Ted DiBiase recently shared insights into his experience working with Vince McMahon in WWE Creative, including McMahon’s tendencies and work habits. Here are some highlights from his discussion on the latest episode of Everybody’s Got A Pod.
Regarding Vince McMahon ripping up scripts, DiBiase noted that McMahon often had his own ideas and, at times, decided to discard existing scripts and start over. He said,
“Well, I mean, yeah, I was there for a little while. I mean, and he would have ideas of his own. And then look at it and go, ‘No, we’re going to go back and we’re going to start over.’”
DiBiase also mentioned that he was unaware of some of McMahon’s peculiar pet peeves, such as disliking sneezing in his presence. He also revealed that McMahon doesn’t require much sleep, typically getting by on about four hours per night.
“No, I can’t. I didn’t know that either. Back and going, I don’t know. I don’t think I ever sneezed in front of him. Yeah, he doesn’t like it. He doesn’t like sleeping. He probably gets by on about four hours of sleep a night.”
When asked about receiving middle-of-the-night calls from McMahon, DiBiase responded,
“I know I never got that call.”
DiBiase then discussed the demanding nature of working in the WWE creative team. Meeting deadlines, making major changes, and getting Vince McMahon’s approval could be challenging and sometimes overwhelming. He also mentioned that the team had to work around McMahon’s busy schedule, even if they needed his input for creative decisions.
“I guess there were times when it could feel overwhelming, especially if you’re a part of this creative team and you have deadlines to meet and what do you do here? And then obviously, if there’s any major change, it has to be run by Vince. And Vince is this very busy guy. And so sometimes it’s like, ‘Holy s**t, we can’t change it without telling him. And when are we going to get time to talk to him?’ And I remember when at the time, when I was working in the office and trying to be this aid to the creative team. I mean, I remember because I would do — we do Raw on Monday night, SmackDown on Tuesday night back then, and then we would go back to the office. And I was in the office Wednesday, Thursday and then Friday afternoon I would have to leave Stamford by no later than 2:25 and get on the road to get to the LaGuardia airport in time to make my plane home. I was always sweating whether I was going to get out of there in time, I don’t know.”
(h/t 411mania)