Vince McMahon is one of the most fascinating figures in all of entertainment. The strange elements of McMahon’s personality can make it difficult for WWE employees to get along with him. Vince has been confirmed to weak talents as weak for sneezing, coughing, getting sick, or just sleeping. A few people have been able to get past McMahon’s cold exterior to form friendships with him.
Life outside of the ring sees Vince rarely getting to spend quality time with friends, but he still does have friendships that he tries to keep up with. Most of the peers for McMahon was made in the wrestling business throughout the various eras of running WWE. Find out what caused the boss to enjoy certain talents more than others. The following people are close friends of Vince in real life.
13 Ric Flair
Ric Flair formed some of the strongest friendships of his life during the late WWE run in the 2000s. Vince McMahon grew close to Flair and helped him out on multiple occasions. Flair revealed McMahon let him borrow thousands of dollars during his financial struggles after retirement. Vince clearly had a soft spot in his heart for Flair since he doesn’t easily give money to others.
12 Bruce Prichard
WWE bringing back Bruce Prichard for a top producing role wasn’t a big surprise based on his friendship with Vince McMahon. Prichard was Vince’s right-hand man until a release from WWE. The podcast hosting duties of Prichard saw him still showing strong loyalty to McMahon as a friend. Prichard once again works closely with Vince running Smackdown.
11 JBL
JBL’s major push with the new character in 2004 came partially due to Vince McMahon’s friendship with him. WWE needed a new heel to have a lengthy WWE Championship with the plans of dropping it to John Cena at WrestleMania 21. McMahon picked the JBL character as the two were quite close behind the scenes. JBL still has the option to return for big WWE events like WrestleMania while Vince is in charge.
10 Shawn Michaels
Vince McMahon used to get criticized for letting Shawn Michaels get away with abusing backstage power. The two formed a healthier bond when Michaels returned to the company in 2002. Michaels revealed Vince was the one person that always believed in his talent. McMahon was shown crying when giving Michaels his Hall of Fame ring in 2011.
9 John Laurinaitis
John Laurinaitis clicking with Vince McMahon backstage played a huge role with his rise. WWE originally brought Laurinaitis in following the end of WCW to help get the WCW talents comfortable. However, McMahon eventually chose to have Laurinaitis replace Jim Ross as the head of talent relations. Laurinaitis still works for WWE as a producer today and may have a job for life as Vince’s buddy.
8 R-Truth
R-Truth has been on the WWE roster for over a decade and is arguably more popular now than ever before. The 24/7 division gave R-Truth consistent television time to showcase his humor. Vince McMahon is reportedly a huge supporter of R-Truth and loves to utilize him in noteworthy roles when the comedy can work and make sense.
7 Kevin Dunn
Kevin Dunn has been in WWE for decades with the current job title as EVP of Television Production. The camera work and video packages are often Dunn’s vision coming to the show. Vince McMahon has a close bond with Dunn to make him a rare WWE employee that was never released. Triple H reportedly is not fond of Dunn, but Vince likes him too much to make a change.
6 Triple H
Vince McMahon and Triple H have formed a friendship to make their relationship mean more than just the Stephanie connection. Triple H started to gain Vince’s trust and friendship before even dating Stephanie in 2000. The two have only grown closer with Vince picking Stephanie and Triple H to run WWE in the future over Shane.
5 John Cena
John Cena is one of the most treasured wrestlers of Vince McMahon due to his success, work ethic and star power. The two became friends throughout the run of Cena as face of the company. Cena even referenced his friendship with Vince during a promo battle with Dean Ambrose. The reference called out Vince’s work ethic as the kind of trait Cena wants from his friends.
4 Donald Trump
WWE has tried to remain quiet politically despite Donald Trump becoming President of the United States. Trump and Vince McMahon have been close friends for decades as seen with Trump’s past WWE appearances. Linda’s former position in Trump’s cabinet came due to their friendship and the McMahon family making huge donations to his campaign.
3 The Rock
The Rock has always expressed loyalty towards Vince McMahon for giving him a chance to live his dreams. McMahon pushed Rock and allowed him to find his charisma. The acting career of Rock saw Vince getting a credited role and financial compensation for Rock’s films in the 2000s. Both guys still have a close bond today that will see Rock able to appear for WWE any time he desires.
2 Pat Patterson
Pat Patterson has been the best friend to Vince McMahon for many years. Vince handpicked Patterson to have a backstage role providing ideas for the WWE product. Patterson was even reportedly the person picked to run WWE if Vince was indicted during the steroids trial of the early 90s. Vince wrote the foreword for Patterson’s book to show they were still close all this time later.
1 The Undertaker
The three-decade-long run of The Undertaker in WWE made him a close friend to Vince McMahon. Undertaker was always loyal to WWE and did his best to help as a locker room leader. McMahon cared enough about Undertaker to leave WrestleMania 30 early to accompany Undertaker to the hospital for an injury. Undertaker once almost choked out Kurt Angle when not realizing Angle and Vince were play fighting on a plane. The friendship is clearly quite real between the boss and deadman.
Sources: Wrestling Observer, PW Torch, Talk is Jericho, WWE Network