Was the Mr.McMahon character preconceived?

[Senhor Perfect]

We all know that the springboard for the Attitude Era and the rise of Stone Cold Steve Austin came indirectly from the Montreal Screwjob. Vince was able to take the turmoil from that night to create his corrupt owner "Mr.McMahon" character. Since Austin was now the badass face, thanks to the WM 13 match with Bret, he became the perfect foil to the boss. My question is this: since we all know Vince is a wrestling genius overall, do you think he had that in mind before that fateful night in Montreal? Did he screw Bret knowing that he would turn the backlash against him into a positive for business? He knew Shawn was running out of time due to his back, and Austin was the obvious choice to be the next champ. They didn't really have any big name heels left, so did he think he was the only choice to get heat? What are your thoughts?

 

[Lockard 23]

Well, WWE did lift a few ideas from WCW, and the idea of the boss being the villain was something WCW was doing with Eric Bischoff. It's possible that's what sparked the concept in Vince's mind (the crotch chop may have originated with the NWO as well, since Hogan and Hall and Nash could be seen doing it at different points long before DX was formed.)

Obviously, the heat that Vince got from what he did to Bret in Montreal is what made him decide to run with the Mr. McMahon character, but even without the Survivor Series 1997 incident, they could have quite easily made Vince as hated as he was by simply having him oppose the top baby face Austin.

 

[Senhor Perfect]

Obviously, the heat that Vince got from what he did to Bret in Montreal is what made him decide to run with the Mr. McMahon character, but even without the Survivor Series 1997 incident, they could have quite easily made Vince as hated as he was by simply having him oppose the top baby face Austin.

I'm going to have to disagree with you there. Up until that point Vince was just one of the announcers; it was never brought up on TV that he was also the owner. What made the Mr.McMahon character IMO was the 'Bret screwed Bret' promo. It would have been a lot tougher to get fans to turn on their beloved announcer so quickly if what occurred at SS had not happened.

 

[Lockard 23]

I'm going to have to disagree with you there. Up until that point Vince was just one of the announcers; it was never brought up on TV that he was also the owner. What made the Mr.McMahon character IMO was the 'Bret screwed Bret' promo. It would have been a lot tougher to get fans to turn on their beloved announcer so quickly if what occurred at SS had not happened.

They made reference to him being the owner more than a few times. Going all the way back to the 80's, actually. I remember when Austin was giving a promo in late 1996 talking about his hatred of Bret Hart, he said that Vince is actually loving it deep down because he's seeing those dollars signs because he's just a filthy promoter (or something along those lines.) Lawler even gave an evil laugh on commentary to follow it up.

Without the screw job, they could have turned him the same way. have JR ask Vince is he really wants to see Austin as the champ, and then have Vince reply the same as he did. When going up against Austin (who had already been the most popular guy in the company for over a year), the fans would have easily went along and booed him.

 

[seabs]

The one thing that often comes into my mind is would it have had more effect if he had screwed Austin instead or was the realism what drew him his heat? Say at KOTR 98 when they had Rock vs Mankind they did Rock vs Austin for the title and we got the same ending as we did with Austin replacing Mankind.

 

[Lockard 23]

The one thing that often comes into my mind is would it have had more effect if he had screwed Austin instead or was the realism what drew him his heat? Say at KOTR 98 when they had Rock vs Mankind they did Rock vs Austin for the title and we got the same ending as we did with Austin replacing Mankind.

You mean Survivor Series?

Yes, screwing the main face (especially someone like Stone Cold, whose popularity rivaled Hogan's from back in the day) would definitely get him heat.

 

[seabs]

You mean Survivor Series?

Yes, screwing the main face (especially someone like Stone Cold, whose popularity rivaled Hogan's from back in the day) would definitely get him heat.

I do indeed, the tournament format thing threw me.