Let's face it: Vince McMahon only knew one way... Vince's way. That may be why the WWE product grew stale in the waning days of his time as the top titan. His insistence on sticking with the same formula, and enforcing ridiculous programming policies, likely crashed more than a few superstars' careers. In some cases, it even ran some really talented performers away.
But since McMahon's departure, and the rise to power of Triple H and Nick Khan, many of Vince's "old ways" have fallen by the wayside. Not coincidentally, the product has gotten better, and the company is now earning record profits. RAW and Smackdown are captivating again, the PLEs have been largely amazing, and live attendance has been record-setting. You can probably see why, if you look at a list of McMahon's crazy hang-ups when it came to managing the brand. There are several things going on in World Wrestling Entertainment today that would have Vince pulling his hair out.
10 Elimination Chamber's Four Match Card
Triple H Books About Half As Many Bouts As McMahon Did
McMahon was known for having ridiculously short matches when it came to female stars and the lower part of the roster. Because of that, several WWE pay-per-views might have 10–12 matches on the card and last for over four hours. It produced fatigue with the audience. Especially when so many of these so-called bouts were done strictly for hijinks and added nothing to the overall product.
That's changed under the watchful eye of TKO Sports. Triple H has decided to put much more emphasis on storytelling in the ring - particularly when it comes to Live Events. That seems to help solidify the overall product. Case in point: The recent Elimination Chamber was a great show with a blockbuster finish, yet there were only a total of four matches on the card.
9 WWE Wrestlers Appearing On The Indy Circuit
The Company Has A More Lenient Approach Today
For decades, WWE Superstars were forbidden to work extra shows on the independent wrestling scene, and Vince McMahon had his reasons for doing so. He definitely wanted to make sure none of his stars got injured at a smaller event, and he also probably believed it diluted his own product. It was seen during the VKM Era as being strictly taboo.
Over the past several years, however, that policy has been relaxed quite a bit, with some WWE stars paying a visit to one of the promotions they started with. In this sense, Triple H has allowed the roster more freedom than ever before. In fact? The Game has even made a couple of Indy stops himself.
8 Putting Some More Realism Into Wrestling
McMahon Preferred Bizarre Storylines
Vince McMahon always received criticism from old-time promoters and old-school wrestlers for not taking the business seriously. In many ways, those are fair criticisms. Before McMahon's rise, the idea of making wrestlers into cartoon characters or having a Dean compete in the promotion's ranks would have gotten laughed out of the room.
In more recent years, we have seen strange characters like The Boogeyman and The Fiend, both of whom had some sort of supernatural power. We've also seen The Miz and Damian Priest fighting zombies, while the WWE announcing team struggled to find the right words to make it sound as realistic as they could.
Aside from the Wyatt Sicks - who haven't been featured much lately - Triple H is veering away from all the hocus-pocus and black magic. Because of that, more fans can take WWE programming a little more seriously now.
7 Less Banning Of Certain Moves
McMahon Banned Moves For Some Stars, But Not Others
Stopping wrestlers from going too far and hurting themselves has been the responsibility of a good promoter since pro wrestling was founded. McMahon took caution with many of his performers, especially following the crippling injury suffered by former WWE performer Darren Drosdov (Droz), who today is confined to a wheelchair after an in-ring accident.
WWE has made the decision to banish several moves from the company in the past. Piledrivers were essentially banned from the company, except for The Undertaker's Tombstone, which was seen as hypocritical by some in the organization. That continued a trend where certain stars could do particular moves, and it was fine, but someone else might try the same thing and be fired.
Today, the leash is off, and the wrestlers are allowed to do what they want to do in the ring - within reason. It's another benefit of having a former wrestler in charge of the creative concept; Triple H understands the need for innovative storytelling within a match. And sometimes, risks can be damned.
6 Wrestlers Have More Freedom On Promos
WWE Stars Are Less Scripted In The Triple H Era
Vince McMahon has essentially been writing wrestlers' words for them since assuming control of his father's company in 1983. In the 1980s and early 90s, it was the almost comical backstage, solo promos that the wrestlers cut in front of a green screen. Then, when the talking went live, Vince decided that the wrestlers should be scripted. That led to quite a few fumbled promos, most notably when Braun Strowman forgot his lines and was seen mouthing the script back to himself to try and what to say.
