Former WWE Creative Director reveals how he made Vince McMahon cry
Vince McMahon is a man who leaves it all on the screen, there's no doubt about that, but what about off-screen? WWE's chairman most definitely isn't afraid to show his emotions on-screen, no matter what they are, but we don't know much about McMahon away from the television.
Well, on this week's Wrestling Daft podcast, Robert Florence and Grado were joined by former WWE Creative Director of On-Air Promotions David Sahadi, who now works as a producer for IMPACT Wrestling, and Sahadi would open up about how he managed to inadvertently make Mr. McMahon cry.
"We did the Attitude spots where we legitimised the athletes being real athletes. This spot with Classy Freddie Blassie, in my mind, was the follow-up, it was the sequel, so it was taking the older guys and having them put over the younger guys. By this point, working in WWF, I had so much creative latitude that I didn't have to run anything by Vince anymore."
Sahadi would go on to reveal how Vince found out on the day of the shoot that he'd gone against McMahon's instructions.
"Kevin Dunn, the executive producer, knew that I was doing the spot with the older talents, shooting in Albany, and Vince found out the day that I was doing the shoot. He told Kevin, 'What is Sahadi doing with these older stars? We are all about this new generation now and the young guys, what is he doing with the older stars?'"
The former Major League Wrestling employee further revealed how he was immediately put under pressure after a phone call from Kevin Dunn.
"Kevin Dunn basically told Vince, 'Don't worry, Sahadi has a good track record. Let's just see what he has to do.' Basically, Kevin called me during the shoot and said, 'Vince knows you're working with the older guys, he does not know what the spot is about, he thinks it's wrong so it better be good, that's all I've got to tell you, have a good shoot,' and he hung up.
Sahadi went on to discuss the moment Vince McMahon saw the video for the first time.
"When Vince saw the spot, he had the old walk with me when he would look at me, you got in the room, goes, 'Okay, play that spot.' We started playing that spot and about 15 seconds in, he's like, 'Damn...' He's like, 'Damn.' Once again, he goes, 'Damn!' Before the spot ends, he walked out of the room and I turned to Shane, who was there along with Vince, and said, 'Shane, what does that mean?' Shane turned to me and smiled and said, 'You got him, Sahadi. You got him.' "
Sahadi went on to reveal how the spot had Vince McMahon in tears for 15 minutes.
"I walked out of the studio and Vince is sitting on the floor crying, in tears. He's like, 'Thank you, thank you so much, David. Thank you so much.' I walk up the stairs to tell Kevin Dunn that Vince liked the spot, the one he was creatively against that first that I didn't run the idea by him and why am using the older guys and then Kevin is like, 'Good job', so I walk down the hall 15 minutes later and Vince is still sitting on the stairs with his son and Pat Patterson, and he's crying and telling me, 'Thank you'."
The vignette that left Vince McMahon in tears
And here is the promo that reportedly reduced Vince McMahon to tears. Get the tissues ready if you press play because anyone who watches it will most likely share a very similar reaction to that of the WWE Chairman.
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The main show is hosted by comedy legend Robert Florence and former IMPACT Wrestling star Grado, who exclusively broke the news of the podcast's launch to me last year, in a video which you can watch below.
This week's guest is NXT UK Superstar and former Insane Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion Joe Coffey.
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