"Don't even bother asking Vince McMahon" - Released WWE star was told not to pitch entrance idea
Tony Nese has revealed that Ariya Daivari was advised against asking Vince McMahon if he could drive a car for one of his WWE entrances.
Nese defeated Daivari at WWE Money in the Bank 2019 to retain the Cruiserweight Championship. Daivari, whose on-screen character often bragged about his wealth and greatness, wanted to drive to the ring in a luxury car.
Speaking to Matt Rehwoldt (f.k.a. WWE’s Aiden English) on the Straight Shooting podcast, Nese said Daivari thought the idea would help 205 Live stand out. Despite being told by a WWE official not to speak to Vince McMahon, Daivari still pitched the idea to the WWE Chairman:
“The answer was like, ‘Oh, no, no, no, don’t even bother asking Vince that,’” Nese said. “That was the type of response. ‘I’m not even gonna go to Vince with that idea.’ And Daivari, good for him, he was like, ‘You know what, screw you, I’m gonna ask him myself.’
“So he just knocked on the door, went in Vince’s office, and he was like, ‘Hey, this is my character, this is what he does, we’re gonna be on the show.’ Vince was like, ‘Where is it?’ I think it was Hartford or wherever. He’s like, ‘I think we can fit a car in that building. You know what, as long as we can fit a car, you’ve got it.’”
With Vince McMahon’s approval, Daivari drove a Mercedes-AMG GT car onto the stage area during his WWE Money in the Bank entrance. The match, which Nese won in nine minutes, turned out to be Daivari’s only pay-per-view singles match during his five-year WWE run.
Ariya Daivari and Tony Nese recently left Vince McMahon’s WWE
In 2016, Ariya Daivari and Tony Nese competed in the Cruiserweight Classic tournament before officially joining WWE’s newly introduced cruiserweight division.
The highlight of Nese’s WWE career came in 2019 when he won the Cruiserweight Championship from Buddy Murphy on the WrestleMania 35 kickoff show. By contrast, Daivari never held the Cruiserweight Championship. However, he still featured prominently on 205 Live between 2016 and 2021.
After five years working for WWE, both superstars received their releases from Vince McMahon’s company on June 25.
Please credit Straight Shooting and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.