The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 609 - Vince McMahon LIVE IN STUDIO

Episode Date: March 3, 2022

This episode of the Pat McAfee Show 2.0 features an in-depth interview with the Chairman and CEO of WWE, Vince McMahon. Pat and Vince cover his entire career in the business, he breaks some news about this year's WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, some of the more memorable moments of his career, his creative process and whether or not it has changed over the course of his career, the future of the WWE, his thoughts on other promotions and the competition that follows, how he has continued to evolve the business over time, and much much more in an absolutely incredible interview. (0:00-1:24:40). Make sure you subscribe to youtube.com/thepatmcafeeshow to watch the show, and listen everyday on Sirius XM Channel 82, Mad Dog Radio. We appreciate the hell out of all you. See you tomorrow, cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gonna be a great comment. Yeah, you kidding me? We got big time WWE news that we're gonna bring. I mean, this is gonna be a magical moment in the history of this program. Ladies and gentlemen, there is a buzz for the first time in 15 years, Vincent Kennedy McMahon! Oh my lord! AJ Hawk dips off the phone.

The boys are here. Mr. McMahon, sorry about that. If you want to move it, you can. A.J. Hawk dips off the phone. The boys are here. Mr. McMahon, sorry about that. If you want to move it, you can move it, obviously. Hey, hey. I can't fucking believe you're here. You hear me? Thank you so much. Mr. McMahon.

Vince. I'm Vince. Okay, good. I was wondering what I should call you. Okay, I just want to show the respect. I understand when you're off camera, you call me a lot of things. I haven't heard them. No, no, not me.

Many others. And I think a lot of those people are tuning in today to hear a conversation from you live. Because I've gotten a chance to chat with you off air. And I've been very lucky to ask you questions and you give me actual advice. And whenever you were the one that decided you wanted to be here in person, I took lot of honor in that and i appreciate the hell out of you being here we this is big for our show so we thank you so much ladies and gentlemen fucking vince is here now let's get into it boss um just the mere mention of your name everybody on earth knows okay and what we have here in like 30 days is basically the yearly global standard for live events.

Okay. WrestleMania. WrestleMania. Especially this year's WrestleMania. Creation of yours, obviously. But this year's WrestleMania, the most stupendous two-night affair. Whenever you were a kid, a tiny kid, did you know you were going to be doing like this type of thing? Did you know you were going to be doing business? Were thing? Did you know you were going to be doing business?

Were you like a businessman as a kid, an asshole as a kid? What were you as a kid, and is this all expected from you? Well, I don't believe in ceilings. Did I ever believe I would be here? No, but I did not believe it. Got it. So I don't think that way. I don't think ceilings i don't think uh milestones you

know like i don't think pats on the back i just think about doing enjoying what you're doing and doing it and building it and is that why you feel like whenever you make a decision you never back off it for instance like wwe network when you started that the subscription service years ago you were killed, right? I mean, everybody, your fans, fans allowed, obviously, all the time in the wrestling business, the world you created. Media alike. Why is this? They're doing this.

You're going to cut down your audience. Now everybody on earth wants to be a part of the subscription service. Why did you not back off of that? And there's many other decisions you've made that you've gotten killed for. Do you think it's because you're just a let's go do this thing type guy or why do you think it is no not at all um i think everything we do is calculated it needs some really smart people around you need to listen to them and make your decision but in that instance it really we had a great deal uh that was that was given to us pretty much by comcast but when you got into the lawyer stuff and any gritty of it,

they tried to tie your hands in so much creativity, tie your hands in terms of owning you, moreover. And I've never liked that. So really, it was more about creative control and having control of your own destiny. So that's why we went that way. So I'll just create my own network. How are you doing? Keep it moving. I happen's why we went that way. So I'll just create my own network. How you doing, Keep It Movin'?

I happen to own this show as well. I respect you, and obviously you're a person that I look to as a trailblazer in this world, because before you, I assume there was some people that had success in the world of wrestling, but what you've been able to do with it, I don't think anybody else on Earth would have been able to do it.

Do you hear the news, or do you hear the noise whenever people say like this wrestling thing is much better because of you and do you hear the noise that hey this wrestling thing because of you has turned into what it wasn't originally like do you hear that shit or do you try to stay out of all of that i stay out of all of it really yeah i mean i think um you know again i'm not big on the pats on the back it really screws with your mind you know you're, I'm not big on the pats on the back. It really screws with your mind. You know, you're somebody. I'm just who I am, you know. And, you know, if you listen to the positives, then you have to listen to the negatives.

I'm not big on negatives at all. You know, a negative, no matter what it is, is a double negative. Because if you're dealing with this negative, that means you're not dealing with a positive in which you put your intellectual cost. And not positive, not the negative. So I try and stay away from negatives as much as possible and um you know members of the media you know or they're going to say what they're going to say you know um and there's nothing you can do to change it really because you spend all your time saying no i'm not done hey he's on the mic yeah sorry man that's not sweet i get my hands going feel free to do whatever the hell you want yeah generally anything that's in my way i'm not gonna doubt a lot of people have a lot of questions about that as well so in any event you know you're

dealing with a negative and it's like if people think you're an asshole and you can't change that no no i'm not really an asshole. I'm a really nice guy. I'm this. Yeah, you're an asshole. No, but really, I'm a good guy. I love my family. You're an asshole. It doesn't matter what.

You can't change perception generally when you're a public persona type thing. You can't. Well, especially you, by the way. Don't bother. So it doesn't bother me. I used to really care about people people like what they thought of me i care about what the general public thinks of me and general as far as the business is concerned you know um it's just that if people think i'm an asshole then congratulations i guess i am at what point did you make that decision that

you didn't care what people thought about you? Because, by the way, your stamina in this thing is unbelievable. It took a while. I think when you're first starting out and you're giving it everything you possibly can and doing it for all the right reasons and people start knocking you, calling you something that you're not and what have you, it bothers you at first. And you try and correct it. But then you realize this is not going to work i'm spending a lot of time trying to correct this you know poor image of me and and i'm spending time over here and things i could do from a positive standpoint so you really do have to give it up and i don't mean just a little bit you really just can't care you know what members

of the media or people that don't understand you or people have an opinion of you no matter what. You just can't care. You have to enjoy the fact, though, that so many people care about the universe that you created, right? I mean, obviously your dad was in the business, but it was not the WWE universe. Actually, this is a question I think a lot of people would like to know because it is, you know, wrestling is involved in the name. WrestleMania is happening here in like 30 days. And I think the evolution of wrestling into what it has become, mostly because of, all because of what you have done with this thing

that was once a carny spectacle, regional, now it's a global sensation. And also bringing, you also bringing people together. I think that would never, ever relate. I think the evolution. Is that why you don't like the word wrestling to be described as what you do? Because you feel like it's a lot different? Or what is it, you think? No.

There's always been wrestling. And I wanted to separate us from everybody else. And my dad was a part of the, well, he was part of the NWA, but he had his own branding. It was Worldwide Wrestling Federation many, many years ago. And I thought that was brilliant. I thought, you know, wow, okay, you're making yourself different from everyone else. And at the time when I bought my dad's business,

he had never sold it to me if he knew what I was going to do. Hey, by the way, a lot of old school wrestling people, right? Think like that? In any event, it's like separate yourself. Be who you want to be and especially the brand. It's like it's WWE. It was WWF, which is another story. Hey, that panda got you.

Well, the panda got us to a certain extent because the world wildlife fund which i didn't even know existed well we learned about it through you i think the whole world did by the way shut up that panda but in any event it was like that was a a no-win lawsuit for me because of uh you know you're being tried in england where they wear the wigs and all the 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, hmm, I'm going to change it. It took about 30 minutes at the most.

I know what I'll do. I'll get the F out. So we did. Is that your creative process? Because the Comcast deal that almost happened, right, they had a little bit of creative control and you wanted the creative control because you know you just have you always been just a super creative human being i mean you're putting on two shows a week on tv now for like 30 years 40 years at this point the amount of shows and ideas you've had to create not all of them have been great i think everybody would

recognize that but there has been some brilliant and incredible moments through like four different decades at this point. Have you always been super creative? Like how did this all come to be? Well, we have a lot of creative people around us. Yeah, but everybody knows. And it's a team. And we have a great team and great executives and what have you. We're on the precipice now of really, really taking off in the business world.

And so that's where I look at it. We're at another plateau and a platform. But creatively, again, I listen well. And I think that's important because you can't learn if you're talking. I can sometimes, but I have the unique ability to be you right now listening to me and knowing whether or not you're buying my shit. Oh, yeah, reading, good reading. I'm listening to you, moreover, listen to me.

Body language. Yeah. Body language and even the way you're thinking, you know. Hey, everybody listens to you when you talk, dude. You're fucking Vince McMahon. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I know you don't like that. I know you don't enjoy people saying that.

You don't like pats on the back. You literally just said it. And it's a long-withstanding thing that in the Hall of Fame speeches, like, hey, don't thank Vince McMahon, even though, by the way, you probably created the concept that is going into the Hall of Fame and took over and everything like that. You hate that type of shit. With that being said, that is what I like to talk about, that type of stuff.

