According to recent reports, the documentary series that Netflix is producing about the former Chairman and CEO of WWE is moving forward.
Following the revelation of the scandal that led to McMahon’s retirement from WWE, it was reported by Denise Salcedo on July 8 that the unnamed McMahon docuseries was removed from the programming spreadsheet at Netflix, and that a source said, “that sh*t’s out of here.” As was previously mentioned, this occurred after the news of the scandal broke, which led to McMahon’s retirement. It was pointed out at that time that Netflix had already spent millions of dollars on the project, and that the documentary series was already “deep” in post-production, with several interviews of talent having been filmed several months earlier.
In an update, the Wrestling Observer reports that the previous story about the McMahon scandal leading to the cancellation of the Netflix series is incorrect. Netflix is currently working on the McMahon project, and WWE is assisting them with their efforts.
According to the latest report, Chris Smith will continue to serve in his roles as Director and Executive Producer for the McMahon series. It was initially announced that Smith, who directed the documentary that was released on Netflix about Fyre Festival, would be producing the docuseries in conjunction with WWE Studios, and that Bill Simmons would serve as the Executive Producer. There is as of yet no information regarding whether or not Simmons is still involved.
It was originally intended for each of the four episodes of the McMahon docuseries to focus on a different period of his life, but it is currently unknown whether or not these plans will be altered in light of the recent scandal and retirement announcements made by McMahon. During the earnings call for the third quarter of 2020, which took place in October of that year, WWE Co-CEO Nick Khan made the initial announcement regarding the McMahon docuseries that would be available on Netflix. Khan mentioned at the time that WWE had signed a “groundbreaking new deal” with Netflix, and that they were selling the docuseries on Vince to Netflix, which was going to cover his life. Khan went on to say that the deal was groundbreaking due to the fact that the documentary in question had one of the highest budgets in all of Netflix’s history.
It was reported around the middle of April that production on the docuseries was still ongoing and that the WrestleMania 38 creative between McMahon and Pat McAfee was most likely going to be incorporated into the finished product. The project does not yet have a release date or a title, but according to recent reports, development on it is continuing as planned.
McMahon announced his retirement from WWE on July 22, but he continues to be the company’s main shareholder. For those who missed it, you can see footage and notes from Vince’s 77th birthday celebration in New York City earlier this week by clicking here.
