WWE: Vince McMahon quote on Bobby Lashley's 2006 push

[M.C.G. 31]

The next day, December 4, Heyman and McMahon among those flying to Charleston, South Carolina, Heyman pitched opening the December 5 ECW show with Ariel and Kelly in a match, telling viewers interviews with Lashley, Van Dam, and Punk were going on right then and would be seen later in the show. McMahon didn’t like the idea, fearing fans in the arena would chant for Punk. Heyman asked why that was a bad thing, as it showed the fans cared about someone on the flagging ECW show. McMahon reportedly threw his glasses on the floor and shouted, “Get this through your thick ****ing head—my focus is on Bobby Lashley and only Bobby Lashley! That man is the brand's icon, the brand's superhero. He is ECW and he will be, at the expense of Rob Van Dam, CM Punk, Test, and everyone else, and you can hit the door if don't like it!â€

Source: Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story on ECW (pulled from reddit)

Vince has been losing his mind for years. This stuff just seems even more rampant now.

"But Vince, you hear the pops for Ambrose? Why don't we try him?"
"Get it through your thick ****ing head-my focus is only on Roman Reigns! [...] at the expense of Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, and everyone else!"

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[S A W F T*]

I say this in the nicest way possible. This company will be much better off once Vince dies.

I am not wishing death on him. I just know, that until he dies, he will NOT relinquish creative control.

 

[Sacha Baron Corbin]

I say this in the nicest way possible. This company will be much better off once Vince dies.

I am not wishing death on him. I just know, that until he dies, he will NOT relinquish creative control.

Pretty much. That being said I'm still skeptical about Hunter running the company. Sure he's built up NXT, but he's also played a part in this Reigns debacle which continues to hurt the company.

 

[Engebretson]

Anyone who's watched the WWE product for any period of time in the last 10 years shouldn't be surprised by this at all. Heyman himself has even said in interviews that the WWE model is one main guy with everyone else revolving around him. It's what he's done for decades and he'll be damned if anyone can tell him different.

It's a damn shame that there isn't any major competition in North America for WWE, because then maybe Vince would evolve his thinking toward what people what instead of what he wants. I'm almost starting to wonder if buying out WCW was a relief for Vince because then he could go back to the whole Hogan model he ran from the 80's to early 90's.

Also, I don't think Vince dying is going to change anything. Yes, I think HHH has a bit different mindset with how decisions should be made in storylines, but Stephanie is always going to be there and I think she strives to be more like her dad than anything else. I'm sure she has Hunter's nuts in a jar just like she shows the audience she does with every wrestler on the roster.

 

[S A W F T*]

Pretty much. That being said I'm still skeptical about Hunter running the company. Sure he's built up NXT, but he's also played a part in this Reigns debacle which continues to hurt the company.

No one will run it flawlessly, and I have my questions about HHH as well. However, I am sure HHH will be more willing to listen to input from his execs and creative team before making a stubborn decision like Vince has done for the last decade.

 

[Kimi]

Pretty much. That being said I'm still skeptical about Hunter running the company. Sure he's built up NXT, but he's also played a part in this Reigns debacle which continues to hurt the company.

Reigns was the correct guy to give the push to initially. It shouldn't have carried on as long as it has, but Reigns is the kind of guy who they should push if they want the main guy to be the kind of guy that they're trying to make.

But I think it's more Vince being stubborn now, far more than HHH forcing it on him.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

and this was the less senile vince...

once he makes up his mind it's his way no matter the results, the damage be damned

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Reigns was the correct guy to give the push to initially. It shouldn't have carried on as long as it has, but Reigns is the kind of guy who they should push if they want the main guy to be the kind of guy that they're trying to make.

But I think it's more Vince being stubborn now, far more than HHH forcing it on him.

Reigns was never at a point where it made sense to push him to the main event. He was slated for that push immediately after the Shield broke up when he's never been a singles wrestler on the main roster. It was only made worse when he was injured for a couple months early in his singles run. And while one can argue the other two for a push of a similar nature, those two weren't protected within the group like Roman was. Ambrose and Rollins did the talking and did most of the singles work.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

Ah classic Vince. I would expect nothing less.

 

[GarbageGoal]

The funny thing is, they still really missed the boat on making Lashley a star.

 

[George Binks]

Well that didn't end up turning out very well now did it

 

[Del Preston]

This happened the day after December to Dismember, arguably the greatest PPV of all-time.

 

[George Binks]

Why does Vince think he has to bury everyone to have his one face?

 

[NewAgeOutlaw]

Vince's senile delusion is reminicent of Grandpa Simpson.

"I'll be deep in the cold, cold ground before I recognize Dean Ambrose"

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Why does Vince think he has to bury everyone to have his one face?

Because he is a dinosaure.

He has done great thing, but the World has passed him by.

 

[Morozov]

Vince's senile delusion is reminicent of Grandpa Simpson.

"I'll be deep in the cold, cold ground before I recognize Dean Ambrose"

Gold

 

[Engebretson]

This happened the day after December to Dismember, arguably the greatest PPV of all-time.

Yep, this was the infamous plane-ride that eventually led to Heyman's departure from WWE later that month. So, Vince got exactly what he wanted, the Chamber match and the show absolutely bombed and he blamed Heyman for it all even though Heyman was the one telling him not to do it that way. Classic Vince.

