'I'm The Bad Guy': How WWE's IPO Shifted Vince McMahon's Focus From Heart To Head

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. WWE has come a long way since it completed its initial public offering and became a public company on Oct. 19, 1999.

WWE CEO Vince McMahon recently appeared on the Pat McAfee Show to promote WWE WrestleMania 38, which takes place April 2-3 in Arlington, Texas. During the interview, McMahon discussed some of the ways going public changed his mindset and priorities in running the company. An area that he said has always been particularly difficult is decisions about who to release, who to keep on and who to promote from the talent roster.

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"Once I took the company public, it helped me be a better businessman because prior to that I was running the business with my head but mostly with my heart as well," McMahon said.

"These decisions are so damn tough when you do that because you know who it is, you know he has kids or this, that and the other or somebody has cancer in the family, and all that computes in your head. But once you're a public company, now you owe stockholders."

Being A Better Businessman: McMahon said his responsibility to investors overrides his personal feelings about the talent.

"It helps me make easier and better business decisions because my heart — there's still some of it in there. I know it sounds awful, but there is!" he joked.

McMahon said he's always thought of WWE as a business, and whether or not he likes the performers on a personal level is irrelevant. McMahon said talent who has been released by WWE or not given the opportunities to rise above a certain level within the company often chooses to blame the boss rather than question why their career hasn't gone the direction they had hoped.

"Everybody has a million excuses as to why things didn't work, and generally speaking the heat has to go someplace, the old blame game, and I'm the bad guy. That's part of the job," McMahon said.

Benzinga's Take: McMahon is a polarizing figure within the professional wrestling community. There's no question WWE is the ultimate success story in the industry, as WWE shareholders can attest. Just how much of that success is because of McMahon's leadership — and how much of it has come in spite of it — will remain a point of contention among his biggest supporters and most vocal critics.

Photo: Publicity photo via IMDb