Wrestling stunt goes too far
Jeff Madigan
Issue date: 9/7/07 Section: Opinion
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On June 11, 2007, World Wrestling Entertainment chairman Vincent Kennedy McMahon was supposed to be celebrating "Vince McMahon Appreciation Night" with the fans on Monday Night Raw. However, many of the fans were unappreciative of him, which paved the way to the event at end of the broadcast.
McMahon walked out of Wachovia Arena in Scranton, Pa.., at the end of the night with a strange look on his face, quite possibly foreshadowing impeding peril. At the same time, many WWE fans watched on the big video screen from inside the arena as McMahon paced slowly to his white limousine out back. These fans had to think something was out of the ordinary, and they were right. McMahon opened the limo door, got in the car, paused for a few seconds and closed the door.
Maybe you're saying that's not that strange. Oh, well I forgot to mention that when he closed the door, the limousine blew up. That's right; the door closing sparked a car bomb that ignited the car with McMahon presumably inside.
Immediately, numerous news sources picked up on the story, regarding it as real. There was media frenzy in the aftermath because the WWE was acting as if McMahon really had died. Some people around the country actually also thought McMahon was in the limo and had perished. Both WWE headquarters and Scranton police and emergency rescue organizations received phone call after phone call regarding McMahon - what had happened and what his condition was. In the days and weeks following, McMahon was billed as being "presumed dead," although absolutely no remains could be found inside the heavily charred limo, which actual forensic agents found quite strange.
So, the WWE immediately "hired" federal investigators to look into this. There were press conferences with these hired men incorporated into WWE programming, which led to a "whodunnit?" angle. The WWE had an entire storyline planned out where arrests would be made, and McMahon would never appear again on WWE television and would conceal himself in private affairs off-screen as well.
McMahon walked out of Wachovia Arena in Scranton, Pa.., at the end of the night with a strange look on his face, quite possibly foreshadowing impeding peril. At the same time, many WWE fans watched on the big video screen from inside the arena as McMahon paced slowly to his white limousine out back. These fans had to think something was out of the ordinary, and they were right. McMahon opened the limo door, got in the car, paused for a few seconds and closed the door.
Maybe you're saying that's not that strange. Oh, well I forgot to mention that when he closed the door, the limousine blew up. That's right; the door closing sparked a car bomb that ignited the car with McMahon presumably inside.
Immediately, numerous news sources picked up on the story, regarding it as real. There was media frenzy in the aftermath because the WWE was acting as if McMahon really had died. Some people around the country actually also thought McMahon was in the limo and had perished. Both WWE headquarters and Scranton police and emergency rescue organizations received phone call after phone call regarding McMahon - what had happened and what his condition was. In the days and weeks following, McMahon was billed as being "presumed dead," although absolutely no remains could be found inside the heavily charred limo, which actual forensic agents found quite strange.
So, the WWE immediately "hired" federal investigators to look into this. There were press conferences with these hired men incorporated into WWE programming, which led to a "whodunnit?" angle. The WWE had an entire storyline planned out where arrests would be made, and McMahon would never appear again on WWE television and would conceal himself in private affairs off-screen as well.
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