I've heard before (from Cornette, I think) that Steph and Trips hate Heyman and make fun of him in meetings and belittle him as much as possible because they know he knows more about the business than they do. Vince is just an old curmudgeon who thinks he's still a genius and has guys like Kevin Dunn around to tell him every day, but I don't think he's ever taken Heyman very seriously or valued his opinion. I'm pretty sure Cornette also said something similar about Jim Ross, that Vince was just looking for excuses to get rid of him because he was sick of him disagreeing or not going along 100% with his decisions. Of course, it is Corny, so take it with a grain of salt, but it makes a ton of sense.

 

[Kimi]

Reigns was never at a point where it made sense to push him to the main event. He was slated for that push immediately after the Shield broke up when he's never been a singles wrestler on the main roster. It was only made worse when he was injured for a couple months early in his singles run. And while one can argue the other two for a push of a similar nature, those two weren't protected within the group like Roman was. Ambrose and Rollins did the talking and did most of the singles work.

Yeah, the timing of the push was bad. Reigns wasn't ready for it, but nor was Big E who was the other option at the time.

The push was only ever going to go to a big guy, Vince is still Vince after all. So that rules out Rollins and Ambrose, who as everyone will agree are the better talents; they just don't look the part like Reigns does. When you're starting for almost scratch, pick the guy who fits the ideals before falling back to someone else.


This is something that I think HHH will be far better at than Vince. HHH isn't a bodybuilder, there's no risk of him having an orgasm on commentary while introducing Lex Luger like Vince. We've already seen him go to bat to get Owens signed when he looks the way his does, and he's more than willing to run with a smaller guy like Bálor. I just hope it carries over onto the main roster.

 

[ColePens]

Yeah, the timing of the push was bad. Reigns wasn't ready for it, but nor was Big E who was the other option at the time.

The push was only ever going to go to a big guy, Vince is still Vince after all. So that rules out Rollins and Ambrose, who as everyone will agree are the better talents; they just don't look the part like Reigns does. When you're starting for almost scratch, pick the guy who fits the ideals before falling back to someone else.


This is something that I think HHH will be far better at than Vince. HHH isn't a bodybuilder, there's no risk of him having an orgasm on commentary while introducing Lex Luger like Vince. We've already seen him go to bat to get Owens signed when he looks the way his does, and he's more than willing to run with a smaller guy like Bálor. I just hope it carries over onto the main roster.

Actually in HHH's dvd he said he was going to be a bodybuilder.... but he definitely doesn't hold that to all the wrestlers as we've seen in NXT. Although... there have been grumblings before regarding Daniel Bryan.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Triple H did get started in bodybuilding lol.

I don't know what to think of HHH and his philosophy. From what we've seen so far, he's about charismatic guys, not bodybuilding guys and if reports are true, he's more patient (despite Reigns being the guy he initially wanted to push, he wanted to swerve fans at SS with an Ambrose or Owens title win).

 

[Dr Pepper]

Triple H did get started in bodybuilding lol.

I don't know what to think of HHH and his philosophy. From what we've seen so far, he's about charismatic guys, not bodybuilding guys and if reports are true, he's more patient (despite Reigns being the guy he initially wanted to push, he wanted to swerve fans at SS with an Ambrose or Owens title win).

That doesn't hold true for Punk, though....but for the most part, I'd agree.

 

[ColePens]

Well... now HHH on the Austin podcast kind of hinted towards being against reigns winning the RR. I remember him saying something like "There were different ideas brought to the table but ultimately this is Vince's business and he gets the final say."

The jury sure is out on HHH. I want to give collective credit to NXT. The writers, decisions, etc. are all great. Seldom can you come up with something that isn't a great idea. But HHH can't be given full credit until it starts happening under his watch at the WWE level.

 

[ColePens]

Part of me also doesn't agree with that story because I think Punk would have mentioned it somewhere.

 

[Kimi]

Actually in HHH's dvd he said he was going to be a bodybuilder.... but he definitely doesn't hold that to all the wrestlers as we've seen in NXT. Although... there have been grumblings before regarding Daniel Bryan.

Missed a word. Meant to say "isn't a body builder guy". As in he isn't going to buy a pair of greek statues and put them in a ring.

 

[Natey]

Reigns' push isn't bad in his position on the card, if he was world champion, etc, etc. He would have been fine.

The push was wrong because of the booking. Reigns was made to look like an absolute monster. No amount of odds could be stacked against him because he'd overcome them all. That rarely even works for heels anymore.

Hogan did it. Goldberg did it. Cena... kind of does it, but the half the crowd hates him. There are very few guys who can make a career out of not being a sympathetic character.

Reigns was never "against the odds." It never felt like he was in trouble. He could win Survivor Series by himself. He could throw out 95% of the participants in the Rumble. THAT's why fans got sick of him.

If he won the Rumble, throwing out maybe one or two guys, and getting his ass kicked repeatedly. The backlash may have been smaller. If you didn't make it so god damn obvious that he was going to 1) win the Rumble 2) win the World Title Tournament 3) win the money in the bank without being screwed.

People love Ambrose. People love Ziggler. Why? Because they're sympathetic characters. They work hard and it's not always good enough. Daniel Bryan was the same way. You've seen Bryan lose more matches in a month on TV than Reigns has lost in his WWE career. It's asinine.

Hell, people still love Jericho and he hasn't won a match since 2007!

People wanted Cesaro to win the Championship.. and he's been pushed and depushed 10 times over the past year! He was jobbing to the Prime Time Players a few months ago!