You're an absolute legend. And I think we have some news to break, too. Do we not about Hall of Fame? Do you want to do that right now? Yep. now yep undertaker of course is going to be in the hall of fame and i'm going to have the distinction of uh inducting him in the hall of fame let's go hey that's a big deal right this is a massive deal you've only done this i think for stone this will be one of the most difficult things i have ever done in my life how come because i like the guy i love the guy not just like i love the guy. Not just like, I love the guy.

We've known each other for so many years. You've been through all kinds of situations. You know, some that make the newspapers and so forth. But, I mean, when you live on the road like that, you have your family at home. When you live on the road, man, you have to have a family on the road. And you have to have people you can count on, rely on, that are loyal and you and trustworthy and not have to look over your shoulder and he's that kind of guy he's an extraordinary human being as well as one of the premier one of the all-time greats in the ring but it's the human being i could talk about the character and it won't bother me at all but

in my mind i'm thinking when i'm up there going to inducting him i'm thinking about i know who he is yeah you know and that's tough when you know someone that's that close and you care about them so so much you know that's gonna be one of the most difficult things i've ever done well i want to let you know i think a lot of people are probably very surprised to see you got choked up there at the beginning man i didn't yeah you did i did not yeah you did listen that just happened right here we got it on camera this show this show got hey this show got, hey, shout out to Austin. Shout out. He got choked up there.

But the relationship with Undertaker, and you said the loyalty, and this has been documented pretty well. And, you know, I like watching all the behind-the-scenes stuff. I've obviously been a fan since I was a kid. A lot of what wrestling that I watched as a teenager and growing up created the person that I am. But the Undertaker loyalty through the, the Monday night wars,

right? This is where I feel like you and take probably came closest because his character massive, he was able to do whatever, whenever at that point, if he wanted to jump ship would have been a turn, massive turn. That would have been a huge swing,

but he stuck by your side. I got a chance to chat with him a couple of different times. Incredibly nice to me when you're in the middle of those wars, okay, do you, when you look back on the WCW-Turner war like that, did it change you like creatively as a human when you're in that moment? Because everybody says Vince McMahon, when there's competition, is at his absolute best. So now there's, there was TNA that came and went impact is kind of back now aew is the big one they just bought ring of honor i believe last night in there so like when everybody says competition makes vince mcmahon better what do you think that means and do you believe that

looking back on the those two like very similar feeling situations well i'm probably one of a few people in the world who enjoys confrontation so like you enjoy it i enjoy confrontation i mean it's one of the things that really you know revs you up it's one of the things really puts you on your toes is one of the things in terms okay what am i going to do here in that split second i enjoy confrontation physical confrontation i enjoy that you know yeah um So with a background like that, and a further background when I was a kid, it was like, hey, we don't want to hear another bad kid story or something like that.

But my philosophy... We do, by the way. No, I'm not going to tell you that. But what I will tell you is that I learned a long time when I was a kid that if I lived through that beating, I win. So if you live through that beating, I win. So if you lived through the beating and you won, what can you do to me? So in terms of competition, in terms of that confrontation, I'm not afraid of it. I relish it. And by the way, getting back to the Undertaker, Undertaker and I never had a conversation about him going to WCW.

Not one. I never asked him. He never said anything about it. Not one. Well, see, that is, I think, why all the documentaries and why you're inducting him is going to be so special, because you two just have a great relationship. And I think you hinted on something that probably not a lot of people have ever heard of, including myself. Sorry to hear you went through that, but that mental toughness, you think you had that as a,

you think the mental toughness is potentially what makes you and separates you from everybody else? I don't know. There are a lot of things that, you know, I'm just wired differently than most people. That's all. And that's probably one thing, but I think heredity plays a part in it. You know, you're just who you are and you accept that and you, what your weaknesses just who you are, and you accept that, and you know what your weaknesses are,

and your strengths are, and you use them in the best appropriate way you can. So whenever you are a kid, grinding through, growing up, visualizing things, you always wanted money. So when I was a kid, I looked up at the hill, and there was rap videos, and there was escalades on 24s, and there was these I looked up at the hill, okay, and there was rap videos, and there was Escalades on 24s, and there was like these big houses up on the hill, and I'm like, all right, I'm going to buy one of those, and then I want that Escalade on 24s right there. The day I was drafted, I bought a Cadillac Escalade and put 24s on it. I didn't get my signing bonus for three months. That Cadillac Escalade on 24s almost got repoed immediately and I had to show a news thing

but when you were a kid you always had dreams of being incredibly wealthy uh no just successful nothing like that what was I just wanted to be everything I could be um I got I grew up in an eight foot wide trailer in a trailer park you know and uh which was great I didn't know any different than this was awesome yeah which was a step up from where I lived before with no running water. But nonetheless, it's not one of those things whereby one day I'm going to have a ton of money and that sort of stuff. You want to be successful, you know there's a better life than where you are right there. So you want to reach beyond that for sure. But it's not, I mean... You hear people bullshit and say

they would do what they would do without the money. I would. I know I would. I don't know what's in the bank. I don't care. There's no difference between me and you. I don't know the number of zeros. It's a lot. You've got a lot in there.

I've seen it on the internet. Congratulations, Bob. Eight-foot trailer! Eight-foot trailer to all those zeros, dude! Anyways, get back I've seen it on here congratulations 8 foot trailer to all those zeros dude anyways get back to what you were saying that is incredible you say it's not about that though right that wasn't for me I think there was a period of time when

after probably Wrestlemania 4 or 5 I thought I was somebody and had an ego that way not that I don't have an, and had an ego that way. Not that I don't have an ego, but have an ego that way in terms of, yeah. And then it's like, that lasted for about six months. And it's like, you're just like everybody else.

You put your pants on the same way, you know. You happen to be very, very fortunate because you're doing what you love to do. And the odds of me sitting in here, you know, and even being alive are astronomical if you knew my background i mean astronomical how come just one thing we don't have to dive into all of them but what do you mean by whenever you said like for instance i boozed like five to six times a week for like four to five years while i got into the nfl probably took a lot of years off my life that is something i'm projecting are you saying that you're because you are 76 years old at this point you've been on wow this is what other people said the internet said this the internet

said you're 76 years old and you're still doing it you're still working though like at this point what do you mean like you shouldn't even be alive you're talking I'm not working though oh because this is life you think this is work guys none of this is work when I None of what I do is work. I love it. I love the people I do business with, you know, in the organization and out. You know, it's not work at all. None of it is.

You know, it's one of the reasons probably I can put in so many hours or whatever it is because it's not work. So whenever you think about the future, because a lot of people on the Internet, they say with some of the moves that get made. Now, listen, I'm in the, I was in the NFL where I have lunch with a dude. Okay. I go into my meeting. I come, I never see that guy again. That guy was cut. He's gone. This is the NFL. There's only a certain amount of spots with you, whatever you have to make those decisions to move forward. People always assume that you just have no heart and you do not care at all about any of these people. Then there's podcasts that happen. Each one of those decisions that you make,

whether it's to release somebody or, by the way, push somebody or keep somebody, how much weight, like, are any of those decisions, like, more difficult than others, or is it just always, like, what will make the best show in your eyes? I'm always concerned about what's best for the audience always what does the audience want and if you have dead weight around you we had situations whereby someone's not cutting it where maybe

and you have an opportunity for someone else to come in it's like okay that's probably the best thing it was one of the reasons why you know with uh hogan and a lot of those guys who left me at one time and you know why i brought him back you know, with Hogan and a lot of those guys who left me at one time and why I brought him back. I mean, it's like, I'll never bring that son of a bitch back again as long as I live. It's like, you know, when you say stuff like that, you know, you're really hurting yourself because you're not thinking about your audience. You're not thinking about your product. And it's not about you and your ego. It's like, yeah, okay, maybe I really felt that way.

Maybe I didn't. But nonetheless, it doesn't matter. what's the best thing for business if the audience wants Hulk Hogan back you bring him back if he has value that way well there's a lot of very famous like disagreements that you've gotten through is that a business mindset you think to bring people back is it a personal mindset or is it just it's not personal it's it's business and once I took the company public it helped me be a better businessman because prior to that I was running the business mostly with my head but mostly with my heart as well.

And these decisions are so damn tough when you do that, you know, because you know who it is. You know, he has kids or this and that and the other or someone has cancer in the family or whatever. All that computes in your head you know when you're a but once you're a public company now you know you owe stockholders you owe the business that's right it is the business then so it helps me make uh easier business and better business decisions because my heart there's still some of it in there you know but i know it sounds all of it there is you know know, but at the same time, it's business.

