Wrestling impresario Vince McMahon — who has largely avoided the role of political spouse and whose World Wrestling Entertainment alter ego has been on hiatus during his wife’s Senate campaign in Connecticut — has emerged from ringside in the contest’s final days, defending a business empire he says has been trashed because of politics.
Fed up with what he called “malicious and misleading attacks,” the bombastic 65-year-old McMahon recently launched an Internet campaign called “Stand up for WWE.”
He won a court order Wednesday allowing WWE fans to come to the polls in wrestling clothing. And on Saturday, the WWE is staging a fan-appreciation event in Hartford just three days before Linda McMahon hopes to rally enough voters to defeat Democrat Richard Blumenthal for the seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd.
WWE announced yesterday it will hand out free merchandise on Election Day to “celebrate” its courtroom triumph.
“Certain members of the media, they’re a little less likely to write untruths,” Vince McMahon crowed online. “Elitists, a little less likely to be looking down their noses at us.”
While WWE and Linda McMahon’s Senate campaign both claim the “Stand up for WWE” endeavor is strictly a company initiative, state Democrats have sought a federal elections investigation into whether the company has illegally cooperated with the political campaign.
“Linda McMahon’s $50 million attack machine is calling in corporate reinforcements with no respect for the law or the voters of Connecticut,” said state Democratic Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo.