Vince McMahon

Since purchasing Capitol Wrestling Co. from his father in 1982, Vince McMahon has built his empire ruthlessly and efficiently, dispatching all who stand in the way of his entertainment sovereignty — from Ted Turner and WCW to HBK.

During the ’80s, Mr. McMahon transformed WWE from a regionally-run business into a national juggernaut, bringing wrestling into the mainstream and pioneering the use of pay-per-views in the process. In the ’90s, he launched the ever-popular Attitude Era, highlighted by his rivalry with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. By 2001, he purchased rival WCW. And ever since, he’s entertained the WWE Universe in more ways that can be counted, clashing with D-Generation X, Randy Orton, Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, Donald Trump and even his own children, Shane and Stephanie.

McMahon’s been blown up, buried beneath an exploding stage, shaved bald and fingered as Hornswoggle’s illegitimate father. He’s given away millions of his own money, locked lips with Rikishi’s posterior and withstood the pain of being relieved of his day-to-day duties by his own son-in-law, Triple H, and WWE’s Board of Directors.

In 2012 and 2013, Mr. McMahon further endeared himself to the WWE Universe with a series of crowd-pleasing power plays, such as firing the unpopular John Laurinaitis from the post of Raw and SmackDown General Manager and challenging Paul Heyman to a fight (which ended poorly for the WWE Chairman when Brock Lesnar entered the scene).

When it looked as though a captain’s quarrel over WWE’s direction was causing a rift among Mr. McMahon, Stephanie and Triple H, The Chairman’s faith in his son-in-law was restored at SummerSlam, when The Game essentially robbed Daniel Bryan of the WWE Title and presented it to Randy Orton. The next night on Raw, Mr. McMahon proudly proclaimed that The Game had “seen the light” by choosing to ensure that WWE’s most prestigious championship remain far away from the allegedly unmarketable Bryan and in the possession of Randy Orton.