And there's nothing personal about it in terms of whether I like somebody or I don't like someone or whatever. And again, sometimes, you know, athletes, maybe more so in our type of business, when we're not given the opportunity, or even if they are, and it doesn't work, people from all walks of life seldom look in the mirror and say, you know what, I was the guy who fucked up. It was on me. Instead, everybody has a million excuses why things didn't work, and generally speaking, the heat has to go someplace, the old blame game. And I'm the bad guy, so that's part of the job. Yeah, you're okay with being the bad guy for the business,

and I assume that helped for the business to make those decisions. But, yeah, in our world, it's always the coach's fault man it's the coach's fault the coach the coach fucked me hated me i mean that's an entire thing that's our world and you do take a lot of heat for all that type of stuff but none of the great ideas like you don't get any of the credit for any of the great ideas or the great characters that everybody beloved and the people by the way that they're actually upset that are leaving wwe you're probably the one that you know maybe thought of the idea or decided how to get that idea going or you're a part of it i understand it's an entire team thing do you have a favorite wwe moment or favorite wwe run or program or

anything like that i always like to say like many other those many other people do is just like okay it's going to be the next big moment my It will be my favorite. But I think WrestleMania I was important to me because it was like I had hocked everything I had. Oh, you went all in. Oh, yeah. I didn't have any money. Even when I was competing with these other guys, I had a really, really strong work ethic. And with the work ethic, I had some degree of creativity. And balls bought a ton.

And you just go do it, you know. And so that's kind of the way I operate. And these other guys were millionaires. I was nothing. I had nothing but cash flow. I bought the business, you know, what we call mirrors from my dad. I didn't really have the money that I said I had. Promote him, baby.

We're promoting you, baby. It was like a balloon payment thing, they to call it where here's so much down, and I don't have the rest of it, but here's so much down, and over the course of a year, there are installments. If you don't make any of those installments, then they keep the money that you gave them and have the business back. So that was over a course of a year, and every installment was, oh my God, this is great. We got this kid's money, and we got the business,

until the last one, and it was like, hmm, what's happened here? This son of a bitch made it work somehow. You hedging your future on everything going on. The other guys, you know what I mean? They're millionaires. I really didn't have anything. It was all cash flow. So if I were to go into St. Louis or something like that, which was a NWA territory and not part of my dad's northeast type territory.

It was all broken up in the United States and all over the world for that matter. And you're going into other people's territories. It's like, you don't do that. Yeah, the business is real. That's like a real thing, right? Because I see on Young Rock. There's a Young Rock. You're a part of Young Rock.

Did you see the person who plays you on Young Rock? No. Will you ever? Will I ever? See the person that plays you on Young Rock? I'm going to doubt it, but no. But it was a young Vince McMahon calling to Hawaii, trying to negotiate for some wrestlers for your territory

where you're a young upstart. That wrestling territory game was super serious, right? to negotiate for some wrestlers for your territory where you're a young upstart that wrestling territory game was super serious right i mean that was like there was like some real that was strict business right it was i don't know how many different rivers are supposed to be at the bottom of you know death threats are what they are you know and it's like i always felt like if you could knock off a president of the states then, then I'm easy to get to. Never had a bodyguard, none of that stuff. And those days, it was like when you, from their standpoint, invaded their territory.

It was like, well, okay, Dems is not just fighting words. It's like there's so many times when people threaten me, and it was like the last guy said, if you want to take credit for it, you better get me quick. There's a story that Jim Ross was telling me one day and he was with Bill Watts and some of the other old NWA guys and and they're having this conference because there's a whole bunch of them what are we gonna do about this kid you know just invading everything you know gotta do something about him and uh so you

know they couldn't order lunch together i knew that i mean they couldn't do that even together but nonetheless what do you mean too dumb not broke too broke no just egos and so forth oh they didn't like each other either so they hated you that was like you were the enemy of all their enemies i was a jail so they're meeting in terms of what, what can they possibly do? So now Jim is not a part of the meeting, you know, but Jim is now in the men's room and he's in a men's room in the stall, taking care of business and walks for these most prominent promoters. And they're talking about how they're going to offer me.

And this guy knows this guy. I know I can do this. This guy did this. It was really impressive. And they all know people, so they're all talking about who's going to off me. So now imagine Jim Ross. Buckle! I'm going to kill Vince McMahon!

He's thinking, he's not giving a shit about Vince McMahon. He's thinking about himself. So he's on the throne, and he hears this. He's like, oh, no. I'm going to be a accessory to murder. So he takes one foot and puts it on the seat. Takes the other one and puts it on the seat. So now they can't see his feet below the stall.

And, of course, Mother Nature is calling at the same time. Oh, my God. He's got those cowboy boots up in the squatty potty position. So, now that I was finally waiting for them to finish off, who was going to kill me and all that kind of crap. But that's just one of the things. Yeah, that's just another day of instance for me. Really, I mean, what are you going to do?

So, he told me about it, what, five years after he came to work for me. He wasn't working for me then, naturally. Yeah, he was working. You could have told me earlier. Well, he's waiting for you to hire him, give him a little bit of money now, or get a little coin. You know what I mean? Whenever you say you enjoy confrontation, and I would assume not enjoy, but you're not scared away from it you probably do enjoy it but that also has probably led you into situations that many other people probably wouldn't business

wise like hey don't know how this is going to go for instance you doing a show in Saudi Arabia okay this was before you were the first person I think that went over there and almost like offered a hey let's go ahead and maybe try to bring the world together a little bit. Was that because you heard there were big fans? And when you go into a meeting like that, what the fuck do you, your eight foot trailer is where you grew up at. Now you're doing meetings with royalty in Saudi Arabia. Like how do you even prepare for that? What do you expect for that and since that relationship has started have you seen like their country develop more and maybe get a little bit

more lenient which is good for the entire world I think right well Saudis are no different than any other people you know WB fans all over the world no so it doesn't how'd you know they were just watching on the internet or how'd you find out that it was actually well I've known for years we've had a presence over there for years and Saudi everywhere there's no watching on the Internet, or how did you find out that it was? Actually, well, I've known for years. We've had a presence over there for years. In Saudi, everywhere, there was no place on the globe that went under presence. So Saudi fans are, you know, really, really enthusiastic, like they are everywhere else. So it was an opportunity to play before the audience. No different than people love Western culture all over the world.

They don't love our government, but people love Western culture all over the world. They don't love our government, but they love Western culture. And our, you know, our form of entertainment with WB kind of fits into everything. It's larger than life. It's like, you know,

everything imaginable that you could ever, like, oh my God, a spectacle of it, you know. So it fits in everywhere. And we translate it in, I don't know, 40 languages

or something like that. But even if there's just English, you get it, in everywhere. And we translate it in 40 languages or something like that. But even if there's just English, you get it. You understand. So we've always been popular everywhere. Saudi is no different. And, again, people are people. And cultures are cultures, and you have to respect that. Just because we as Americans, this is the way we should do it.

This is the way our world should be like us we know the way and any other way is just not the right way come on culture's been around thousands of years how well hey long before yeah it depends which uh book you read there's millions of years potentially but like that is that's a very real thing and you like situations are situational is something i say all the time because it's very real everything is its own individual battle with everything you have going on whether it's negotiations and deals with saudi arabia and their culture and then you have 40 different languages i think you just said how do you have the time to do everything like i do you have you wake up 3 a.m golf what is mark walberg's schedule mark this is what mark

walberg says just to preface your answer. 3 o'clock you woke up, played nine holes, read the whole Bible. Snack. Snack. Snack time. Kid time. Shower for 45 minutes. That's right.

Drop the kids off at school, work, work out again, do that entire thing. Do you have a every single day is the exact same thing like all the billionaires seem to have? I'm not like all the billionaires. I'm not like anybody else in the world. I probably finish training around 3 a.m. Every day? Pretty much. What time do you start?

On a good day like 1.30. Maybe a little bit more than that. It depends on how much time I can actually spend in the gym because I have to force myself to get out. And I've always over-trained, which is not good for you. It's just that it's my only socially acceptable outlet for aggression. Those weights. Yeah.

And then you can't pick some of them up. You know, they weigh too much. Hell, I can't. Okay, well, you do the best you can. Always a meathead? What's that? Always super meathead? No, no, no. Got into well, you do the best you can. Always a meathead? What's that? Always super meathead? No, no, no.

Got into it? No, just got into it. I do this for my head more than I do my body. It's good for you. You know, I love that. I take care of me as best I possibly can and try to eat the right things and all that. But it really helps me more mentally and psychologically so that I can handle the workload and handle all the stuff that comes my way. A lot of it's emotional because you're doing business with people.

People are people. And they all have problems and they all have ambitions and they all have this. And dealing with all of that can be a little challenging sometimes, but it helps me deal with that. And whatever the business problems come, people get hit by a bus every day. How do you deal with it? Well, it depends how big the bus is. Every day you doubted anything was going to happen in the whole run? Like the bus was too big? Was there ever a day where you've doubted yourself or doubted the business or the company?

I don't think there was a day that I doubted what I wanted to do. I mean, you always wonder whether or not it's the right decision. And then you learn from that decision, whether it was good or bad. It was really successful? Great. Okay, I'm about to try that again in some other form. And how did you make that happen? What were the tools that got you there? And so I don't really have a down day.

