Vince McMahon turned 80 this week, a landmark marked by a lavish party at Gotham Hall in New York.
A handful of images from the night appear to show the veteran promoter having enjoyed quite the night alongside some of his old WWE favourites.
PWinsider reported John Cena was there, as were Sheamus, R-Truth, The Undertaker alongside wife Michelle McCool, Kane, Shane McMahon, Sgt Slaughter, Bruce Prichard, JBL and Gerald Brisco.
Vince McMahon’s ruthless past remembered as ex-WWE boss turns 80
Titus O’Neil, Drew McIntyre, Jerry Lawler, Maryse and The Miz were also pictured among the tuxedos and bow ties in a snap shared by Lawler on Instagram.
It was a glamorous occasion, a reminder of McMahon’s far-reaching legacy as an influence on the career of so many despite his hugely controversial exit from WWE.
For those who remember him in his ruthless prime, it jarred against the memory of a promoter who once seemed to take as much pleasure in humiliating his rivals as he did celebrating his own achievements.
Perhaps the most infamous example came on March 26, 2001, when WWE bought WCW. McMahon stood on Raw in Cleveland while controlling a live simulcast with the final Nitro broadcast in Panama City, Florida. The tone was triumphant, the boss strutting on camera as the undisputed king of wrestling.
As he teased the fates of WCW’s stars, McMahon turned his attention to one man in particular – Jeff Jarrett.
Boasting into the camera, he said: “And as far as Jeff Jarrett’s of the world are concerned, you know, how Jeff spells his name ‘That’s J-E-double-F?
“Well you know what? I would suspect we’ll spell it a different way after tonight – that would be capital G-double-O-double-N-double-E! Gone!”
It was no storyline flourish. The grudge went back to October 1999, when Jarrett’s WWE contract expired the night before he was booked to lose the Intercontinental Title to Chyna.
Jarrett refused to go out unless he was paid money he said he was owed – reportedly around $150,000.
Vince paid up, Jarrett did a grand job on his way out but the relationship was finished the next day; the former champion on his way to WCW, and McMahon – it seemed – vowing never to forget it.
Vince McMahon’s cruel revenge on wrestling star – live on TV
That bitterness spilled out again during the simulcast. On a night where McMahon could have basked in his own success, he made a point of burying Jarrett personally, spelling it out letter by letter to millions of viewers.
Producer Prichard, speaking of the night that had festered so long in the memory, recalled: “Jeff went in and met with Vince [and] they got him a cheque that day, for whatever it is he wanted. He went out, he did the match with Chyna and put her over like a million bucks.”
Jarrett himself has since admitted the severity of the moment was never gong to be left at that. On his My World podcast, he said: “Vince was not going to let it slide. That line on Raw, that was very real. He wanted to make sure everyone knew where he stood.”
It took nearly two decades and the intervention of Triple H for the two sides to reconcile, with Jarrett inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018 and returning to WWE in a producer role.
But for years, McMahon’s fury defined Jarrett’s place in history. The “double-G-double-O-double-N-double-E” promo remains one of the most cold-blooded public humiliations a promoter has ever dished out to his own talent.
Fast forward to Gotham Hall, and McMahon’s guests are pictured smiling as many of wrestling’s biggest names gather to toast his 80th.
The man who once spat venom into the camera about Jeff Jarrett is now walking into his ninth decade, his public legacy framed as much – maybe more so – by his grudges and controversies as by his triumphs.
Vince McMahon may no longer be a presence behind the scenes in WWE but, as his decades-long career in the wrestling industry proved, he always part of the discourse.