Vince McMahon "Death" Featured in Pennsylvania Paper
The following is an article from The Times-Leader in Pennsylvania...
Did Vince McMahon, whoâs bluffed and blustered his way into the ringmasterâs role of the testosterone-fueled soap opera that is professional wrestling, really fall for the old bomb-in-the-limo trick?
Though World Wrestling Entertainment would have you believe otherwise, the answer is no.
âNo one was in any danger,â said Steve Poremba, a Wachovia Arena spokesman, of Monday nightâs WWE RAW spectacle at the arena, though he would not elaborate.
A WWE spokesman echoed that, but also wouldnât elaborate, instead pointing to a news release from the company and âreportsâ on its Web site. The release inferred that celebrities who have âless than flattering things to say aboutâ McMahon, including real estate mogul Donald Trump, sportscaster Bob Costas, rapper Snoop Dogg and wrestler âStone Coldâ Steve Austin, might be behind a plot to bump him off.
Despite articles on the Web site that firefighters and federal agents are investigating, workers at the Luzerne County 911 Center confirmed that it was âa stuntâ and that no emergency vehicles were called to the arena on Monday night.
âThe âfederal agentâ (referenced on the Web site) is definitely not the FBI,â said Jerri Williams, a special agent spokeswoman with the FBIâs Philadelphia office. âWe have not been made aware of any car bombings. ⦠We would definitely have been informed.â
But fans from across the country have been contacting local media to find out if McMahon, the chairman of the board of WWE, was actually blown up in a fiery limo-bombing on his so-called âMr. McMahon Appreciation Night,â which was televised on USA Network. McMahon had walked out of the building to the waiting vehicle, so fans inside the arena saw the same televised live scene.
Only it was wasnât live. Supervised by Zenith Pyrotechnology, based in Deer Park, N.Y., the explosion was actually filmed at the arena late Saturday night, the footage of the burning hulk taped Sunday night and the whole mess spliced together, said Andy Kratz, the townshipâs zoning officer.
âThey did it, I believe, at 11 oâclock at night until 3 a.m., so no one would be around,â he said, adding that it was done in a section generally blocked from public view by the building and surrounding land features.
The pyrotechnics company had to get permits, which Kratz said it did about a week ago. âWe have pyrotechnics shows in the arena all the timeâ for wrestling and ice skating, among other things, he said. âThey say they do this quite a bit,â but usually not outside.
Representatives of the pyrotechnics company have not returned calls for comment.
Based on reaction from fans, who expressed indignation with the stunt, the story hook could instead hook itself.
âItâs messed up. A death is a serious matter,â said Kenny Noe, of Lakewood, Wash. âWrestling is not about death. Itâs about beating people up, maybe getting hurt.â
He referenced the actual deaths of several wrestling personalities in the past and said this incident casts a shadow over their memories. âWhat if Eddie Guerrero isnât dead?â
âFor (McMahon) to do something like this is ridiculous, if itâs a hoax,â Chris Dent of New Freedom, Pa., said, â⦠because the American publicâs gonna wind up not watching his shows and itâs going to go down hill,â he said.
Still, they also agreed that the stunt will cause a buzz. âItâs just kind of weird, and my friends are probably going to be talking to me all day,â Dent said.
June 13th, 2007 7:27 PM
It was not funny, my 9 year old grandson was quite upset. I was also. I hate to say it but I am 68 and a wrestling fan too.
June 14th, 2007 1:21 PM
i have just seen monday nights raw and the so called death of mr vince mcmahon all i can say is this what the hell is the wwe up to i like wrestling and i am 44 but it was like watching the wcw of i would say 10 years ago
June 14th, 2007 4:00 PM
i am a big fan of raw and grow up watching it stone cold and hulk hogon was the best to i liked. but after me seeing raw and vince is a cold heartted person to do this to us we are the fans and yes it true i never got a chanch to see a live event like raw and smackdown but i will say this death is not nothern to laugh at and thats what is being done in this matter. i don't greee with the stuff he pulls off to fool the fans and i think the coments that was made by sertain wrestels like stone cold and bret heart was true but i will say the america dream was right in his comments but now i think vince is a cold heartted person/ and the only good thing that i see in him is that he has evil in his eyes and as fair as raw goes and smackdown and wcw the show should go on with out vince and justice should be served by stone cold the way it should be and i am 36 but never miss with death like this because it can be taken away in a second so he got a family well death can come at any moment i just lost my dad to death it hurd to deal with it everyday to now i never can see my dad again but this joke is not funny to me at all. well as ratting go raw is number one the ratttings will stay good if you bring back stone cold and hogan so i will say good by on this matter you cold heatted evil person i have some name i want to say as a fan but thay an't to nice to say because i am a christian person and cussing isn't nice to say but vince to me you now what i mean like stone cold has called you in the past and the names he has called you sign David p's theres a saying i like and it taken from stone cold the messsures and said thats the bottom line because stone said so. well your a low life to me and the fans of the wwe that see the shows that pay good money to be intertain but this joke has gone to fair to me.....