That's amazing to hear. And I think you've been able to evolve, and WWE's been able to evolve, the network being the subscription service before every other subscription service tried to become a subscription service. And all the subscription services that are trying to become subscription services now were taking shots at you

for starting your subscription services. But whenever you're talking about all those different decisions that you make, right? It all comes down to common sense. It really does. Every decision? Pretty much. You need information as much as you possibly can. And then common sense is a really, really big part of that. And every decision we make. Any decision that you look back on that was like, God, that was one that shouldn't have fucking done that one. Like, is there any of decision that you look back on that was like god that was one that Shouldn't have fucking done that one like is there any of those that you look back on where you go through it because If oh you don't like negatives by the way, why would we even think about exactly?

That's 50 minutes ago. What am I even doing? You literally just learn from what you know what happened that didn't go well And that's factored into what you're doing going forward So but no you don't drop I don't draw any of that. The ability to evolve though with the subscription service before everybody else, with the digital platforms and attacking YouTube, which was before everybody else and you have the biggest YouTube presence in your social media and just kind of evolving has always been something that you do. Excited to see what you do with the metaverse, by the way.

I think we're all very excited somebody came on i forget who it was might have been bischoff might have been somebody that said if elon musk is going to colonize mars or it's paul heyman the wise man paul heyman who grew up in the wrestling business as well he said if elon musk is going to colonize mars vince mcmahon is going to get the promotional rights up there and he's going to put on an event up there what is next i'm not saying a show on mars is next even though it fucking might be with you i have no idea but what is do you do you think about the future how far in the future can you think obviously wrestlemania the most stupendous wrestlemania in the history of wrestlemania's

is happening in like 30 days but what do you it was like i love branding you know we almost we're trying to brand everything and marketing and all it. It's just fascinating to do that. So you have to do, what makes this WrestleMania different? So the word stupendous is not used very often. So when you're hitting stupendous, it's like stupendous. What the hell is stupendous? A lot of people have to look it up. It sounds good.

It sounds grand, like stupendous. Wow. What the hell is stupendous? But it's all, I haven't used that word before. It's not an everyday speak. Stupendous is not an everyday speak. So that's why you want to do something to get everyone's attention. And then, oh, okay, what's stupendous in WrestleMania, et cetera. So it's things like that. Dr. Yeah. So whenever you think of stupendous, how long does that take for you

there? How long is that branding? Are you walking around your office that has that goddamn dinosaur head behind you? Are you walking around that office? Are you in a suit? Are you doing the billionaire strut around the office while you're thinking that? How long does the Stupendous branding, after all these years of doing this? I mean, WrestleMania 38, here we are. Congratulations, by the way. I was done before you were born, but that's great.

Yeah, but that's what I'm saying. At what point, how long has that decision is thought of and it's like boom we're going with it i have 2 000 other things i have to do as well well i think when you're creative um and some people think it's a burnout factor it's not really because if you're concentrating on one thing at the moment which is difficult for me to do but and all your creative skills are pouring in, and something else comes this way that's also creative, it's a great relief because, hang on, you deal with this, and when you come back, you'll think differently, generally speaking, or what you just learned from that.

So it's a big creative wheel all the time that's going on constantly. So you're thinking of ideas, planting seeds in your head for something going forward. That's kind of what I do, by the way like and i don't want to ever compare our brains because unless i'm doing something you would want my brain yeah i wouldn't want no yes i'm fucking what are you kidding me absolutely you wouldn't want my hey you wouldn't want my brain how about that how about that you wouldn't want my brain that's the whole thing but whenever you're probably yeah that is that is 100 true i don't even know why i put that in there but you're thinking about stuff just constantly it's just how you but whenever you're probably yeah that is 100 true i don't even know why i put that in there but you're thinking about stuff just constantly it's just how you're

wired do you think so like whenever something comes up in the future it's like oh i had already thought about this at one point when i was maybe i don't know billy strutting around the office or in the workout or in the gym that's kind of how it all kind of pieces together for you and your clearly there's you just need to be wide open And I think being creative is you just have to stay wide open as far as your head is concerned and just be able to accept whatever's coming in from whatever source. And I'm really fortunate because I have like a second,

not a second brain, but a second wheel that's going on all the time. I've got the one I'm using right now, and at the same time I'm thinking of something else right now in another way that I could easily snap to. And sometimes there's a third one as well. And sometimes all that can get very confusing. Hey, I would want that brain, by the way.

That'd be pretty sweet. What was everybody saying? It's like many times when I get really, really tired, which is seldom, but when I do, wow. No,, it's so good because you can focus then on one thing, you know. What a flex that was right there, by the way. It's when I get tired, which is seldom, but when it does that, it's such a flex right there, you know what I mean? But whenever you… I didn't just that.

I flexed. No, no. I never flexed. Hey, we saw those boobs bouncing on the internet. We saw that thing popping off. Hard work in the gym. I mean, you talked about it. You end at 3 a.m.

You start at 1.30. But the creative process and not getting tired, you would think people would be worn out at this whole thing. But when you get past Stupendous and WrestleMania, how far in advance do you have to think for the WWE? What's coming? Because you do. You change the game every time you get into it.

And I talked about the metaverse and Mars and stuff like that. And Mars, obviously, not real. We don't know. We don't know what Musk is going to be up to. But the metaverse and things like that, how much do you have to think

in the future while also knowing that the current product is what is going to get you there? How do you do that? You have to look at both constantly. You have to look at both constantly you have to look at the big picture and a little picture all at the same time constantly because you

wouldn't have an idea of where you might want to go and you don't always know but if something makes itself available i can fit into that or nope or and there's with wwe we can almost fit into anything because it's like we it's in it's in terms of the way we think, in terms of the structure we have and the marketing aspect and especially our talent. Our talent, by the time they finish, they've graduated from, you know, they have much better than a doctoral or a bachelor's degree. When you graduate from WWE, you know how to do, you know how to treat people. When you graduate from WVU, you know how to do.

You know how to treat people. You show respect, which is one of the things that I'm sure you've picked up on, is respect is huge in everything we do. Yeah, it's big behind the scenes for everything. Everybody's known about it, but it is very real. And even from a standpoint, people really don't understand how, in the guerrilla position backstage, we hug each other, shake hands, all that kind of stuff. Well, the basis of that is that I'm going to the ring to work with you, my competitor, and I want you to protect me. I don't want you to drop me on my head.

I don't want to be paralyzed. I don't want to be hurt for the rest of my life. I can't continue my career. So it's the respect factor that you have for each other, to go out there and try not to maim each other, you know, and to come back, put on a great show, you know, obviously, you know, it hurts, but that's okay, that's what you do, you know it's going to hurt. Yeah, you jumped off a, we were just talking about a 20-foot ledge last, when Gronk wouldn't

do it, you just jumped off a 70-year-old or whatever. It's like, yeah, you guys are maniacs. I only wanted to show him that, like, hey, look, this is all it is. Yeah, we know that's what you wanted to do. Yeah, but it's just like Gronk's top 100 tight end of all time, one of the toughest guys of all time.

And then Vince McMahon obviously goes, No, this is all it is. No, I know you're not doing that, but that's the image of the mr mcmahon and then you're doing it from outside in because you never taught you leave all these things go unchecked because you can't answer everything because you got to do your work but that's the immediate response like of course vince mcmahon would do that like you are viewed by a lot of people myself before i got in and i can't reiterate this enough the amount of times that you have allowed me to chat with you and ask you questions and advice is unbelievable you you actually listen

to what I'm saying you give me actual answers some of them are hysterical I mean we've had some hysterical conversations over our short relationship but like the fact that you have allowed this character the Mr. McMahon character to, everything you do is viewed through a light that you are a robot of a person. And with that being said, you're just going to live forever? Is that how you feel as well? We all feel that way.

We all feel you're just going to live forever. You're an alien. You're a robot. You're one of one. That's literally what people view of you. I don't know if you know that or not. My mom was 101 when she passed away. That's a benchmark, but I don't know.

Look, I could hit my bus today, and if I do, you know, I want one second before I kick to say thank you. To everybody. Everybody. Everything. For everything that has ever been done, like business, personal. To live in this country, to, you know, all of it. You know, you just want to be thankful that you are alive

and appreciate the fact that you're alive. I get sometimes more out of taking one deep breath than most people do out of breathing in lifetime because they just don't understand. To have the privilege of being able to understand

what all that means and not take it for granted all the time. So I think if you get whacked, you get whatever, hopefully there's at least one second I can say thanks. Well, I think you just did it there, although you've got 26 more years or 20, yeah, 26 more years. Yeah, that's right. That's fucking math right there, Vince.

I don't know if you need to. I'm impressed. Hey, thank you. Thank you. You got that, obviously. But the conversation has been broached with you now, and obviously there's right there, Vince. I don't know if you need that. I'm a bros. Hey, thank you. Thank you. You got that, obviously. But the conversation has been broached with you now. And obviously, there's a show, Secession. I don't know if you've heard of this show.

It's about a mega wealthy person with the family and the business. And there's been a lot of comparisons to the WWE. People are like, oh, this is probably what's happening behind the scenes. At what point did the future of the WWE be brought to you? And were you not happy about that when it happened? Because then there's a conversation about it maybe not being yours afterwards. Was that something that ever cracked into your world? Because it is a topic of conversation outside of the WWE very loudly.

