Ex-WWE star says Shane McMahon threatened to fire him
Shane McMahon portrayed the fictional owner of WCW when his father, Vince McMahon, bought WWE's rival in 2001. Buff Bagwell, a 10-year WCW veteran when he joined WWE, recently recalled how Shane McMahon threatened to fire him in real life.
On July 2, 2001, Bagwell lost a WCW World Heavyweight Championship match against Booker T in his RAW debut. Many fans disliked the title contest after WWE turned its flagship show into a WCW-branded program for the main event.
Bagwell said on his YouTube channel that he was not allowed to perform as his WCW persona during the bout. He also disclosed details about his conversation with Shane McMahon before the show:
"Shane McMahon goes, 'Don't look in the camera,' and I said, 'Shane, that's what I do, man. That's what I do. I look in the camera, I pose, and I wrestle the best match I can,'" Bagwell said. "And he goes, 'If you look in the camera, you're fired.' And he didn't say it ugly but that's pretty rough. 'Don't look in the camera or you're fired.'" [4:34 – 4:58]
A week later, Bagwell cried and hugged Chris Benoit after former talent relations executive Jim Ross informed him of his release.
WWE backstage confusion before Booker T vs. Buff Bagwell
The infamous match ended after Kurt Angle and Stone Cold Steve Austin attacked Booker T to cause a disqualification.
Austin spoke to Booker T and Buff Bagwell before the event to address how the match would finish. However, the two wrestlers did not receive guidance from any higher-ups due to a miscommunication between producers John Laurinaitis and Pat Patterson:
"Pat Patterson does the main events for the WWF [WWE], and so Pat Patterson thought that Johnny Ace [John Laurinaitis] came to us and went over the match," Bagwell said. "Johnny Ace thought Pat Patterson came to us to go over the match. Neither Johnny or Pat came to us to go over the match. Stone Cold told us what he was doing, so not one boss overlooked me and Booker's match and told us what they wanted." [7:41 – 8:15]
Bagwell never worked for WWE again after leaving the company in 2001. The 54-year-old recently confirmed that he would like to return one day in some capacity.
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Please credit Marcus Buff Bagwell and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.