June 15th, 2007 12:01 PM
Did anyone actually believe that this was real? If it was, how come it's not on CNN, FOX NEWS, MSNBC, or other news outlets? Vince is a sports entertainment giant and if he really died, it would be plastered all over the television. Another thing is that the WWE cameras were right beside the so-called fire fighters as they extinguished the burning limo. Allowing cameras right next to fire fighters as they do their job is a huge safety liability. It would never be allowed anywhere. Lastly, why would Vince get into a running limo with no apparent limo driver? If this whole story was true, how come there has been absolutely no talk of the limo driver? You are not going to get into a running limo with no driver in it. It doesn't make any sense. Vince wanted to find and amazing way to step back from the limelight and go back to working behind the scenes again. If it's attention he wanted, he certainly got it. The WWE really lowered themselves on this one. They, along with the creative writers need to go back to the drawing board and come up with something that makes some sense and isn't far-fetched.
June 15th, 2007 6:29 PM
vince aint dead, fools
June 15th, 2007 7:28 PM
vince isn't dead and personally i think this whole stunt is stupid! first off death isn't something to joke about. I have been watching wrestling for over 25 yrs. and this is worse than when he was comparing himself to God. I think vince is in for a huge downfall. like they say when u play with fire u'll eventually get burned!
June 15th, 2007 8:06 PM
This is SICK. I know it is a stunt, but what about the kids that believe it. It just proves they will do anything for money. WWE and all McMahon's products should be boycotted.
June 15th, 2007 8:14 PM
Man, I am disgusted with Vince, that was soooo uncool, to fake a death is really unjust, and it caused a lot of people to be concerned, and sadly it was for nothing! Vince you better get a grip and to remind you, if it wasn't for the fans, you wouldn't have an empire, you inferior fool!
June 15th, 2007 9:01 PM
You know i been watching this show for years. My kids think that these guys are heros. They are always saying they want to be wrestlers. But now that is said. I think that all the people that has died in that show is been disrespected. What makes us all think that there wasnt a story line behind all of them, Vince you are a real piece of work. I direct this to you because you are the Chairman. I hope and pray that you lose everything . You are the sickest person i have ever seen. My kids come up to me almost in tears. You think that only adults watch this dam show. Its know wonder that people are not wanting to work for you. That they are going to Tna. Jeff Jarret may be an ass. But he would never go this far. I hope they take you company off the stock exchange. And i hope that your show goes from the biggest thing ever made. And goes to hell with you.
June 15th, 2007 9:11 PM
totally agree with u josh, this stunt was taken too far but it will keep ratings.
June 16th, 2007 12:24 AM
hello, I agree with most of these guys. im 11 but I still don't believe its a storyline. I mean if you look at it with the car exploding it makes it seem real. I still think he got blown to hell. not critisizing vince by using hell instead of heaven I just mean't he got blown into a billion pieces. he may be dead. but I was kinda sad too when I saw and then I wondered if it was real. I respect vince though because he made this show a success, but if this was a stunt and not real then that was stupid too pull. and so if it was then he deserved what he got that time shawn michaels and triple HHH shoved vince's face into the big show's bare-naked ass. but if he is dead then well... I respected him as a great leader of the WWE and whoever bombed his car should go to hell.
June 16th, 2007 9:47 AM
Vince Mcmahon is a moron.Faking your death just for a stunt is stupid when theres so much violence and death in the country already.I think that this is going to piss some people off big time.
blowing up a limo $5,000
faking your death $8,000
seeing the WWE lose ratings...priceless
there's somethings money can buy but for everything else there's an OFF button on my tv.
