

 

The most recent that immediately comes to mind is Umaga. He wasn't so much as fat as just a really big dude who wasn't stacked with the typical WWE muscles. Umaga's big push was over 5 years ago. Anyone in the last 5 years?

Husky Harris?

but it seems that very few "fat" guys were ever taken seriously. Big Bossman and King Kong Bundy come to mind. One Man Gang (a non-WWF, non-Vince character) was something of a monster, but that went away when he became Akeem.

There used to be tons of fat guys who were taken seriously. Yokozuna, Earthquake, Typhoon, One Man Gang (pre-Akeem), Bam Bam Bigelow, Adrion Adonis (even despite the gay gimmick), so forth and so on. As Vince got older, he got more and more obsessed with the idea that practically everyone on the roster had to have a perfect body except for his comedy acts.

 

The "Vince loves certain guys/creations" discussion is a great topic. but the question raised above lends us to another topic: who was the last "fat" guy taken seriously in WWE?

 

From a pure sporting perspective, one could argue Brodus Clay, due to him being undefeated and beating the hell out of people. However, he clearly isn't being positioned as a title contender at the moment. He definitely is getting over as both a comedic dancer and an asskicker though, so I'm excited to see where he is a year from now.

 

The most recent that immediately comes to mind is Umaga. He wasn't so much as fat as just a really big dude who wasn't stacked with the typical WWE muscles. Umaga's big push was over 5 years ago. Anyone in the last 5 years?

 

Does the fact that he's not a title contender mean anything these days?

Headbanger Mosh was on the Art of Wrestling this week and touched on this a bit. He talked about how he thought Vince liked to make guys his own and didn't like guys coming in with a gimmick he didn't have his hands on. Thought it was funny considering this thread had popped up just recently.

Headbanger Mosh was on the Art of Wrestling this week and touched on this a bit. He talked about how he thought Vince liked to make guys his own and didn't like guys coming in with a gimmick he didn't have his hands on. Thought it was funny considering this thread had popped up just recently.

but it seems that very few "fat" guys were ever taken seriously. Big Bossman and King Kong Bundy come to mind. One Man Gang (a non-WWF, non-Vince character) was something of a monster, but that went away when he became Akeem.

There used to be tons of fat guys who were taken seriously. Yokozuna, Earthquake, Typhoon, One Man Gang (pre-Akeem), Bam Bam Bigelow, Adrion Adonis (even despite the gay gimmick), so forth and so on. As Vince got older, he got more and more obsessed with the idea that practically everyone on the roster had to have a perfect body except for his comedy acts.

 

The "Vince loves certain guys/creations" discussion is a great topic. but the question raised above lends us to another topic: who was the last "fat" guy taken seriously in WWE?

 

From a pure sporting perspective, one could argue Brodus Clay, due to him being undefeated and beating the hell out of people. However, he clearly isn't being positioned as a title contender at the moment. He definitely is getting over as both a comedic dancer and an asskicker though, so I'm excited to see where he is a year from now.

 

The most recent that immediately comes to mind is Umaga. He wasn't so much as fat as just a really big dude who wasn't stacked with the typical WWE muscles. Umaga's big push was over 5 years ago. Anyone in the last 5 years?

 

Big Daddy V was treated as a monster and only lost cleanly to Taker and Kane. Punk beating him by count out was treated as a big upset.