Vince McMahon 'did not swallow his pride' to permit rival promotion's talent on WWE, believes 67-year-old wrestling veteran
If recent news has taught wrestling fans anything, it's that Vince McMahon will not go down without a fight. The Genetic Jackhammer has recently found his way back as the ExecuChairman of WWE. But did he have to swallow his pride when he brought an AEW star back to his company?
The star in question is the "American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes, who, after six years away from WWE, made his return to the company at WrestleMania 38 against Seth Rollins.
One of the main things about Cody's return was that he came back as the "American Nightmare," a character he developed himself outside of WWE, something that was extremely surprising given Vince doesn't like to acknowledge other wrestling companies or wrestlers outside of WWE.
A look back into the crazy unforgettable year of 2022:
As @CodyRhodes made his unforgettable @WWE return at WrestleMania 38 as Seth Rollins’ mystery opponent.
They’d go on-to put on an absolute banger of a classic too.
An all-timer moment forever etched in history. twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/ue86xD28sj
Speaking on the "83 Weeks" podcast, Eric Bischoff weighed in on how he thought Vince McMahon felt when Cody returned. Former RAW GM believes that Vince wants somebody like Rhodes to prove him wrong.
“I don’t think Vince [McMahon] swallowed his pride at all. I don’t think that’s the way Vince is really built. I think my impression — or one of them because he’s a complex cat — of Vince is that he’s hoping somebody like Cody Rhodes comes along and proves him wrong. I think that’s why they were willing to pay Cody what they paid him to come back. Cody left there in one financial category and came back in an entirely different one, and I think the reason is Cody proved he was right.” [6:10-6:50]
Bischoff elaborated by saying that Mr. McMahon is the type of person who will do things his way unless someone shows him something that is better, which he will then claim as his own.
“I think Vince McMahon is the type of person who will stick to his guns, do things his way, until somebody shows him a better way to do it, and once that happens he embraces it as if it was his own. His ego is not bruised at all.” [6:51-7:08]
Eric Bischoff knows all too well what Vince McMahon is like after their legendary rivalry
One of the main reasons why Vince McMahon is the way he is today is down to how close to the edge Eric Bischoff and WCW pushed him in the 1990s. After all, Bischoff's podcast is literally named after the number of weeks Nitro beat RAW in the TV ratings.
As a result, Vince experimented with his product during the Monday Night Wars to entice people away from WCW and Monday Nitro. Stars from AAA featured in the 1997 Royal Rumble match, ECW got to promote their first Pay-Per-View on RAW, and Japanese freelancers found their way onto WWE Pay-Per-Views.
#TodayinWWEhistory
July 6th 1997
wwf in your house 16
Canadian stampede
light heavyweight championship
the Great Sasuke
Vs Taka michinoku https://t.co/lYfbZHL5Kj
RAW eventually edged ahead of Nitro in the ratings and just a few years later, Vince bought WCW and declared victory over the company that legitimately almost put WWE out of business at one point.
Bischoff's rivalry with McMahon flared up once again. Eric was brought into WWE in 2002 as the general manager of RAW. He frequently found himself at odds with the Chairman of the board, as well as the rest of the McMahon family.
What are your favorite memories of Bischoff's feud with Vince McMahon? Let us know in the comments section down below!
Please credit "83 Weeks" and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling when using quotes from this article.