Vince McMahon wanted to "beat the s***" out of interviewer in real life
Vince McMahon says he would have tried to fight Bob Costas on live television if the interviewer was not so much smaller than him.
In 2001, the WWE Chairman appeared on Costas’ HBO show to discuss WWE and the XFL. Costas repeatedly questioned McMahon about WWE’s distasteful storylines and the XFL’s drop in viewership.
McMahon spoke about the infamous interview in Jim Miller’s new book, Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers. He accused Costas of attempting to catch him out with “I gotcha” questions, and even took a light-hearted dig at the interviewer’s size:
“The other problem was that Bob is so freaking pompous. The entire time he acted like he was above me and was just using me to show how great he was. I was sitting there really p****d off and started thinking, I wish he wasn’t 5-feet high and 140 pounds. If he was 6-5 and 295, he would deserve to get the s–t beat out of him. I could have really given them some great television,” McMahon said. [H/T New York Post]
New 30 for 30 XFL doc is great. I'd forgotten just how close Vince McMahon came to squashing Bob Costas. Almost a great day for America. https://t.co/tZDsaM3DNa
McMahon also claimed that Costas kept interrupting him and did not want to hear any of his answers.
Vince McMahon slammed the door after the interview
Vince vs Bob Costas at wrestlemania #ThisWasTheXFL https://t.co/mAndW81aOy
Although Vince McMahon rarely gives out-of-character interviews nowadays, it was not uncommon for the WWE boss to appear on television shows in the early 2000s.
Bob Costas said in the book that McMahon slammed the studio doors after the interview finished:
“He stormed off and you could hear the doors slamming behind him. It takes some strength, by the way, to slam the doors of the studio. Those doors aren’t like the door to your kitchen. I could hear them slam,” Costas said.
McMahon called Costas the next day and proposed that they have an interview “rematch.” Costas said the second interview, which took place a year later, was “less heated, but still a good exchange.”