Freddie Prinze, Jr. was interviewed by Chris Van Vliet this week to talk about his time as a writer for WWE from 2008-2009. He also worked for them again from 2010 until 2012.
Prinze, Jr talks about what it was like to work for Vince McMahon and what he thinks will happen to WWE when McMahon passes away. Click here to listen to the entire interview. You can check out a clip from the interview by scrolling down on this page.
Freddie talked about his confidence to write for wrestlers:
“I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I knew I could write well and I knew I could write well for talent. I knew that I could hear them speak and write words that they would say instead of what sounded good in my head that I would say. That’s a hard disconnect for a lot of wrestling writers to make. It’s a step that television writers have to be able to make and screenwriters have to be able to make. If all your characters sound like one writer wrote them, you failed. If the wrestler you’re writing for sounds like you, you failed. You failed the wrestler. It’s only 10% of the equation. It’s 80% on the wrestler, it’s 15% booking and it’s 5% writing. I’ve seen horrible promos get over because the talent is so money.”
Freddie on why he left WWE:
“There was a show called Tough Enough. They tried to bring it back and Stone Cold was a judge. There was a mom that wanted to be a wrestler and she said she was doing it for her kids. Steve Austin said, ‘That’s bulls*t. Do you know how many times I won father of the year?’ He put a big goose egg up. I was watching that show in the writer’s room and I stood up, walked to gorilla, and I gave Vince my two weeks. I said, ‘I’m trying to win father of the year. I can’t work here anymore.’ He said, ‘Talk to me after the show.’ I talked to Stephanie after the show. I let her know. She said, ‘We were about to give you SmackDown. You were going to be the head writer.’ She was disappointed. I was like, ‘You know I love you guys, but I’m a dad. I’m out.’ That was that. I quit and never looked back.”
The Austin segment from Tough Enough is embedded below.
During the interview with Chris Van Vliet, Freddie talked about what it’s like to work with Vince McMahon, his issues with John Cena, and more. Freddie also talked about his work in “She’s All That,” “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” “Scooby-Doo” and “Summer Catch.” He also reveals why he left acting and he shares stories about Chuck Norris, Muhammad Ali, his wife Sarah Michelle Gellar, and his role in the Punky Brewster reboot.
Click here for the entire interview. Click on the video below for a clip from the interview.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. Also, be sure to subscribe to “Insight with Chris Van Vliet” on your mobile device by clicking here if you have an iOS device or here on your Android device.
The Steve Austin segment from Tough Enough that was referenced by Prinze is embedded below – skip to 1:30.