June 16th, 2007 10:01 AM
ive never been a critic of vince mcmahon we should thank him for giving us quality entertainment but this stunt that he has made can be the end of the wwe
June 16th, 2007 1:37 PM
I have been watching wrestling for 13 years. I make videos and edit them for a living. You can tell when something is live and when something is taped. Everything was live until Vince opened the door to the outside. I also never seen a limosine with no back window. You also see Vince's foot go in and out of the limo and there is a slight pause. I didn't believe he was dead for a second. The thing that really gave it away was the next night on ECW, they didn't have the wrestlers come out for the opening scene. I had respect for Mr. McMahon, but after seeing everythng take place on Raw, ECW, and Smackdown, I will never watch WWE again. He made a huge insult to Owen and Eddie and I won't forgive him.
June 16th, 2007 5:10 PM
I loved him doing exactly what he did it proves how simple people with money become clueless to except hungry people was buying liquor to get over seeing that shame on a liar next time he she donate to the fcc because he really should be fined for a criminal act fakin a death in these times only allows him to admit how bored he really is with his own life maybe he is sending a hidden message to the world that he needs help seriously
June 16th, 2007 8:04 PM
I have been watching wrestling forever, have viewed many
sickening things that Vince has pulled, but this is the end, how will he ever come back to wrestling,if he has plans to or Shane will walk into Vince's position, and will Vince come back as his evel twin which they were separated at birth. No more wrestling for me, this time I think he shot himself in the foot, now if he is sick, why not just
be truthful with the public instead of pulling that stunt.
June 16th, 2007 8:46 PM
he has done this before an came back battered an bruised all i wanna do is see if he does another whodini an show up but if this is real then it was a waste of money to keep doin the same stunt over an over remeber when undertaker an him went at it an his limo blew up hmm?..deja vu i think not lets all wait to see raw on monday to be either shocked or angry for doin this crap again
June 17th, 2007 4:01 AM
Hey guys, Relax.... It's ShowBiz... You don't really think the people in the movies really get killed. You don't think Clint Eastwood shoots all those bad guys... Remember, it's Sports Entertainment.. That's why we watch it.. And be real. This isn't going to ruin the WWE.. I bet Raw doesn't loose a single one of us... Oh they will bitch but when Vince reappears.. We will still be hooked and think it was a cool joke on us...
June 17th, 2007 9:08 AM
i hate that storyline/angle they'l playing now. one thing is for sure at the end of the year its surely vince mcmahon will goin to be the most hated personality in wrestling this year at the pwi.
June 17th, 2007 10:31 AM
hey wrestling fans, as like me you must be bored of all this of Vince faking his own death,I used to be a huge fan of the wwe, but sincerely vince has done it with this stunt. I'm switching to TNA where they still care about good wrestling and the fans.
June 17th, 2007 5:12 PM
If anyone reading this believes that the Vince McMahon car bombing was fake, give me a HELL YEAH! I agree with (Josh) that if this was indeed real, then why didn't the news media have it in the newspapers? This will go down like the one season on DALLAS that had Bobby Ewing dead for one whole season and having Pam wake up to find him in the shower. That was in very poor taste - just like this stunt was. If the WWE wants to get their ratings up - bring back Stone Cold Steve Austin and let him and Vince go at it again like they did in the late 90's.
June 17th, 2007 6:57 PM
Vince McMahon is a multi billionaire, who has let the world know he needs psychiatric help with his "I blew up in a limo" storyline. It is genious that he is able to fool many fans with this hoax but at same time shows how evil he is. So lets hope that vince truly will rest in peace sometime soon!
June 17th, 2007 9:14 PM
I think this stunt is stupid because many little kids might think that he is really dead and when my son watched it he cried because even if he hated Vince he still was a fan of his. I just think that this fake death was not nessarry.
June 17th, 2007 10:10 PM
i think this is a sick joke.. if he's not dead.. he should be taken out back and beat with a bat !!! what will they do next for ratings?? they have gone too far!
June 17th, 2007 11:44 PM
I think vince is a sick (bleep) Yes hes done so much for wrestling and I love the WWE but this stunt makes me not wanna watch anymore. ITS AN INSULT TO EDDIE GUERERRO AND BRET HART AND ALL PAST WRESTLERS. If hes tryin to get more people to watch this show hes just gonna kill it. If I ran into vince on the street I would beat the crap out of him hes so stupid!!!!!