WWE: Heavy Criticism From Former WWE Announcer Towards Vince McMahon

It’s been quite a controversial road to WrestleMania to this point in WWE, and Vince McMahon is receiving a lot of criticism from not only the wrestling critics, but former employees as well. This past Wednesday, former WWE play-by-play announcer Josh Mathews appeared on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast to talk about his last days in WWE and his future as the lead broadcaster for TNA. Mathews had a lot to say about Vince McMahon and the current state of WWE.

“I just look at [Vince McMahon] as someone who doesn’t get it anymore, and who has lost so much touch with what his product is, and didn’t like anything else that was going on so he literally created his own universe. That’s what they called it the ‘WWE Universe’ because he created it and he lives in that bubble.”

Mathews also weighed in on whether or not he thinks the performers in WWE, TNA, or elsewhere should be referred to as pro wrestlers, sports entertainers, or superstars.

“I don’t think ‘wrestler’ is a dirty word, but I call them ‘athletes,’ I don’t call them ‘wrestlers.’ I definitely don’t call them ‘superstars’ because I think that’s f***ing lame as s**t.”

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin talked about the superstar vs. pro wrestler debate on his podcast with Vince McMahon back in December, and Austin has continued to push the fact that athletes in the ring should be referred to as pro wrestlers, because — like Mathews — he believes that being referred to as a WWE Superstar is lame and embarrassing.

In regards to Mathews calling Vince McMahon out of touch, as most wrestling fans know, he’s not the first former WWE employee or critic to make that observation. CM Punk was the first major name to call Vince out of touch when he elaborated on his decision to leave WWE on Colt Cabana’s podcast back in November. Furthermore, Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline said earlier this week that Vince McMahon is “out of his f***ing mind.”

As for current WWE employees coming out and criticizing McMahon, well, that’s not going to happen, as it would be career suicide. However, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer claims that he gets emails and direct messages via Twitter from current WWE talent on a regular basis who claim that they’re extremely unhappy with the way things are going in WWE and with Vince McMahon himself. These current WWE employees do tell Meltzer to keep them anonymous, of course.

McMahon — who will turn 70 this coming August — will likely never step down as WWE’s head man. There have been talks of him stepping aside in the past, and WWE did a storyline where Vince was forced out back in 2011 by the WWE board of directors. As for real life, McMahon will likely remain WWE’s top man until the day he dies.

In defense to McMahon, he’s created a product that millions till tune into today (even those who clamor for the good ole days or want a change). Yes, the product has gone from being a product of watchable satire and suspension from disbelief to a lackluster, cheesy, pc-driven show, but nevertheless the WWE Universe still attend the events and watch the shows each and every week. You can’t fault the man too much as a business of this magnitude has entered a wide variety of ways to entertain the masses that watch and the powers that be behind the curtain have to be met with a certain level of edginess most want. Like everyone in the world you are entitled to your opinion, but all us fans of WWE only thing we can do is voice our opinions for change in the WWE. Hopefully they listen, but our guess is that they will to a 65% chance maybe lower than that to what most want. Think about this, there’s always a remote by your side to change the channel if you don’t like what’s on, but continuing to watch is ultimately just the fan inside us seeing what WWE can do next.