Weasel of the Week: Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon has long claimed that WWE has no competition. Fans of TNA, Ring of Honor, and independent promotions in general tend to disagree. So, if McMahon doesn't see any competition, why in the blue hizell is he trying to stop independents from running shows in the general area where Wrestlemania 31 is set to take place this spring?

The "Show of shows" is set for Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Ca., home to the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL, on April 5. In recent years, ROH and others have booked shows on the weekend of Wrestlemania, particularly ROH the last two years. What McMahon wants to do is make sure his company has the terrain all to itself that weekend. Legally, I can't see how he can, since he'd be opening himself up to lawsuits charging unlawful restraint of trade, a charge that could be applied in any number of WWE storylines in recent years because of corrupt administrators abusing authority without reprisals.

But, the news is already out there that this is exactly what the insane Chairman/CEO wants to do. He fails to realize that the independents working that weekend are making themselves available to be scouted for future signings with WWE. After all, it is the exposure that ROH had in New York & New Orleans the last two springs that led to Kevin Steen signing last year, and changing his ring name to Kevin Owens for copyright reasons. WWE has signed a number of wrestlers from ROH since 2005 (CM Punk, now with UFC, was the first), and has 4 (Steen, Daniel Bryan, Cesaro, & Seth Rollins) on their rosters presently.

What McMahon is deathly afraid of, obviously, is being shown up by ROH and others yet again on what is supposed to be the biggest weekend of the year for his company. The growing chorus of critics knows that as he approaches 70, McMahon isn't the creative genius he once was, and they point to recent promos he's written for a rising star like Roman Reigns.

Let's bottom line it. Time has passed Vincent K. McMahon by, but as long as he remains comfortable in his bubble universe, where he can recycle the same stale reams over and over again, he's going to continue to lose viewers, who are losing patience with his product. Instead of being the lead villains, Triple H & Stephanie should be the official corporate faces of the company, benevolent instead of bullying in front of the cameras. The act is tired, stale, and needs to be expunged. The only way to do that, and send a message to everyone else, is to force McMahon, this week's Weasel, into retirement, kicking & screaming. I hear Bellevue is calling.