Right. When do you think that started? And were you pissed that that conversation even happened? And is that something you even think about? No, I don't think about it a lot. Hopefully, if you built something, hopefully you want it to continue on and prosper and grow, whether that's with a family member or without a family member. Because my view is the business is best for everybody,

and whether you're a part of it or you're not a part of it. And you have to treat it as such. You have to be objective and look at family members, whoever it is, just like you would other employees. And quite frankly, I probably would have expected more out of my family members, which is probably not the right thing either. That's going to be a big deal right there, what you just said. You know that, though. But nonetheless, it's like you have to do the right thing for the business. So if this person is not working out then they should be a part of the company

so whenever you think about the business what is your overarching view back on what you have been able to build this far you never get to do it i know you never get to do it but in this moment i would like you to do it like you have to be thank you yeah you have to be pretty proud right i don't want to do what you tell me to do. I apologize. That's on me. That's on me. That's on me. I apologize.

Unless you insist in this confrontation. Hey, by the way, I'm okay with it too. I thought we'd have a good time with it. But no, I'm just joking. But I think at some point, I hope for that one second where you get to say thank you, you get to look back and say, like, you know what? I inspired a lot of people. I changed the fucking world. I changed a lot of people's lives. You've employed a lot of people. I changed the fucking world. I changed a lot of people's lives.

You've employed a lot of people for every release that happens. People forget about who's coming in and getting pushed. Like what you have done for the world, I think at some point you should say thanks. And I understand you probably hear a lot of heat. I know a lot of these previous conversations that have happened, people always want to get like the, hey, tell me why you made this decision that didn't work out well or this decision that worked out i think you should be celebrated more than you actually are and i think that's mostly because i got a chance to meet you but also because you're a dude that all of us kids that didn't grow up with money hopes that we can go get it and follow it along so i hope you get a

chance to think about that in that one second as well since you won't do it right now obviously right all right ladies and gentlemen i can't thank you enough for coming in here show over won't do it right now, obviously. Right. All right, fuck off. Ladies and gentlemen, I can't thank you enough for coming in here. Is the show over? Do you want it to be or no? The boys probably have questions. Fire away.

Let's go. Go ahead, Ty. Vince, I'm curious. When you look at the state of the business right now... Before I answer your question, because I'll interrupt on occasion, but... I want to offer you something. Do I need like a pen or something? You probably need a chair.

And that's where you normally are. I know you love what we do, and you're a part of the team, big time. And people in the organization really enjoy you, and fans all over the world really enjoy you being you you know and i you know you you can't find anyone i can't imagine back in the day bob costas standing up on a desk and dancing okay but you're you you know and that's why it works you know and uh so with that it's like i'd like to offer you an opportunity to actually wrestle at WrestleMania. It'd be a dream, boss. In the ring.

It would be the difference, though, when you played for the Colts. It'd be the difference of like, okay, you're the punter. Okay. But now, in the ring, you're going to be a linebacker. 24 tackles in the NFL. No big deal uh that would be a fucking dream obviously and by the way there's been a lot of chatter on the internet about me getting back into the ring and wrestling at Wrestlemania and I've had so many torn conflicted feelings because you know I'm out of shape I'm out of shape there's a lot of vitamins that go into these lungs Vince

and like the things coming up but Wrestlemania is something I've obviously stolen from you. By the way, back in the day, we'd go to whoever had the black box would steal WrestleMania. Sorry about that. I probably owe you like $7, $8.99 or something like that for that whole thing. But obviously, it is the standard at WrestleMania. I would love to. That would be an absolute honor.

I'd love to see you in the ring. We'll find some worthy opponent for you. Put you in the ring. Wow. That's awesome. Holy shit. Hey, huh? Did you see the ring when you walked find some worthy opponent for you. Put you in the ring. Wow. That's awesome. Holy shit. Hey, huh?

Did you see the ring when you walked by, by the way? I did. I was impressed you have your own ring. It looks like a standard WA ring. Well, listen. I don't know if that's how hard your rings are, but God damn, that thing hurts like hell. That thing hurts like hell. This is incredible, by the way.

Is this a real deal? I mean, are we really? No, I don't bullshit. I don't do that what what what what I got a big right hand why why big right foot why wait till I bring that goddamn new yard and then. The people will go banana lands when that left with the rollie on it comes from the pocket. All right, now kiss her. What?

Hey, that's awesome, man. I'm pretty excited. I think it'll work. What do you guys think? Yeah. I think it'll work. Let's go. You versus Taker?

Jeez. Let's go. I don't know about that one. By the way, the most stupendous WrestleMania in the history of WrestleManias. That's not a lot

of days away. No. No. Better get working. Yeah. All right. Start running. Yep.

Let's go ahead and wake him up. Wake him up. I'll be part of that. That is an honor and I appreciate that. I really appreciate that. Can the boys ask you

a couple questions? Hell yeah. Fire away, guys. Hey, man, that's really cool. That's that. I really appreciate that. Can the boys ask you a couple questions? Hell yeah. Fire away, guys. Hey, man, that's really cool. That's awesome. I got this aura ring on. Right. It'll tell you my heart rate.

I assume whenever you're like, I'd like to make an offer to you, my shit just went right up your... That was exciting. Good. Thank you so much, man. That's awesome. Thank you. That's fucking awesome. Now, I will have to handle the business side of it, of course, but that is an entire other conversation, and we'll figure it out.

Go ahead, Ty. When you look at the state of the business right now, do you find that it's either more difficult or easier to cultivate and create superstars than it was maybe 10 or 20 years ago? Or ultimately, is it up to that person to get themselves over? No, it's a team effort. If it's a character, then you have to really be into that character and bring that character into the ring.

Not just be a character. The audience is not going to buy that. You have to really buy Undertaker, the primo example. We could never break him. Ever. And I tried so many times. Even on camera,

taking a risk of trying to break him and to get him to smile or something. Dance, right? That was the whole dance moment where you're telling him to dance, I believe, right? Yeah, it was a take-a-rooney.

So it was a spin-a-rooney type thing, you know? And he was out in the state of Washington. It was after the show was over. And we're trying to do all kinds of stuff like that. Now, almost got him,

but you can see, if you ever see that footage on the network, you can see the look at him. He's like, he not to smile but he knows you know that i'm getting close to to getting him you know and it's just it's just he never broke character you know he's just uh for all the right reasons just a wonderful wonderful human being but you have to if you have a character you have to really no different than acting same thing and our performers the reason i call them superstars and not just wrestlers is because anyone can wrestle either poorly or well i didn't mean i said poorly look at you then i'm in wrestlemania dude

i'm in wrestlemania i don't know what to tell you but you're right everybody can wrestle so it's like do you want to be and again So it's like, do you want to be, and again, back to branding, marketing, so do you want to be a professional wrestler or do you want to be a WWE superstar? WWE superstar sounds a whole lot better to me than being a professional wrestler. So I think the quality of human beings that we have and the enormous amount of talent that they have is because you have to have acting talent or reacting talent. You have to have this ability to really want to grow because, you know, in our environment, you grow. You know, I believe if you're not growing, you're dying.

Right. Myself. Oh. So you have to have that desire when you come in to really want to be everything you can be and really if it's a character really get into it be that character when you know when you're in the ring and outside but but in your private life don't be that character you really get all confused a lot of people that way oh yes that's by the way in my eyes and you might view this differently i think that's when it's at its best like taker where it was always taker right that's what everybody said he saw him in all black

he moved quietly but then he get him at the bar he's gonna shut it down oh yeah take his mark calloway but it's two different things you know the really good ones are all in on their character and then they're themselves you know after the show is. Do you not think when the character is closest to the actual character of the person, it is his best? Or do you think it's like whoever can portray the best character is the best? I think it's what you can relate to. Some people relate to Batman or whatever the hell it is.

But they really think they're Batman after trying to work with a show or something. No, it's important for your mental health to not be the character outside the ring. You talked about being on the road and the family on the road. You have to have more logged hours in planes than anybody.

You've lived a rock star life for 40 years, dude. Is that how? Eating-wise? We went on the road. What did we have? We had six pizzas. Gained about? We had six pizzas. Oh yeah. Gained about 60 pounds in six months. 70, 65, 70 pounds. Cheesecake every night.

And you said you're never tired, right? You said seldom tired. Like that's what you said earlier. Like how have you been able to maintain this rigorous schedule while also not completely destroying your body? Because you hear about rock stars. You hear about roadies. You hear about people that live on the road. You've been able to maintain energy creative stamina everything

like that while being on the road do you attribute that to anything or what do you think i don't really think about it i mean you work at it you know and you have to be discretionary you know it's like it's a lot of ball players who come from nothing and now i have all this money you know how do you deal with that that's fucking tough to deal with. And you've got all other opportunities that are coming at you, not that you went at them, and they're not always good opportunities. And they're just coming at you in every conceivable way. You have to be very discretionary, and you have to grow

because when you're a kid, that's so tough. You've got to figure out what you want and what you don't want. Yeah, but you flying out here is absurd to think about. We're on the road to WrestleMania right now. We're in Miami on Friday, Madison Square Gardens on Saturday. I don't know where Monday Night Raw is. I probably should. But then you're there on SmackDown,

and then we have the most stupendous WrestleMania. You fitting this into your schedule, I just assume it would be impossible. But when you're traveling, are you just working the entire time? Yes. You're just taking your entire life on the road, basically. But I'm having fun. Yeah. I mean, it's not like, okay, I'm working, yada, yada, yada.

