Netflix are set to release their Vince McMahon documentary this week, and it looks like it could be a deep dive into some of the troubling news stories that made their way out into the public over the past few years.
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The documentary series looks like it will be so damaging to McMahon’s public image that he took to X this week to try and tell potential viewers to “keep an open mind” and that there are “two sides to every story.” Even beyond that, Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that McMahon tried to buy the footage and documentary outright to stop it even being aired by the streaming giant.
Whilst a lot of the documentary was already recorded before the Janel Grant scandal was brought to light, with a lot of the interviews in the can before the news went public, there is still enough in there to make McMahon, the actual Vince McMahon, go on social media and make a point of saying that he doesn’t like what is about to be released on one of the biggest platforms in modern media.
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RAW heads to Netflix
It was revealed in January that RAW would be heading to Netflix, with the streaming platform being the exclusive home for the show as of 2025 in the United States. The move away from a linear cable home for the programme is massive, as it is the first time in its history that you can’t just accidentally find it switching channels on a remote.
The deal, which also means that Netflix will hold rights to Friday Night Smackdown and NXT weekly shows in Canada, the UK, and Latin America, as well as its slate of premium live events, including WrestleMania, is reportedly costing Netflix around $5 Billion.
Netflix needs to distance WWE from Vince McMahon
The main reason that Netflix has absolutely no intention whatsoever of condemning WWE in this documentary, and instead likely being laser focused on taking shots at Vince McMahon after a couple of episodes of hyping up the business he brought to the global masses, is money.
There is absolutely no reason for Netflix to take pot shots at their new business partner, especially a couple of months before the flagship show actually gets on their platform. What this documentary really needs to accomplish for Netflix is to say “Vince McMahon is no longer here” and push that message as hard as possible so that any casual viewers know they’re coming into a ‘fresh’ product when the shows come to the platform in January. Now, as fans we know that isn’t where this ends, and there will be more that comes out over the next few months as the Janel Grant case goes to discovery, but Netflix will be using this opportunity to build to their own premiere of live WWE content in the very near future.
Don’t expect a WWE grilling here
The McMahon documentary started life as ‘rah rah look what I built’ style content, but it shifted to include the more recent scandal after it went public. Netflix has had to pivot here and change the perception of what they have bought into, and right now most people in the public think of one name when they think of who “owns” WWE: Vince McMahon.
McMahon has not been in an ownership role with the company for some time, but the majority of people who aren’t already dragged into this world have absolutely no idea what TKO Holdings even is. McMahon was the owner of the company from day one, he portrayed possibly the greatest bad guy on its television shows in the mid to late 90s…and his baggage could’ve been enough to destroy the brand. Netflix HAS to use this opportunity to throw him under the bus, and I’m fairly confident that they will, whilst giving the WWE brand itself a 1st class seat on the same bus.
Jake Skudder
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