"Otherwise they would be fired" - WWE Hall of Famers reveal why Vince McMahon threatened the WWE roster [Exclusive]
Vince McMahon is known for running WWE with a tight fist when it comes to his Superstars. However, when it comes to their personal matters, he has often left them to their own matters. WWE Hall of Famers, The Bushwhackers recently revealed that at one point, Vince McMahon had to get involved thanks to the ribs wrestlers were pulling on each other.
The culture in WWE has been one that has allowed ribs among wrestlers, but sometimes, wrestlers have a tendency of going beyond a normal limit when it came to teasing their fellow Superstars.
During their recent interview with Sportskeeda's own Riju Dasgupta, The Bushwhackers revealed that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon had to intervene when things went too far with ribs. Bushwhacker Butch talked about how Vince McMahon had to call a special meeting, threatening to fire anyone who did a 'heavy' rib.
"Fuji had his guys he ribbed more than others. But in the end, the ribs got worse and worse. In the end, Vince had to have this special meeting and had to put a ban on heavy ribs. No more heavy ribs, otherwise they would be fired. The ribs were still there because they were wrestlers, but they were never as heavy."
Readers can watch the full interview here.
How Vince McMahon dealt with excessive ribs in WWE
Bushwhacker Luke went on to talk about what Vince McMahon said when the ribs got to be too much for the wrestlers. At the time, WWE was not as big as it later became, but it was still one of the more prestigious wrestling companies. Vince McMahon apparently called a meeting with the wrestlers, threatening there would be consequences if the ribs continued
"Vince was running three towns at the time, one on the East Coast, one on the West Coast, one in the mid-South. At the end of the tour, we'd all fly home. This time the ribs were so bad Vince flew us to Connecticut, the office. Then in the hotel, he came into the room and gave a big lecture and told them that there would be a fine if the ribs carried on. Fuji was the king of the ribs anyhow."
Bushwhacker Luke also talked about how Mr. Fuji would rib his own tag team partner, Professor Toru Tanaka the most. He revealed that Mr. Fuji would regularly go after his own tag team partner, such that no one knew how he put up with it.
"The funny part is he would rib poor Professor Tanaka. Tanaka was a beautiful guy. He was a great champ. Fuji ribbed his partner 24/7. We don't know how Tanaka put up with it."
Whatever else Mr. Fuji was, he certainly had an impact on the locker room when he was a part of it.