I mean, I'm having fun the whole time I'm doing that. How's that Wi-Fi on the plane? Pretty good. It is good. Yeah. You watch the show? Yeah, you watch the show all the time. Go ahead, Connor. Yeah, when COVID first started, I think

you were on a council with a lot of the other commissioners of the major sports. Was there ever a thought for you to miss a show or anything, or did you immediately almost have a plan ready just in case this happened? I think I like to do our own thing. And everything's different.

Look, whatever the guys in the NFL do, they do. They're a little higher profile and so forth, and I get it. But I was determined that even with this COVID stuff that we weren't going to miss a beat. Couldn't have an audience. We never missed a show. And that's a credit to our performers as well in terms of like,

because again, they're so gifted and they work hard at what they do in terms of their skills and so many different directions. I mean, you're talking about an unbelievable, that's why they're superstars, not wrestlers. And they have this thirst for everything that it can possibly do

to make them a better performer, quite frankly, to become better human beings. So what I decided was, okay, we had this training facility, which we still have. It was smaller then, and it would keep us in

kind of a cocoon balloon type thing. So we tested and did everything imaginable for people coming in, our people and others, to make sure it was safe. So we put on a show every week, brand new programming, you know,

and with no audience. That was difficult because you have to, as a performer, then you have to go, okay, I just got this shit knocked out of me and it's like,

one, two, three, they're reacting and then come back. So you have to listen to that in your head. Yeah. You know, instead of just going through the reacting, and then come back. So you have to listen to that in your head. Instead of just going through the motions. If they're there, it's easy to listen to them. When they're not, it's far more difficult.

And it hurts, by the way, more. Yeah, the adrenaline's not there. I was birthed in the Thunderdome era. I was birthed in there. So I knew nothing different than when we got in front of the crowd. Where were we? Fort Worth, I believe. And then the Sina.

I mean, it was just a game changer. I'm like, holy hell, this is a game changer out here. Our audience is so much a part of our product. You say everything you think about for the audience. Steve Jobs has a quote where he's like, people don't know what they want until you show them. I assume you have to have that type of mindset when you're making decisions as well? Yes, but we have a focus group every night and it doesn't matter what i want it's like if i think something's going to work and you present it and there's no reaction wrong events okay so you immediately know you know whether or not something's going to work you don't know how well

it's going to work but you immediately know it's focus group they tell you and you're saying still at this point through the thunderdome era what you probably had to rely on social then right is that what it was social media was basically telling you through the thunderdome era pretty much although again you can tell but uh in terms of what's happening you've been in the business for so many years you can see in the ring whether or not someone, this is working or not. But you listen to your audience no matter where it's from. But sometimes the Internet audience, a portion of it, can be relatively biased and a bit harsh. No.

So I don't listen to any of those, none of them. But, again, everything you do is for your products, for your audience. This is guys you love to us because it's for your audience. What wouldn't you do for the show for your audience? That's what we do. And I think a lot of people, probably from this conversation, and by the way, thank you for doing

this. You are so cool for doing this. I've said that like four or five times in once. Thank you very much. I'm thanking you. Oh, hey, welcome to the Pat McAfee show, man. I'm not big on the thank yous. Hey, I know you don't like the compliments. You don't like that whole thing. And hey, thank you for coming.

Thank you so much. No, no, no. Okay, all right. Enough, enough, enough. We won't do that. But I think a lot of people are potentially hearing you as a human here. And this is a fascinating thing for a lot of people. God forbid I'm not human.

There's a lot of humility in a lot of things you're saying. Like, hey, if things are wrong, you've got to do that. Aleister Black came out and told a story whenever he left about a meeting about a new song or a new entrance theme. And he said that Vince said, oh, I don't understand it, but if you think it's good, you're good. I'm a 76-year-old man or something like that. At what point do you think that creeped in? And have you always been like that? Is that something you've always been like?

It wouldn't matter if I was 36. Same thing. I think that you have to overcome a stereotype sometimes. You know, okay, Vince is not hip or he's not with it. I've never been cool. I can give a shit about that. You're pretty fucking cool, dude. You were in a limo that blew up and he came back the next week.

That was pretty cool. But you listen to people and you try to give them as much creative ability as possible because it makes them more invested. If there's an idea that I really like, and a performer says, I'm not so sure, I don't like that, what's the alternative? If the alternative is better, great. There's no pride of authorship.

That's the way to go. Thank you very much. But you do need to lead. You can't just wait you know so i guess probably what steve was saying you you my guess is you need you need to lead that's for sure you need to give here's what i'm offering you know um not buying it okay here's what i'm offering you know so i guess that's probably what he meant because you can't dictate you know to the audience what they're going to like so i don't do well with bosses it's very well documented i don't do well with bosses

it's pretty well documented right i think that is something that a lot of people it's on the internet not in your world but on the internet and i think it's because you know i'm not 100 sure i appreciate their brain or where they're coming from because i know some of the decisions that they've made in the past. So it's hard for me to take them serious when they're saying something about me. And they probably don't understand me. Anyway, so, all right, you can fuck off. I've done that.

So when I sign with the WWE, everybody on earth goes, I can't wait to hear how you react to Vince in your ear telling you exactly what to say, how to say it, and everything like that. And I said, I think I'm getting an incredible opportunity to get a billionaire's brain into my brain on a product that he created because I like to learn from everybody. I would like to learn from you. You in my ear is awesome. You, since the very beginning, and I don't know how or how many times you thought about not doing it, you've let me just do my thing.

Like, I am very, very pumped about that. And it went against everything that was said about you. So I think you saying there that you got a lead, like, yeah, it's your company, but people potentially presenting another option to you and working with it, that's a massive part that never gets chatted about in the creative process, I think, personally. Yeah, but if I didn't like what you you were doing then you wouldn't be doing it to the audience you know if it's not about my personal taste if it's not getting over if they weren't like really like i think it's fucking cool dude i like the way he performs

if you know you wouldn't be there but you know you appeal the audience. That's what we're all about. You're having fun doing that. And we all have fun doing what we do, right? And you create things and what have you, and it's a blast. Again, no work. It's just constant. It's so fucking cool. I'm going to knock that thing over here.

I'm going to go back in. It's like three times now I've lightly touched it. I know you've got a, strong mitts out there. We were trying to figure out what the proper microphone setup was going to be, by the way. We thought about a table with a stationary mic. We went with this one. Do you think we made the right move here? It wouldn't matter.

Okay. You're not down either one of them? Brock also. Yeah, Brock. Those are the headsets that Brock threw up into the rafters. So cool. Hey, will you explain that guy, Brock Lesnar? What a one of one that guy is.

He really is. And an extraordinary human being. Yeah. A smart son of a bitch. Good businessman. Good businessman. Oh, my God, yeah. In general, he's really fucking intelligent.

Yeah, absolutely. And people that, you know, again, it's that misperception. You have someone that big, you know, and it's like, oh's like oh yeah well it's a neanderthal okay he looks like a neanderthal smarter than you pal yeah and he will listen by the way to everything you're saying and then he will have his own i've been very you know i've gotten a chance to learn about brock now at this point and chat with brock off air what a there's another guy that i'm like asking questions for like advice from from everything. I'm like, hey, can you help me in this particular situation? I love him, but the amount of superstars that have come out of the WWE,

and obviously Brock gave you a lot of credit. He said on this show right there before he broke the previous one that you're probably going to break, and then threw his headsets up there, he said my relationship with Dana White, much different than my relationship with Vince McMahon. Vince McMahon is more like a dad to me. He taught me a lot of things. Now, he said there were some bad times I made some decisions and he hindsighted it

but he views you as like a mentor a father and I think you guys still chit chat and go through that and he gave you a lot of credit for why he's had success outside of the WWE at the UFC but you don't just think about Brock is awesome I fucking love Brock I'm very thankful for Brock but if you go through the history of the characters that have been created in your universe I mean The Rock is the biggest star on earth right now Stone Cold Steve Austin can do whatever he wants whenever he wants however he wants because he's a Bill Goldberg now obviously he starts at WCW but his entire career continues and grows even more whenever the WWF and the WWE get in there. It's like these stars that get created in your universe live on forever.

Do you keep in touch with all these people? Are those conversations happening still? Some. It's not like I forget people. I love for them to stay in touch with me. But I'm busy today doing this. Or busy doing other things. with me um but i'm you know i'm i'm busy today doing this we're busy i'm gonna get it busy um you know doing other things but i don't lose contact with those individuals you mentioned

you know some that are further down the line you know i i do you know i try to have make sure our company stays in contact with them that's a big part right good grace is a good business right yeah it's good business but you know everyone um helped pave the way to where we are now. And I'm always appreciative of how small that was or how big that was. Always appreciative for everyone who ever stepped in the ring and helped us to get to where we are now. That attitude era was outrageous. Hey, it was outrageous. That television was insanity.

