Wrestling Isn't for Real?

Wrestling Isn't for Real?

World Wrestling Entertainment (nyse: WWE - news - people ) admits that it cannot back up its oft-repeated claims that Chairman Vince McMahon is worth $1 billion. Official WWE publicity called that hair-shaving bet in Detroit between wrestlers representing McMahon and Donald J. Trump (which The Donald won, fittingly, on April Fool's Day) the "Battle of the Billionaires." But FORBES has tagged McMahon with that level of valuation just once, in 2000, and he last graced our wealth lists in 2002 at a mere $570 million. While McMahon has done well since, our estimate now: no more than $900 million. A McMahon flack allows that in professional wrestling there is going to be a certain tension caused by "fantasy versus the reality." -- Stephane Fitch and William P. Barrett