Jess McMahon

Roderick James "Jess" McMahon (May 26, 1882 – November 22, 1954) was an American professional wrestling and professional boxing promoter, and the patriarch of the McMahon family. McMahon was the founder of professional wrestling promotion, Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the precursor to current day WWE along with Toots Mondt. McMahon's son, Vincent James McMahon, would later take over and found the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) (today known as WWE)

Early life

Roderick James McMahon was born May 26, 1882, to hotel owners Roderick (born 1844) and Elizabeth McMahon (born 1846) from Galway. His parents had recently moved from Ireland to New York City. He and his siblings Lauretta (born 1876), Catharine (born 1878) and Edward (born 1880) attended Manhattan College. Roderick graduated with a commercial diploma at the age of 17. The McMahon brothers showed a higher interest in sports than in a banking career.

Career

By 1909, the McMahon brothers were managing partners of the Olympic Athletic Club and bookers at the Empire and St. Nichols Athletic Clubs, located in Harlem. Because of a loss of public interest in boxing, the two McMahons expanded their affairs in 1911, founding the New York Lincoln Giants, a black baseball team, which played at Olympic Field in Harlem. With a team that included five of the best black players in the nation (who the McMahons recruited away from teams in Chicago and Philadelphia), the Lincoln Giants dominated black and white opponents for three seasons. In 1914, financial difficulties forced them to sell the team; however, they retained the contracts of many of the players, and for three more years they operated another team, the Lincoln Stars, using Lenox Oval on 145th Street as a home field. Touring with the squad, McMahon and his brother ventured to Havana, Cuba, in 1915, where they co-promoted the 45-round fight between Jess Willard and then-champion Jack Johnson.

Vince McMahon

Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon (born August 24, 1945) is an American professional wrestling promoter, former announcer, commentator, film producer, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Since taking over the company from his father in the 1980s McMahon has always worked in the corporate area of the WWE as well as behind the scenes. He currently serves as the majority owner, chairman, and CEO of the professional wrestling promotion.

McMahon has also occasionally competed as a professional wrestler using a gimmick known by the ring name Mr. McMahon, based on his real life persona. He is a two-time world champion, having won the WWF Championship in 1999 and ECW World Championship in 2007, and is the 1999 Royal Rumble winner. He headlined multiple pay-per-view events from 1999 to 2000 and participated in the main event of WrestleMania 2000, as a cornerman for The Rock. In singles competition, McMahon holds victories over former WWF/E Champions Ric Flair, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Triple H. McMahon continues his backstage and on-screen roles as the main Authority figure along with the rest of the McMahon family.

WWE

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (d/b/a WWE) is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company that deals primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing and direct product sales. WWE also refers to the professional wrestling promotion itself, founded by Jess McMahon and Toots Mondt in 1952 as Capitol Wrestling Corporation. As of 2014, it is the largest wrestling promotion in the world, holding over 300 events a year, and broadcasting to about 36 million viewers in more than 150 countries. The company's headquarters are located in Stamford, Connecticut, with offices in major cities across the world.

As in other professional wrestling promotions, WWE shows are not legitimate contests, but purely entertainment-based, featuring storyline-driven, scripted, and choreographed matches, though they often include moves that can put performers at risk of injury if not performed correctly. This was first publicly acknowledged by WWE's owner Vince McMahon in 1989 to avoid taxes from athletic commissions. Since the 1980s, WWE publicly branded their product as sports entertainment, which is considered to acknowledge the product's roots in competitive sport and dramatic theater.

Shane McMahon

Shane Brandon McMahon (born January 15, 1970), is an American businessman who served as the chairman and Executive Officer of YOU On Demand. He is a member of the McMahon family. The former Executive Vice President of Global Media (as well as an occasional professional wrestler and referee) for the McMahon family-owned World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), he is the son of WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and sometime United States Senate candidate Linda McMahon. He is also the older brother of Stephanie McMahon Levesque and the brother-in-law of Paul "Triple H" Levesque. He worked for WWE for over 20 years before resigning in January 2010.

Over an 11-year in-ring career with WWE, McMahon became a one-time European Champion and a one-time Hardcore Champion. He headlined his first pay-per-view event at the 1999 King of the Ring, and went on to become a world championship contender in the early 2000s, closing the 2000 Insurrextion and King of the Ring events in contention for the WWF Championship, and challenging for the WCW Championship at 2001's Unforgiven. He also participated in the main event of WrestleMania 2000, as a cornerman for Big Show. Among other recorded victories, McMahon holds singles wins over former WWF Champions Big Show, Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, and his father, Vince.

Linda McMahon

Linda Marie McMahon (née Edwards; born October 4, 1948) is an American professional wrestling magnate and a former Republican Party candidate. She is notable for her career developing WWE with her husband Vince McMahon. McMahon was active with WWE (WWF until 2002) from 1980 to 2009. During this time, the company grew from a small regional business in New York to a large multinational. McMahon and her husband became wealthy through the WWE's success, and the McMahon family name is now synonymous with the wrestling industry. As President and later CEO of the company, she negotiated business deals, launched wrestling merchandise, signed wrestler contracts, and managed and wrote for WWE publications. She also started the company's civic programs, Get REAL and Smackdown Your Vote. McMahon occasionally made on-screen appearances, most notably in a wrestling feud with her husband which climaxed at WrestleMania X-Seven.

She left WWE in 2009 to run unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States Senate from Connecticut, losing to Democratic Party nominee Richard Blumenthal in the general election of 2010. McMahon was the 2012 Republican nominee for Connecticut's other Senate seat to replace retiring Senator Joe Lieberman in the general election in November 2012, but lost again, this time to Democratic Representative Chris Murphy.