Stone Cold Steve Austin coming down with a beer truck, shooting that thing into a crowd. You, ah, Austin! We watched clips from the Attitude. What was that like? Was it just we're going to show up and put on the most insane show that anybody's ever seen every single night? Is that what the Attitude Era was like looking back?

It was, again, just so much fun. It was like you being able to do this as opposed to the standards of a network and no, you can't do this and you can't say that at all. So we were able to, and at that time, think about in the 80s,

it was a wild west. So we added a little extra sauce on that and just had a blast. You ate a bedpan there at one point. Right to the head. So Steve, before we're doing this, for 30 minutes, Steve is walking up and down the hallway. And I'm doing the setup in terms of producing, directing, all that lighting, all that kind of shit. And the first thing I was doing was Mick Foley with Mr. Sacco.

So Steve's walking out. I hear him just like, what have you been doing? Well, I was, I'm wondering what it is you're hitting your head with, it's a bedpan. What a business!

This is your world, by the way. I know, it's a wonderful world. There is nothing like this world. I mean, it is, it is so wonderful.

Mr. McMahon, I was wondering if I could just hit a head with this bedpan. What? It's a Texas accent. Well, he's, then he starts hitting his head with it, you know, like, I don't think it's his bed man. What? It's a Texas accent. Then he starts hitting his

head with it. I'm like I don't think it's going to hurt that much but this is fucking thing is thick as hell. Of course when it's show time you don't even think about it. Show time you just lay it in and here we go. That was fun. He said on the show during that era

we asked him a question and I think it was the cement in the Corvette where it blew out. And he said before the show started, he said, the hand made the keys a minute, two minutes before the show started. I didn't even know how to drive it. But I fucking hit the Corvette because it's live TV. Like, what is it about live that you love so much? You're on the edge, and I've always said that nothing can go wrong

because the audience doesn't know what was supposed to happen. It's a lot of pressure, though, isn't it, to put a live show on two times a week for 40 years? Yeah, I know, but it's so exciting. Yeah, there's pressure, but that's what you do. You live for that. You live for those moments. And when something really great goes down, it's like, yes. It's like, you've seen a gorilla.

We've done something really, really good, and's like, yes. You know, and it's like, you've seen a gorilla. You know, we've done something really, really good, and they come back through that curtain, hugging and clapping and all that kind of stuff. Way to go. And other times when you don't do it well, that's not such a different feeling. Hey, we'll see you next week, all right? I can't say it with your son.

Michael Cole, 25 years into this thing. Horrible human being. Jesus just fell on all batteries, dude. Oh, my. And you do that, too. Persona and everything is all well and good, but there's the really horrible. So you've had, obviously, a lot different experience with him than us but i see him every friday night smackdown doesn't matter if we're in omaha madison square garden baltimore when that music starts oh you know the sound hits in the headphones he gets excited he

gets like alive he comes alive and he's been doing this for 24 years the same yes i get very pumped this morning when before you walked out on the show You were excited You were all jacked, ready to go You are now, this is fun You still get excited before shows? Hell yes Every single one of them

Is there some shows where you go Okay, this one's going to be interesting Is there any of that thought? When you write it You're really into it, as I am in all those shows. But the vision of what it is you're trying to tell, the story of it, if it comes out as well as you think, it's awesome.

Sometimes it comes out better than you think. And sometimes all those tools and everything right there, and you're going, hmm, how could they miss that you know i mean so it's no it's it's all about the audience when they really pop and it's a surprise and things about nature or an extraordinary move or whatever those are moments you know man and i got the chill bumps like everybody else you know it's in the audience like holy shit i'm doing the same thing holy shit yeah and by the way you are actually because i've heard you come into my ear when something awesome happens and it's like holy shit i'm doing the same thing holy shit yeah and by the way you are actually because i've heard you come into my ear when something awesome happens and it's like uh like a very like whoa and you're in every single show it is unbelievable i i honestly i've heard

the stories and i before i got into the universe like hey this got nobody will outwork this fucking guy and i'm like what i work. What are we even talking about? I go, what are we even doing? You, just for all these years, what I like to travel, how I get exhausted from traveling and every single week and then going back and being able to be creative. You bring the energy every single show. Think about our crew. Think about all the many members, you know, that do that twice a week.

I was like, man. And sometimes it's difficult for the corporate types to understand that because it's not done anywhere in the world. No one does. We have the largest traveling show in the world. No one understands that, nor should they ever, nor should they give a shit. All you care about is what's on the screen. But there's so much of all everything that goes behind.

Our vast organization our production folks are absolutely the best in the entire world yeah but every guy we've had cameramen or men with us for you know 15 20 years we it's a family you know and it man it takes a grind it takes a toll on you to be able to to leave your home you're out on the road all the time and so forth and uh sometimes you get home it's not exactly the way you left it because things can get tough but nonetheless it's a uh it's it's so it's it's so extraordinary that so many people want to do this together you know um and i don't look at it as a grind i obviously look at it as a privilege and

and it is most of the time for everybody, but then again, it can be a grind. But that's all coming from leadership right there because if you, you know, you're the leader of the group, looks tired or is tired, it can almost have a ripple effect through the entire team. Nobody's going to know if I'm ever tired. Ever. No.

Seldom, by the way. You said earlier. But why would you? I mean, because if you it's no different corporate I can have a really horrible phone call

horrible meeting okay and now I've got 10 seconds to walk into the next room am I going to bring that in no

that's really really bad business to do that so whatever it is that emotion you had there okay when you walk

into that next room be your normal self smile this not the other and you may be dying and pissed off of the yin yang or or in here in here oh yeah and there sometimes especially but why but why you know why bring that to the meeting if you're angry or whatever it is that's bugging you right away you know it changes the entire complexion of the medium so what do you like your leadership style did you watch other leaders did you read books that's bugging you, right away, it changes the entire complexion of the medium. So what do you, like your leadership style,

did you watch other leaders? Did you read books? Or is it just something that came naturally to you? And how have you evolved, do you think? It's moreover, I'm sort of a student of psychology, but street psychology. Trailer park psychology. I'm, right, that's exactly right.

Yeah, yeah. The kind of student I am is that I didn't have, my grades weren't good enough to get into college. So I've always been a horrible student. No learning skills. I'm sure I had every learning disability there was, although there were no names for them then. Yeah. And, you know, I was expelled so many times for fighting and crap like that.

I wasn't in school a lot. So I didn't like school. You know, I didn't learn how to study at all. So I had to go to summer school to get into college. And then it took me five years going to every summer school to get back in.

Five years to get through a four-year curriculum. Easy for me to say. Curriculum. Thank you. I got you. East Carolina, right? Harvard and South. Yeah. I went to Harvard and West Virginia. West Virginia, right? Harvard and South.

I went to Harvard and West Virginia, West Virginia University. I did not graduate, did you? I graduated. What was the major? Business administration. Oh, so that's why. And that's another story. So many fucking stories.

I don't have the grades to graduate. I'm slightly off. So if I went from a B plus to an A minus, that would help me. So I forgot the subjects and I wasn't gonna graduate. It was like, man. My wife at the time, my wife, she went through a four-year curriculum and then three, in three years. She's really really smart. So yeah, it's like, but me, it's like, no, and here we're graduating at the same time.

The reason I mention that is because we're graduating at the same time. We're supposed to. I don't have the grades. I'm not going to graduate. What am I going to do? I'm not asking for the world. I'm not asking you to give me an A and I had a D. So I found out where these two professors lived.

So what are you going to do? I've got nothing to lose. You knock on your door, knock on their door and say, hello, I'm Vince McMahon, if they didn't know who I was because it was a large class and I'd like to come in and talk to you about what I am. Business. Right. One of them was so kind

and said, absolutely. As from a B plus to an A, I'd be happy to do that. Another one was such an unbelievable asshole, didn't want to let me in. That's bad business. No, I get it. You know, it's unusual for a student

to find out where you live and knock on the door. I get that. You know, but I didn't have anything to lose. So, there was a bit

of confrontation and so forth and he was going to call the cops, call the cops. I still don't have anything to lose. Really, I don't.

You know, I'm sitting on the sofa and I'm going to call the cops. call no call them if you want to but then i am gonna hey that microphone another one yeah oh there's a handout right there there's a handout right there if you want right there on your right or on your left i guess my right hey that thing's tough that microphone's been through it yeah still hear me oh yeah better this time so um again finally the guy did change my grade, but that's how I graduated. That's awesome.

Otherwise, I'd have never graduated. Get out of my office. I'm calling the cops. All right, fuck it. But really, what do you, you know, is this home? I mean, people's homes, that's, you know, I wasn't invading his home. You know, when we tried to close the door, I didn't let him. Hey, but you graduated.

Hey, college graduate. Vincent Kennedy McClain. That's where I actually happened. I'm glad I did not graduate. I mean, I wish I would have potentially went to a couple houses, I guess it sounds like. But I don't know how they would have been received. I'm coming in sleeveless and some hoodies, probably a gas mask or two. You got to do that entire thing.

