Worst in the World: Mr. McMahon vs Pat McAfee-WrestleMania 38 (Night 2)

NOTE: Sorry this is a day late. I moved this past week and just kind of lost track of things. I'm all settled in now and will be back on my normal schedule. Thanks & enjoy! 

You know, I never thought I'd see the day. I know Vince McMahon was almost 77 years old at the time and obviously not getting any younger, but the idea of seeing him actually retire was something that didn't seem like a possibility. I was 100% sure Vince was gonna run WWE until the day he died, and I don't think I'm alone in thinking that. Now, obviously, Vince retiring probably had less to do with him actually deciding it was time to retire and more to do with sexual misconduct allegations & multi-million dollar hush money payments, but the end result is the same; Vince McMahon no longer runs the WWE. And so, given how his time as chairman ended, it's only fitting that one of his final appearances on screen resulted in one of the worst-rated matches in WWE history.

In the lead-up to WrestleMania 38, rumors began to circulate that Vince McMahon would be stepping into the ring and wrestling for the first time in almost a decade for a match with Pat McAfee, the former NFL punter turned part-time wrestler & commentator, with an angle to be started when Vince appeared on an upcoming episode of The Pat McAfee Show. Now, professional wrestling is a weird beast, and seeing people return to the ring, regardless of how old they are, isn't uncommon. That being said, the fact that Vince was 76 years old at the time made a lot of people doubt these rumors, with the more likely outcome being someone wrestling on behalf of Vince instead. Those doubts were further enforced when Vince's appearance on The Pat McAfee show came and, while Vince did offer McAfee a match at WrestleMania 38, never did Vince say he'd be the one wrestling McAfee. McAfee's opponent for the match would be Vince's on-screen protege Austin Theory, putting to rest any thoughts of seeing the septuagenarian owner of the company wrestle a match...

That was until Night 2 of WrestleMania. McAfee would go on to defeat Theory in a solid match-up, with Vince seated ringside. Following the match, McAfee laid down the challenge for McMahon to step into the ring. McMahon took off his jacket & dress shirt and stepped in the ring as referee Dan Engler also entered the ring. Suddenly, Theory attacked McAfee from behind. McAfee gets to his feet...and then the bell rings. This is actually happening. And what resulted was brutally unpleasant match that earned a negative two-star match from Dave Meltzer, and is the only match that (as of writing this) Meltzer awarded zero or fewer stars in 2022. Let's get into this.

The match starts with a not-very-good clothesline from McMahon before he throws McAfee into the corner. This is all McAfee in this match, bumping a lot more than he has any business doing for a 76-year-old. McMahon lets McAfee get to his feet before he hits another clothesline. The crowd then starts chanting "YOU STILL GOT IT!" This is a lie. These people are lying on a live broadcast. Lots of stalling as McMahon lets McAfee get to his feet. McMahon then throws McAfee back into the corner before he stands in the corner and waits for McAfee to get to his feet again. This is terrible. The two stare each other down from across the ring before Theory yanks McAfee down and pulls him crotch-first into the ring post. Even though the referee very clearly sees this, this is not a DQ, nor do we get a moment of Vince saying that it's no DQ. Pain. McMahon toys with McAfee, gently kicking him before Theory hands him a football. Vince spends close to 40 seconds showing off the football before punting it into McAfee's ribs. This disrespect obviously fires up McAfee, setting up his big comeback of writhing on the mat before McMahon covers him and gets the three. Yep...that's the finish. What are we doing?

McMahon & Theory celebrate as McMahon's music plays, only for him to have it cut so Theory can celebrate himself. The two hug before Theory's music hits. Vince sells this with shock because he doesn't know what Theory's music sounds like. Can't say I blame him, most people's entrance music is too generic to distinguish at this point, that could be pretty much anybody's song. Then another Austin's music hits, as the glass shatters and Stone Cold Steve Austin makes his way down to the ring. Austin goes face-to-face with McMahon before Theory tries to attack Austin, but Austin fends him off and hits a Stunner, which Theory sells with a huge jump before flailing as he falls to the mat.

