"I wanted to separate us from everybody else" - Vince McMahon discusses why he doesn’t like the term “wrestling”
Vince McMahon has commented on why he doesn't like the term 'wrestling' to be associated with his product.
The Chairman is responsible for changing the landscape of the entire wrestling industry and turning WWE into the global phenomenon that it is today. He also created the foundation for the success of mainstream stars such as The Rock and John Cena.
During his recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Vince McMahon stated that he wanted his product to be different from other wrestling promotions. His vision for WWE was for it to be its own thing, rather than just another pro wrestling company.
"There's always been wrestling," said McMahon "I wanted to separate us from everybody else. And my dad wasn't a part of the, well he was part of the NWA, but he had his own branding. It was World Wide Wrestling Federation, many many years ago. And I thought that was brilliant. I thought wow, okay, you're making yourself different from everyone else. And at the time when I bought my dad's business, he would've never sold it to me if he knew what I was gonna do. It's like — separate yourself, and be who you wanna be, and especially the brand, it's like, it's WWE. It was WWF, which is another story."
Vince McMahon discusses WWE's rebrand and his lawsuit with the World Widlife Fund
In 2002, the World Wrestling Federation was rebranded to the WWE that we all know and love today. This was because the company lost a court case to the World Wildlife Fund over the 'WWF' acronym.
Vince McMahon stated that he chose to rebrand his company because he felt that the lawsuit wasn't in his favor.
"The Panda got us to a certain extent, because the World Wildlife Fund... I didn't even know it existed," said Vince. "But that was a no-win lawsuit for me because you're being tried in England, where they wear the wigs and all that kind of stuff. I wouldn't fit in that environment. So I just said okay, we'll change it. And it was pretty easy to do because it was like 'Hm, how am I gonna change it? It took about thirty minutes at most. I know what I'll do, I'll get the F out, so we did."
"There has always been wrestling.. I wanted to separate us from everybody else"
@VinceMcMahon on the change from WWF to @WWE
#PMSLive https://t.co/jma0cxSx9k
During the show, Vince McMahon announced that he'll be inducting The Undertaker into the WWE Hall of Fame. The Chairman hasn't inducted anyone since Stone Cold Steve Austin in 2009.
Please H/T The Pat McAfee Show and Sportskeeda if you use any of the above quotes.