HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- Vince McMahon, who transformed the territorial professional wrestling circuit into a multi-faceted global entertainment powerhouse, received the 2,357th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Friday in a raucous ceremony.
Fans outside the Hollywood & Highland complex bellowed "speech, speech, speech" as McMahon was about to speak.
"Shut up, you'll get one," McMahon said.
McMahon, who potrays a cocky persona as the evil Mr. McMahon on World Wrestling Entertainment telecasts, was initially humble in his acceptance speech.
He said he would accept "this honorable and extraordinary gift" on behalf "of every WWE fan in the world," both "this generation and prior generations, all the way back those who probably were your grandfathers and grandmothers who watched when television was first created" and the WWE wrestlers, "without which none of this would be possible," and wrestlers of the past, singling out the flamboyant 1950s star Gorgeous George "who truly understood what" television "is all about."
"But most importantly, I'd like to thank me," McMahon said, shifting into the persona familiar to the public, and drawing cheers. "All those thank yous I said a few minutes ago, I didn't mean a word of it. I'm not really so sure what this award means. It's a star. I already know I'm a star. I'm the biggest star in the whole planet.
"They're going to put this star on the sidewalk where people walk. You realize how many people in this world wanted to walk on me, how many wanted to step on me? Now they're going to step on my star. There are going to be people lined up around the block and take their heels and rub it on my star. And God forbid they're going to be walking a dog at the same time.
The late-morning ceremony was a family affair. McMahon's son Shane, a World Wrestling Entertainment executive and sometime wrestler, praised his father for his vision and "the passion you breathe every single day" that has made the WWE a "global phenomenon."
McMahon's son-in-law, the former World Wrestling Entertainment champion known as Triple H, said "Vince is an incredible man. He has created what I consider the greatest brand, which then in turn created the greatest fans in the world."
Triple H, whose real name is Paul Michael Levesque, added that "Vince is, hard to believe, a huge humanitarian. He tirelessly works for charities, like the Make a Wish Foundation. He trades in his suits and ties once a year to put on battle fatigues and helmet and some body armor and makes the trip to Iraq or Afghanistan and makes the trip with the rest of us and puts himself in harm's way to celebrate our troops, to thank them and bring a little bit of America to them."
McMahon received a star in the television category, as his WWE produces original programming 52 weeks a year, airing on broadcast, cable and Spanish- language networks in the United States and more than 130 other nations in 22 languages.
Fans outside the Hollywood & Highland complex bellowed "speech, speech, speech" as McMahon was about to speak.
"Shut up, you'll get one," McMahon said.
McMahon, who potrays a cocky persona as the evil Mr. McMahon on World Wrestling Entertainment telecasts, was initially humble in his acceptance speech.
He said he would accept "this honorable and extraordinary gift" on behalf "of every WWE fan in the world," both "this generation and prior generations, all the way back those who probably were your grandfathers and grandmothers who watched when television was first created" and the WWE wrestlers, "without which none of this would be possible," and wrestlers of the past, singling out the flamboyant 1950s star Gorgeous George "who truly understood what" television "is all about."
"But most importantly, I'd like to thank me," McMahon said, shifting into the persona familiar to the public, and drawing cheers. "All those thank yous I said a few minutes ago, I didn't mean a word of it. I'm not really so sure what this award means. It's a star. I already know I'm a star. I'm the biggest star in the whole planet.
"They're going to put this star on the sidewalk where people walk. You realize how many people in this world wanted to walk on me, how many wanted to step on me? Now they're going to step on my star. There are going to be people lined up around the block and take their heels and rub it on my star. And God forbid they're going to be walking a dog at the same time.
The late-morning ceremony was a family affair. McMahon's son Shane, a World Wrestling Entertainment executive and sometime wrestler, praised his father for his vision and "the passion you breathe every single day" that has made the WWE a "global phenomenon."
McMahon's son-in-law, the former World Wrestling Entertainment champion known as Triple H, said "Vince is an incredible man. He has created what I consider the greatest brand, which then in turn created the greatest fans in the world."
Triple H, whose real name is Paul Michael Levesque, added that "Vince is, hard to believe, a huge humanitarian. He tirelessly works for charities, like the Make a Wish Foundation. He trades in his suits and ties once a year to put on battle fatigues and helmet and some body armor and makes the trip to Iraq or Afghanistan and makes the trip with the rest of us and puts himself in harm's way to celebrate our troops, to thank them and bring a little bit of America to them."
McMahon received a star in the television category, as his WWE produces original programming 52 weeks a year, airing on broadcast, cable and Spanish- language networks in the United States and more than 130 other nations in 22 languages.