It's pretty great, but the jumping & bouncing around is a bit much. Austin stares down McMahon as Vince tries to reason with him. Austin seemingly buys it, calling for some Broken Skull IPAs and giving Vince one. The two chug their drinks before we get it; possibly the most infamously bad sell of the Stunner of all time.

Austin hits the kick, Vince falls to his knees before Austin grabs him, stumbles back into the ropes trying to get to his feet, and then falls backwards as Austin tries to hit the Stunner. If pro-wrestling botches were works of art, this sell would be in The Louvre. Austin busts out laughing before calling for more IPAs and kicking Vince out of the ring. Austin then invites McAfee into the ring for a drink & a celebration, only for Austin to hit another Stunner on him. McAfee's sell is great, with a delayed fall while he spits out his beer.

Austin calls for more IPAs and celebrates on his own, as McAfee gives one great visual to close out the segment.

The Verdict

The post-match stuff is fairly fun, as is typical with a Steve Austin parade of Stunners, but man is the match that led to it not worth it. Nearly four straight minutes of a 76-year-old standing in place while someone who can actually move bumps for him. They could easily have just had Theory attack McAfee after the match and then have Austin come out and give everyone Stunners and cut the match entirely. Skip the match entirely and just watch the post-match.

The Rankings (Best to Worst)

