Bill Simmons on directing Mr. McMahon Netflix doc: “Strangest documentary process”

Bill Simmons, who directed the Netflix docuseries Mr. McMahon, labeled working on this project as the “strangest documentary process” he’s ever been involved with.

Speaking on his own podcast with The Ringer’s David Shoemaker, Simmons said that McMahon was always very late to shooting and sometimes he didn’t even bother to show up at all, and when he did, he came with an entourage of people to keep everyone in check.

The two said that when they showed up to film, they would get updates from McMahon’s secretary on his scheduled arrival time and they would get pushed back hour by hour until he showed up at 11 at night.

Shoemaker noted that they had enough footage of McMahon that they could make this a 10-part docuseries, including when Vince “sounded like a frog” because he was sick, all of which ended up on the editing floor because he did not have a voice.

“Chris Smith and the entire production team have done so many documentaries of this sort, and of all sorts. They’ve been working in this world forever. This is the guy that did The Tiger King, and none of them had ever experienced a working situation like we encountered in Stamford, Connecticut,” Shoemaker said.

Colin Vassallo been editor of Wrestling-Online since 1996