As might be expected, Shane McMahon matter-of-factly denies rumors of a family feud with his sister, now the Chief Brand Officer, a lofty position described as no less than the “face of the company.” “No, there was no civil war,” he says. “My sister is still involved in the company now with her husband Triple H. They’re there. My dad is there. Things are moving forward.”
One thing he will admit: Vince McMahon is, to put it mildly, a difficult person to work for, a boss who demands perfection from everyone, especially from his son. “My dad held me to a different standard, without question, sometimes unfairly so and that’s OK,” Shane McMahon says. “It’s tough to bat 1.000 all the time. It’s that one wrong all the time. It teaches you. It definitely teaches you. It’s a way of teaching.”
“When you have family in business, you expect more out of family, same with my daughter, same with my son-in-law, same with my wife, you just expect more from them. I think there’s no doubt I was harder on Shane than a non-family member for sure,” Vince McMahon tells me. He stresses that their relationship hasn’t changed. “We’re close, we’ve always been close and we always will be. Anytime there’s family in business, there is some degree of difficulty but at the same time, you put the business part aside and when you have a relationship with a son and his father, those bonds you never break.”
Bauer, who wrote for the WWE from 2005-07, compares them to a father and son from popular culture. “If you look at Shane McMahon, I don’t think he had that ruthlessness in him that Vince does,” he says. “Have you seen the movie There Will Be Blood? There are so many qualities to that character that I see in Vince McMahon; Shane McMahon does not have those qualities.”
One thing he will admit: Vince McMahon is, to put it mildly, a difficult person to work for, a boss who demands perfection from everyone, especially from his son. “My dad held me to a different standard, without question, sometimes unfairly so and that’s OK,” Shane McMahon says. “It’s tough to bat 1.000 all the time. It’s that one wrong all the time. It teaches you. It definitely teaches you. It’s a way of teaching.”
“When you have family in business, you expect more out of family, same with my daughter, same with my son-in-law, same with my wife, you just expect more from them. I think there’s no doubt I was harder on Shane than a non-family member for sure,” Vince McMahon tells me. He stresses that their relationship hasn’t changed. “We’re close, we’ve always been close and we always will be. Anytime there’s family in business, there is some degree of difficulty but at the same time, you put the business part aside and when you have a relationship with a son and his father, those bonds you never break.”
Bauer, who wrote for the WWE from 2005-07, compares them to a father and son from popular culture. “If you look at Shane McMahon, I don’t think he had that ruthlessness in him that Vince does,” he says. “Have you seen the movie There Will Be Blood? There are so many qualities to that character that I see in Vince McMahon; Shane McMahon does not have those qualities.”