1. Tommy Dreamer vs Bully Ray-Victory Road 2011
2. Corporal Cajun & Lt. Loco vs The Perfect Event-Halloween Havoc 2000
3. Triple H vs Kevin Nash-TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2011
4. Wrath vs Glacier-World War 3 1998
5. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
6. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
7. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
8. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
9. The Concrete Crypt Match-The Great American Bash 2004
10. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
11. Mordecai vs Hardcore Holly-The Great American Bash 2004
12. Luther Reigns vs Charlie Haas-The Great American Bash 2004
13. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
14. The Gimmick Battle Royal-WrestleMania X-Seven
15. Hernandez vs Matt Morgan-Victory Road 2011
16. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
17. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
18. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
19. David Arquette & Diamond Dallas Page vs Jeff Jarrett & Eric Bischoff
20. The Women's Tag Team Turmoil-WrestleMania 37 (Night 1)
21. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
22. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
23. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
24. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
25. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
26. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
27. General Rection vs Lance Storm & Jim Duggan-Halloween Havoc 2000
28. Chyna vs Ivory-WrestleMania X-Seven
29. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
30. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
31. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
32. The Barbed Wire Christmas Tree Match-TNA iMPACT (12/20/2007)
33. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
34. EVIL vs Tomohiro Ishii-Wrestle Kingdom 16 (Day 1)
35. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
36. Toru Yano vs Great O-Khan-New Japan Cup 2021 (Day 6)
37. Glacier vs Wrath-The Great American Bash 1997
38. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
39. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
40. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
41. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie-Wrestle Kingdom 8
42. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
43. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
44. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
45. The Undertaker vs King Mabel-In Your House 5: Season's Beatings
46. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-In Your House 14: Revenge of the Taker
47. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
48. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
49. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
50. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
51. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
52. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
53. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
54. The Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber-Elimination Chamber 2015
55. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
56. Team RAW vs Team SmackDown Men's Elimination Match-Survivor Series 2017
57. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
58. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
59. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
60. The First Blood DNA Match-Halloween Havoc 2000
61. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
62. Damian Priest vs The Miz-WrestleMania Backlash
63. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
64. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
65. The 2022 Women's Royal Rumble
66. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
67. The Extreme Elimination Chamber-December to Dismember 2006
68. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
69. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
70. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
71. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
72. Mr. Anderson vs Rob Van Dam-Victory Road 2011
73. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
74. El Gigante vs Nailz-G1 Climax 1994 (Day 1)
75. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
76. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
77. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
78. The Hurt Business vs RETRIBUTION-WWE Monday Night RAW (10/26/2020)
79. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
80. Santino Marella vs Heath Slater-WWE Friday Night SmackDown (9/27/2013)
81. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
82. Vince Russo vs Ric Flair-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
83. Allie vs Leva Bates-Fyter Fest 2019
84. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
85. Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)
86. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
87. Kenzo Suzuki vs Billy Gunn-The Great American Bash 2004
88. The Big Show vs Erick Rowan-TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs 2014
89. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
90. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
91. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
92. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
93. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
94. Diesel vs King Mabel-SummerSlam 1995
95. Big Swole vs Penelope Ford, Rebel, and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.-AEW Dynamite (8/27/2020)
96. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
97. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
98. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
99. Goldberg vs KroniK-Halloween Havoc 2000
100. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
101. The New Blood Gauntlet-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
102. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
103. Hulk Hogan vs Kevin Nash-WCW Monday Nitro (1/4/1999)
104. Sting vs Hulk Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1999
105. Hulk Hogan vs Jeff Jarrett-Bash at the Beach 2000
106. Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano vs EVIL & Dick Togo-The New Beginning in Hiroshima 2021 (Day 2)
107. Glacier vs Mortis-Slamboree 1997
108. Michael Nakazawa vs Alex Jebailey-Fyter Fest 2019
109. The 1997 World War 3 Match
110. The 2022 Men's Royal Rumble
111. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
112. Konnan vs Stevie Ray-Slamboree 1999
113. The 1998 World War 3
114. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
115. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
116. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
117. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
118. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
119. The Golden Truth vs Breezango-Money in the Bank 2016
120. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
121. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
122. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
123. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
124. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
125. Hornswoggle vs Chavo Guerrero-WWE Monday Night Raw (7/20/2009)
126. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
127. Rosita & Sarita vs Angelina Love & Winter-Victory Road 2011
128. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
129. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
130. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
131. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
132. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
133. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
134. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
135. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
136. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
137. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
138. The 2015 Royal Rumble Match
139. Kazuchika Okada vs Gedo-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 2)
140. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
141. Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997
142.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
143. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
144. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
145. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
146. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
147. Mabel vs Savio Vega-King of the Ring 1995
148. Monty Brown vs Trytan-Destination X 2005
149. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
150. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
151. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
152. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
153. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
154. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
155. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
156. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
157. The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal-WrestleMania 25
158. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
159. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
160. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
161. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
162. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
163. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
164. Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 37 (Night 2)
165. Lex Luger vs Sting-WWA The Retribution
166. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
167. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Monday Night Raw (4/14/1997)
168. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
169. Mike Sanders vs Ernest Miller-Halloween Havoc 2000
170. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Shotgun Saturday Night (1/25/1997)
171. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
172. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
173. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
174. Vince Russo vs Booker T-WCW Monday Nitro (9/25/2000)
175. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-WWE Monday Night RAW (7/8/2002)
176. The Countdown to Armageddon Match-WCW Thunder (10/18/2000)
177. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
178. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
179. Mr. McMahon vs Pat McAfee-WrestleMania 38 (Night 2)
180. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
181. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
182. Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania XXX
183. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
184. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
185. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
186. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
187. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
188. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
189. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
190. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
191. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
192. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
193. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
194. WarGames 2000: Russo's Revenge-WCW Monday Nitro (9/4/2000)
195. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
196. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
197. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
198. Toru Yano vs KENTA-G1 Climax 2021 (Day 1)
199. Konnan & Tygress vs Shane Douglas & Torrie Wilson-Halloween Havoc 2000
200. The Fabulous Moolah vs Ivory-No Mercy 1999
201. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
202. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
203. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
204. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
205. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
206. "Donald Trump" vs "Rosie O'Donnell"-WWE Monday Night RAW (1/8/2007)
207. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
208. Toru Yano vs Jado-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 1)
209. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
210. Sable vs Torrie Wilson-The Great American Bash 2004
211. The Evening Gown Pool Match-Armageddon 1999
212. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
213. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
214. The 1996 World War 3 Match
215. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
216. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
217. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
218. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
219. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
220. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
221. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
222. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
223. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
224. Akira Maeda vs Andre the Giant-NJPW Big Fighter Series 1986 (Day 15)
225. The 1995 World War 3 Match

Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoyed and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered on the Worst in the World in the comments. In two weeks, I'll be going back to the first Mae Young Classic and looking at a match that went so poorly that it reportedly caused the finish to be changed mid-match. Stay tuned.