'Mr. McMahon' Episode 1-3: Top Takeaways from Ex-WWE CEO Vince McMahon's Netflix Show

Wednesday morning, Netflix released its six-part documentary about Vince McMahon, titled simply Mr. McMahon.

Much like Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows and The Jinx, which is about Robert Durst, this documentary was altered by events during production.

When this project began in 2021, the goal was to chronicle the life of the former CEO and owner of WWE, but the lawsuit filed by Janel Grant, TKO's purchase of WWE and the eventual removal of McMahon from power forced producers to change directions.

While the documentary does mention the events that have taken place over the past few years, the majority of it was filmed before McMahon stepped down from his position, so most of what was discussed was about pre-2021 events

Let's examine what was covered and some of the biggest takeaways from the first three episodes of the highly anticipated limited series.

Episodes 4-6 takeaways will be published on Thursday (9/26).

Mr. McMahon Episode 1: Junior

• The first episode of the documentary opened with a message about how filming began in 2021. After a few comments from those interviewed, another message was shown saying Vince's final planned interview never took place due to the news breaking that he was stepping down as CEO.

• Clips played of a news anchor talking about an investigation into Vince's hush money payments to women and some details of the lawsuit filed by Janel Grant. Then, a message appeared stating that most of the interviews were conducted before those allegations were made.

• In summary, the documentary's producers let us know right off the bat that most of what was covered in the six episodes would likely be unrelated to the lawsuit.

• What followed was roughly 45 minutes of interviews with wrestlers like Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart, other people in the business like Shane McMahon and Eric Bischoff, and media members such as Bob Costas and Dave Meltzer.

• We heard stories from Vince about his childhood, his unconventional relationship with his father, his rise through the ranks and eventual purchase of the promotion, and his national expansion, which put him at odds with promoters in every major territory.

• The first episode also briefly covered a lawsuit against WWE by reporter John Stossel, which was settled in 1987, and another lawsuit, filed in 1990 by Richard Belzer after he was choked out on his talk show by Hogan.

Mr. McMahon Episode 2: Heat

• Episode 2 began with Vince's infamous performance of the song "Stand Back," during which he was surrounded by several dancing women and Superstars playing instruments.

• The move to network television with Saturday Night's Main Event was briefly covered before the topic moved on to Jesse Ventura's failed attempt to start a union. Hogan openly admitted to telling Vince about it and positioned it as him being on Vince's team, but Hart referred to the move as a double-cross.

• It quickly moved on to cover some of the first WrestleManias, including the difficulties of broadcasting from three cities for WrestleMania 2.

• The rise of Hulkamania was discussed, including WWE taking merchandise sales to over $200 million in the early 90s. The focus then shifted to the famous WWE steroid trial.

• Phil Mushnick was interviewed about his early coverage of Vince and pro wrestling, and people like Vince and Bruce Prichard spoke about him having some kind of vendetta against the owner and CEO.

• The death of Jimmy Snuka's girlfriend, Nancy Argentino, was briefly mentioned before the ring boy scandal was covered. Tony Atlas also claimed to have been sexually harassed by Pat Patterson, but most people who spoke claimed Patterson was unfairly lumped into the ring boy scandal with Mel Phillips and Terry Garvin.

• Rita Chatterton's accusations that Vince raped her were also addressed by Vince himself while footage of Chatterton describing the event many years ago on Geraldo was shown. The former CEO claimed it was a consensual affair.

• WCW and Hogan's signing with the competition were also covered, as was his involvement in the steroid trial. The episode ended with messages stating that McMahon dropped a defamation lawsuit against Chatterton in 1994, only to end up paying her millions of dollars in a settlement.

Mr. McMahon Episode 3: Screwjob

• The third episode began with coverage of the original WWE screwjob involving Wendi Richter before moving back to the steroid trial.

• Once the documentary finished covering that scandal, much time was devoted to the emergence of WCW as a major competitor.

• Ted Turner was portrayed as hellbent on beating Vince at any cost. Bischoff was the main source of information about WCW, but Hogan and Vince also gave their thoughts.

• Stories were told about wrestlers who jumped ship to WCW, but they were only told by wrestlers who remained with WWE through the Monday Night Wars. At this point, Cody Rhodes' interview segments began to be included.

• A documentary about Vince covered the rise of the New World Order more than expected, but then we moved to the Montreal Screwjob to finish up the episode.

As mentioned in the introduction, what this documentary began as and what it turned into are two very different things.

Had none of the events of 2021 occurred and Vince was still in power, there is a good chance this would have been a puff piece portraying him in a more positive light.

Obviously, certain scandals would always be included since everyone recorded interviews discussing those events, but they likely would have been framed differently.

You can tell some people interviewed were not trying to villainize the former CEO the way they might if interviewed today.

Even if the original intention were to attempt an honest portrayal of Vince, the narrative would never be reliable because there are so many versions of every story from every angle.

Several wrestlers gave thoughts on various topics, but none seemed to have a genuine hatred for Vince as much as The Hitman.

He had several unkind things to say about his former boss, but he lit up a little bit when he recalled punching Vince in the locker room following the Montreal Screwjob.

Even though Hart has done work with WWE in recent years, he has never shied away from being honest about his feelings.

To his credit, Hart was honest and claimed he never saw Vince try to give a talent steroids, so you could tell he wasn't trying to needlessly throw Vince under the bus that was already barreling down on him. The Hitman will be included in the final three episodes, so he'll have much more to say.

The first three episodes covered a lot of time and many different stories, so unfortunately, some events were only addressed briefly.

Chatterton's story wasn't talked about much, Snuka being accused of Murder was brushed over quickly, and the lawsuits from Stossel and Belzer were only discussed briefly.

Even though this documentary included new interviews, including some with Vince himself, we didn't find out any new information.

For years, multiple interviews, documentaries, books, and magazines have addressed everything that was covered. Besides what has happened since Vince stepped down as CEO, all of this has been well-documented.

The next three episodes may have more, but if you were expecting any revelations from the first three, you will be sorely disappointed.

What did you think of episodes 1-3 of the Mr. McMahon documentary?