WWE Hall Of Famer Feared Vince McMahon
A WWE Hall of Fame wrestler admits that he was scared of Vince McMahon, but that would change over time.
Vince McMahon is the former WWE Champion, who is no longer a part of the company. In January 2024, Vince McMahon was told to resign as Executive Chairman of TKO just months after Endeavor completed its takeover of WWE.
The reason for McMahon’s WWE departure is that he was accused of serious sexual assault and sex trafficking by a former WWE employee named Janel Grant, who filed a lawsuit against Vince and WWE. When sponsors threatened to remove their associations with WWE, Endeavor made it clear that McMahon was no longer involved in the company.
After the lawsuit was filed, Vince McMahon has been fighting it and claims that Grant’s claims were “pure fiction” more than anything.
During his reign as the WWE boss for 40+ years, Vince McMahon ran the company with an iron fist and was known for being a tough boss. While Vince obviously had friends and people got to know his softer side, there are many stories about his ruthlessness.
The Dudley Boyz duo of Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley were interviewed by Maven on D-Von’s YouTube channel. During the discussion, D-Von admitted he was scared of his boss Vince McMahon. The Dudleys started in WWE in late 1999, so it was right at the height of the Attitude Era.
“A lot. Back then, I think a lot of people feared Vince…. Bubba was a rare exception [to] that. Because again, a lot of people when they walked into it, they were fearful of Vince.
Because the man had your life in his hands. It was like, ‘Okay I’m not going to sit there and go against him.’ You know, whatever Vince wants, Vince is going to get. It was like, ‘Yep, not a problem sir!’”
D-Von Dudley Eventually Stopped Fearing Vince McMahon After He Stopped Wrestling
Following his in-ring career as a full-timer, D-Von Dudley worked for WWE behind the scenes for many years as a Producer. According to D-Von, that’s when he stopped fearing Vince McMahon.
“When I became a producer and I had to work with him behind the scenes and things like that, that was when the fear disappeared. And that was when I was just like, I began to question him in terms of things that I didn’t agree with.
I went from fearing him as talent, but then when the producer came, I wasn’t scared anymore. Because in order for me to get my point across and give him my ideas on what I felt worked for the match, I had to grow some balls and go, ‘No, Vince, I don’t like that. This is what I like.’
And I always felt that when he stood up to Vince, he respected you more. And that always stayed in the back of my mind. So as a producer, that was when I found the guts to be able to go, ‘No Vince, this is what I feel. If you don’t want it, this is your ballpark. This is your sandbox. If you say no to what I got to say, then that’s fine. But I’m telling you how I feel.’
And that was the only time that it became to me to be natural with him, to be able to not have that fear once I became a producer.”
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