Despite all the negativity surrounding him at the moment, it is hard to argue the fact that former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon revolutionized the wrestling industry. Recently, WWE Hall of Famer Cope shared his thoughts on his former boss.
While speaking to Stephen Brunt on his Up Close podcast, Cope mentioned that the conversations with Vince McMahon were spellbinding. He was enthralled when he got to know how and why Vince McMahon runs the business in a certain way.
“It was fascinating to eventually sit down with him and ask him the reasoning for certain things on the show. ‘Why are we doing this?’ I liken it to being able to sit down with [PT] Barnum, ‘How? Why? How was all of this created? Why did you do it this way?’ I just thought, I have this opportunity to sit down with this really interesting man and try to understand how he got where he got to, the choices he made to get to where he got to, the chances he took, the risks he took, because there are a lot of them, and then just having chats with him about how the mob….
“A lot of really crazy stuff. That, to me, was always fascinating. To try and peak into what a billionaire’s brain looks like. I also realize that, I think I’m good not being a billionaire. You see how much comes with that. Fascinating man. Fascinating man. Intelligent man,” said Cope. [H/T Fightful.com]
Cope only spoke to Vince McMahon on a Business level
Cope also mentioned that he did not know Vince McMahon close enough to comment on the sexual assault and sexual trafficking allegations. He stated that the relationship he had with McMahon was strictly business. He also found it fascinating to talk and understand how Vince McMahon handles the business side of things.
“Absolutely. After the fact, you learn some of that stuff, and it’s like, ‘What?’ I was never close enough to know that. It was still business. I love talking business with him. It was fascinating. The Dana Whites of the world have taken their cues from Vince and what he created. If you think about what he created and turned it into, he created an industry.
“Wrestling was there, but it was regional, it was pockets and these tiny things and a code, and you didn’t break that code. Vince went, ‘I’m taking over. I’m going to make this worldwide.’ Even to the extent of not calling wrestlers ‘wrestlers,’ they are Superstars, that’s bigger than ‘wrestlers.’ I get a lot of what he was trying to accomplish. I didn’t always agree with it at the time, I’d sometimes fight it kicking and screaming, and sometimes I’d be like, ‘Ah, but he was right. Interesting. I didn’t see that coming.’ Fascinating, just from the wrestling and business perspective, to dive into how and why he made the decisions he made. I always found it fascinating.”
What are your thoughts on Vince McMahon?
