Vince McMahon Talks Steroids & Wrestlemania; Wade Boggs To Induct Curt Henning; Brock Lesnar MMA PPV Debut Confirmed; WWE Pulls Batista From Appearance
It was announced earlier today that Baseball Hall Of Famer Wade Boggs will induct Curt Henning in this year's WWE Hall Of Fame. As we are with Jerry Lawler's inductor, we will withdraw our comments on these decisions until Monday's Minority Report Wecast. Tune in and enjoy the entertainment.
WWE has pulled Batista from an upcoming appearance at D'Von's new FL establishment April 7th, 2007. No explanation was given. Although some may immediately think about Dvon being part of TNA being the reason. I question that since WWE approved the appearance initially.
WWE pulling Batista could have been a blessing in disguise. He has been replaced with both Chris Jericho and Maven.
A Press Conference has been set for Tuesday 3/27 in Los Angeles, CA at the LA Memorial Coliseum. The announcement will hype K-1's Fighting Entertainment Group to perform at the venue on PPV later this year.
This event will also announce the MMA debut of former WWE champ Brock Lesnar, as he is scheduled to face South Korea's Hong Man Choi.
The Detroit News posted the following Q&A with Vince McMahon:
Vince McMahon is the WWE's biggest villain, and he loves it
Vince McMahon
Age: 61
From: Greenwich, Conn
Theme song: "No Chance in Hell"
Fun fact: Has wrestled against members of his family on numerous occasions
Few people can get away with threatening to shave the heads of an entire arena full of people, but Vince McMahon pulls it off with conviction, style, and -- dare we say -- grace.
While pro wrestling is overflowing with over-the-top, larger-than-life characters, the WWE Chairman is perhaps the most oversized character of all, and he relishes his role as the company's biggest villain.
"This is fun, this is exciting, and that's what the WWE is," McMahon told The News by phone on Thursday. "It's so much fun being me."
It shows. In anticipation of WrestleMania 23 April 1 at Ford Field and his hair vs. hair "Battle of the Billionaires" match against Donald Trump, McMahon talked to us from the WWE World Headquarters in Stamford, Conn., about his in-ring character, Trump, and the steroid scandal that targeted several WWE performers earlier this week.
What's an average day at the office like for Vince McMahon?
I get here somewhere around 10 o'clock, and leave somewhere around 10 o'clock, give or take. I love my business, it's not work for me, with me it's totally different. I have this unquenchable thirst for what I do and everything in it. And so there's not a saturation level, I never reach a level where I say, OK, geez, enough of the business. It's what I love to do and I have this voracious appetite for it as I do life in general, so it's never work. Even on the weekends, it's never work.
You're obviously a competitive guy. How is it for you now that the WWE is its own biggest competition?
It's more difficult. Not for me, it's more difficult for me to challenge everyone than it was before. I always stated our competition is everything in the entertainment business, but people can't really wrap their arms around that. If you have more of a chief competitor that's in the same field you are, it's easier to focus then, and, OK, lets go beat Ted Turner. But it's more difficult now, no question.
What is the best advice you've ever been given?
(Long pause.) I don't know. I don't recall anyone who's smart enough to be able to give me advice that I haven't given myself already.
There's a little of that Mr. McMahon coming through.
There you go!
What stands out in your mind when you think back to WrestleMania III (at the Pontiac Silverdome)?
This will be tough for me to say. What stands out in my mind is, what a proud moment. And what I was thinking in terms of a proud moment is not so much myself, because I don't do that a lot, I was proud of the business, and I was proud of my dad. When I first went out -- if there's tape of it, and there must be -- I couldn't speak at first because I was overwhelmed with the presence of my dad, and how much that would have meant to him to be there. To see 93,000 people in that arena, it's like OK, kid, alright, you made it. I wish my dad would have been there.
What do you make of the current steroid scandal in the WWE? (Earlier this week, Sports Illustrated's web site reported several WWE stars -- including Randy Orton, Edge, Shane Helms and Rey Mysterio -- were linked to a nationwide steroid investigation).
I really don't know much more than what I read in S.I. as well. But I do know that those named were named at a time before we instituted our "Wellness Policy," which we instituted in February of '06. (Note: The program prohibits the use of performance-enhancing drugs, and deems prescriptions obtained over the Internet to not have legitimate medical purposes.)We test just like everybody else. Those that oversee (the program) -- (including) Dr. David Black -- have extraordinary credentials, and longstanding integrity in that business. They oversee it, we don't really have anything to do with it. They report their findings, they set up their testing. They tell us what the results are, then we act on those results.
Talk about your relationship with Donald Trump over the years: He's attended a number of WrestleManias, as well as hosted a few.
It's been a good relationship. We've done well for Trump in Atlantic City two years in a row, he's appeared in New York for us, and so forth. I think that this all started with NBC, Bonnie Hammer from USA networks -- which is part of NBC -- suggested doing a couple of television stunts with Donald. And then I started thinking about Donald. This guy has so much exposure and he is such a pompous (bleep) -- far more so than I am. He's a megalomaniac, this guy is just off the chart. I have an ego, his is just -- I can't comprehend his ego, that's how big it is. So it's like what would I do with Trump? Here's what I would do with him: The one thing he's known for -- other than his arrogance -- is his hair. Everybody always talks about Donald's hair. Then the challenge was made in terms of selecting a representative, he does, I do, then we go for it, and one of us is going to have his head shaved.
What will you do to ensure it's you that's doing the shaving?
There are a lot of things. My character is one that will do all sorts of wild and crazy things. You have no idea what I'm going to pull out under my sleeve and use -- it will boggle your mind in terms of what I'm capable of doing. I've got a lot of tricks that I really wouldn't want to say now.
If you do get your head shaved, will you keep it shaved or will you grow it back?
I'm not even thinking that way. Let me just suggest to you that Donald, sooner or later, is going to have to either A) shave his head or B) get some sort of toupee or whatever it may be. How long can you do what he does? If I was Donald Trump, rather than people talking about my hair all the time -- I don't know how many hours he spends on it every day to fix it like he wants it, does he have a hairdresser come over to his house twice a day? I don't know what he does, really. If I was Donald, I would say enough of this hair talk, sooner or later I'm going to have to do something with it, why don't I just have my head shaved and get it over with. Then I'll be like a Telly Savalas and be a handsome, bald-headed son-of-a-gun.
If you were to get your head shaved, how much would you be saving on haircuts? I've heard you spend upwards of $300 to get your hair cut.
(Laughs uproariously.) Oh God, I love these stories about me! I normally get my hair cut every 10 days, sometimes on a weekly basis. And no, my haircuts don't run anywhere near $300.
How much of Vince McMahon is there in the Mr. McMahon character?
I don't think there's any at all, frankly. When I'm on stage, so to speak, I'm pleasant I'm mild-mannered, I'm benevolent. And the real me is an arrogant son of a (rhymes with witch), so I think there's a big difference between the two. (Laughs.) There's a little bit of me, definitely, in that character on television, and maybe a lot of me. But I'm not that extreme under normal circumstances.
Do you have fun playing that character?
Oh God, yes. You tell me where else in the world that someone would have an opportunity to walk out and say the things (I say), and say them with conviction. Come on, that is a blast.
Do you ever see a day that you would step down as Chairman of the WWE?
Yeah, I do see a time, actually, and that would be the day I die. That probably would be it. When I'm no longer chairman, that will probably be the day I kick, and I don't plan on kicking anytime soon.
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