Go ahead, Tony. Vince, we talked about it earlier about you eating the bedpan from Stone Cold, and some of my favorite times was when you were on the screen. Did you consider yourself a WWE superstar? Because, I mean, there was a time where we all considered yourself a WWE superstar. I had to become one if I could be on screen, especially with Steve. That's a blast. The funny thing is that you know i'm really steve austin you know uh and that came

pretty much in terms of the concept of it you know and knocking your boss this and that and the other i get that because that's the way it was you know i totally understood that underdog philosophy and your boss is an asshole you know and things about nature and i grew up that way knowing that and the perception of you was that so it's an easy transition into mr mcmahon i'd assume easy but you're the greatest hero of all time people say what was that greatest hero of all time everybody was like that guy's an asshole yeah everybody right and it was the other thing too is when you're committing to a character, as I said before, you have to really get in. So you have to want people to really dislike you.

I mean, you want people to honestly really dislike you. I guess maybe it's pretty easy for me to do sometimes. But when you are really into that character and you think of things that motivate people, and even lying from a standpoint is like, people think I was when i said i'm like you don't lie yeah really you you don't lie sometimes ever you know i mean it's like come on your any number of lies that you tell every day little ones sometimes they're big ones and what have you um but nonetheless it's like it's things topics like that that people can relate to. And being able to match the emotional buttons and to get a reaction like that,

man, that is a thrill. You loved it. So whenever you went to performer almost on your own show, it was a game changer, even more so. Like, hey, I love this, because you were a commentator a long time. Hey, I'm going to be the voice of my product, okay? My show, this is how I would like to go. By the way, one of the greatest commentators of all time as well.

Congratulations on that. In your own business that you created, obviously that's going to happen. But from that to the performer to being hated by everybody, that just brought a whole new level of fun and thrill to the business that you're already in? Absolutely. The difficulty, though, is when you're performing, then you can't produce and direct. That's so difficult because you have to commit so much into that performance. And I'd much rather be on the other side of the camera. That's where all of the action is.

And you can live vicariously through every single character that walks out there, and whether or not they're doing it well or whatever. If you're yourself with a character, it takes so much emphasis to be able just to do that well. Then I miss out, and everyone else does as well, in terms of me directing them and producing and so forth. So it's difficult to do, it really is. You saying that you're Steve Austin or whatever is so hilarious, because when I did that middle management promo,

there was a big ha-ha-ha-ha in my ear afterwards, which I absolutely loved. that middle management promo, there was a big ha-ha-ha-ha in my ear afterwards, which I absolutely loved. You blew your quads out running down to the ring. And is there any other injuries that we haven't heard about that you've gone through through your body? Actually, you've blown the left one out twice, but that was very unique. Not too many people can sever a quad tendons at the same time. That takes talent.

Put it on the resume. Oh, yeah, yeah. Because you have no use of your legs at all. When you sever your quad tendons, and again, both of them at the same time, it's like you can't walk, you can't stand, you can't anything. So you have to learn how to walk all over again. Yeah, rehab. You have to learn that rehab is so important when you do all that.

And it's like if you go too fast, then that's not good either. I'd like to push myself as hard as I can, but you can't go too fast. So in any event, things like that. I've had all kind of neck surgery. I've had tricep surgery. God, I can't think of all the damn things I've had all kind of neck surgery I've had tricep surgery God I can't think of all the damn things I've had sternum

sternum, spine yeah that what's this all from? just like hey walking around in your Corvette

what is this all is this from bedpans to the what is all the injuries from? it's a combination of a lot of things because you still remain I mean videos hit the internet of you squatting.

Yeah. You're still, I don't know if you're in the shark pit or if the bar, the one that I saw, but you're still squatting, like weekly, I think you're still putting a bar on your back. I don't always do a thousand pounds, but we do that like, we do. Is that how much it was? That was not like a joke right there. No, it was 11 plates on each side and it's tough to get 11 on

but you can but they're hanging they're hanging by a thread that microphone could not put 11 on each side that soft ass microphone right there so at any event we only do that once a month because you don't want to press too much but now

as soon as Wrestlemania is over now I can go have fun with it and really load up. Yeah, your trainer, I see him around. He's a great guy, Mike. He's a terrific guy. Wonderful human being. Hey, you've got an entire crew of people. You said a team. Obviously, I've gotten a chance to meet Bruce and KD and the entire backstage, Frenchie, everybody that's in my ear.

The people that have been around for so long that have helped you do this. All incredible people, even though the internet says a lot of shit. I've enjoyed the hell out of meeting everybody. They're so professional. Yeah, they're really professional. And good, all quality human beings. That's important. Have really good people around you. Very important. Hey, Michael, good

guy. Michael Paul's a good guy. That's your opinion. And I know you don't want to hear this, but you're a good guy too, dude.

And the reason why, in this latest version of why you're a good guy, you flew all the way out

here for this conversation. But I was late. Yeah, you are. I don't want to apologize

for things. Don't do that. If you're late for a meeting or you're late, there's got to

be a really good reason why you were. You know, so walk in and apologize. I'm sorry I'm late, kind of like thing. It doesn't mean anything to people. It doesn't. That's real. There had to be a reason you're late right now.

So, like, listen. I apologize, guys. And then the next thing people want to say is tell you why. I apologize I'm late because I had a flat tire. I don't give a fuck what you're doing. You're late. So at least if you're late, look as good as you possibly can because if you're late

and you look like shit, that's a double negative. That was a long night there. And I love how much you enjoy the rips in my pants, you know what I mean? Like those right there, Vince, a little hole in the leg, show off the hammy, you know, a little bit of the quad. You love my fashion, right? That was the biggest thing that you said, you know, a little bit of the quad. You love my fashion, right? That was the biggest thing that you said, you know, I like to wear this fashion.

Yeah, my fashion, my fashion. That looks good on you. Every time we've talked, he has looked at what I'm wearing. But the story about my WrestleMania moment before you, and by the way way there's a couple like 10-15 minutes of this conversation that I don't remember at all because you offered me a Wrestlemania match which is so incredibly cool and the entire internet thought I was gonna have a match at Wrestlemania and I've obviously been an incredible year it's a dream come true so I was a little bit a little bit lost there but every conversation I've had with you you've been so cool and so nice and you've

talked about you know know, my pants. And if you go back to my original WrestleMania moment, first of all, we blew the roof off an RV outside of the MetLife Stadium while we were there. You probably heard about it. The cops weren't happy. It was an entire scene. But I had shorts on.

I had my tuxedo shorts on that actually got tailored, which I don't do often. Got these things tailored. And then I had a nice sport car, nice tuxedo top. I look good. And Michael Cole and a couple others car, nice tuxedo top. I look good. And Michael Cole and a couple others wanted to kick me off WrestleMania. It was my first time there. And I'm like, at this point, had good money in my life.

Had a business. Did this whole entire thing. I was just pumped to be in the WWE. And, you know, there was an entire thing about my goddamn shorts like 45 minutes before we go live. And, you know, people talk to me. And I go, oh, fuck you then. I won't go on. I don't care.

And I just leave. I'm like, all right, I won't go on then. If that's the case, oh, fuck you then. I won't go on. I don't care. And I just leave. I'm like, all right, I'll just, all right, I won't go on there. If that's the case, like no big deal. I'll get out of here. Do your thing. And you literally, you didn't know who the fuck I was at that point. I don't think you had any idea who I was. I think you said, I appreciate that he wore those and I respect it or something like that.

And I think you added the word hip or something to it. And then I did it. You have been so genuine and cool to me through my entire relationship. And the fact that you came here, man, we will remember and cherish forever. Thank you for everything you've done for me. I appreciate that.

I've enjoyed this, guys. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, the chairman of the WWE, Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Yeah! All right. Try to win some tickets.

Hashtag PMS SeatGeekMania. Take a screenshot. Go ahead and bounce around. Hey, they're going to get a shot on you right now if you want to smile. I don't. Go ahead and tweet hashtag PMS SeatGeekMania. We're going to give away two pairs of tickets

in the lower section at the most stupendous WrestleMania in the history of WrestleMania. I'm coming to watch you work. Well, now, I guess, huh? Right. Hey. Hell yeah. Hey, listen.

I'm already tired. How many days do we got? How many days do we got? 30. That is a problem. We're going to have to expedite that whole process. I appreciate you. I'm thankful for you.

We will see you all tomorrow for a feel-good Friday. We're live 11 to 1 here at youtube.com forward slash the Pat McAfee show because the flight to Miami is long. Hey, that's way the fuck down there Vince. That's a long flight down to Miami tomorrow night. It's no big deal. I agree.

More business in the plane. There you go. That's what I need to start thinking about. Business in the plane. There you go. Oh, that's what I need to start thinking about. Business in the plane. Be smarter. All right, I'll start that next week. This time I'm going to celebrate. I'm in fucking WrestleMania.

We'll see you tomorrow, 11 a.m. Vince, thank you so much. This is the greatest show we've ever had. Cheers.