WWE Chairman Vince McMahon recently appeared on the Pat McAfee show to discuss all things pro-wrestling, with the Chairman explaining to the former Indianapolis Colt the importance of respect in the industry. Highlights from the interview are below.
On how WWE talents should feel after they “graduate” from WWE:
You have to look at both, constantly You have to look at the big picture and little picture, at the same time, constantly. You want to 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.’ With WWE, we can almost fit into anything. In terms of the way we think, the structure we have, the marketing aspect, especially our talent. By the time they finish, they’ve graduated from…they have much better than a doctoral or bachelor’s degree. When you graduate from WWE, you know how to treat people, you show respect, which is one of the things I’m sure you’ve picked up on.
How respect is a huge deal for him:
Respect is huge in everything we do. Even from the standpoint, people don’t really understand the gorilla position backstage. We hug each other, shake hands, the basis of that is ‘I’m going to the ring to work with you, my competitor. I want you to protect me. Don’t drop me on my head, I don’t want to be paralyzed, hurt for the rest of my life, I can’t continue my career.’ It’s the respect factor that you have for each other to go out there to try not to maim each other and come back through. It hurts, that’s okay, that’s what you do. You know it’s going to hurt.
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)