WWE Chairman Vince McMahon Comments on Never Slowing Down, Being Off TV & More
It’s not that often where WWE’s Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon opens up about various aspects of his company. The 71 year old still runs the day to day operations of the company and has shown no signs of slowing down. A lot of people wonder when he might step aside, but even though he’s at an age where a lot of people are retired, he seems like the guy that could be doing this for another decade or more.
Here are some interesting comments from Vince in an interview he did with NOLA.com this week after WWE announced that WrestleMania 34 will be in New Orleans in 2018.
On If He Ever Sees Himself Slowing Down:
“No. No, never. This is not work for me. I never go to work. Ever. Every aspect of the business, whether it’s working with the talent or the writing staff, even on occasion working with the legal guys, it’s all a big family. I never go to work.”
On His Lack Of Sleep:
“I never sleep. I don’t know that it’s an age thing. I just do it because I do it. It’s just something you love and have the passion for. You can’t get enough of that. How can you get enough of what’s really, really good? You can have steak every night and get accustomed to that, but that’s not what this is. This is not work.”
On How He Beat His Competitors:
“Every single one of them had far more greater resources than I did. It was just that we had a set of balls so to speak, and we had an extraordinary work ethic. We came at the business a different way as far as showcasing professional wrestling.
Old-time promoters tried to legitimize the sport, and I came along, and my point of view was one of, ‘Wait a minute. This is entertainment, and our audience knows it’s entertainment.’ The only people that are **** themselves are the owners of the territories, thinking we’re presenting this as a sport. I looked at it in terms of entertainment.”
On If It Was A Difficult Decision to Return to New Orleans For WrestleMania:
“The Big Easy? This was even a bigger easy for us. We came back here so quickly, that’s how good it was. Let’s come back there as soon as we possibly can. It was like how can we get back here as quickly as we possibly can and still service all these other cities. So we juggled, and we made it.”
On If He Misses Being On TV:
“God, no. That was a chore. I enjoyed it, but it just ate up so much time personally, and I couldn’t produce and direct, which is what I love to do. I love to help create new stars and tweak this and help them grow here. I can’t do that as a talent because you have to have your head wrapped around that. I’ve done both in the past, but it’s not what I prefer to do. It takes an extraordinary amount of energy to be able to do that. Trying to both is difficult. It really is.”
On How Talented His Roster Is:
“Our guys and gals are so passionate about what they do. They’re very eager to learn. … Hogan used to call it Titan Training because we used to be known as Titan Sports many, many years ago. You’re taught respect. When one of our talent walks in here, he’s going to look you in the eye, and he’s going to shake your hand. He’s going to be cordial, and it’s the way you want to be treated.
My grandmother used to say, ‘Treat people the way that you want to be treated.’ That’s what we try to do. By the way, that’s the first time I’ve quoted my grandmother in an interview. She was awesome. She was 60 years old. A kite went up in the tree one time. And 60 years old back then, was 60 years old. She wouldn’t let me go near it. She climbed the tree. Awesome lady.”
That’s most of the interview he did with NOLA.com and you can click here to read the rest of it.