Today, the WWE performers are given lines and most of their promos are likely scripted to a point. However, we have also seen more off-the-cuff lines delivered on the programming than ever before. For veterans like CM Punk or Cody Rhodes, scripts might not be necessary at all, while for younger wrestlers, they might be, but at least there is some flexibility there, and not just some rigid rule. In this case, Triple H seems to favor giving more freedom to be creative as a performer - which is something every wrestler wants.
5 Lex Luger's Hall Of Fame Induction
Many of McMahon's Grievances Have Been Pushed Aside
For many years, McMahon held grudges against some of his former stars who he deemed disloyal. In particular, he held in contempt a group of former employees who sued him for injuries incurred on the job. Some were Hall of Fame-worthy, but never got the call due to Mr. McMahon's stubbornness.
That's changed quite a bit under the new regime - and can be marked by the fact that they just named Lex Luger as a 2025 inductee. McMahon disliked Luger for years, following his abrupt departure from the company and subsequent appearance on WCW Monday Nitro the very next night. Triple H's approach has been to focus on the business aspect, and leave any personal issues aside. That's a great sign of things to come.
4 No Longer Dropping Wrestlers' First Names
The Old Regime Seemed to Favor Using Surnames For Certain Stars
We all saw it in the past: a wrestler would come to WWE, they would get hot, and they would establish a name for themselves. Then, Vince McMahon would change their name. Or at least, chop it in half.
No one will ever look fondly back on the time when Austin Theory became just Theory, and Matt Riddle was plain old Riddle. They even began referring to the great Bobby Lashley by his surname only, on several different occasions. No one could ever pinpoint exactly why McMahon felt the need for his performers to be known under a mononym.
3 Calling A Championship A 'Belt' Again
It Was One Of McMahon's Banned Words
For years, pro wrestlers often referred to their championships as 'belts', because, quite frankly, that's what they are. And in the good ol' days of southern 'rasslin, you might even hear someone say they were about to 'fight for the strap'. Vince McMahon detested both expressions - viewing them as outdated, and they devalued the championship.
Almost to spite Vince, wrestlers like Cody Rhodes and CM Punk have recently referred to the WWE title as a belt. Under the promotion's new management, that type of traditional talk is considered part of wrestling lore. But under McMahon's regime, it might get a wrestler reprimanded... or worse.
2 Using The 'Wrestler' And 'Wrestling'
McMahon Preferred To Call It Sports Entertainment
Vinny Mac always had an aversion to traditional wrestling - particularly the regional promotions in the south. He didn't want his product associated in any way with companies based in places like Atlanta or Memphis. In his mind, his product wasn't wrestling... it was entertainment. And as WWE grew, he re-branded the in-ring product - it was no longer wrestling; it was entertainment. Also, the athletes were to be referred to as WWE Superstars - not wrestlers.
Today, both are used, although the word wrestling is being used a lot more. Triple H is a longtime student of the game, and his vision has moved WWE more into what the genre was traditionally, at least in small doses. So, despite years of McMahon trying to erase the word from everyone's dialogue, it's still World WRESTLING Entertainment for a reason.
1 The Working Relationship With TNA
McMahon Hardly Acknowledged The 'Other' Promotion
When TNA launched in 2002, no one in WWE thought they would last for long, let alone still be around today. McMahon, who went years before he ever even acknowledged on television that other promotions even existed, blew them off. They weren't true competition, and they were inconsequential - save for a handful of TNA stars that World Wrestling Entertainment handpicked over the years.
For Vince, Total Non-Stop Action was the enemy - the same as any other promotion that he didn't own. In contrast, TNA and WWE now have a friendly working relationship, one that seems to benefit both companies. Now, we see TNA and NXT stars jumping back and forth on each other's programming - with the WWE Universe even chanting 'T-N-A' at some points. That's something that would have sent McMahon into a panic attack.
